Cleaning up the mess Mother Nature left
In the realm of prep football, there's nothing worse than settling in for a Friday night of action, only to see it washed away in a thunderstorm.
Emphasis on the thunder. And lightning.
Two weeks of IHSA football so far, and we've had two weeks of rain in the bulk of DuPage County. Like you, Eyes on Five is sick and tired of it.
This week we look at a frustrating Week 2 of competition.
1. Booming:
Most area games on Friday experienced a lightning delay of about an hour. Naperville Central never got started at Lincoln-Way East and had to return to Frankfort for a 1 p.m. Saturday start time.
Hassles to be sure, but nothing compares to what Glenbard North and Warren endured between Friday and Sunday.
Warren made the 50-mile trek to Carol Stream for a little more than two minutes of play on Friday. The Blue Devils returned to resume the game at 6 p.m. Saturday, only to drive back to Gurnee when the game was called at halftime due to more lightning.
Finally, the game - begun in August and concluded in September - wound up a Warren victory after a third trip to DuPage County on Sunday afternoon.
For those wondering, the regulations for delaying are not standardized in Illinois. According to IHSA Assistant Executive Director Matt Troha, each school develops its own lightning policy for the regular season.
The IHSA steps in during the playoffs only, instituting a 30-minute delay from last detection of lightning. Until the postseason delays depend on where you are.
The National Federation of State High School Associations simply has recommendations. One involves not necessarily delaying when the lightning is the more-distant cloud-to-cloud "heat" lightning.
So on that gloomy Friday night, if you wondered why your game was being played while others were delayed, or vice versa, now you know.
In the regular season it all depends on the home school's lightning policy.
2. But what about...:
Starting in the 2019 season the IHSA will implement football playing limitation rules based on recommendations from the Sports Medicine Advisory Committee.
One rule states that players won't be allowed to play in games on consecutive days. And if a player goes in for just one play, that's considered a game played.
The rationale is that safety risks occur when players are exposed to "live contact on successive days, particularly when the contact is at 'game speed.'"
So how would that have worked last weekend when several games throughout the suburbs started Friday and were then delayed to Saturday?
The rule has an interesting exception: "If a player plays in a game that is stopped due to weather or other circumstances and completed the next day, the player can participate in the resumed game the following day."
Makes sense, but ... is it a safety issue or isn't it? If there's such a big concern about playing one play on consecutive days, why have any exceptions for weather or anything else?
We'll get more into the Sports Medicine Advisory Committee limitation rules later this season because there's a lot to unpack.
And there's a lot - a lot - of unhappy coaches and administrators.
3. Half full:
You're excused if you don't feel totally committed to cross-town week for Naperville Central and Naperville North.
It's only Week 3. It's considered a nonconference game. And they're playing each other again Week 6 in DuPage Valley Conference play at North Central College.
Oh ... and they're both winless.
It's incredibly rare for both Napervilles to start a season 0-2. It's been at least 25 years, in fact.
But let's take a breath before dismissing this chapter of the cross-town game. It's still a huge deal for both sides, and it's the first time since 2000 they've played at Naperville Central.
The Redhawks' two losses came to a great Hinsdale Central team and a greater Lincoln-Way East team that won last season's Class 8A title and is the top-ranked team in Illinois.
Naperville North fell in Week 1 to underrated Simeon and lost last week to defending Class 7A champion Batavia.
In other words these teams are close to turning the corner. And one team will turn it this weekend at the other's expense.
For that reason alone it's time to get fired up about the cross-town game.
4. Speaking of which...:
Picture a scenario where the loser of the Naperville Central-Naperville North game finishes 0-5 in nonconference play but then wins all four DuPage Valley Conference games to claim the league title. Would that team be an automatic playoff qualifier with a 4-5 record?
According to IHSA terms and conditions, the automatic qualifier is granted only to conferences that have six schools and play five conference games. With five schools and four games this season, the DVC doesn't meet the criteria for automatic qualification.
There's good news, though, DVC fans. The IHSA granted the league a one-year exemption.
This year's DVC champion will be in the playoffs regardless of its record.
5. Stat time:
I like to keep tabs on how the Gold and Silver divisions of the West Suburban Conference compete against each other during the Week 2 crossovers.
The Silver has dominated for years, but the gap narrowed last weekend.
The Gold snagged three of the seven victories as Hinsdale South, Morton and Willowbrook all won. It may not sound like much, but it's a far cry from last season when the Silver won six of the seven Week 2 matchups.
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