Yes, it was only Week 2 of the longest football season in Illinois High School Association history, so we shouldn’t get too far ahead of ourselves. But one thing is already clear — the Southland is home to some pretty darn good football this fall.
Last weekend produced plenty of bragging rights for the area. Our teams delivered huge wins over top opponents from all over the state — the nation, even.
Southland vs. The World? OK, maybe that’s a bit dramatic, but the Southland won the week. And what a season it’s shaping up to be.
Here are my takeaways from Week 2.
The most exciting season in SouthWest Suburban Conference history
The SouthWest Suburban Conference has been around for just over 20 years now and has always been strong, so this might seem like a bold take.
But let’s think about the history and examine what’s ahead of us this year.
For most of the conference’s existence, it has been split into two divisions. The SWSC Blue, in large part, was dominated by Lincoln-Way East year in and year out, aside from a few runs by former member Bolingbrook and Homewood-Flossmoor. The SWSC Red, meanwhile, was traditionally more up for grabs but often seen as the lesser division.
The last two seasons, following Bolingbrook’s departure, we had the conference’s merger with the DuPage Valley to form the Southwest Valley. That brought on some interesting new matchups. But it just felt weird.
Now, the SouthWest Suburban is back as one nine-team loop. And let’s look at all the conference accomplished just this last week.
The biggest win was Sandburg’s over Montini. More on that later.
Lincoln-Way Central went on the road to take on Barrington, a perennial contender to go deep in the postseason, and won 28-14. Evan Vogt and Landon Steinbach had huge games defensively.
The Knights lost a ton of key seniors from last season but are one late touchdown in a 27-23 loss to Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin away from being 2-0.
How about across town? All Lincoln-Way West did was stomp Peoria 35-0 to move to 2-0. The Lions averaged 47 points last season while finishing 9-3 but could not score a single time against coach Luke Lokanc’s team.
Lincoln-Way East and H-F made huge statements in Week 1 and both followed that up with strong wins to get to 2-0.
Those five teams in one conference? That’s as good as it gets for any public school league in the state. They’ve shown they can beat the Catholic League as well.
And all five play each other over the next seven weeks. There’s at least one major showdown every Friday night.
So, strap in. It’s going to be a wild ride.
The Southland takes on all comers — and prevails
The SWSC’s big wins stood out in Week 2, but they were far from the only key victories for area teams against foes from outside the area.
Of course, I’d be remiss to not talk about Mount Carmel’s comeback. The Caravan trailed St. Joseph Regional from New Jersey 30-0 in the opening minute of the second quarter.
The internet was torching Mount Carmel, which was getting embarrassed on ESPN. Multiple people told me fans in the stands were calling for senior quarterback Brady Cloherty to be benched.
Then Cloherty threw seven TD passes and the Caravan rallied for a 48-44 win.
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It’s the craziest turnaround I’ve ever seen — and I expect Mount Carmel to be off to the races now.
The big wins continued Saturday. St. Rita topped Glenbard West 36-35 behind a 21-yard TD run in the final minute by Brandon Johnson Jr. and the ensuing 2-point conversion pass from John Fennell to Vinny Stubitsch.
And behind three TD runs from Derrick Pommato, Joliet Catholic beat Sacred Heart-Griffin 21-14.
Most eye-opening score
Sandburg 35, Montini 28.
This game wasn’t even supposed to happen. It was scheduled after Sandburg had its original Week 2 opponent back out. The Eagles are sure glad that happened now.
Senior quarterback Sean Ruisz, who sat out the opener with an injury, was spectacular. He ran for 181 yards and three TDs and threw for 225 yards and another score, outdueling Montini’s five-star Miami recruit quarterback Israel Abrams and ending the Broncos’ 25-game winning streak.
There’s no question about it now. Sandburg is for real.