My takeaways from Round One...

Palatine coach Tyler Donnelly.

...of the IHSA football playoffs. (Or: An Old Bald Guy Comments on a Bunch of Games He Didn't See.)

First of all, the wildest game of the weekend had to be #3 Palatine's 69-42 victory over #14 Niles West. The Pirates play #6 Schaumburg next week, a team they beat two weeks ago, 51-18. But in Round Three they will probably face #2 Loyola, and they had better bring their defense to that game.

The biggest upsets of the week were -- besides #8 Downers Grove North over #1 Batavia, 38-26, for which I have already atoned -- #15 Lyons over #2 Marist, 34-28; and #14 Notre Dame over #3 Grayslake North, 46-27. Who would have thought Batavia and Marist would get knocked out in the first round?

Two mismatches I would have attended were #9 Bolingbrook over #8 Sandburg 39-7; and #6 Lake Zurich over #11 Crystal Lake South, 49-0.

And another one I was thinking of seeing was #7 Woodstock North over #10 Sterling, 68-20. (But this sets up an awesome showdown next week with the Thunder's cross-town rival, Marian Central Catholic.)

Had I not gone to that game I might have taken in one of the best contests in Round One, #7 Fenwick over #10 Huntley, 10-9. (Don't be too surprised if the Friars upset #2 Rockford Boylan next week.)

Which leads me into four other best games of the week: #4 Glenbard North over #13 Fremd 31-24; #12 Oak Park River Forest over #5 Hinsdale Central 28-24; and two games between two teams that were 7-2 in the regular season, #10 O'Fallon over #7 Homewood-Flossmoor, 37-35; and #5 Thornton over #4 T.F. South, 23-21. (Moral of the story: Always, always, always go to games in the first round between two 7-2 teams.)

Finally, there are three conferences (by my count) that have four teams left in the playoffs:

East Suburban Catholic: Benet, St. Patrick, Joliet Catholic and Notre Dame;
North Suburban - Lake: Stevenson, Libertyville, Lake Zurich and Lake Forest; and
West Suburban - Silver: OPRF, Lyons, Glenbard West and Downers Grove North.

And four with three:

Mid-Suburban - West: Conant, Palatine and Schaumburg;
Catholic League Blue: Loyola, Mount Carmel and Providence;
Upstate Eight: Bartlett, Neuqua and Waubonsie; and
South Suburban - Blue: Oak Forest, Lemont and Tinley Park.

Next: The games to watch in Round Two.