Some interesting Week 1 results leave us thirsting for more
Good Sunday morning.
Now that the dust has settled and the fog has lifted, just what did we learn from one week of football in the Fox Valley area?
Probably the most surprising and unexpected score (except, of course, to Larkin folk) was the Royals' 15-6 win at McHenry. The Warriors are a perennial playoff threat and an awfully tough team to beat, especially at McCracken Field. To go in and hold McHenry to 6 points says an awful lot about what Matt Gehrig, his staff and the Royals have done since last year at this time.
Larkin came within a game of a playoff berth a year ago and with a favorable schedule this season, a Week 10 or more is certainly within reach.
Speaking of favorable schedules, how about the best team St. Edward has had in at least six years having six home games? The Green Wave got off to a great start Friday night with a dominating 32-6 win over Hampshire. As we stated Friday, when you don't have to play a Driscoll or a Montini, you start thinking about playoff bids early on.
And how about that South Elgin? After three years of taking the season-opener on the chin against Marmion, the Storm came out Saturday and spotted the Cadets a 14-0 lead before "storming" back for a 24-14 win. Coach Dale Schabert has some talent this season, but the challenges will get greater each week. After a nonconference game at Vernon Hills next week, South Elgin has to endure the best of the best in the Upstate Eight, playing Neuqua Valley, St. Charles East, Bartlett, Lake Park, St. Charles North and Larkin in the league this year.
The confidence of being 1-0 could go a long way for the Storm. Keep an eye on junior receiver Jake Kumerow. His dad, Eric, was a Big Ten player and it looks like Jake could be becoming a top prospect as well.
The Dundee-Crown at Elgin game came down to a thrilling overtime finish with the Chargers prevailing, and even though there were a rash of turnovers in the contest, D-C coach Mike Davis and Elgin coach Dave Bierman should each be encouraged about the good things they saw. D-C has a good shot at going 2-0 when it hosts Streamwood next week while Elgin could also get a win when it travels to Crystal Lake Central.
Coach Tom Meaney may tell you it's a week at a time and to not look ahead, but after pasting Hoffman Estates 47-0 Friday night it looks like things are status quo at Bartlett, which has now won 13 of its last 14 games. The Hawks will get a stiff test in Week 2 when a really good Crystal Lake South team comes to Millennium Field.
Up north, Jacobs, Cary-Grove, Huntley and Crystal Lake South all opened the season with wins. The Fox Valley Conference Valley Division race could be an interesting one this season but if Tyler Krebs, Eric Chandler and company stay healthy, Cary-Grove looks like it's going to be an explosive team with a tough defense again.
And, of course, there are some teams who came away from Week 1 with some work to do.
Burlington Central was shut out against Kaneland 35-0, so there's work to do there on both sides of the ball. Same could be said for defending Big Northern East champ Hampshire. While St. Edward is improved, Whips' coach Dan Cavanaugh can't be too happy about a 32-6 loss at Greg True Field.
Streamwood had a rough opener as well but it was against a strong playoff team in Antioch, so let's give the Sabres a pass until Week 2 when they should be more competitive against Dundee-Crown.
There's one thing we did learn for sure Friday night and Saturday. Football.dailyherald.com is where it's at. The combination of information you can get from the newspaper today, and every day for that matter, and our Football Focus 2009 Web site is astounding. And we're working on more new features and tweaking the site so that it provides everything you want and need in high school football coverage around the suburbs.
A couple of other neat new features allow you to share your photos with us and have them posted on the site, both game photos as well as spirit-type photos.
And, you can even shop for your school's apparel on our site this year.
The Daily Herald newspaper and football.dailyherald.com. We promise to leave you wanting for nothing more.