Senior running back Jake Thies scored four touchdowns as Fenwick routed Carmel 28-7 on Senior Night to close the regular season 6-3. The win locked in a first-round bye for the sixth-seeded Friars in the IHSA Class 6A playoffs.
Fenwick will host the winner of 11th-seeded Highland Park versus 22nd-seeded Streamwood on Oct. 30 or Oct. 31, likely at Triton College, the Wednesday Journal reported. Highland Park (6-3) and Streamwood (3-6) meet in their opening-round game Friday, Oct. 23, at 6:30 p.m.
The Friars are the defending 6A state champions after beating East St. Louis 38-28 in December 2025. Head coach Matt Battaglia has guided the Oak Park program through a full regular season with a roster that lost several key contributors to graduation, including former quarterback Jamen Williams. Junior Myles Hill stepped in at quarterback and has led the offense all fall.
The bye exists because the IHSA expanded each class's playoff field to 48 teams this season. The top 16 seeds skip the opening round, giving Fenwick an extra week to prepare.
Thies set the tone against Carmel, scoring three of his four touchdowns in the first quarter. Players and coaches then gathered at the school's Priory Campus on Saturday, Oct. 17, to watch the IHSA Football Playoff Pairings Show on a big screen.
Sophomore defensive back Corey Griffin was all smiles before the bracket was announced.
"Ending the season like that, we've got a lot to build on going into the playoffs," Griffin told the Wednesday Journal. "I'm excited to see what we do."
Senior safety Tommy Quinn said the bye week won't mean rest. He predicted the coaching staff would keep the team sharp with internal competitions over the next two weeks.
Battaglia confirmed that approach in his address to the team as the Oct. 17 watch party wound down. He told the players that every decision going forward needed to reflect a championship standard. He was already planning to acquire film on both Highland Park and Streamwood.
The Chicago Tribune's bracket analysis identified second-seeded Geneva (8-1) as the Class 6A team to beat and flagged a potential Fenwick-Geneva quarterfinal. The Tribune noted that last year's 6A runner-up, East St. Louis, requested to play in 7A this season.
State championship games are scheduled for Nov. 27-28 at Hancock Stadium in Normal, according to the Tribune's published bracket.
Fenwick's second-round opponent will be determined by the Highland Park-Streamwood result on Friday, Oct. 23.
