Naperville Central will risk getting stuck in traffic
All in all it was a pretty strong opening round of the playoffs for DuPage County football teams.
Nine of the 14 area qualifiers were victorious, with some easily defending their high seeds and others staging some pretty good upsets.
Eyes on Five is ready to take a look at Round 2 of the playoffs.
1. Road tripping:
There are 128 football teams ready to play 64 games this weekend.
Only five of those 64 games will be played on Friday, and one will be Naperville Central at Warren.
As much as Naperville Central historically loves playing Friday night playoff games, and beat Bolingbrook on Friday, I'm shocked Warren agreed to the Friday matchup.
The Blue Devils survived a 42-41 overtime victory over Curie on Saturday night, yet they're still willing to endure a short week and give up that extra day of preparation and rest.
As I ponder the reasoning, one thought keeps coming to mind: Warren wants Naperville Central to rot on the bus during the height of rush hour.
Depending on the route it's about a 50-60 mile one-way trip from Naperville to Gurnee. At that time of day, you're looking at a two-hour ride.
Redhawks coach Mike Stine said they'll feed the troops a good meal before taking off at about 3:45 p.m. The goal is to get to the Warren at about 5:45 and hope they don't have dead legs.
My bet is the Redhawks will be just fine.
2. Tough decision:
There's no doubt Glenbard West enjoys a home-field advantage at Duchon Field. With a disappointed heart, though, the Hilltoppers shifted Saturday's first-round game to the artificially turfed field at nearby Glenbard South in fear that anticipated heavy rain would cause Duchon's grass field to be destroyed.
Turns out it was a smart decision. The rain simply didn't stop Saturday afternoon, and Duchon Field definitely would have been destroyed.
The reward? Saturday in Glen Ellyn we get to see two storied football programs - Glenbard West and Mt. Carmel - play for the first time in the best football atmosphere in the state.
It'll be a game for the ages.
3. Wild wins:
Everyone saw the potential for a second-round Class 8A District 204 showdown between Neuqua Valley and Waubonsie Valley, but it didn't look likely. Not with the Warriors traveling five hours to take on unbeaten Edwardsville and Neuqua Valley facing Hinsdale Central.
Both teams, however, came up with amazing plays to help pull out respective victories. On Saturday they'll meet for only the second time in the playoffs.
Waubonsie Valley's Tanner Westwood completed an improbable halfback pass in overtime to shock Edwardsville, and Wildcats running back Greg McClellan fumbled a pitch deep in the red zone, kicked it, then picked it up and carried it into the end zone to push a 3-point lead to 10.
Call it being in the right place at the right time or call it DuPage Valley Conference toughness and savvy.
Regardless, one thing's for sure. There was peak motivation to make a District 204 showdown happen.
4. Quarter thoughts:
For those looking ahead - and I know you're out there - here's a breakdown of who'd play where in next week's quarterfinals.
8A: Naperville Central would host Neuqua Valley or travel to Waubonsie Valley. Waubonsie Valley would host Naperville Central and Warren. Neuqua Valley would travel to Naperville Central or host Warren.
7A: Glenbard West would travel to Auburn or host Reavis. Benet would travel to Batavia or host Simeon.
6A: Montini would travel to DeKalb and Deerfield. Hinsdale South would travel to Lincoln-Way North and Richards.
5A: Glenbard South would host King or travel to St. Laurence.
3A: IC Catholic Prep would travel to Princeton and Raby.
5. Stat time:
Glenbard West running back Sam Brodner, committed to Vanderbilt, broke a Class 7A record for touchdowns in a playoff game by scoring six times in Saturday's 49-10 win over Moline.
Brodner broke the previous record of 5 touchdowns in a game that stood for 14 years. Lockport's Craig Duppong holds the overall playoff record with his 8 touchdowns scored in a 1998 Class 6A playoff game.
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