Tuesday, September 2, 2014

This may be the year...

...of bullet points. Or at least after Week One in Illinois high school football. There's just so much to talk about.

First, from the three games I attended over the weekend:
  • Oak Park and River Forest upset Lincoln-Way East, 49-34, after a 45-minute lightning delay. (And all I could think was, Here we go again!) The player of the game (and for me, the weekend) was Huskie quarterback Lloyd Yates. I can certainly see why Pat Fitzgerald of Northwestern recruited him. Whether he goes on to play QB or wide receiver or defensive back at NU, he is obviously a really talented athlete.
  • Glenbard West defeated Wheaton Warrenville South, 21-10. While the Hilltoppers will probably end up as one of the highest seeds in 7A, the Tigers will have to struggle to find five victories from one of the state's toughest schedules. My guess is they'll do it, but it won't be easy. Quarterback Josh Prueter will be the key.
  • Mount Carmel fell to St. Joseph's Prep of Philadelphia, 28-27, on a missed point-after attempt. Should Frank Lenti have gone for two to win the game? I kind of thought he would. Oh, well. The Caravan looked awfully good for a team that supposedly graduated everyone.
And in the games I didn't attend:
  • In the weekend's biggest upset, Hinsdale Central beat Bolingbrook, 23-15, on the road. Just that morning, everyone in Chicago woke up to find the Brook in the No. 1 spot in both newspapers. One of five Division I prospects on defense, Micah Dew-Treadway, was quoted as saying, "I can't see anybody scoring on us." Ouch.
  • In what must have been the weekend's best game, Maine South scored three touchdowns in the last three minutes to defeat Montini by one point, 36-35. Didn't the Hawks do something like that against Loyola a few years ago?
  • New Trier beat Schaumburg, 34-14. This wouldn't be notable if MaxPreps hadn't picked the Saxons No. 10 in their preseason poll.
  • Phillips shut out Stillman Valley, 51-0. I considered going to this game and never expected it to be a blowout. Wildcat quarterback DeWayne Collins threw six touchdowns against the defending Class 3A champs. Wow!
  • And on Sunday St. Ignatius won its first game, 41-0, over Payton for new head coach John O'Connor, who came over from Mount Carmel. Can O'Connor change the culture at Ignatius, from one of the best academic schools in the area to one that values football?
Who else is starting out the year 0-1? Jacobs, Fremd, Neuqua Valley, Joliet Catholic, Lyons, Glenbard South, Brother Rice, Wheaton North, Glenbard North, Sycamore, Batavia and Naperville Central.

On Friday Batavia travels to Glenbard North, Joliet Catholic will be at Wheaton North and Neuqua hosts Naperville Central. That means three of the best teams from last year will be 0-2.

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