I attended two games yesterday...

...Glenbard North at Loyola and Schaumburg at Glenbrook South. Actually, I only saw the second half of both games, but that was enough to get the feel for each.

When I arrived at Sachs Stadium in Wilmette yesterday, the score was tied, 7-7. Beautiful, I thought, I haven't missed anything. It was a cold, cloudy day but the new field at Loyola looked magnificent. Could the track around it be slightly banked, Joe? The Loyola side was filled with Irish faces, plaid pants, and blue blazers. Not really; actually, most people had standard game-day fare of jeans, sneakers and baseball caps. But you could tell you were at a private, Catholic school. It felt like a club where everyone knew each other or were even related somehow. It's hard to understand the spirit and loyalty to that place until you go to a game there.

Anyway, it was clearly a defensive battle until Loyola scored to make it 13-7. After missing the extra point, the crowd groaned. It seemed prophetic, especially after Glenbard North marched down the field and took the lead, 14-13 with only 6:46 remaining in the fourth quarter. Evan Watkins, the Panthers' quarterback, looked impressive, and this blog writer will certainly be following his career at Northwestern. But Loyola was not to be denied, and quarterback Lucas Ruske (who likes to run with the ball; 131 yards on 25 carries) found Jack Begley (whom he's known since fourth grade) for a 36-yard touchdown pass with 4:10 to go in the game. The Ramblers failed to make the two point conversion, but it didn't matter as Philip Rdzanek intercepted a forced Watkins pass on the next set of downs and scampered into the end zone to put the game on ice, 26-14.

Loyola must now travel to Park Ridge to take on the no. 1 Maine South Hawks and Vanderbilt-bound quarterback Charlie Goro. Maine South lit up the scoreboard this weekend as they defeated Stevenson, 63-29. Goro went 18-for-25 for 377 yards and six touchdown passes. Although Maine South is undefeated and has one of the best football traditions in the state of Illinois, Glenbrook South almost beat them just a few weeks ago. In high school football, anything can happen and usually does. This blog writer will definitely be in attendance next Saturday.

As for the GBS Titans, it was an early and disappointing end to a great season. For the second week in a row, the Titans lost a running back to a broken leg. Last week it was Michael Schroeder in the New Trier game; this week it was his replacement, Greg Benz. At halftime, the score was only 7-0, Schaumburg, but the Glenview side seemed particularly subdued. Schaumburg, as you may know, was the setting for the old series "Married...with Children" and is the butt of a lot of jokes in the Chicagoland area. They were no joke last night. Working without a huddle (which seems more and more common today), the Saxons' quarterback ran and passed all over the GBS defense and led 20-8 with a minute to go in the game. The Titans made it interesting as quarterback Ryan Hopkins connected to Trent Monckton for a 60-yard score, but Schaumburg recovered the ensuing onside kick to end the game, 20-16.

Readers of this blog will note that I have been warning Titan fans all season that their schedule was "favorable," as Ara Parseghian would say. They faced only four playoff teams this year while Schaumburg, at 5-4, faced six. I would love to see GBS open their season against Loyola. It would be a great geographical rivalry and an evenly-matched game most years. But the Ramblers' schedule is hard enough as it is. The Titans need to seek out better non-conference opponents, and they won't be found at places like Maine West.