By Bobby Narang
After the first three weeks of the high school football season, the West Suburban Silver Conference is heating up.
York, Glenbard West, Lyons, and Downers Grove North, enter the fourth weekend of the season all undefeated along with one Conference victory each.
By Saturday, Sept. 17 that number will decrease by at least one, with Downers Grove North and York battling Friday, Sept. 16. York has been one of the feel-good stories of the last few years under the guidance of fifth-year coach Mike Fitzgerald.
Downers Grove North head coach Joe Horeni spent a season working with Fitzgerald at St. Francis, so he appreciates all the hard work it took to rebuild the York program.
“I’ve known Coach Fitzgerald for a long time, ad he’s done a great job,” Horeni said. “York is explosive offensively, and their quarterback is a great thrower and a big-time running threat. They have a really quick running back and good wide receivers. Defensively, they run a similar scheme to us and got some good players out there.
“We have to keep their offense off the field and also we have to sustain drives and be opportunistic with the ball and figure out a way to turn them over and get a short field.”
The Dukes enter the key early season conference as one of the hottest teams in the State, but have yet to be truly tested. The Dukes have outscored their three opponents, Schaumburg, Morton, and Proviso West, by a total of 154-7. Downers Grove North is playing extremely well and outscored three opponents, Hoffman Estates, Willowbrook and Downers Grove South, by a combined 93-20.
Downers Grove North senior defensive lineman Ben Bielawski is one of the reasons for his team’s strong start. He has eight sacks in three games, including 12 tackles for a loss. Bielawski said the Trojans are looking to avenge last season’s 28-10 defeat to York last season.
“Last year, we didn’t get so lucky against them,” Bielawski said. “They run a good program, have a lot of respect for them and a very good offensive line and a good quarterback”
A year ago, Hinsdale Central was a force in the conference and won all six league games to earn the Silver championship. Lyons, which defeated the Red Devils last week, will play Hinsdale South Friday, and Glenbard West will play Proviso West.