By Paul D. Bowker
MaxPreps.com
One 99-yard drive, and suddenly previously unbeaten and nationally-ranked Wheaton-Warrenville South has to settle for a No. 2 seed in the Illinois Class 7A football playoffs.
When Naperville North’s long scoring drive gave the Huskies a 7-6 win over WW South last Friday night, it ended a 27-game winning streak in the DuPage Valley Conference and prevented the Tigers from winning a fourth consecutive league championship.
It also dropped the Tigers into the No. 2 seed in the bottom half of the Class 7A football bracket, behind Glenbard West (9-0), the Chicago West Suburban Silver champ.
WW South won’t meet Naperville North in the postseason because North (9-0) is in the Class 8A tournament, which it won last year. North blasted through five Chicago-area schools in the 8A playoffs last year, including Bolingbrook, which is a No. 1 seed in the 7A playoffs this year with a 9-0 record.
Here’s a closer look at the brackets. First-round games will be played Friday and Saturday, the opening step to the championship games which will be played Nov. 28 and 29 at the University of Illinois‘s Memorial Stadium.
Class 8A
Top seeds: Bolingbrook (9-0), Bartlett (9-0).
Best of Chicago: No. 1 Bolingbrook (9-0), No. 2 Naperville North (9-0), No. 2 Maine South (9-0), No. 3 Lane (8-1), No. 4 Glenbrook South (8-1).
Don’t forget: Mount Carmel (7-2), with Northern Illinoiis recruit Jordan Lynch at quarterback, is a threat to go deep into the bracket. The Caravan has not lost since September losses to St. Rita and Providence. The Caravan faces Naperville Central (6-3) on Friday night at Gately Stadium, and could face defending champ Naperville North in the quarterfinals in two weeks.
Game to watch: Simeon at Naperville North, 5 p.m., Saturday, Benedictine University, Lisle.
Class 7A
Top seeds: Geneva (9-0), Glenbard West (9-0), St. Rita (8-1).
Best of Chicago: No. 1 Geneva (1-0), No. 1 Glenbard West (9-0), No. 1 St. Rita (8-1), No. 2 Wheaton Warrenville South (8-1), No. 4 Oak Park Fenwick (6-3).
Quick fact: This bracket has three No. 1 seeds because the lower half of the bracket was split by state officials to reduce travel times.
Don’t forget: Except for one slip, St. Rita was dominant in the bruising Catholic League Blue this year. St. Rita could meet No. 2 East St. Louis in the quarterfinals.
Game to watch: Wheaton North (5-4) at Glenbard West (8-0), 1:30 p.m., Saturday.
Class 6A
Top seeds: Lemont (9-0), Rock Island (9-0), Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin (8-1).
Best of Chicago: No. 2 Oak Forest (8-1), No. 3 Hubbard (8-1), No. 6 Glenbard South (7-2), No. 9 Morgan Park (6-3).
Don’t forget: Morgan Park’s offense can put up lots of points. The Mustangs could meet top-seeded Lemont in the second round next week.
Game to watch: Oak Lawn Community (6-3) vs. Hubbard (8-1) at Gately Stadium, 7 p.m. Saturday.
Class 5A
Top seeds: Lombard Montini (9-0), Metamora (9-0), Cahokia (8-1).
Best of Chicago: No. 2 Robeson (9-0), No. 8 Marshall (5-4), No. 10 Harper (5-4).
Don’t forget: Robeson, passed over for a top seed, blasted through the Public League’s Land of Lincoln Conference and scored 70 on Hyde Park in its last regular-season game.
Game to watch: Rochelle (5-4) vs. Robeson (9-0), 3 p.m. Saturday, Gately Stadium.
Class 4A
Top seeds: Aurora Christian (9-0), Quincy Notre Dame (9-0), Breese Mater Del (9-0).
Best of Chicago: No. 1 Aurora Christian (9-0), No. 12 Leo (6-3).
Don’t forget: Aurora Christian quarterback Jordan Roberts is the state’s all-time leader in touchdown passes and passing yardage.
Game to watch: No. 16 Plano (5-4) at Aurora Christian (9-0), 7 p.m. Saturday.
Class 3A
Top seeds: Carthage Illini West (9-0), Greenville (9-0).
Best of Chicago area: No. 13 Lisle (5-4), Rockford Christian (6-3).
Game to watch: Rockford Christian (6-3) at Stillman Valley (8-1), 7 p.m. Friday.
Class 2A
Top seeds: Momence (8-1), Auburn (9-0).
Best of Chicago: No. 15 Elmhurst Immaculate Conception (5-4).
Game to watch: Immaculate Conception (5-4) at Orion (8-1), 1 p.m. Saturday.
Class 1A
Top seeds: Milledgeville (9-0), Concord Triopla (9-0).
Best of Chicago: No. 7 Chicago Hope Academy (8-1).
Don’t forget: Hope Academy’s only loss came to St. Rita, a much bigger Class 7A school. The Eagles are only in the second year of varsity football.
Game to watch: No. 10 Stark County (6-3) at Hope Academy (8-1), 5 p.m. Saturday.
Football history
Football Notes
Two “firsts” arrived on the final playing dates of the regular season last week. Mount Carmel High School hosted a home football game on its Hyde Park campus for the first time in almost 100 years of school history. And across Chicago, in the western suburb of Bridgeview, Toyota Park – the home stadium of the Major League Soccer‘s Chicago Fire – hosted its first high school football game.
Mount Carmel, which has now won five consecutive games since losing two straight, pounded Hales Franciscan 56-14 in its true home debut last Friday afternoon. The Caravan (7-2, 2-2 Catholic League Blue) scored two touchdowns in the first minute and rolled from there as spectators watched from lawn chairs or just stood the entire game. Carey Field, normally the team‘s practice facility, does not have bleachers.
Mount Carmel, a semifinalist in the Class 8A playoffs last year, will return to its other home field Friday, the Chicago Public League’s Gately Stadium, to face Naperville Central in the first round of the 8A playoffs.
Meanwhile, over at Toyota Park last Friday, De La Salle (6-3, 3-1 Catholic League White) defeated Fenwick, 17-10. De La Salle will play at Belleville West (8-1) in the first round of the Class 7A playoffs.
Boys Soccer: Neuqua Valley, Downers Grove South Meet in Sectional
Goals by Scott Davis and Pat Doody led Neuqua Valley (19-4-2) to a 2-1 victory Tuesday over Naperville North and into a Class 3A sectional final at Naperville on Saturday against Downers Grove South.
Geneva (20-2-1), which has won its last 12 games, will face St. Charles North in the Class 3A sectional final at Wheaton. St. Charles North has already knocked off No. 1 seed Larkin and No. 4 Wheaton North. St. Charles North escaped a bullet in its 3-2 win over Wheaton North on Tuesday when a ball slipped out of goalkeeper Zach Holser’s grasp and into the net, but just after the final whistle sounded. The goal was waved off by the officials.
The Class 1A semifinals and championship will be played this weekend at North Central College in Naperville. Timothy Christian of Elmhurst, which knocked off Chicago‘s Morgan Park 3-0 in the quarterfinals, will play Gibault Catholic of Waterloo in one semifinal Friday, and Winnebago will meet Rochester in the other semifinal. Rochester has given up just one goal in four tournament games. The championship game will be played at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
Volleyball: Two Teams With 30-Plus Wins
As the state volleyball tournament heads into the regionals this week, two Chicago-areas
schools are atop MaxPrep’s state rankings, each with more than 30 wins.
Top-ranked Mother McAuley has won 32 of 34 matches, including winning its last 15.
No. 2 Benet Academy, of Lisle, won its first 32 matches and is now 34-1 with a 10-0 record in the East Suburban Catholic Conference. The Redwings’ only loss was to Joliet Catholic in a tournament earlier this month at Glenbard East. Joliet Catholic (24-4) is ranked No. 3 in Illinois by MaxPreps.
Mother McAuley is ranked No. 10 nationally; Benet is No. 22.
The volleyball finals will be held Nov. 14 and 15.
Recruiting: Pratl to Eastern Illinois
Shaun Pratl, a basketball and football star at Richards High School in Chicago‘s southwestern burbs, verbally committed to Eastern Illinois’ basketball program. He is a 6-foot-8 post player and also plays wide receiver for the school‘s football team.
Despite getting interest in colleges for his football, a month ago Pratl narrowed his choices to basketball programs. He led the Panthers to a Class 4A state title last year in basketball and earlier this fall participated in a Converse footwear commercial with Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade, a Richards High School alum.
“That was really cool,” Pratl said.
Fishing: Carlyle Lake to Host Finals
Get those fishing poles ready, boys and girls.
Last spring, the Illinois High School Association made history by announcing it would be the first high school association to sponsor a bass fishing tournament. Recently, the IHSA picked the venue for the 2009 Bass Fishing State Finals: Carlyle Lake, the largest manmade lake in Illinois located in the south-central portion of the state.
Carlyle Lake covers 26,000 acres of water.
Paul Bowker covers the Chicago area for MaxPreps. He may be reached at bowkerpaul1@aol.com
