IHSA Football State Finals Biggest Fan Section 2023

Nazareth Academy’s Jaden Fauske (3) climbs up into the stands after beating Joliet Catholic in the Class 5A state championship game at Illinois State University’s Hancock Stadium in Normal on Saturday, Nov. 25, 2023.

Each year I cover the IHSA football state finals I’ve tried to capture photos showing the amount of fans each school brings to the game. Partially because someone is always claiming their school brought the most fans and because even if the IHSA released attendance numbers, they could never break it down by school.

*Mount Carmel fans in the Class 7A state championship game at Illinois State University’s Hancock Stadium in Normal on Saturday, Nov. 25, 2023.*

So below I give you photos of each schools’ seating section from 1A to 8A.

I take each image at the start of the 2nd quarter, because most if not all of a school’s fans are there and there is typically very few fans that early for the next game. I also try to shoot both sides and all games from roughly the same location, somewhere between the 10 & 25-yard line.

Note: The home stands at ISU’s Hancock Stadium have a lower two-to-three rows that looks like VIP seating right along the field. They were often filled with the more densely pack standing student cheering section.

*Nazareth fans in the Class 5A state championship game at Illinois State University’s Hancock Stadium in Normal on Saturday, Nov. 25, 2023.*

*Byron fans in the Class 3A state championship game at Illinois State University’s Hancock Stadium in Normal on Friday, Nov. 24, 2023.*

1A

Camp Point Central

Lena-Winslow

To view more photos from the 1A State Finals between Camp Point Central and Lena Winslow, click here.
Or photos from LeWin’s 2021 state title game.

2A

Athens

Wilmington

To view more photos from the 2A State Finals between Athens and Wilmington, click here.
Or for a throwback, check out this gallery from Wilmington in the 2003 state title game.

3A

Mt. Carmel

Byron

To view more photos from the 3A State Finals between Mt. Carmel and Byron, click here.
Or photos from Byron’s 2021 State Final game.

4A

Rochester

St. Laurence

To view more photos from the 4A State Finals between Rochester and St. Laurence, click here.
Or photos from St. Laurence’s 2023 regular season.

5A

Joliet Catholic

Nazareth Academy

To view more photos from the 5A State Finals between Joliet Catholic and Nazareth Academy, click here.
Or photos from
JCA’s 2021 state final
Naz’s 2022 State final

6A

East St. Louis

Cary-Grove

To view more photos from the 6A State Finals between East St. Louis and Cary-Grove, click here.
Or photos from the 2021 State Final between Cary-Grove & East St. Louis.

7A

Mount Carmel

Downers Grove North

To view more photos from the 7A State Finals between Mount Carmel and Downers Grove North, click here.
Or countless other Mount Carmel games some as far back as 1996.

8A

Lincoln-Way East

Loyola

To view more photos from the 8A State Finals between Lincoln-Way-East and Loyola Academy, click here.
Or photos from the 2022 State Finals between Loyola & Lincoln-Way East.

1A