The Warriors head into the final week of the regular season on a two-game winning streak as they host Bradley-Bourbonnais on Oct. 25 with a chance to improve their playoff seeding.
LWW earned a thrilling 40-39 double overtime victory over Lockport a week ago to secure its fifth win and a playoff spot. Currently, the Warriors are projected to be the No. 19 seed in the 7A IHSA Playoffs for schools with enrollment of 1820.50 to 2189.50, and are projected to travel to No. 14 seeded St. Rita, who sit at 6-2 on the season and host 4-4 IC Catholic this week.
To improve their playoff seeding, LWW will have to tame 7-1 Bradley-Bourbonnais, who currently hold the No. 11 seed in the &A IHSA playoff rankings after a 42-39 victory over winless DeKalb a week ago.
BBCHS went 7-4 in 2023. They beat St. Charles North 38-21 in Round One of the IHSA 7A Playoffs, then fell 31-30 in overtime to Normal Community in Round Two.
The Warriors beat BBCHS 41-17 in 2023, but the Boilermakers are currenty on a three-game winning streak since falling to Lincoln-Way Central 28-6 on Sept. 27. Prior to its current winning streak, LWW lost three straight games by a combined 18 points with seven points being the largest margin of defeat.
BBCHS is Lincoln-Way West’s second-most prolific opponent in football program history, with 13 meetings between the teams since 2009.
BBCHS stand-outs Gavin and Calvin Kohl are cousins. Their fathers— BBCHS head coach Mike and Mark Kohl— were twin brothers, 1993 BBCHS graduates who starred in football and basketball.
Mark Kohl is principal at Bradley Central Middle School and an assistant coach for the Boilermakers.
Gavin’s older brother, Ethan Kohl, was the Boilermakers’ starting quarterback in 2023 and broke the school’s career passing record with 4,080 yards. Coach Mike Kohl- their father— ranks third in school history with 3,989 career passing yards. Ethan Kohl is now a freshman quarterback at Truman State in Kirksville, Missouri.