Countdown to prep football: Five of the area’s toughest schedules
It’ll be rough out there this fall, at least for some of our prep football teams.
This summer we’re counting down, week by week, to the start of the high school football season. So far we’ve brought you 10 senior recruits in the area to watch, nine quarterbacks and eight area non-quarterbacks to see this season, seven new coaches on the sideline and six of the best season-opening games.
For the next handful of weeks, we’ll continue counting down with insight related to the 2025 football season for teams, players and coaches throughout our coverage area. We’ll reach No. 1 on Aug. 29 — opening night.
This week we look at five of the area’s toughest schedules, presented in alphabetical order.
Carmel Catholic
With one of the nation’s top recruits — rising junior quarterback Trae Taylor, a Nebraska commit — the Corsairs will be must-see football this season.
But can they survive a brutal slate of games?
The first half of the schedule isn’t awful, although it includes two quarterfinalists from last season in Lake Forest and St. Laurence. The last four games are terrifying.
Carmel, in order, faces defending Class 3A champion Montini, 4A champ DePaul Prep and three-time defending 8A champion Loyola. Fenwick, an 8-3 team last year, closes it out.
Glenbard West
Might as well mark down the Hilltoppers in pen on this list because they always play one of the state’s toughest schedules.
Adding Batavia as the opener last season was a pleasant surprise, but the Bulldogs wound up in the 7A final and appear poised to make another run. In Week 2, Glenbard West swapped out Loyola for Joliet Catholic, which was the 5A runner-up.
Then we get to the rugged West Suburban Silver Conference, where two quarterfinalists (Downers Grove North and Lyons Twp.) await in addition to York, which advanced to the 8A title game.
IC Catholic Prep
Not only do the Knights play a bunch of playoff teams from last season, but the games are against much bigger schools.
It starts with St. Mary’s Prep, which won a state title last season in Michigan. But the schedule really heats up in Week 4 with two-time defending 5A champion Nazareth followed by Marist, a perennial power in 8A.
St. Francis and St. Rita each made the semifinals while Marmion and St. Viator were qualifiers. That’s eight playoff teams out of nine games.
Montini Catholic
The defending 3A state champions need to be awfully good just to return to the playoffs this season. But with highly-touted quarterback Israel Abrams in the mix, I wouldn’t bet against the Broncos.
The opener features Jackson Lumen Christi out of Michigan, which won its 14th state title last season. Then its an avalanche of tough Illinois teams.
Four straight playoff teams from last year open the Illinois schedule, and then a fascinating Week 6 matchup against Carmel and Taylor when two of the state’s top Class of 2027 quarterbacks go head to head.
Warren
Aaron Stewart, the Illinois-bound wrestler/running back who last season rushed for 2,500 yards, will earn every scrap of grass he gains this season.
The Blue Devils, who eked into the postseason at 5-4 before reaching the 8A quarterfinals, open with nonconference games against Hersey and Maine South. Then they open North Suburban Conference play against Lake Forest, which also went to the quarterfinals.
If Warren remains in the hunt for the NSC title, they’ll need to close strong against Stevenson, Lake Zurich and Libertyville.