Top-ranked Mount Carmel, No. 2 Brother Rice and No. 5 Nazareth all lost in Week 1. Does that mean the preseason rankings were lousy?
The Caravan’s loss to East St. Louis wasn’t a major surprise, despite the team’s college talent and four consecutive state championships. East St. Louis is nearly as loaded with college talent and, most importantly, returned starting quarterback Reece Shanklin.
That was the common thread (and the possible weakness) among all three top teams that picked up opening-week losses: quarterback questions.
Shanklin was excellent for the Flyers, playing nearly perfectly other than one interception in the end zone. Mount Carmel is clearly still working out its quarterback situation. Brother Rice is starting an inexperienced senior and a star freshman, and Nazareth has a junior transfer quarterback from Wisconsin.
The best of that bunch so far is Nazareth’s JJ Chapman. He holds multiple Power Four offers and threw for 292 yards with one TD and two interceptions in the Roadrunners’ loss at IC Catholic.
One thing to keep in mind about the preseason rankings: they are based on what will likely happen throughout the season. Obviously, things can be rough for teams, even very talented ones, that don’t have the quarterback position settled. That wasn’t a huge surprise.
It is still very likely that Mount Carmel (8A), Brother Rice (7A) and Nazareth (6A) will win state titles this season and wind up at the top of the final Super 25.
Eye openers
Highly-ranked teams losing big games took everyone’s attention away from some other very interesting results.
Three teams that nearly made the preseason Super 25 picked up losses to good teams that are better than expected.
St. Laurence, which has done nothing but win and advance deep into the playoffs the past three seasons, lost 15-14 to King. The Jaguars were 7-5 with a young team last season and appear to be nearing the top tier of Public League football. They have a huge test at Marist this week.
DePaul Prep, which had multiple key players transfer away after coach Mike Passarella left for a college job, knocked off Richards 32-22 on the road. Junior running back Tyson Hooks finished with 190 yards and 2 TDs. Nick Bizzieri, previously the offensive line coach, is the new head coach.
Fremd returned a small core from last season’s excellent team, but some road bumps were possible after quarterback Johnny O’Brien left for Northwestern. Meanwhile, the arrow was pointing way up for Lake Zurich, which nearly cracked the preseason rankings.
The Vikings dominated with a 20-0 win on Friday, led by their defense. Junior Will Clark stepped in at quarterback and threw for 213 yards.
Public League progress?
King’s win against St. Laurence was the highlight of the week for the Public League. Simeon lost 44-28 at Marist. That game wasn’t as close as expected.
Morgan Park, talented but very young this season, lost to ranked Downers Grove North 17-12, and Kenwood lost to a good Palatine team 20-18.
Morgan Park coach Chris James and Kenwood’s Chris Goffer aren’t satisfied with moral victories at this point, but those close scores indicate both teams can strive towards significant playoff runs this season.
Remember, just as with Mount Carmel and Brother Rice, it isn’t the Week 1 result that matters. It is where a team finishes in November.