The first week of high school football rendered few exact assessments. We need more weeks to determine top teams, in spite of some ratings by Chicago daily newspapers.
We do know that Naperville North will be tested at Batavia Friday and must heal at the same time. Chicago Simeon slipped past Naperville North, 30-20. “Our offensive line and running as well as our defense will be our strengths this year,” said North head coach Sean Drendel. North has seven starters back on defense and five returning on defense.
Other tidbits include:
• Geneva at Kaneland has been a good game in recent years. They will play at Kaneland Friday (see below for schedule and results). “I think we match up against Geneva,” Kaneland head coach Patrick Ryan said. “I think the defense is the strength of our team.” Kaneland shut out Hinsdale South in week one, 6-0.
• Jack Olsen of Wheaton Warrenville South made a splash in week one in a 26-0 victory over Metea Valley in non-conference play. He set a State record with eight field goals made in nine attempts and his 52-yard kick to tie the National record hit the crossbar. Six of his nine kickoffs were for touchbacks, and two punts ended inside the 10-yard line of Metea Valley. “Jack was the kicker last year,” said WWS head coach Ron Muhitch. “Jack’s confidence has matured over the last year.” There was more than Jack Olsen. The Tigers’ defensive numbers: Three interceptions, three fumble recoveries, four tackles for loss, one safety, seven QB hurries, and limiting Metea to 78 yards.
• Yorkville handled visiting Kankakee: “Our special teams and defense created great field position for our offense on many occasions,” Yorkville head coach Dan McGuire said. Yorkville will play at Centralia at 4 p.m. Saturday in a non-conference game. The game came down to playing Centralia or Naperville Central.
• Naperville Central has a difficult schedule which started with a 35-34 defeat to visiting Hinsdale Central on a blocked punt. See the photo on page 10. Central will continue with a game at last year’s Class 8A State champion Lincoln-Way East in Frankfort.
• Marmion Academy’s 27-0 victory over host DePaul Prep in Chicago was helped by defense. “We had a nice goal-line stand before half,” Marmion head coach Dan Thorpe said. (QB) Declan McDonald “threw the ball well….DuSable will be aggressive with big receivers.”
• First-year East Aurora head coach Nick Kukuc: “As a team we saw the importance of taking care of the football. It was a great coaching experience to compete.”
• West Aurora head coach Nate Eimer: “Zach Jacobson becoming the all-time leader in interceptions was a huge deal. Our entire defense (against Larkin) was amazing. We held Larkin to negative total yards.”