High school football and other Fall sports are on the horizon. Actually golf meets have started and all other sports, except football, can begin Monday. The first football games will be Friday, Aug. 24 and there are changes.
Two items are consistent with the last few years of football: Both Batavia High School and West Aurora High School have lofty expectations again this year. Each expects to be in the playoffs. Batavia has a 73-11 record since 2010 and captured State championships in 2013 and 2017. West Aurora, after a 20-year playoff drought, qualified for the playoffs each of the last three years. The team is taking dead aim at playoff victories this season.
Batavia head coach Dennis Piron wrote, “the Batavia Bulldogs have quietly grown into an IHSA (Illinois High School Association) powerhouse the past decade.”
With two State championships in the past five seasons and a strong nucleus returning this season, Batavia is without question on the radar of the big football schools in Class 7A, and not so quietly. The Bulldogs, the 2017 State champions, are receiving rave reviews by the daily newspapers which offer preseason previews.
West Aurora head coach Mike Eimer has 16 returning starters, eight on offense and eight on defense. West Aurora is 21-9 the last three seasons, however, without a playoff victory. West Aurora has two high-profile juniors, defensive lineman Denver Warren, 6-3 and 295 pounds, who has made a verbal commitment to the University of Michigan in the Big Ten Conference, and second-year starting quarterback William Tammaru, 6-2 and 190, who is drawing mid-major college interest. Other players performed well last season. Tammaru is, “really becoming a leader and figuring out the system,” Eimer said.
West Aurora will play at Larkin August 24 in the first game, an Upstate Eight Conference engagement. There will be no non-conference varsity football games in the Upstate Eight (10). Batavia will play a non-conference game at Lemont in the opener. See the schedule of the first week by clicking here.
Changes?
• The Upstate lost four schools from last year to the first-year DuKane Conference and took in Glenbard South from the Metro Suburban, which expanded to 13 schools from 12 schools.
• Batavia left the Upstate Eight to join the DuKane and has the smallest enrollment. Other schools: Geneva, St. Charles East, St. Charles North, and from the DuPage Valley, Wheaton Warrenville South, Wheaton North, Lake Park, and Glenbard North.
• Aurora Christian, St. Francis, and Bishop McNamara left the Chicago Catholic League for the Metro Suburban Blue. Aurora Central switched to the Blue and St. Edward and Fenton switched to the Red. Walther Christian left for the Northeastern.
• Westmont left the Interstate Eight to be an independent and Seneca left the IEC to join the Sangamon.