Five high school football games to watch this weekend
Warren (1-0) at Maine South (0-1)
Maine South’s defense allowed 49 points last week in a loss to 8A power Lincoln-Way East — the most it has since 2015. The Hawks don’t exactly have a soft landing spot to get well. All they have Friday is a Warren team that scored 55 last week in a win over Hersey. The Blue Devils feature junior running back Aaron Stewart, who ran for 363 yards and 5 touchdowns last week. Warren coach Bryan McNulty said despite the lopsided win, his team was sloppy in some ways last week and has things to clean up. Maine South won this matchup 28-7 last year.
Naperville Central (1-0) vs. Naperville North (1-0)
Always one of the highlights in DuPage County each fall, the Napervilles meet again Friday at North Central College. This time they do it not as members of the DVC but instead the Southwest Valley — and they aren’t even in the same division. So while that is definitely something different in this matchup, the quality of football is nothing new. Aiden Clark rushed for 290 yards last week for the Redhawks; Ball State-bound QB Jacob Bell threw for 4 TDs and ran for another in the Huskies’ win over New Trier. Naperville Central is 6-2 in the last 8 meetings including a 21-14 victory last year.
West Aurora (1-0) at Glenbard East (1-0)
The Upstate Eight Conference has undergone major changes this year, now 14 teams with two divisions and the Blackhawks making their return. West Aurora and Glenbard East are in opposite divisions, but are two of the better teams. Blackhawks WR Terrence Smith committed to Iowa this week; Rams QB Michael Nee enjoyed quite a debut last week throwing for 317 yards and a late TD to beat Willowbrook.
Barrington (1-0) at Hersey (0-1)
Like the Warren-Maine South matchup, this contest features a pair of teams in the Daily Herald Top 20. No. 3 Barrington looked great in its opener last week, scoring 64 points against South Elgin and scoring on 8 of its first 9 possessions. No. 8 Hersey struggled at Warren — but there’s going to be a lot of teams who say that this year. The MSL slate is going to feature excellent quarterback matchups all fall, and this is no exception with UCLA-bound Colton Gumino leading Hersey and Barrington’s Nick Piepert headed to St. Thomas in Minnesota.
Loyola (0-1) at Glenbard West (0-1)
How often do teams with this kind of tradition enter coming off a loss? It certainly is a rare site seeing both teams needing a win to avoid an 0-2 start. Loyola saw its 19-game winning streak end with a 34-7 loss to East St. Louis. Iowa-bound QB Ryan Fitzgerald completed 8 of 15 passes for 33 yards. Glenbard West had a little more success offensively but couldn’t dig out of an early hole in a 35-28 loss to Batavia. Teyion Oriental had 2 TD runs and scored on an 87-yard punt return but was injured late in the game.
For much more on these games and the rest of the games in the Daily Herald coverage area, see zoned previews at football.dailyherald.com.