Football is back, and not a moment too soon

Now that we've all turned the calendar to September (where did the summer go?), I must admit that this is one of my favorite times of the year.

Major League Baseball's regular season is heading into its home stretch and National Football League teams are counting down the days before they kick off another campaign.

Meanwhile, colleges from across the country are preparing for their season openers - ready to take over their customary Saturday spot of the week.

But I've saved the best for last - high school football. For me, there's nothing better than spending a Friday night watching (covering) a high school football game.

From the pre-game pageantry which includes the sound of marching bands, sight of drill teams/cheerleaders (I'm a little biased because my daughters are dancers), and smell of freshly cooked hot dogs and popcorn to the game's final seconds, there's nowhere I'd rather be than at a jam-packed high school football stadium on a Friday night.

A bit of local history was made last Friday night when the opening weekend of the 2009 high school football season featured the 4 Tri-Cities schools in head-to-head matchups - Geneva vs. St. Charles East and St. Charles North vs. Batavia.

Here's what caught my attention during Week 1:

• The overflow crowds at Batavia and St. Charles East are just a harbinger of things to come when the 4 Tri-Cities schools join forces in the newly-aligned Upstate Eight Conference for the 2010-11 season.

• While I'm on the subject, considering there haven't been 8 schools in the conference since I can't remember when - and there will be 14 schools participating in 2010-11 - how long will it be referred to as the Upstate Eight?

• For all you history buffs out there, St. Charles North's 43-13 victory over Batavia wasn't the first for a Mark Gould-coached squad against the Bulldogs, according to Illinois High School Association records.

During Gould's only season as Geneva head coach in 1994-95, the Vikings defeated Batavia 18-15. The Vikings went on to post a 3-6 mark before Mike Ellberg took over the top spot in 1995.

• Gould recognizes the importance of building traditions. During his post-game address to his players, Gould mentioned how impressed he was to see hundreds of Batavia school-aged children lining the field prior to the game.

"This is what Batavia football is all about," Gould said. "Not only did you guys beat a quality team tonight, you beat a great program."

Gould, the only varsity football coach in school history, has quietly built a pretty strong tradition of his own at St. Charles North, having led the North Stars to 7 consecutive state playoff appearances.

If last weekend's defensive-laden performance, sparked by defensive end Trevor Lilovich and linebackers Dominic Imbordino, J.J. Weaver and Ben Dvorak, is a sign of things to come, St. Charles North may extend its postseason streak to 8 in late-October.

• No matter the outcome, Batavia coach Mike Gaspari always seems to keep things in their proper perspective. His team may have suffered a 30-point defeat in its season debut but Gaspari admittedly learned some important things while turning attention to Week 2 opponent West Chicago.

"Whether you win or lose, you always have things to build on," said Gaspari, whose team was limited to minus-3 yards rushing in the first half against St. Charles North. "We couldn't run the football. Our game plan was not to throw the ball as much as we did (27 pass attempts) but we were left without a choice."

• How crucial is special teams play?

With his team clinging to a 9-7 halftime lead, St. Charles North's Jeff Stolzenburg returned the second-half kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown - all part of the North Stars' 27-point third-quarter barrage.. The quarter also included a botched Batavia punt that led to another STC North touchdown.

Geneva and St. Charles East combined to score just 3 touchdowns with a pair of missed point-after tries. One of the Vikings' 8 first downs came off a fake punt as Jack Delabar tossed a 35-yard pass to Jacob Landau.

Defending Class 5A state champion St. Francis began its season in impressive fashion as Kevin Fassnacht returned the game's opening kick for a 92-yard TD during the Spartans' 35-7 win over Yorkville.

Less than 15 seconds into its game, West Aurora's Leon Spears raced 90 yards for a TD with the opening kick during the Blackhawks' 40-12 romp over East Aurora.

In all, there were 17 failed extra-point attempts during 9 area games last weekend.

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