A new season brings questions

I ran across a retired football coach in the grocery store recently. We exchanged pleasantries, talked about the old days, and then talked about the upcoming season.

"Ya know, John," he said to me, "I remember the days when we never played a game before Labor Day."

Yes, I remember those days too. But they're long gone, my friends, and what we have before us is Opening Night 2009.

Tonight, all across the state, high school football teams will begin their quest for one of eight IHSA state championships that will be awarded Thanksgiving weekend in Champaign.

So to kick off the season in the Fox Valley, we offer some random questions about the upcoming nine weeks.

Will Bartlett dominate the Upstate Eight Conference again? Well, the Hawks lost a lot of skill to graduation from that 2008 team that made such a magical run to the Class 8A state semifinals, but something tells us that with a roster of 68 players - the largest in the area - coach Tom Meaney and his staff will find a way to win again. Bartlett is the defending UEC champ and until someone knocks the Hawks from that perch, it's theirs.

Will any of the other Elgin area U-46 schools get over that hump and make the playoffs? Larkin came close last year and we know coach Dale Schabert and South Elgin feel they're knocking on the door as well. Larkin may have the most favorable schedule in this, the last year of the unbalanced UEC. The Royals don't play Bartlett, Neuqua Valley, Waubonsie Valley or St. Charles East.

Will the fans come out tonight for an intriguing opening night matchup at Memorial Field between Elgin and Dundee-Crown. Despite their proximity to each other, the Maroons and Chargers have never met on the football field. This game presents a heck of a lot more local flavor for an opener than, say, last year, when Elgin was playing Plainfield Central and Dundee-Crown took on Geneva. Elgin, by the way, stays local in Week 3 when the Maroons invade the Fox Valley Conference again with a trip to Crystal Lake Central.

And what about the Fox Valley Conference? The divisions have been realigned with the addition of Woodstock North to the league so the burning question is: How will Huntley fare in the Valley Division? The Red Raiders won the Fox Division title last year but now they have Valley heavyweights Cary-Grove and Crystal Lake South on the schedule.

Will the FVC Valley come down to Cary-Grove and CL South again? Well, why not? It does every other year.

Is this St. Edward's breakthrough year? The new Suburban Christian Conference should be favorable to the Green Wave's chances of a playoff bid for the first time since 2003 and anytime you can look at your schedule and not see Driscoll or Montini on it you have to like your chances. Tonight's home opener against Hampshire will tell Wave coach Mike Rolando and his team a lot about how the next 8 weeks stack up.

Speaking of Hampshire, will the Whip-Purs have what it takes for back-to-back Big Northern East titles?

Coach Dan Cavanaugh is now in his 21st season at the helm and has led the Whips into the playoffs four times since 2004. BN-East coaches are all crowning Richmond as the team to beat and Hampshire hosts Richmond in the conference opener Week 4.

Also in the Big Northern East, can Burlington Central rebound from an uncharacteristic 2-7 season to make a playoff run as the Rockets have done in three of coach Aaron Wichman's five seasons on Rocket Hill?

All questions that beg for answers, answers that will start to unfold tonight.

Welcome to the 2009 season everyone.

Get on board for what promises to be another exciting ride.

jradtke@dailyherald.com