Downers Grove South...

...is one of two high schools in the village of Downers Grove, Illinois. (I'll let you guess the name of the other one.)

The village was founded in 1832 by Pierce Downer and was incorporated in 1873. According to Wikipedia:

Its somewhat unusual spelling ("Apostrophe-free since 1873") remains a minor historical mystery.

Downers Grove South High School opened its doors in 1964 and its most famous alum is probably the comedian, Emo Philips, above.

The Mustangs compete in the West Suburban Conference. I wrote a post in October about South's easy schedule and the weakness of its conference, but I wonder if I was a little hasty. After all, the Mustangs crushed Brother Rice last week and defeated Naperville North the week before, from arguably the two best conferences in the state, the Catholic Blue and the DuPage Valley.

I may have mentioned that I had a conversation last week with two coaches during halftime at the Bolingbrook-Mount Carmel game, one from Homewood-Flossmoor and the other from South. (They were both a little miffed by the awe in which the local media seemed to hold the Catholic League and the DVC.)

The coach from South, in particular, was very personable and not at all boastful. He calmly opined that Brother Rice probably hadn't seen such a hard-hitting team as his all year. When I asked about the Catholic League's reputation for just such hard-hitting, he simply shrugged his shoulders and stated that his defensive linemen had knocked the Crusaders' quarterback out of the game by the fourth quarter. I then asked him what happened in the game against Addison Trail, South's only loss of the year, and he said that the Blazers were sky-high for that game. "It's their Super Bowl," he remarked.

I was impressed by his measured way of speaking and came away thinking that, regardless of what I had previously written, these guys were not to be taken lightly.

Besides the two victories against Brother Rice (7-4) and Naperville North (5-5) and the loss to Addison Trail (8-2), South faced only two other winning teams this year, Hinsdale South (5-4) and Lyons (8-4), both of which they defeated handily.

Here's the full 2011 schedule, with the most recent game first and all home teams in CAPS:

DOWNERS GROVE SOUTH 41, Brother Rice 14
SOUTH 37, Naperville North 24
ADDISON TRAIL 24, South 14
SOUTH 49, Hinsdale South 6
SOUTH 38, Proviso East 9
South 49, WILLOWBROOK 13
SOUTH 24, Downers Grove North 14
South 49, LEYDEN 0
SOUTH 56, Morton 0
South 28, LYONS 0
SOUTH 28, South Elgin 7

The Mustangs are coached by John Belskis and are led on offense by running back Josh Williams (above), who averages over 200 yards a game. Williams is joined in the backfield by running back John Wauer (who also plays defensive back) and quarterback A. J. Simoncelli, who can pass to Kaylon Miller, Marco Scalzetti and Scott Daly, who must be the tight end. Daly is also the long snapper and has committed to Notre Dame. The rest of the Mustang offensive line consists of Shane Companey, Kevin Nam, Tim Lieb, Mark Muench and Sean Eslit. The placekicker is Anthony Farinella.

South's defense is anchored by lineman Jeremy Ulrich, linebackers Lance Leong and Melvin Saulsberry, and safety Danny Leach, who is also a threat on punt returns.

Bolingbrook is led, of course, by Aaron Bailey (above), who is probably the most talented quarterback I've seen this year (and the fastest ever). I've seen the Raiders twice, against Lincoln-Way East (their only loss) and last week against Mount Carmel. I'll let you read my impressions here and here, but suffice it to say, if Downers Grove South can find a way to stop Bailey, they'll win. If they can't, then the Raiders are going to the semifinals (against Homewood-Flossmoor, I think).

Here's the Raiders schedule again:

BOLINGBROOK 21, Mount Carmel 7
BOL 33, Neuqua Valley 14
BOL 42, Lockport 17
Bol 38, LINCOLN-WAY CENTRAL 0
Bol 27, SANDBURG 3
Lincoln-Way East 20, BOL 14
Bol 41, HOMEWOOD-FLOSSMOOR 28
BOL 49, Joliet West 12
BOL 60, Joliet 6
Bol 39, BELLEVILLE EAST 13
Bol 40, PLAINFIELD SOUTH 16

BOWG prediction: Bolingbrook 21, Downers Grove South 14.