I was at Naperville Central...

...on Friday night and the first round matchup turned out much as I had expected: the Redhawks beat Bolingbrook, 14-7, but the Raiders gave the home team a game.

It was a beautiful night: not too cold, no rain and very little wind -- and Elvis even made a special appearance! I arrived at the stadium early, got a good seat around the 40-yard line and heard first-hand about how some guy got a really good deal on tires that week.

As for the action on the field, Conor Joyce, the quarterback for Naperville Central, ended up having a heck of a game, scoring the winning touchdown with six minutes remaining to seal the deal. Bolingbrook's defense was good -- a pick six in the first quarter made it 7-0 at the half -- but their offense just couldn't get anything going. (How on earth did these guys beat Homewood-Flossmoor in Week Nine?)

Central will now play Warren, in Gurnee -- about 60 miles away -- this weekend. Looking at their bracket, it's not too hard to imagine the Redhawks meeting up with Loyola in the 8A final.

(By the way, Curie, Warren's foe on Saturday, gets the award for Worst Uniforms Ever. Okay, coaches, we get it -- you don't want opposing schools scouting your team to be able to read your numbers. So why do you put them legibly on the helmets?)

Before we get to next week's pairings (dates and times will be released today at 2:00), here are just a few brief comments on some other select games.

First of all, here are the close ones you (and I) missed:

8A:

Warren 42, Curie 41, OT
Waubonsie Valley 20, Edwardsville 17, OT
Palatine 20, Sandburg 19, OT
Neuqua Valley 29,  Hinsdale Central 26

7A:

Bradley-Bourbonnais 60, Glenbrook North 59, 2 OT

6A:

Kaneland 33, Belvidere North 31

5A:

Solorio 20, Linblom 18

Glad to see the media finally on the bandwagon!

And here are two tilts that didn't live up to the hype:

Mount Carmel 42, Glenbard North 15

The Caravan had no trouble with the Panthers, which raises the stakes for this Saturday's game against Glenbard West at tiny Duchon Field. The 7A Hilltoppers can't play 8A Loyola, so Mount Carmel will have to do. Can the Glen Ellyn squad compete with the big, bad Catholic League Blue? (They did just fine against Stevenson last year.)

Lincoln-Way East 40, Jacobs 6

I thought this one would be close. Now the Griffins have the privilege of traveling to Libertyville to take on Riley Lees and the Wildcats. Could this be my Game of the Week?

Finally, it's that time of year when I run into some of my pet peeves (and I have a lot). While I didn't see anyone wearing shorts at Friday night's game I did see a guy wearing a ski band.

And I have to ask (again): What's the advantage to wearing a stocking cap with the crown cut out? It can't possibly be warmer, right? Does it look better? (I'll let you be the judge.) Does it prevent your hair from getting all mussed up? Not in this guy's case. I really wanted to ask him why he didn't just wear a hat.

Ski bands remind me of those sleeveless down vests from the 1970s or the fingerless gloves worn by Fagin in Oliver Twist. Help me out here: In fashion, is less truly more?