Bolingbrook Picked by ESPN to Advance to State Championship

If all goes according to ESPN Chicago's plan, the football team should be eying hotel rooms in Champaign.

Scott Powers, ESPN Chicago's prep sports beat writer, predicts the Raiders will defeat Naperville Central 27-21 in Saturday's IHSA 8A semifinal matchup.

That would put Bolingbrook in the state finals for the first time since 1993, when the Raiders lost the state championship Belvidere High School. 

ESPN Chicago predicts Bolingbrook to play Loyola Academy, the brackets only remaining No. 1 seed in the championship. That game will be played at Champaign's Memorial Stadium on Nov. 26 at 7 p.m.

From ESPN Chicago:

Naperville Central didn’t draw a lot of attention to itself during the regular season, but it wasn’t far off from being one of the area’s top teams if you go back and look at its results. It lost by 14 points to Waubonsie Valley to start the season and had narrow losses to Wheaton North and Wheaton Warrenville South. The Redhawks’ offense has been remarkable throughout the last three weeks. They have scored 40 or more points in every game. Bolingbrook has continued to be impressive on both sides of the ball. The Raiders have been jumping on opponents early and not giving them a chance.

For more on the Raiders football team, check out Bolingbrook Patch's Raiders Football Guide.

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