IHSAA Football State Tournament Begins October 19

The opening round draws for the 2018 IHSAA Football State Tournament were announced Sunday.

A possible second round meeting of East Central and South Dearborn looms in Class 4A Sectional 23. Photo by Sandy Mahoney.

(Undated) - Post‐season anticipation began tonight as 319 teams received notice of their sectional opponents via live webstream at IHSAAtv.org and the IHSAA Champions Radio Network.

The 46th Annual IHSAA Football State Tournament presented by the Indianapolis Colts is set to begin Oct. 19 with first round games in all classes except 6A which has the week off. Sectional semifinal games will be played on Oct. 26, sectional championship games on Nov. 2, regionals on Nov. 9, semi‐states on Nov. 16 and the state championship games on Nov. 23‐24.  

The 12 teams earning a berth in the state finals will play on Thanksgiving weekend in Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts, the state tournament’s presenting sponsor since 2009. The state championship games alternate each year as the Class 2A, 4A and 6A games will be played on Friday, Nov. 23 while the 1A, 3A and 5A contests are set for Saturday, Nov. 24.

About the Draw

To conduct the random drawing for the football state tournament, the IHSAA places ping-pong balls representing each school in a given sectional into a lottery-style air mix machine. A fan in the bottom of the machine blows the balls around the inside of the transparent container and air then forces each ball up through a tube in random order. For example, the first ball retrieved from the machine will be the visiting team in game one with the second ball representing the home team in game one. The third ball to come out is the visitor in game two and the fourth ball the home team in game two. That same method is followed through all 48 sectionals. In the case of five‐team sectionals in Class 5A, the first two teams drawn will play the opening weekend of the tournament with the fifth team drawn receiving the bye and an automatic road game in the semifinal round against the opening game winner. The third and fourth teams drawn will play in the other semifinal game. In seven‐team sectionals, the seventh team drawn receives the bye and an automatic road game in the semifinal round.

IHSAA 4A Sectional 23 (8 teams)

First Round

G1: East Central at Franklin County.

G2: Jennings County at South Dearborn.

G3: Madison Consolidated at Edgewood.

G4: Silver Creek at Scottsburg.

Semifinals

Game 5: G1 winner vs. G2 winner.

Game 6: G3 winner vs. G4 winner.

Championship

Game 7: G5 winner vs. G6 winner.

IHSAA 3A Sectional 31 (8 teams)

First Round

G1: North Harrison at Lawrenceburg.

G2: Batesville at Greensburg.

G3: Corydon Central at Brownstown Central.

G4: Charlestown at Salem.

Semifinals

Game 5: G1 winner vs. G2 winner.

Game 6: G3 winner vs. G4 winner.

Championship

Game 7: G5 winner vs. G6 winner.

IHSAA 2A Sectional 37 (8 teams)

First Round

G1: Eastern Hancock at Heritage Christian.

G2: Centerville at Indianapolis Scecina.

G3: Triton Central at Milan.

G4: Union County at Knightstown.

Semifinals

Game 5: G1 winner vs. G2 winner.

Game 6: G3 winner vs. G4 winner.

Championship

Game 7: G5 winner vs. G6 winner.

IHSAA 2A Sectional 39 (8 teams)

First Round

G1: Perry Central at Eastern (Pekin).

G2: Switzerland County at Providence.

G3: Mitchell at Clarksville.

G4: Paoli at Crawford County.

Semifinals

Game 5: G1 winner vs. G2 winner.

Game 6: G3 winner vs. G4 winner.

Championship

Game 7: G5 winner vs. G6 winner.

IHSAA 1A Sectional 46 (8 teams)

First Round

G1: Edinburgh at Cambridge City Lincoln.

G2: Oldenburg Academy at Hagerstown.

G3: South Decatur at Indianapolis Lutheran.

G4: Tri at North Decatur.

Semifinals

Game 5: G1 winner vs. G2 winner.

Game 6: G3 winner vs. G4 winner.

Championship

Game 7: G5 winner vs. G6 winner.