My weekend of football continued...

Tom Fuessel.

...on Friday afternoon with my first ever sighting of a Hawaii license plate (how the devil did he get here?) and ended on Saturday afternoon with my first ever sighting of an Alaska license plate (he's a long way from home!). And I think I finally figured out that age-old riddle: Why do Alaska and Hawaii have Interstate Highways? Answer: To get to the other states.

I arrived in Frankfort in record time -- less than two hours. After a quick stroll around the grounds (what a campus!) I entered the stadium just in time for the Sophomore game. I bought a brat, a hot dog, a bag of Fritos and a Pepsi and took my seat on the visitors' side. (No "walking taco?" What was I thinking?) I usually sit in the home bleachers, but I knew I'd be rooting for Aaron Bailey and the Raiders. Besides, it was sunny over there.

The undercard had a lot of scoring, but the Lincoln-Way East Sophomores ended up winning going away. (Look for Griffins' running back Alex Kraft next year.) By the fourth quarter I had already found a few other high school football "experts" to talk to and we were furiously comparing notes. One of the guys said he'd probably be leaving at the half of the varsity game because Bolingbrook was going to win in a blowout; they just had too much athleticism.

(Honestly, I didn't know what to expect; I just came down to see the Aaron Bailey Show.)

So imagine my disappointment when the Raiders' quarterback got injured on the second play of the game. It was a beautiful 90-yard touchdown run by Omar Stover and we didn't even notice Bailey had gone down on the play with a sprained MCL.

(I had to ask the guy sitting next to me who scored, though. Bolingbrook -- for some unknown reason -- had white jerseys with white numbers, thinly outlined in red. My program was worthless! "Number 24," he said. Turns out it was Stover's dad; nice man, by the way.)

But before we even knew about Bailey, we found ourselves watching the Tom Fuessel Show -- and it was just as good! This kid plays like he's just drank a pot of Starbuck's; he's without question the best quarterback I've seen this year. Fuessel may not be the biggest guy on the field (6'3", 180 pounds), but he's quick!

In fact, after seeing the blizzard of touchdowns Lincoln-Way East scored on its way to a 35-7 halftime lead, I think I may have witnessed the best team in the state of Illinois. (I don't think even Loyola could beat these guys.) But since 7A is probably a little tougher than 8A this year, we'll see. There's still Glenbard West, Wheaton North and Boylan waiting for them in the playoffs. (I've seen Cary-Grove and Providence play; the Griffins would crush them both.)

So when the clock finally (mercifully) ran out the score was Lincoln-Way East 42, Bolingbrook 19. Wow! Who woulda thunk it? (Not me.)

But I had to keep moving. The Loyola - Mount Carmel game was waiting for me on my DVR at home. I had to hurry up, drive the fifty miles back to Glenview and watch that contest before I went to bed, because I had to get up early the next day and meet my buddy Kevin for breakfast in Dyer, Indiana ("Indiana?," my wife asked incredulously), before we took in the Crete-Monee - Bloom game on Saturday afternoon. Grass doesn't grow under my feet!

Next: Loyola's thrilling overtime victory over Mount Carmel.