1. Wheaton Warrenville South 14-0
Danny Dierking does his thing, Jim O’Brien scores on 96-yard kick return, 65-yard run and Tiger defense covers the option in 44-21 8A title victory over Mt. Carmel.
2. St. Rita 13-1
QB Peter Balsam, RB Darieon Hood and the stalwart Mustang defense headed by Matt Conrath bring home 7A title—first championship since 1978.
3. Mt. Carmel 12-2
After getting by top-ranked Lincoln-Way East in the semifinals, Caravan is ambushed by a Wheaton South speed trap and lose title game for second year in a row.
4. Lincoln-Way East 12-1
Griffin seniors had gone 44-0 in their high school career until getting knocked off by Mt. Carmel 14-12 in 8A semifinal witnessed by 10,212.
5. Lake Zurich 12-2
The Good News Bears were the dark-horse contender heading into the playoffs and had a great run before falling to St. Rita in 7A title game.
6. Batavia 12-2
Best of the powerful Western Sun Conference watched 6-5 sophomore backup QB Jordan Coffey acquit himself well in 30-20 loss to Normal in 6A title game.
7. Marian Central Catholic 13-1
Hurricanes made believers out of everyone with strong postseason run, and return 13 starters from 5A runner-up to take the next step in 2007.
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8. Providence 8-5
After starting out 1-4, the Cinderella Celtics won seven straight—including a road victory at East St. Louis—before losing in the final six seconds to St. Rita in semifinals.
9. Bolingbrook 9-3
Raiders had a 13-3 lead against then-No. 1 Lincoln-Way East, but couldn’t finish the job in 19-13 loss to Griffins in 8A quarterfinals.
10. York 11-2
Dukes came together at the right time and stormed into the playoffs behind a stingy, physical defense that finally met its match in the semis against Wheaton South.
11. Prospect 11-2
If it’s any consolation, Wheaton South adopted the same defensive strategy that Knights used to topple Mt. Carmel in last year’s 7A title game—and it worked.
12. Driscoll 13-1
Highlanders won unprecedented sixth straight title with only three returning starters from ’05 champion—nine returning starters could mean seven in ’07.
13. Oak Forest 10-3
Unheralded Bengals handled Normal West, TF South and Champaign Centennial in 6A playoffs before coming up short in semis against champion Normal.
14. Kaneland 11-2
Even the dynamic All-State passing combination of Boone Thorgesen to Casey Crosby wasn’t enough against Marian Central Catholic in 5A semifinals.
15. Cary-Grove 11-1
After outscoring opponents by an average of 45 points most of the season, the Trojans fall in quarterfinals 15-14 to eventual 6A runner-up Batavia.
16. Geneva 11-2
Vikings could beat everyone except Batavia, who knocked them off in the regular season and followed up with a 28-0 victory in the 6A semifinals.
17. Fremd 10-2
No-name Vikings and RB Jake Smith knock off Schaumburg and Stevenson in the 8A playoffs before York’s defense stymies them in the quarterfinals.
18. Barrington 9-3
Playoffs typified roller coaster season—up in rousing 42-34 win over Maine South but down in 44-15 quarterfinal loss to 8A champion Wheaton South.
19. Oswego 10-2
Bulldogs wanted to keep the season going as long as possible for outgoing coach Karl Hoinkes, but the ride comes to an end against Geneva in 6A quarterfinals.
20. Rolling Meadows 9-3
Mustangs pulled off the biggest upset of the postseason, a 16-15 victory over previously unbeaten Libertyville in the second round of 7A playoffs.