Montini knows the way to Champaign

As the last football team standing in DuPage County, Montini has the honor of taking the trek down Interstate 57 to Champaign's Memorial Stadium to play in Saturday's Class 5A title game.

It'll be the Broncos' seventh overall appearance and sixth straight as the program vies for its sixth championship.

The biggest weekend on the IHSA schedule is jam-packed with great matchups. Eyes on Five takes a look at some of what we have to look forward to in Champaign.

1. The rematch:

Here we go again, only this time with role reversal.

Montini (9-3) faces Sacred Heart-Griffin (13-0) for the second straight year in the Class 5A title game. It's no secret the Cyclones are favored to claim back-to-back titles and their fifth overall.

It's a complete turnaround from last season when Montini entered the final as the four-time defending 5A champion. Sacred Heart-Griffin stunned the Broncos with a 38-28 victory, and a year later the Cyclones look even more dominant.

Led by quarterback Gabe Green, who's thrown for 2,630 yards and 36 touchdowns, Sacred Heart-Griffin hasn't been held to fewer than 42 points this season and beat four previous playoff opponents by an average of 40 points.

Can Montini quarterback Chuck Norgle, receiver Leon Thornton III and running back Prince Walker keep up with the Cyclones? There's plenty of motivation for the Broncos, but the task is tall.

2. Highlights:

Random thoughts on the Class 6A, 7A and 8A finals...

8A: Can Stevenson (13-0), which rallied for a 33-24 Week 2 win over Homewood-Flossmoor (11-2), contain Deante and Devonte Harley-Hampton, who have combined for 2,600 rushing yards and 46 touchdowns? Can the Vikings contain Northwestern-bound Stevenson receiver Cameron Green, third-year quarterback Willie Bourbon and 1,000-yard rusher Jack Joseph?

While the focus lands on the offenses, keep an eye on the defenses as adjustments from the first meeting blend with in-game adjustments.

7A: No one's contained Cary-Grove's ground game that, behind Tyler Pennington's 1,653 yards, has piled up 4,600 rushing yards. Then again, the Trojans (13-0) haven't faced a challenge quite like Providence (12-1).

Both teams steam-rolled into the title game. Slowing that kind of momentum won't be easy for either side.

6A: Not only is Nazareth (13-0) favored to win the 6A title, the Roadrunners have the talent to win in any of the eight classes.

Lemont also enters the game at 13-0, but make no mistake. Nazareth remains a heavy favorite despite Lemont boasting Duke-bound receiver Flynn Nagel, who has 87 catches for 1,361 yards and 28 touchdowns.

Behind an offensive line averaging 285 pounds, Neuqua Valley transfer Nolan Dean, who's rushed for 1,852 yards, and Julian Love may be too much for any team in the state.

3. And one:

I've always held the dream of the IHSA creating an "and one" opportunity for state title-winning football teams where the eight champions would move on to play each other. The Class 8A champion would face 7A, 6A would play 5A, etc.

You could even extend it further with the 5A-6A winner playing the 7A-8A winner, and then that winner facing the team emerging from the 1A-4A bracket. I know, of course, this will never happen.

But I can dream.

While Montini and Lemont both may spring upsets on their favored opponents, how awesome would it be to see Sacred Heart-Griffin from 5A square off against Nazareth from 6A?

4. Regionally speaking:

On Monday the IHSA released the list of six bylaw amendment proposals its Legislative Commission approved to be placed on the December ballot for a vote by the state's high school principals.

Included is the earth-shattering proposal submitted by Sycamore Principal Tim Carlson that'd completely change the face of prep football. Similar to some surrounding states, the IHSA would assume responsible for scheduling football games based on a system of geographic regions.

Here's how the proposal works:

The IHSA divides the state's football teams into eight classes by enrollment, with eight regions established for each of the eight classes. The geographic regions consist of seven, eight or nine schools and the IHSA schedules non-region games between neighboring regions to complete the regular-season slate of nine games.

Putting the IHSA in charge of the state's scheduling - and taking it out of the schools' hands - obviously would be a drastic change. It's a response to the struggles many schools face in finding nonconference games, and also eliminates the conference-jumping that's occurred in recent years.

Conferences simply wouldn't exist for prep football.

Playoff qualification would be crystal clear. The top four teams in each of the state's 64 regions qualify, maintaining the current size of the playoff field at 256 teams.

So what do you think? There are many elements I like about the proposal, but I don't think it'll have enough support from the IHSA membership.

A Class 7A region, for example, might consist of Addison Trail, Batavia, Benet, Downers Grove North, Geneva, Glenbard West, West Chicago, Wheaton North and Wheaton Warrenville South. I can't imagine too many folks being in favor of a grouping where only four of those teams make the playoffs.

Marty Hickman, the IHSA's executive director, said he was surprised the proposal survived to reach a membership vote.

Imagine how surprised he'll be if a majority of the schools wind up voting for it and the proposal goes into effect.

5. Stat time:

Six of the 16 programs playing this weekend in Champaign will make their first title game appearance.

The list includes Nazareth (Class 6A), Phillips (4A), Williamsville (3A), Eastland-Pearl City (2A), Carrollton (1A) and Forreston (1A). At the opposite end of the spectrum, Providence (7A), Sacred Heart-Griffin (5A), Montini (5A), Rochester (4A) and Maroa-Forsyth (2A) have combined for 37 appearances.

Providence leads all finalists with six state titles, while Montini's won five, Sacred Heart-Griffin and Rochester four apiece, and Maroa-Forsyth two. Homewood-Flossmoor (8A) and Cary-Grove (7A) each have won one title.

Stevenson (8A) and Wilmington (3A) lost their only title game appearance. Lemont (6A) lost twice in the final.

Follow Kevin on Twitter @kevin_schmit