High school Fall sports in playoffs: One and done. Cream rises to the top. Drama is played out. The special Fall season includes boys and girls cross country, boys soccer, girls volleyball, and eight classes of football.
The conference championships in football have been decided and Friday, Oct. 29 the playoffs will begin. Just as a sampling: Batavia High School is seeded No. 1 in the 32-team Class 7A and South Elgin is No. 2 in Class 8A. Joliet Catholic is No. 1 in Class 4A. Glenbard South is No. 1 in Class 5A; all four Glenbard schools are in the playoffs, South, North, East, West; three Naperville schools qualified, all from the DuPage Valley Conference, North, Central, Neuqua Valley. See selected pairings and final conference standings at thevoice.us/high-school-football-playoff-schedule-week-1-regular-season-results-oct-22-23.
• Teams desperate for victories to qualify for the playoffs in the final games of the regular season make it interesting. St. Charles North, 4-4, took aim at an upset of undefeated Batavia. The teams were tied at 22 at the end of regulation and Batavia won, 36-29, in two overtimes.
Batavia ran the ball well in overtime. “Just a base run,” head coach Dennis Piron said. “(St. Charles North) always scouts us and plays us well.”
Piron said about Friday’s opponent, Lake Zurich, 5-4 overall, “Very good conference (North Suburban), very good defense, lots of formations, primarily read/read option team.”
Batavia has developed into a traditional power. Three teams finished the regular season with 9-0 records, in 2011, 2012, 2018. Still only teams with one defeat made it to the State finals.
Piron was reflective on this season and no games in 2020, however a six-game Spring season this year.
He will remember this year, “That we had a season, and that these kids were so resilient. I will remember that despite how exciting this (playoff) is, I am a bit frustrated by what happened to last year’s team. What a travesty last year was, so I guess all of us are conflicted a bit between celebrating or current year and not wanting to forget last year’s group who really deserved so much better.”
• Yorkville was desperate for a victory to finish with a 5-4 record and quality for the playoffs. Host Yorkville stunned Suburban Prairie West champion, Oswego, 48-26.
“Our offensive line played its best game of the year,” Yorkville head coach Dan McGuire said, “against a very good team. Our timing was good with the backs hitting the holes and our linemen were creating running lanes.
“(Quarterback) Nate Kraus played his best game and a lot of it had to do with our linemen and backs being able to run. He was a part of the running game and made same reads in the passing game
“Plainfield Central (champion of the Suburban Prairie East, 8-1 overall and 5-0) is a very good team that has a good tailback, mobile and accurate quarterback, and an aggressive defense.
“It’s been a long time since Yorkville has had three straight playoff appearances. This group of seniors won one game as freshmen and have really improved.”
• Plainfield Central head coach Rob Keane’s Wildcats defeated Yorkville, 28-13, in week two. “Yorkville is playing well. Both teams have shown how good they are when executing in all phases. We’ve improved from week two, but, know they have improved as well. Our guys play really well together and play fast to the whistle.”
• Naperville North, with last week’s victory over previously undefeated Neuqua Valley, 34-32, on an 18-yard run by quarterback Aidan Gray in the final second of the game tied for the DuPage Valley Conference championship.
““Just real proud of our kids,” North head coach Sean Drendel said. “They have prepared hard and battled some adversity. It is a tough group of kids who care about one another and love to play the game.”
• Marmion (6-3 overall) head coach Dan Thorpe: “De La Salle put eight players near the line on defense and we threw very well.” Marmion won, 54-15.