Oct. 14--Two weeks is too long to wait.
Following a climactic Week 7 that saw the continued domination of the Tribune's top 5 teams plus No. 7 Phillips and a thriller between No. 6 Joliet Catholic and 8 Nazareth, there's not much left for the regular season to teach us.
At least seven of these eight elites have already faced their stiffest scheduled challenge, and it remains to be seen whether No. 11 Mount Carmel can compete with No. 2 Loyola.
Nobody has yet. Of course, the same goes for No. 1 Homewood-Flossmoor, which proved its defensive chops while beating Lincoln-Way East 28-3.
A potential 8A final between the Vikings and the Ramblers has the makings of a classic.
The same could be said about a potential showdown between No. 3 Glenbard West and No. 4 Libertyville in 7A.
Montini and Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin will take their "success-factor" rivalry to 6A, and two other Catholic schools will take their place as the teams nobody can beat in 5A: Joliet Catholic and Nazareth, whose rematch of JCA's 38-35 victory seems inevitable.
Now that we've eliminated 94 percent of the 5A-8A fields two weeks before the playoffs begin, it's a good time to point out that the full 14-game season is merely at its midpoint.
Great teams usually get that way by improving each week, by figuring out what they need to do to get better. Some look really good earlier than others, but there's still time to catch up.
The clear favorites have emerged, but surprise always works its way into the mix.
Keep an eye on these four potential "classic" spoilers in the coming weeks.
Class 8A
Naperville Central: The Redhawks circa 2013 are a classic example of a team that just kept getting better all the way until their Class 8A final upset of Loyola. The 2011 version was similar, only that team lost a great semifinal against Bolingbrook and Aaron Bailey. You can point out that with the exception of Manny Rugamba, this a completely different team. I would counter that the comparison is valid nevertheless because Mike Stine and his coaching staff have proven they know how to develop their team during the season.
This Central team is typically tough defensively and has the offensive versatility that's essentially required of an 8A champion. It was a top-five team preseason and still would be if not for the inevitable close loss (to Waubonsie Valley) in the DuPage Valley Conference, so it's not as if Central is a sleeper. But it also hasn't been overwhelming the opposition like H-F and Loyola have. If there's one team both hope falls on the other's side of the bracket, it's Naperville Central.
Class 7A
Glenbard North: The Panthers lost to Naperville Central by a point on opening night and a to Waubonsie by a touchdown in Week 2, and a case could be made that they've been the best team in the DVC since. Their 190 points are the most in the league (along with Neuqua Valley), and their 59 points allowed are the fewest.
They didn't suddenly become a passing team when Justin Jackson graduated, but they have multiple threats to worry about with the emergence of junior Vittorio Tricase alongside Devion Hodges. Glenbard North-Neuqua Valley in Week 9 could be the most interesting regular-season game remaining.
Class 6A
Lincoln-Way North: This would be some kind of story, the school on the verge of extinction winning a state championship. The Phoenix are 7-0 and coming off their biggest victory to date over a good Thornton team. It's still not clear that LWN will be in 6A rather than 7A -- the Kankakee Daily Journal's Steve Soucie says 6A -- but it's hard to find a team that could ascend to the level of Sacred Heart-Griffin or Montini. Maybe karma takes up the Phoenix cause.
Class 5A
Washington? Troy Triad? Champaign Central? What they have in common, to paraphrase the great Cliff Clavin, is they've never been in my kitchen. My actual knowledge of them is zilch, but I don't need any to seriously doubt that any of them are better than JCA or Nazareth. I also have serious doubts that any 8A team other than those mentioned above are better than JCA or Nazareth. 5A is the new 5A, with JCA and Nazareth replacing Montini and Sacred Heart-Griffin.
Mike Helfgot is a freelance reporter for the Chicago Tribune.
