The start of something big in DuPage County
As the first day of football practice goes in the books for DuPage County's 28 teams, the anticipation builds for what's sure to be an epic 2015 season.
Monday began a season-long process that'll carry teams from an Aug. 28 opener to - hopefully - a state-title run Thanksgiving weekend in DeKalb.
It starts right here for us as well, with five things to know about DuPage County football heading into the season.
Destination DeKalb II
It's been a whirlwind for Naperville Central receiver Emmanuel Rugamba ever since the first day he put on a varsity uniform as a sophomore.
He enters his senior season with a recent commitment to the University of Iowa and a burning desire to help the Redhawks return to DeKalb - the site of their surprising Class 8A championship game victory two years ago.
"I've got a good feeling about this team," Rugamba said. "It reminds me of that team two years ago. We've got talent and we've got great senior leadership. Our coach always says we'll go as far as our seniors take us, and we've got a lot of good seniors."
Naperville Central returns nine starters, including six on offense for what should be a pretty potent unit. Quarterback Conor Joyce is back for a second season behind a line returning three starters.
If the inexperienced defense comes along, the Redhawks may just make another run for the 8A title. As always, though, it won't be easy surviving a brutal DuPage Valley Conference field that expands to nine schools with the addition of Metea Valley, Neuqua Valley and Waubonsie Valley.
In terms of the overall 8A view, Homewood-Flossmoor, last year's state runner-up, came within a whisker of beating Stevenson for the title. Led by the backfield of Deante and Devonte Harley-Hampton, who combined for 2,800 rushing yards and 40 touchdowns, the Vikings will be among the many 8A favorites.
Not surprisingly, Mt. Carmel and Loyola head another powerful bunch of Chicago Catholic Blue teams primed to challenge for the 8A crown.
The big question looming above the field is where Glenbard West and Vanderbilt-bound running back Sam Brodner will land. A perennial power in Class 7A, last year the Hilltoppers were Class 8A semifinalists before losing to Stevenson.
Beyond the top two classes, Class 6A looks to be intensely competitive. In addition to reigning champion Nazareth, Sacred Heart-Griffin and Montini - the champion and runner-up the last two seasons in Class 5A - are being bumped up to Class 6A thanks to the IHSA's new "success adjustment."
By the end of the regular season, a bunch more teams will add their names to the list of contenders. This is just the start of a list that's bound to grow.
Top dogs:
When Mike Panasiuk wasn't breaking records by benching 185 pounds 43 times at The Opening in Oregon, he was leading Lake Park to a tug-of-war championship at the Red Grange Lineman Challenge.
Oh, and the Lancers' senior defensive lineman also committed to Michigan State University.
Summers don't get more memorable than that.
"As soon as I got an offer from them I knew that's where I wanted to go," Panasiuk said of the Spartans. "Now that I have that decision made, I can't wait to get the season started. This is probably the healthiest I've been going into the season."
There's no doubt Michigan State got the cream of the recruiting crop in DuPage County's Class of 2016.
The Spartans also received commitments from Hinsdale South defensive lineman Josh King, ranked as the state's top senior by Rivals, as well as Hinsdale Central offensive lineman Matt Allen, Evanston defensive lineman Naquan Jones and Fremd safety Kenney Lyke.
The state's line talent continues with Downers Grove South's Erik Swenson, committed to Michigan, Carmel's Sean Foster, a Minnesota recruit, and Nebraska recruit Bryan Brokop from Lincoln-Way West. Along with Rugamba and Brodner, the skill positions are led by Illinois-bound O'Fallon running back Kentrail Moran.
While defensive linemen dominate the Class of 2016, the best defensive player in Illinois might be Bolingbrook linebacker Tuf Borland, committed to Ohio State, or Notre Dame-bound Nazareth defensive back Julian Love, who also will be among the state's top running backs.
Best in the business:
In the recent trend West Chicago established in 2013 by leaving the DuPage Valley Conference for the Upstate Eight Conference, the turnstile continues to spin.
The big whopper came in December 2013 when Waubonsie Valley, Neuqua Valley and Metea Valley accepted an invitation to join the DVC effective this school year.
Each a 2014 playoff qualifier with Waubonsie and Neuqua sharing the UEC Valley title, the Indian Prairie School District 204 programs enter a now nine-team league that has combined for 14 state titles with 25 title-game appearances.
Joining Glenbard North, Lake Park, Naperville Central, Naperville North, Wheaton North and seven-time state champion Wheaton Warrenville South makes the DuPage Valley Conference a meat grinder like never before.
"You could make a strong argument that it's going to be the best football conference in the state, so we're excited about it. Every week will be a playoff atmosphere," said Neuqua Valley coach Bill Ellinghaus, whose Wildcats won or shared each of the past three UEC Valley titles.
That's an opinion that's long been argued even without the strong new trio.
Last football season's ungainly six-team DVC forced each program to play one fellow DVC squad twice with one contest a nonconference game. The new nine-team alignment creates an eight-game conference schedule and, in most cases, a nonconference game against an Upstate Eight team.
Highlights here are Neuqua Valley visiting Bartlett on Sept. 25 and Naperville Central at Batavia on Oct. 2.
The battle for that elusive fifth win and playoff eligibility just got a whole lot tougher. Waubonsie Valley coach Paul Murphy brings the proper attitude.
"Moving into the DVC will allow our program to find out where we stand with some of the top programs in the state of Illinois," he said. "It's a challenge we look forward to. If you want to become one of the best you have to play the best."
Lake Park coach Chris Roll, whose Lancers joined the DVC from the Upstate Eight in 2013, said last season that the DVC allows no breather. Glenbard East coach John Walters, whose program left the DVC along with West Aurora for the UEC Valley in 2014, concurs.
"There's no break in the schedule," said Walters, a 1989 Glenbard North graduate. "You're going to have to bring it every single week against quality, well-coached teams, highly motivated players and highly motivated football communities."
The best may get even better. Given the uneven, nine-team alignment changes to the DuPage Valley Conference will likely continue. Stay tuned.
State of the state:
Are we going north or south...or west? And please don't tell me we're stuck in a quadrant again.
Since 2002, these are the thoughts that have consumed coaches' minds as they awaited - and dreaded - the IHSA's unveiling of the playoff pairings. For 13 years instead of a straight 1-32 draw in each of the eight classes the IHSA shifted to a system of four eight-team "quadrants" or two 16-team brackets.
It's been a statewide sore spot since its inception, but in June the IHSA's board of directors finally voted to return to football's glorious past. Starting this season, Class 7A and Class 8A will return to a 1-32 bracket and the smaller six classes will feature two geographic brackets of 16 teams.
The news was welcomed with open arms.
"I love it," said Glenbard West coach Chad Hetlet, whose program bounced around the 7A playoff brackets for years. "You can't complain about a 1-32 draw. It takes all the speculation out of the equation. Just let the numbers fall where they're at."
Another major change enacted by the IHSA board is a limitation of contact during in-season practice. Beginning the week of the season opener, teams will be allowed three days of full contact a week with a total of 90 minutes spread over those three days.
This change comes on top of a previous IHSA ruling that eliminated full pad activities in the summer. It's part of the IHSA's continuing goal to increase player safety.
The "Success" factor:
For years it's been conjectured Montini could play well above its Class 5A standing, befitting a team that's appeared in the last six title games and won 5A titles from 2009-12.
The Broncos will indeed be put to a higher test this season under the new "Success Adjustment" measure approved by the IHSA board on Feb. 19, 2014.
On top of the now decadelong enrollment multiplier affecting non-boundaried (i.e. "private") schools, the Success Adjustment will move such schools up a classification should they attain certain levels of success over a four-year period retroactive to 2015 - regional and sectional titles or state finals appearances.
"A non-boundaried school that has won two trophies over the last four school terms, and at least one trophy in the past two school terms, is subject to the success adjustment," according to a June 16 IHSA announcement.
Applicable to all sports - such as St. Francis girls volleyball and Wheaton Academy boys soccer - in football the new formula affects only Montini and Sacred Heart-Griffin in football. Opponents in each of the last two 5A title games, should each qualify for the playoffs they both will play in Class 6A.
"It's the Montini rule," quipped Broncos coach Chris Andriano.
This latest hurdle neither took Andriano by surprise nor will it cause panic.
Long an adherent to playing top nonconference foes as preparation for the playoffs, Montini has scheduled such high-level opponents as Loyola. Regardless of the multiplier, this season the Broncos' schedule includes only two schools with a lower classification enrollment. As it was last season, Montini's first two games are against Maine South and East St. Louis followed by a Chicago Catholic League crossover against St. Rita.
However, Andriano sounded more critical of the Success Adjustment than he'd been toward the enrollment multiplier.
"If you're going to do it you've got to do it across the board. There's a lot of public school programs that have had great success, and I think you've got to distribute it to all programs - all schools, all sports," he said.
"But we're not going to whine and cry about it, and in certain ways we're looking forward to it."
Top games
So many choices over nine weeks. The following DuPage County games shouldn't disappoint. All are Friday unless noted.
Week 1, Aug. 28-29: Bolingbrook at Glenbard West (Saturday), Maine South at Montini, Naperville Central at Glenbard North, Neuqua Valley at Metea Valley, Wheaton North at Wheaton Warrenville South.
Week 2, Sept. 4-5: Glenbard North at Waubonsie Valley, Glenbard South at Glenbard East, Neuqua Valley at Naperville Central, Wheaton North at Joliet Catholic, WW South at Lake Park.
Week 3, Sept. 11-12: Downers Grove North at Hinsdale Central, St. Francis at Marmion, St. Rita at Montini, Waubonsie Valley at Neuqua Valley, WW South at Glenbard North.
Week 4, Sept. 18-19: Downers Grove South at Addison Trail, Glenbard West at Downers Grove North, Naperville Central at Waubonsie Valley, Neuqua Valley at WW South, Westmont vs. Lisle at Benedictine University.
Week 5, Sept. 25-26: Aurora Central Catholic at IC Catholic, Naperville North at Glenbard North, Waubonsie Valley at Metea Valley, WW South at Naperville Central, York at Willowbrook.
Week 6, Oct. 2-3: Addison Trail at Hinsdale South, Glenbard North at Wheaton North, Hinsdale Central at Glenbard West (Saturday), West Chicago at West Aurora, WW South at Waubonsie Valley.
Week 7, Oct. 9-10: Downers North at Downers South, Glenbard North at Lake Park, Naperville North versus Naperville Central at North Central College, Neuqua Valley at Wheaton North, St. Francis at Montini.
Week 8, Oct. 16-17: Glenbard South at IC Catholic (Saturday), Hinsdale Central at Hinsdale South, Joliet Catholic vs. Benet at Benedictine University, Wheaton Academy at Fenton, Wheaton North at Naperville Central.
Week 9, Oct. 23-24: Bartlett at Glenbard East, Glenbard North at Neuqua Valley, Montini at Marmion, Naperville North at WW South, Waubonsie Valley at Wheaton North.