Panthers prepping for Class 8A football showdown

Banners appeared from the mist bearing the names of the vanquished.

Whitney Young. York. Fremd. And the much heralded Mt. Carmel.

One by one, the heroes did to the banners what they'd done to their foes: shredded them.

Glenbard North High School, the team no one with a ranking chart expected to remain standing after Thanksgiving, was prepping today for its final opponent: Naperville North.

With the two set to meet downstate this Saturday for the final game in the Class 8A state football championship, the school did everything in its power to make sure its support troops were prepared to back the Panthers.

And that included making a lot of noise this afternoon.

"I can't hear you," the day's pep rally leader, Don Depa, yelled into the microphone.

Students, faculty and parents at the Carol Stream school gave his hearing a needed adjustment.

"What do we think of Naperville North?" the football coach asked the packed gymnasium.

"Booooo," they said.

"Is that all you've got?" he yelled back. They gave it another shot.

"BOOOOO!"

That did the trick.

"We're going to make the Naperville North Huskies our next turkey," Depa told them.

With buses of fans headed to University of Illinois' Memorial Stadium, Principal John Mensik said they'd better be prepared to celebrate once they get back.

"Next week we're going to be in here with the football team holding up the trophy that says we're state champs," he told the crowd.

Based on the volume of their response, they seemed to like the idea.

Those folks who can't make it to Champaign for the game can check it out on television station WPWR, Channel 50, or catch the streaming video and audio at www.ihsa.org. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.