Five Week 8 high school football games to watch
Lake Zurich (5-2) at Libertyville (5-2)
Both teams started 0-2 in nonconference action, both teams have won five straight since in North Suburban Conference play. That leaves them tied for first place and leaves this game as the one that will determine the 2026 NSC championship. The defenses have been the story lately. Libertyville's last two wins have been shutouts; Lake Zurich’s last four opponents have scored 19 points. Lake Zurich beat the Wildcats 27-9 a year ago.
Wheaton North (5-2) at Geneva (6-1)
The Vikings' revenge tour continues Friday against Wheaton North, who beat Geneva 21-20 a year ago. St. Charles North, Batavia and Glenbard North also beat Geneva last year, and the Vikings have turned all those losses into wins this fall. If they do it one more time, they will clinch a share of the DuKane Conference championship. Their latest revenge win came over Glenbard North, scoring a season-high 62 points behind Eastern Michigan recruit Ben Peterson’s career-high seven touchdown passes and four more touchdown receptions from Illinois-bound receiver Bennett Konkey.
Barrington (3-4) at Fremd (5-2)
Fremd might come in with the better record but it's Barrington that comes in playing better football, winning its third straight last week 42-0 over Conant. That was the second straight shutout for the Broncos, who also hold a one-game lead over Fremd in the MSL West, 3-0 to 2-1. Fremd, meanwhile, lost 7-6 to Hoffman Estates last week, their second loss in the last four games. Barrington handed Fremd its only regular season loss a year ago, 23-7.
Loyola Academy (7-0) at IC Catholic Prep (7-0)
Before we get to next week and a couple highly anticipated potential 8-0 vs. 8-0 games (Hersey-Prospect and Antioch-Wauconda), we've got this 7-0 vs. 7-0 dandy on Friday. Loyola is the state's top- ranked team in 8A; IC Catholic Prep the top in 3A. Loyola is back to the form that saw the Ramblers win three state championships from 2022 to 2024. The Knights' closest game so far was a 22-15 win over St. Ignatius in Week 3, one of two common opponents with the Ramblers (Loyola beat St. Ignatius 38-7 last week).
Lyons Township (6-1) at Downers Grove North (6-1)
Between this and Glenbard West hosting York on Saturday, we'll know much more about how the West Suburban Silver race shakes out by weekend's end. It looked like the Trojans were in control until suffering an overtime loss to York last week. That brought Lyons and Glenbard West back into the race, both teams and the Trojans now with one conference loss. Downers North, who lost 24-20 to Lyons last year, can still clinch a share of the conference title with a win.