The Class 1A title game is a a rematch from last year, and it’s Iowa City Regina against Western Christian. In six years, only two public schools have played in the 1A final: St. Ansgar, which won in 2011, the last year before Regina went to 1A; and West Lyon, which lost to Regina in 2014. 2016 is only Western Christian’s 13th season of football, but it’s made the playoffs in eight of the past nine years.
Private schools account for five of the 12 football state finalists this year, and that’s after Regina and Pella Christian, the 1-2 teams in 1A, were pitted against each other in the quarterfinals.
The same type of thing happened in volleyball, where three of the four Class 2A semifinalists were private schools (Western Christian won it all, so it has a chance at a two-fer) and three of the four Class 4A semifinalists were private schools.
PS: The IHSAA put out a statement regarding the Big Ten’s attention grab of Friday night games. I read it as saying in as diplomatic a way possible that Rosemont should be burned to the ground for the very idea.
PPS: Virtually everyone in Iowa west of I-35 and south of IA 92, and even many inside that area, are no longer able to watch the playoffs on TV because all state football, wrestling, and boys’ basketball coverage has moved to Comcast Sports Net Chicago. Previously, the games were on a collection of over-the-air broadcast stations and ESPN3, but now you have to have a cable system with CSN or Dish.
PPPS: CSN Chicago pre-empted the Class 3A championship game for the Bulls and the Class 4A championship game for the Blackhawks. Heck of a TV contract, IHSAA!