With the first round of IHSA football playoffs in the books, it's time to take a look at who made a statement — both good and bad.
It was good to be from...
The North Suburban Lake. The conference went a perfect 4-0 in the opening round. Both Stevenson (43-35 over Conant) and Warren Township (42-41 over Curie) advance in Class 8A while Libertyville (56-24 over Downers Grove North) moves on in 7A. Lake Forest (34-27 over Lakes) also moves on in Class 6A.
The Chicago Public League's Illini Land of Lincoln conference. Teams finished a perfect 4-0 — and that's the good news. The not so good news? Outside of Phillips (41-7 winner over Genoa-Kingston), wins from Raby (30-0 over Clark), King (42-6 over DuSable) and Solorio (20-18 win over Lindblom) all came against fellow CPL teams. Simeon (51-6 over Lincoln Park) was the only non-Land Of Lincoln team to advance. The Wolverines beat Lincoln Park from the CPL Big Shoulders conference. Overall, the CPL posted a 5-12 record in the first round.
East Suburban Catholic Conference. The ESCC finished 5-1 overall and the lone loss came when Marist beat ESCC rival Notre Dame, 17-14. Look for the ESCC to lose at least one team after the second round, as Marian Central Catholic takes on fellow ESCC team Joliet Catholic.
The Chicago Catholic League Blue conference. Teams went 3-0 after the first round and included overwhelming wins by Loyola (31-0 over West Aurora) and Brother Rice (49-21 over Bartlett) in 8A and Mount Carmel (42-15 over Glenbard North) in 7A.
The South Suburban Blue. Lemont (27-0 over Glenwood) and Oak Forest (51-14 over Quincy) advance in Class 6A while Tinley Park (41-20 over Payton Prep) moves on in Class 5A.
The DuPage Valley Conference. The DVC went 3-1 as Naperville Central (14-7 over Bolingbrook), Neuqua Valley (29-26 over Hinsdale Central) and Waubonsie Valley (20-17 over Edwardsville in OT) won. Glenbard North (42-15 loss to Mount Carmel) was the only team to have its season come to an end. Waubonsie Valley will face Neuqua Valley on Saturday in Class 8A action.
The Southwest Suburban Red. In Class 7A, Bradley (60-59 over Glenbrook North in 2OT) advanced. In Class 6A, Lincoln-Way North (41-0 over Centennial) moves on as does Lincoln-Way West (35-12 over Dunlap) in 5A. Thornton Township's season come to an end as they lost to Hinsdale South 34-23 in 6A.
It wasn't a good opening weekend for...
The Southwest Prairie conference. Only Oswego (a 28-20 winner over Belleville East) advanced in 8A while Minooka (49-7 loss to Huntley) and Plainfield South (41-12 loss to Barrington) lost in 8A. In Class 7A, Plainfield North (35-20 loss to Maine South) and Oswego East (36-19 loss to Geneva) couldn't get past the first round.
The Southwestern Conference. The St. Louis Metro area is generally a player in the 8A/7A field but this time around they posted a collective 0-4 opening round. The biggest surprise had to be Class 8A's No. 3 seed Edwardsville (9-1), losing 20-17 in overtime to No. 30 seed Waubonsie Valley (6-4).
The NIC-10 Conference. Located in the Rockford area, the only NIC-10 team to advance was Rockford Auburn (10-6 over Rockton Hononegah) who beat another NIC-10 team to advance in Class 7A.
Others of Note:
The Fox Valley Conference (Fox and Valley divisions) finished 4-3 overall.
The West Suburban Conference (Gold and Silver) ended up 3-3 overall.
The Upstate 8 Conference (River and Valley) also finished 3-3 overall.