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It may be a case of thinking too far ahead, but if Providence can somehow beat Lincoln-Way East on Saturday night in Frankfort, the Celtics might have to go on the road again and play the winner of the Edwardsville-East St. Louis game. Providence is a No. 4 seed in Class 7A, Edwardsville and East St. Louis are the Nos. 2 and 3 seeds.

The Celtics don’t want their game against East to be labeled “a state championship game.”

“There’s going to be bigger and tougher games ahead, and I don’t want to call that the state championship,” Providence coach Mark Coglianese said. “It would be a big win, but there are still three games to go after that.”

If the Griffins win they would host Edwardsville or travel to East St. Louis.

Wally Pipp alert

Any time a player comes off the bench to fill in for a starter and the backup does well, there’s a comparison to Wally Pipp, the Yankees first baseman in the 1920s who was given a day off and replaced by Lou Gehrig.

Could that be the case with Aaron Bailey at Bolingbrook? The quarterback has been out with a knee injury and wasn’t ready against Sandburg in a first-round playoff game.

But backup Quincy Woods, a sophomore, is making people more confident in Bailey’s absence. Case in point: a 32-point second-half offensive blitz Friday night against Sandburg. The Raiders trailed 7-6 at halftime but won 39-7. Woods ran for 104 yards and three touchdowns, giving him eight scores in three games.

Newbies

Lincoln-Way West’s program hasn’t been around that long, but the Warriors have made the playoffs three years in a row. They advanced to the second round for the second time in their history after shutting out Rochelle in Round 1.

The first time the Warriors went to the second round was in 2010, when they lost to Peoria Richwoods 49-13.

Plainfield North, though, wasn’t as lucky and is out of the postseason after losing 28-21 to Oswego. The Tigers made the playoffs for the third time (previous appearances in 2009 and ’10) and still have not made it past the first round.