By Bobby Narang
The eight-class high school football season is down to the last two weeks.
Two teams still standing belong in the same conference.
York and Downers Grove North are among the teams still standing in the middle of November, with the two West Suburban Conference Silver Division teams both aiming to advance to the State championship games
York (11-1) defeated Edwardsville, 36-29, last week to advance to Saturday’s Class 8A semifinals at Loyola Academy in Wilmette. The Ramblers defeated the York Dukes in an 8A semifinal game last season.
“We’re super excited about getting another shot at them,” York wide receiver Luke Mailander said. “Obviously, they have been a powerhouse for many years, but that makes it more fun. It isn’t every day you get a chance to go out there and play a team of that caliber. It feels amazing to be back in the semifinals. Last year, the standard was set super high and early in the offseason, as a team, we all came together and said we have to get back to where we were and possibly even further. We take a lot of pride in our program right now since we have accomplished that.”
York defensive lineman Jack Trautmann, who had four sacks in the quarterfinal win, said motivation is on York’s side after losing to Loyola in the semifinals last season.
“They obviously have a very talented offense at Loyola, but I think if we play our game and come out of the gate with confidence, we will be able to find success,” Trautmann said. “We’ve been waiting for this game for a year now, and we know we didn’t play the best we could last year, so everyone is extremely motivated to get to the state title game.”
Meanwhile, Downers Grove North (10-2) will be host to Normal Community Saturday in a Class 7A semifinal after beating Lincoln-Way West, 34-6, in the quarterfinals.
“We’re all very excited for our kids and the school,” Downers Grove North head coach Joe Horeni said. “They are on a fun ride right now. We’re hoping to keep it going for another week. A lot of people have worked very hard to help our team achieve what they have so far, but we’re not done yet.”
“Normal is a very balanced team offensively and has scored a lot of points. They have some key players but also are very solid. Defensively, they have a very impressive team. They have good size up front and all of the kids fly around to the football.”
In other semifinal games, in 8A, Lincoln-Way East will play host to Barrington at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 18, and in 7A, Batavia will play at Mt. Carmel in Chicago at 4 p.m. with the latter game on WCIU television. See page 9 for results and semifinal pairings in all eight classes.