Whip-Purs, Green Wave step up in class

Big changes to the football schedules at Hampshire and St. Edward will lead to big challenges for both teams this fall.

Last week the IHSA released the 2011 football schedules for all the teams in the state, and the biggest story lines on an Elgin-area level are the difficult slate of games awaiting the Whip-Purs and Green Wave.

Hampshire makes its move to the Fox Valley Conference’s Fox Division this year, and nothing will come easy for the newcomers as the Whips try to navigate a league known for being a football powerhouse.

Meanwhile, St. Edward’s hopes of reaching the state playoffs for a third year in a row will be severely tested with its move to the ultra-competitive Suburban Christian Conference’s Blue Division. Showdowns against reigning Class 5A state champion Montini and Class 6A runner-up Marmion are just part of what will be a grueling league schedule for the Wave.

“Everybody involved with and close to this program is nothing but excited to get to play that level of competition,” St. Edward coach Mike Rolando said. “We’ve been getting better and better, and if we want to be able to compete at that top level we’ve got to fight and claw all nine games. We’re going to approach every game like a playoff game until we get to that fifth win.”

New terrain for Whip-Purs

Hampshire’s move to the FVC became official two years ago, so the changes on the football schedule certainly don’t come as a surprise. Nonetheless, a glance at the list of opponents in league games is certainly daunting for a Whips squad that struggled to a 1-8 mark in its final year in the Big Northern Conference last fall.

Among Hampshire’s FVC Fox opponents are Crystal Lake Central, Grayslake Central and Grayslake North, all of which finished with winning records last year. Johnsburg, Woodstock and Woodstock North round out the division, which is made up of the seven smallest schools in the FVC.

The schedule makers also did the Whips no favors by pitting Hampshire against Class 6A titan Cary-Grove in an FVC crossover game in Week 4.

“We knew this was coming and we knew we’d be playing bigger schools size-wise,” Hampshire coach Dan Cavanaugh said. “The Fox Valley has a great football reputation, so we’ve tried to prepare as much as we can.”

The Whips will hang on to a bit of their past by maintaining rival Burlington Central on the schedule. The teams will square off in the season opener on Aug. 26 at Hampshire in what will be the first game for new Rockets coach Rich Crabel.

Hampshire then hosts DeKalb in another nonconference affair in Week 2 before opening FVC Fox play with a home game against Grayslake Central in Week 3.

“For the first year it’s going to be kind of like when you play a playoff game and you’re not familiar with anybody,” Cavanaugh said. “Every week it’s going to be a new experience. We’ll certainly miss the rivalries we had in the other conference, but we look forward to the challenge.”

Wave taking big step up

St. Edward’s move to the SCC Blue comes as the league enters its third year of existence. The plan all along was to reassess the alignment of teams in the SCC Blue and SCC Gold in every sport following the 2010-11 school year.

Using a formula that took into account every SCC football team’s school enrollment, win percentage in division games and playoff success, the Green Wave and Wheaton Academy were tabbed as the two teams to move up from the SCC Gold to the SCC Blue. Aurora Christian and Walther Lutheran will go the other direction, dropping to the SCC Gold.

St. Edward won all of its SCC Gold games en route to the division title last year, but it lost both of its crossovers. Marian Central and St. Francis join the Wave, Montini and Marmion in the SCC Blue. Wheaton Academy is the only team in the division that wasn’t part of the old Suburban Catholic Conference.

The Suburban Christian Conference could be in for more changes following the 2011 season as the league plans to institute a new formula that puts added weight on strength of schedule to decide the league breakdown. For now, though, St. Edward is only focused on the task at hand.

“People probably forget that we rebuilt this team in the (Suburban Catholic Conference), and our last year in the original SCC we were 4-5,” Rolando said. “We beat Marmion that year, we only lost to Montini by six on a last-second play, we only lost to Driscoll by nine and we only lost to St. Francis by 11. So we were very competitive before we broke up the conference, and people tend to forget that and think we only had success when we were in the easier side of the new SCC.”

In addition to the changes in its conference schedule, St. Edward also has two new nonconference opponents this year. The Wave opens the season with a home game against Genoa-Kingston before traveling to Gilman to play the Iroquois West Co-op in Week 2.

Rivalry games on tap

In addition to the showdown between Hampshire and Central, a number of other traditional rivalries will continue this fall.

Elgin takes on Larkin in the annual Town Jug Game in Week 5 on Sept. 24 at Memorial Field. The Maroons beat the Royals each of the past two seasons.

Bartlett and South Elgin renew pleasantries in Week 6 when the Hawks travel to play at the Storm’s new field on Sept. 30. South Elgin’s home opener is two weeks earlier on Sept. 16 against Metea Valley in what will be the first-ever varsity football game played on the Storm’s school grounds.

Week 9 of the season will feature a pair of rivalry showdowns as St. Charles East hosts St. Charles North and Jacobs hosts Dundee-Crown. New Chargers coach Vito Andriola makes his debut in D-C’s season opener at Elgin.

Last but not least, Genoa-Kingston undergoes a schedule overhaul this year as it takes Hampshire’s spot in the BNC East after previously playing in the BNC West.

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