Rare air: 8-0 vs. 8-0 matchups in Week 9 don’t happen often

Every prep football team strives for perfection, but schedules make sure very few arrive at the destination.

In some cases, though, the timing works perfectly and the agony of defeat is delayed until the last possible moment.

When Hersey visits Prospect on Friday, it will be a rare matchup of 8-0 teams.

Among area schools, this is the second time in the 2020s there has been an 8-0 battle in Week 9. We counted nine total since 2000.

“It's what makes it fun,” Prospect coach Dan DeBoeuf said. “We're just lucky we get to play in a situation like this. That's what we talked to the kids about — you've earned the right to play in this game, you've got to enjoy it.”

An 8-0 matchup has happened before in the MSL East. Hersey and Rolling Meadows met under those same circumstances in 2019, when current Huskies head coach Tom Nelson was the team's offensive coordinator.

“The only thing I remember is two really good football teams,” Nelson said. “The hype and all that (not so much). I just remember it being really high scoring.”

One wild fact about that one was Hersey and Rolling Meadows played in Week 8 the previous year when both teams were 7-0. The two undefeated showdowns delivered the exact same final score — Meadows winning 38-35.

There were nearly two 8-0 matchups this week. Antioch and Wauconda were both unbeaten a week ago, but Wauconda lost to Grant 27-25 last Friday.

“Well, 8-0 and 7-1 in Week 9 is still a pretty good matchup,” Antioch coach Brian Glashagel said.

A victory this week would give the Sequoits their sixth 9-0 regular season since Glashagel took the head job in 2007, and a win should clinch the No. 1 overall seed in the 5A playoffs.

There's actually another 8-0 vs. 8-0 game this week that will affect Hersey and Prospect's playoff path. Normal West and Normal Community are both undefeated heading into a Friday showdown, but an important difference is Normal Community is 7A and Normal West 6A.

So if West wins, the Hersey-Prospect winner will be the only undefeated team in 7A and land the No. 1 seed. If Community wins, it will likely get the edge as top seed due to victories by opponents, with Hersey or Prospect dropping to No. 2. Of course, with Brother Rice, East St. Louis and others looming in 7A, there's no telling whether it's better to be the 1 or 2 seed.

Because 8-0 vs. 8-0 doesn't happen often, here's a look back at the other perfect Week 9 matchups of the 2000s.

2024: Lincoln-Way East 28, Naperville Central 7

This was a Week 9 nonconference game, when these teams were in opposite divisions of the short-lived Southwest Valley Conference. When Naperville Central took a 7-0 lead, it was the first time LWE had trailed all season, but didn't last long. This was also a third-place game of sorts, since both teams went on to lose in the Class 8A semifinals.

2019: Rolling Meadows 38, Hersey 35

This game was a thriller, with a pair of lead changes in the last two minutes. Jordan Hansen's 15-yard run put the Huskies up with 1:40 left, before Carson Schiller found Daniel Sobkowicz for the game-winner with 21.8 seconds on the clock.

Hansen went on to be a five-year starter at safety for Northern Illinois. Sobkowicz is now on the Houston Texans practice squad and played a significant role in Illinois State's run to the FCS title game last year.

2018: Brother Rice 31, Montini 0

Not much drama in this one. Both teams ended up losing in state championship games that year.

2007-08: Naperville North vs. Wheaton Warrenville South

This was a two-parter, with WWS winning 42-41 in three overtimes in 2007, then Naperville North took a much more defensive battle 7-6 a year later.

How good was the DuPage Valley Conference back then? The Huskies beat a third DVC team, Glenbard North, to win the 8A state title in '07, while WWS dropped the 7A championship to Lake Zurich.

2007: Driscoll 13, Montini 7

Driscoll was on its way to a seventh straight Class 4A state title, but it was a bittersweet time. The Highlanders lost beloved assistant coach Mike Loconsole to cancer during their playoff run, and a year later, the school shut down.

2005: Stevenson 35, Warren 34, 2 OT

This game had it all. Alas, the season ended for both teams the same way it often did in that era — with playoff losses to Maine South.

2003: Carmel 41, Joliet Catholic 14

This was arguably the most high-powered 8-0 vs. 8-0 matchup on the list, since both teams won state titles — Carmel in 6A and JCA in 5A.

2000: Riverside-Brookfield 18, Kaneland 13

Not much to say about this one. It settled the Suburban Prairie White division and neither team went far in the playoffs.

Honorable mention: One of the most hyped games in suburban history was Buffalo Grove vs. Prospect in 2001, but that one took place in Week 8 with both teams 7-0. Prospect won 6-0 in a rainstorm. That was BG quarterback Tom Zbikowski's junior season, while Prospect was on its way to a shocking 7A state title, after averaging 1.5 wins per season during the 1990s.