2026 High School Football Schedule Released For Richards

OAK LAWN, IL—The Illinois High School Association and MaxPreps have released the 2026 high school football schedules for the upcoming fall season.

The nine-week regular season begins with Week 1 games scheduled for Aug. 20 through Aug. 22. The season culminates with the IHSA Football State Finals on Nov. 27-28 at Hancock Stadium on the campus of Illinois State University in Normal.

The postseason will have a significantly different look this year after IHSA member schools voted to expand the football playoffs for the first time since 1985.

Each of the eight classes will have 48 playoff qualifiers, up from 32. The change expands the total field from 256 to 384 teams.

To maintain historical consistency in the number of teams competing in each stage, the playoff rounds will be called the Opening Round, First Round, Second Round, Quarterfinals and Semifinals.

The 2026 playoff schedule is:

• Opening Round: Oct. 23-24
• First Round: Oct. 30-31
• Second Round: Nov. 6-7
• Quarterfinals: Nov. 13-14
• Semifinals: Nov. 20-21
• State Finals: Nov. 27-28

The 384 playoff qualifiers will be revealed during a live statewide telecast at 9 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 17.

In Oak Lawn, fans will especially be keeping tabs on crosstown rival Oak Lawn Community High School, as well as the area Catholic high schools Marist, St. Lawrence, Brother Rice, St. Rita and Mount Carmel.

Tony Sheehan returns as the head coach of the Richards Bulldogs, who finished the 2025 season with a 9-2 overall record (7A), 6-0 in the conference.

This fall, Richards will compete in the South Suburban Conference (Red) alongside Oak Lawn, Evergreen Park, Richards, Shepard, Eisenhower, Reavis and Argo.

The Richards Bulldogs open the 2026 season at home, Friday, Aug. 21, in a non-conference game against the DePaul College Prep Rams, according to the IHSA and MaxPreps.

Here is a look at the 2026 schedule for Richards, courtesy of MaxPreps:

• Aug. 21 - 6:30 p.m. Friday, Richards vs. DePaul College Prep, non-conference (home)
• Aug. 28 - 7 p.m. Friday, Richards @ Homewood-Flossmoor, non-conference (away)
• Sept. 4 - 7 p.m. Friday, Richards vs. Evergreen Park, conference (home)
• Sept. 11 - 7 p.m. Friday, Richards vs. Reavis, conference (home)
• Sept. 18 - 7 p.m. Friday, Richards @ Oak Forest, non-conference (away)
• Sept. 25 - 6:30 p.m. Friday, Richards @ Blue Island Eisenhower, conference (away)
• Oct. 2 - 6:30 p.m. Friday, Richards vs. OLCHS, conference (home)
• Oct. 9 - 7 p.m. Friday, Richards @ Shepard, conference (away)
• Oct. 16 - 7 p.m. Friday, Richards @ Argo, non-conference (away)

~ Patch editor Eric DeGrechie contributed to this report.