FOOTBALL. IS. BACK.
We have a slightly different format for the first week of 2023. I will recap the past weekend into one story.
What a weekend of football! I made trips to St. Charles North, Glenbard West, and Hancock Stadium at Illinois State. All three games went down to the wire, and after one week we already have TWO game of the year candidates.
Here is a recap of an exciting week 1:
St. Charles North 37 Palatine 34: Plumb Leads North Stars Comeback in Wild Back-and-Forth Affair with the Pirates
In each of the last four seasons, excluding the Spring year, the Pirates and North Stars met for the opening week of the season. Coming in to Friday's matchup the North Stars had a 2-1 advantage in that stretch with the loss coming last season in Palatine 26-14.
The North Stars defense did a great job early on containing Pirates star running back Dominik Ball, and took a 3-0 lead into the second quarter. Without missing a beat, Ball sparked up the Pirates and took the next carry 66 yards to the endzone. That run propelled a 27-point outburst in the second quarter, and Pirates led by 10 at halftime.
The North Stars had a couple of promising drives stall in the third quarter, which resulted in two Hunter Liszka field goals, cutting the deficit to 4.
Quarterback Ethan Plumb took over at that point. The junior led the offense in back-to-back go ahead drives. Plumb threw touchdown passes to senior Jake Mettetal (42 yards) and sophomore Keaton Reinke (13 yards, game winner).
Glenbard West 7 Marist 6: Mason Ellens the Hero in Defensive Struggle
Last season the Hilltoppers won a thriller 33-31 on the south side after a missed field goal by Marist. Marist-Glenbard West 2023 had a similar ending, but the game had a much different feel.
Neither team scored through the first three plus quarters, and Hilltoppers running back Julius Ellens left the game in the first half with a knee injury. Redhawks quarterback Owen Winters opened the scoring with a 62-yard quarterback keeper, but the extra point was missed. Right on the ensuing kickoff, return man Mason Ellens scooped the ball up off a bounce and brought it back 94 yards for a touchdown.
With 1:26 left the Hilltoppers needed just one more first down to seal the win, but they fumbled the ball and the Redhawks recovered it. Owen Winters got the Redhawks into scoring position, but kicker Cole Nolan missed the game-winning field goal attempt which sealed the Hilltopper victory.
Glenbard West Junior Teyion Oriental, who filled in nicely for the injured Ellens, led the Hilltoppers with 166 yards rushing.
Mt. Carmel 36 East St. Louis 33: Jack Elliott Impresses in Highly Anticipated Showdown
Easily the most hyped up matchup of the weekend, and maybe the year; this one had no shortage of excitement. It had everything from hard hits to trash talk, and from flashiness to toughness.
The Caravan (AP #1 in 7A) led the Flyers (AP #1 in 6A) 21-7 at the half, with the third Caravan touchdown coming on a 3 yard Jack Elliott keeper after back-to-back offsides penalties by the Flyers, who struggled with penalties throughout the night.
The Flyers hung around throughout the night, but still trailed 36-19 with less than ten minutes to go. After a 1 yard touchdown run by Flyers quarterback Robert "Pops" Battle, the Caravan were stopped on 4th down after Elliott took a gamble to go for it on 4th down in his own territory. Battle's 29 yard pass to receiver Jesse Watson plus a two-point conversion cut the deficit to 3.
However the Caravan were able to convert first downs and ran down the clock on their next and final possession.
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