What a great way to start the 2024 IHSA prep football season.
It might even approach Mt. Rushmore territory in terms of the big matchups. Throughout the state, it seemed like all the top teams found a way to hook up.
In our area there were some surprises. Not necessarily with the outcomes, but with the margins of victory.
Fremd beating Lake Zurich is one thing, but 31-0 was a shocker. Just too much of Vikings quarterback Johnny O’Brien, a junior committed to Northwestern, and way too much defense.
Fremd completely stymied the Bears’ ground game and forced four turnovers.
Speaking of too much, there was way too much Aaron Stewart in Warren’s 55-26 win over Hersey — the Huskies’ first regular-season loss since the 2021 season. Stewart had 363 rushing yards and 5 touchdowns.
Barrington hammered South Elgin 64-21 — thanks in much part to a 10-of-10 passing performance with 4 touchdowns from quarterback Nick Peipert — and Lincoln-Way East beat Maine South 49-22.
You can’t judge everything by the opening weekend, though. As the classic football cliché goes, the most improvement of the season comes between Week 1 and Week 2. So we’ll see what happens with the teams that fell short.
While there were a handful of unexpected blowouts, last weekend also featured thrillers. St. Charles North edged Palatine, Batavia beat Glenbard West by a touchdown and Wheaton North picked up a gutsy win over Providence.
The North Stars, Falcons and IC Catholic Prep all won by a single point.
Beyond the scores, a few other things stood out.
It’ll take some research, but I’d like to see how the Week 0 scrimmages affected opening weekend. Did teams that faced outside competition see a boost in their readiness? Did they have an edge over teams that kept their contact in-house?
Who hurt their playoff chances by scheduling an opener that’s too difficult? It’s tricky business trying to balance on that edge of staying sharp while making sure your path to the postseason remains secure.
Teams like Maine South and Glenbard West, who have traditionally dominated their respective conferences, can afford to play tougher nonconference teams in the opening weeks of the season.
At the end of the season, though, check out the list of 5-4 and 4-5 teams that didn’t make the playoffs. Then look at the 6-3 teams that did qualify. What did their nonconference schedules look like?
So now we move onward and upward to Week 2 and another batch of great games.
Barrington-Hersey, Loyola-Glenbard West, Maine South-Warren … and how about these early rivalry games between Downers Grove North and South, and Naperville Central and North?
Even if they fall to 0-2, all four of those losing teams from Week 1 — Hersey, Loyola, Glenbard West and Maine South — have the talent to recover and become playoff troublemakers, even title contenders. But, trust me, none of them want to wait another week for a win.
It’s important to pay attention to these nonconference matchups now. Because once the conference games get going — and certainly by the end of the regular season — we’ll have a difficult time remembering the details.
It’s an annual shame, but it happens. Pretty soon, all focus will be on the playoff picture.