Countdown to prep football: Six stellar season openers

The expanded IHSA football playoffs didn’t just mess with the postseason. They also sent chaos into the regular season.

Schools were left scrambling to fill open dates because of entire schedules shifting a week earlier. The good news? Intriguing Week 1 matchups emerged from the chaos.

The Daily Herald’s countdown to prep football continues this week as we bring you insight related to the 2026 football campaign for teams, players and coaches throughout our coverage area. We’ll reach No. 1 on Aug. 21 — opening night for the season.

So far we’ve listed 10 of the area’s top senior recruits, nine juniors to watch, eight quarterbacks on our radar and seven new head coaches.

Let’s now take a look at six of the area’s top season openers.

Barrington at Lyons Twp.

The first of our new openers features a pair of promising playoff teams from last season.

Graduation picked Barrington clean of a bunch of talent, including quarterback Luke Tepas, now at Oklahoma State, and offensive lineman Owen Fors, now at Northwestern. Receiver Austin Coles, committed to Kentucky, transferred to a high school in Florida.

The Broncos, however, simply reload. Junior running back Lamar Osterhues rushed for more than 1,000 yards and 20 touchdowns as a sophomore. And you never have to worry about the offensive line.

Keep an eye on Lyons Twp. sophomore defensive lineman Ryan DeWalt, who already has offers from Kansas State and Miami of Ohio.

Carmel at Hersey

If Nebraska-bound Trae Taylor had stayed at Carmel instead of moving closer to his future college home, this game might merit national attention. That’s because it’d feature a pair of nationally ranked quarterbacks with Hersey’s Jake Nawrot, committed to Kentucky.

Regardless, this is still a good-looking game.

Carmel’s loaded with FBS talent, headed by a pair of juniors. Linebacker-receiver Jameer Miles’ offers include Alabama, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Oregon, while offensive lineman Wyatt VanBoening has offers from 20 FBS schools, including a large chunk of the Big Ten.

Nawrot will lean on a quality receiving corps of Josh Riggs, Austin Shultz, Zel Walton and junior Jaxon Saint Paul, who already holds offers from Northwestern and Oklahoma State.

Fremd at Lake Zurich

Junior Will Clark steps in for graduated all-everything quarterback Johnny O’Brien, now at Northwestern, who carried the Vikings to the Class 8A semifinals last season. Clark also has the support of strong receivers and Jayden Faulkner, who is primarily a running back but is just as dangerous in the passing game.

Lake Zurich welcomes a new coach in Dragan Teonic. Junior tight end-defensive end Jackson Lewandowski has been testing great at camps this offseason. He holds offers from Toledo and Miami of Ohio after notching 7 sacks as a sophomore.

Glenbard West at Lockport

No one stacks a schedule like Glenbard West, and the Hilltoppers have done it again with this opener against a Class 8A semifinalist from last season. These programs have combined for 53 playoff appearances and six state titles.

Between quarterback A.J. Rayford, running back Bryce Ellens, tight end Brady Johnson and offensive lineman Josiah Wallace — the latter two committed to Northwestern — this should be another great Hilltoppers team.

Libertyville at Geneva

If nothing else this is a chance to see Libertyville’s Brock Williams, the nation’s fourth-best senior tight end, according to Rivals. He committed to Texas after amassing more than two dozen FBS offers.

With Eastern Michigan commit Ben Peterson, who piled up 2,000 total yards last year, and Illinois-bound speedster Bennett Konkey, the Vikings have one of the state’s elite quarterback-receiver combinations.

Maine South at Batavia

Not only is this one of the premier openers in the state, it might be one of the best matchups this entire season. While Batavia boasts 15 straight playoff appearances and two state titles, Maine South has 33 straight playoff berths and six titles.

The quarterbacks are enough of a draw with the Hawks’ Jameson Purcell committed to Indiana and Batavia’s Michael Vander Luitgaren headed to Wyoming. But the Bulldogs’ overall offensive talent is ridiculous this season.