https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1991-10-30-9104070817-story.html
JUDGE CRITICIZES BUT UPHOLDS IHSA PLAYOFF FORMAT
Bob Sakamoto
Circuit Court Judge Patrick Burns voiced some powerful sentiments against the new state football playoff format Tuesday even as he denied legal action to overturn it.
Bishop McNamara of Kankakee, Rock Island Alleman and Belleville Althoff, Class 3A parochial schools, will now be forced to compete in a higher class when the playoffs begin next Wednesday after Burns denied their petition for a restraining order in the Kankakee County Courthouse.
IHSA Associate Executive Director Don Robinson admitted the new format, which classifies some teams on their opponents` average enrollment as opposed to their own, was adopted to curb the domination of Catholic schools in football.
''Nobody is trying to pick on the non-public schools,'' Robinson said.
''But take a situation like Belleville Althoff (1990 Class 3A titlist). They`ve produced nine Division I scholarship players in the last three years.
(IT WAS TWO YEARS, but whatever.) I defy you, Judge Burns or anyone else to show me a public school of the same size that has produced nine Division I players in the last 10 years.
''Catholic and private schools have no restrictions on who can attend their schools. Althoff draws from a metropolitan area of 500,000. So does Alleman. They have more opportunites (sic) for quality athletes. Anyone can look at that and see the inequity.''
Last year, four Catholic schools won titles in the six classes. Under the present format, the IHSA said Sterling Newman (1A), Joliet Catholic (4A) and Mt. Carmel (5A) would be moved up a class. Althoff would have competed in 5A.
''If you`re competing at the 5A level during the regular season, don`t come back to me during playoffs, drop down to 3A and expect to be handed a trophy,'' said Robinson. ''How is that fair to the small public schools who`ve been competing at 3A all season?''