By Jeff Vorva
Correspondent
The IHSA’s annual posting of the coming season’s football schedule always gets people talking.
This year is no exception. Tears for Fears meets David Bowie as there are changes, changes and more changes; fans might need pencils and scorecards to keep track.
As a public service, we here at Southwest Regional Publishing are providing some answers to questions about the changes as well as some other important issues.
There will not be a follow-up quiz, but high school football fans would still be wise to study.
Who is where in the Chicago Catholic League/East Suburban Catholic Conference?
Get out your scorecards.
After another year of tweaking, here is the 2024 breakdown for the powerhouse league that had three state champions among its five title-game participants in 2023 (and all four Class 5A semifinalists were from the league).
Blue: Brother Rice, Mount Carmel, St. Ignatius, Loyola
Green: St. Rita, Immaculate Conception Catholic, Nazareth, Wheaton St. Francis.
Orange: Marist, Joliet Catholic, Providence, Niles Notre Dame.
Purple: St. Viator, DePaul, St. Patrick, Benet.
Red: Marmion, De La Salle, Leo, Marian Catholic.
White: St. Laurence, Montini, Carmel, Fenwick.
What happened to the SouthWest Suburban Conference?
It merged with a bunch of schools in the Naperville area and out west to form the Southwest Valley Conference, a football-only league that will include area schools Sandburg and Stagg.
Get out your scorecards again.
Blue: Homewood-Flossmoor, Lincoln-Way East, Lockport, Neuqua Valley, Naperville North.
Green: Waubonsie Valley, Bradley-Bourbonnais, DeKalb, Lincoln-Way Central, Stagg.
Red: Metea Valley, Naperville Central, Lincoln-Way West, Sandburg, Andrew.
Where’s Riverside-Brookfield?
At the familiar location at Ridegwood Road and 1st Avenue, just south of Brookfield Zoo, of course. But as far as its football team goes, the Bulldogs will be in their third conference in as many years.
After spending 2022 in the Metro Suburban Red and 2023 in the Southland Athletic Conference, R-B hopes to have found a longtime home in the rebranded UpState 8 East (yes, the “S” is capitalized. They’ll be joined by Fenton, Elmwood Park, Glenbard South, Glenbard East, Ridgewood and West Chicago.
Nazareth won the Class 5A state title despite a 4-5 regular-season record in 2023. Photo by Jeff Vorva
Can Nazareth win another state title?
In 2022, Nazareth became the first team in Illinois history to go from 2-4 to winning a state championship, claiming the Class 5A title.
Last year, the Roadrunners upped the ante by becoming the first 4-5 team to win a title, again in 5A.
What’s on tap this year? Going 0-9 and winning the state title? That would be impossible for coach Tim Racki and the team, but hey … you never know with these guys.
For the third year in a row, the Roadrunners open against Kankakee, this time a 7:30 p.m. home game on Aug. 30. Two years ago in Lagrange Park, the Roadrunners beat the Kays 2-0 on opening night.
Why is Mount Carmel Hun-gry?
The Caravan, a two-time Class 7A defending state champion, will begin the season a day before almost everyone else when they host the Hun School at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 29 at Carey Field at Barda-Dowing Stadium.
The Hun School is a powerhouse out of New Jersey and, according to MaxPreps, has gone 26-1 the past three seasons.
Will St. Laurence be in the Chase?
St. Laurence surprised a lot of people by reaching the Class 4A championship game in 2023, and the Vikings are looking to win the title this year.
One of the reasons for optimism is that speedster Harley Rizz is back at running back.
Another reason is quarterback Chase Kwiatowski transferred to the Burbank school from Lake Central, Indiana. Kwiatowski threw for 1,176 yards and 12 touchdowns and added 364 rushing yards and two TDs in 2023 and has committed to play at Illinois State University.
Who are some of the new coaches in the area?
Former York coach Mike Fitzgerald took over for Ron Dawczak at Marist.
Former St. Laurence and Oak Lawn coach Harold Blackmon is at De La Salle, where he succeeds Marty Quinn.
At Stagg, Jacob O’Connor takes over for Colt Nero.
At Chicago Christian, CJ Cesario succeeds Dan Chiarito.
What are some of the interesting matchups for Week 1?
Aside from Nazareth hosting Kankakee and Mount Carmel hosting the Hun School?
Well, there is Morgan Park at Marist, Prospect at Lyons, Richards at Crete-Monee, Sandburg at St. Rita and Argo at De La Salle.
Mount Carmel quarterback Jack Elliott and his teammates will take on the Hun School from New Jersey a day before most the rest of the state teams open play. Photo by Jeff Vorva