WWS-Glenbard game to be featured on ESPN2
Every year before the season opener, Wheaton Warrenville South High School football coach Ron Muhitch likes to find a mountain trail and do some hiking with his wife. Out of that tradition comes a metaphor about climbing a mountain he uses to motivate his players.
But this year poses a problem for Muhitch's preferred metaphor: after winning two straight titles, the players have already reached the pinnacle of their sport.
“How do you create a mountaintop experience for a two-time state champion?” Muhitch said. “I have talked to them about bringing more dirt. Whatever that means to them, hopefully that will motivate them to continue that journey.”
Muhitch hopes his team is ready to kick-start that journey into high gear immediately. The Tigers take on powerful Glenbard West High School in both teams' season opener at 11 a.m. Sunday at Red Grange Field, 1993 Tiger Trail, Wheaton.
The latest chapter in the 96-year-old rivalry will play out on a national stage. ESPN2 will be in Wheaton to showcase the matchup as part of the 2011 ESPN High School Kickoff, which includes a total of 13 games across the country in a three-day span.
Sunday's game is a rematch of last year's quarterfinal game, in which the Tigers won 40-20 and catapulted the rivalry even further.
The Hilltoppers from Glen Ellyn boast 11 returning starters, and experts predict they have the talent to go toe-to-toe with the Tigers in their quest for a three-peat.
But South's Tigers are riding a 26-game winning streak and have won the last two state titles, including a 2009 double-overtime victory over Glenbard West in the Class 7A finals.
Muhitch said it remains to be seen just how quickly his young team can respond, after many key players have graduated. But he said his coaching staff has been working late to get the team ready for the national event.
However, the competition isn't only a battle of Xs and Os. It also comes with an off-the-field rivalry among students, alumni and fans of both schools, separated by 6½ miles.
Some players in Sunday's game remember each other from their postseason meetings. And though coaches may tell their players to treat this game like any other, there's still an added emotional component that makes this game special, said Linda Oberg, Glenbard West's assistant principal for athletics.
“You know there's more fire in the belly for this one than any other one,” Oberg said. “Both schools want to beat each other bad.”
That places a target directly on the backs of the Tigers, said running back Dan Vitale. Add in the excitement of national television and you are faced with a game that demands perfection, he said. But getting up for this game should not be a problem.
“They are probably our biggest rival based on all that has happened in the past,” the 17-year-old team captain said. “They are our crosstown rivals. It's a huge deal for us. We know they don't like us and they are coming after us. We have a huge target on our backs.”
Classes began last week at both schools. At Glenbard West, Principal Jane Thorsen said students were looking forward to coming back.
“I think there's an air of excitement in the building, and I think the game is part of it,” Thorsen said. “A win would mean a great deal to all of us.”
In its heyday, the series was so fierce that student rioting in the 1920s and 1940s caused school administrators to suspend the series — twice. But fans today say the rivalry is good-spirited.
And that's one reason athletic directors from both schools agreed to schedule Sunday's game.
“Because the communities are so close to each other, there's a natural all-in-good-fun rivalry going on,” Oberg said. “As long as that stays a good clean fun, healthy rivalry, we'll keep it going.”
The two teams, who aren't in the same conference, traditionally have met in the first game of the regular season before the conference schedule starts. But they haven't met in the regular season since 2006, after a string of WW South victories.
Because of the limited number of games in a football season, athletic directors are judicious in which nonconference opponents they seek to play. Following the two postseason meetings between WW South and Glenbard West, Oberg and South Athletic Director Mike Healy agreed to resume the rivalry in the regular season.
They signed a two-year agreement that includes Sunday's game in Wheaton and a game next year at Glenbard West's Duchon Field.
“We decided to open the rivalry back up because no one else wanted to play us,” Oberg said. “If this year and next year remains tough competition for both schools, then I would advocate to keep the series going.”
But first, both teams must make it through Sunday's tilt. For Coach Muhitch, the battle will be his first glimpse at what this latest group of players becomes.
“They are part of some uncharted territories,” he said. “No one has ever won three in a row here ... They are a group of kids seeking an identity, and I'm really interested to see what that identity becomes.”
History of a rivalry
1916: Wheaton High School defeats Glen Ellyn High School 72-6.
1920: Harold “Red” Grange leads Wheaton to a 72-0 victory over Glen Ellyn.
1921-25: Series suspended because of rioting.
1932: Glenbard wins for the first time, 6-0.
1940-43: Series suspended again after student rioting in downtown Wheaton in 1939.
1974-87: Series suspended a third time because of Glenbard West dominance.
2007-08: Series suspended a fourth time because of WW South dominance.
2009: WW South defeats Glenbard West 31-24 in double overtime in the Class 7A Championship game in Champaign.
2010: WW South defeats Glenbard West 40-20 in state playoffs quarterfinal round.
Sunday: WW South and Glenbard West play their first regular season game since 2006, in a nationally televised game at Grange Field in Wheaton.
2012: The two teams are scheduled to meet again to open the regular season — this time at Duchon Field in Glen Ellyn.
Series record: Wheaton Warrenville South 31 wins, Glenbard West 25 wins, 9 ties and 1 forfeit (by Glenbard West due to 1998 District 87 teachers strike)
Sources: Daily Herald archives, Illinois High School Association, “As the Backs Go Tearing By” by Joe Carlton