Championship Preview

The Varsity Friday season comes down to one final showdown! The Belvidere County Seaters and DeMatha Catholic Stags will meet for the championship after taking different paths through the postseason. One team will finish the season on top, while the other will come up one victory short of the title.

Belvidere County punched its ticket to the championship with a hard-fought 25–20 semifinal victory over Streamwood. The Seaters faced a determined opponent but did enough to survive and advance. After finishing the regular season with a 4–1–1 record, Belvidere has found another gear when it matters most. Now the Seaters have one final challenge standing between them and the championship trophy.

That challenge is DeMatha Catholic. The Stags earned the No. 1 seed after an undefeated regular season, finishing 5–0–1. They enjoyed a first-round bye while Belvidere and Streamwood battled for the other championship spot. DeMatha's consistency made the Stags the team to beat all season, and now they have the opportunity to finish the job on the biggest stage.

There is an intriguing wrinkle to this matchup: Belvidere already showed it can compete with DeMatha, playing the Stags to a 36–36 tie in the regular-season finale. That result offers the Seaters reason to believe they can challenge the top seed again. But a championship game brings a different kind of pressure, and DeMatha will be determined to turn its regular-season success into a title.

For Belvidere, the mission is to cap a strong season with one more victory. For DeMatha, it's a chance to validate its top-seed status and finish the year undefeated. Both teams have earned this opportunity, but only one will be crowned Varsity Friday champion.

The regular season and semifinal are behind us. There are no more chances after this one. Belvidere County vs. DeMatha Catholic—with the Varsity Friday championship on the line!