The recently announced merger of the DuPage Valley Conference and SouthWest Suburban Conference creates a powerhouse football league, but it does end one big tradition, as Naperville Central’s Aaron Nussbaum and Naperville North’s Jacob Bell know.
At least for the 2024 season, the Redhawks and the Huskies will be in different divisions in the new league, which means they will not play a conference game against each other for the first time.
But the two schools have agreed to play a nonconference game in either Week 1 or Week 2 going forward.
“It looks like we’re going to play Week 1 next year,” Naperville North athletic director Bob Quinn said. “Our community deserves that and expects it, too, quite frankly.”
Nussbaum and Bell are excited about the challenge of playing unfamiliar opponents in the new conference but are relieved the Huskies and Redhawks will continue to meet.
Nussbaum, a junior linebacker, and Bell, a junior quarterback, have competed in several sports since they were little kids and are glad they’ll play one more football game against each other.
“Growing up and being a ball boy for the Redhawks, North versus Central was always the No. 1 rivalry,” Nussbaum said. “I really couldn’t imagine Naperville without a crosstown classic game, without a bunch of fans coming out to see who is the better team that year.
“They’re always evenly matched, and it’s always a great game. I don’t think there’s been a team that’s been able to beat a team twice in one year in a long time.”
Although there have been some years when North and Central met in the playoffs, rarely do two teams meet twice during the season. That changed in 2018, when the departure of three schools reduced the DVC to six teams.
That made it hard for DVC football teams to fill their nonconference schedules and forced them to face conference teams twice. On Friday, in regular-season finales, Naperville Central (7-1, 5-0) will play Neuqua Valley (5-3, 4-1) for the second time, and Naperville North (5-3, 3-2) will play Waubonsie Valley (4-4, 2-3) for the second week in a row.
That won’t happen in the new conference.
“I think it’s a great thing,” Bell said. “It’s going to be a conference full of great teams. Every game is going to be a battle. Every week you never know what you’re going to get.
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“There’s not going to be any free weeks, so it’s going to push our competition up more, and preparation is going to have to be more intense.”
The North-Central rivalry has always been intense — the Redhawks pulled out a 21-14 win in the final minute this season — but the meeting next year could be more so for a variety of reasons. The tougher schedule means it will be harder to make the playoffs, and summer weather could play a role.
“Week 1 is always ugly,” Nussbaum said. “You really haven’t knocked out all the kinks in your team yet, and you aren’t exactly sure who is going to be playing which position all year long.
“Once you get farther into the season, you kind of start understanding, like he’s going to be playing outside linebacker and he’s going to be playing safety. Week 1 is always about who starts out of the gate stronger, who is more physical and who wants to win more.”
Add heat to the mix, and it will be a grind.
“It’s going to be really tough, especially in front of that many fans,” Nussbaum said. “North has always been a good team. We’re always a good team.
“It’s going to be really hot, but I think it’s going to be really fun.”
Bell thinks so too.
“It’s going to be very different, but I’m super excited for it,” Bell said. “Everyone is missing high school football throughout the offseason. So that crosstown atmosphere at North Central College in Week 1 to introduce the high school football season is going to be a blast.
“Playing the guys that you’ve grown up with is always great.”
Bell suggested the Huskies will be ready.
“It is going to be more intense than usual, but at least here at North, we put a lot of preparation into that Week 1 game,” he said. “This year against Homewood-Flossmoor, we put in months of preparation.
“As soon as this season ends, we’re going to be looking toward that game and circle that on our schedule. We know that it sets the tone for how the season goes.”
Indeed, the crosstown game will prepare both teams to face the conference schedule, and the winner will have a leg up in the playoff hunt. The SouthWest Suburban Conference includes perennial Class 8A contender Lincoln-Way East.
“It’s a little bit sad that the DVC as a conference is no longer, but two great football conference are joining together,” Naperville Central coach Mike Ulreich said. “It should be a lot of tremendous competition.
“Top to bottom, there’s a lot of good football, which is what we want, a challenge each and every week.”
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Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.