This season’s fastest and toughest games, Elmhurst’s elite season, the CPS coaching tree and a look ahead.
It’s a privilege to watch high school football games from the sideline. Most schools will make room in the press box for reporters. That’s a much easier place to work, but there is so much to learn from hearing what the coaches and players have to say throughout the game.
The speed and violence on the field are right in your face. It makes for memorable moments.
Mount Carmel vs. East St. Louis, the Week 1 showcase game at ISU, was played at a considerably faster level than any of the other 14 games I’ve covered so far this season. It also featured the biggest hits.
But the game this past Friday in Cary was the most physical I’ve seen this year. Prairie Ridge and Cary-Grove mauled each other for four quarters. It was unrelenting, with grass stains and dirty uniforms adding an old-school feel.
“Two physical teams,” Trojans coach Brad Seaburg said. “We know each other really well and I think that adds to it.”
Prairie Ridge pulled out a 21-20 victory after Cary-Grove missed an extra-point attempt that would have tied the game with 55 seconds left.
Wolves senior Dominic Creatore, a force at running back and defensive back, mentioned that his teammates were thinking about Cary-Grove in particular while bulking up in the weight room over the summer.
