At long last, high school football made its return over the weekend. And it sure came back with a vengeance. Last-minute heroics, high-scoring shootouts, some upsets and a bunch of standout performances.
Here are my takeaways from Week 1 in the Southland.
The rich get Gish-er
All eyes were on Jonas Williams as the star junior quarterback and Oregon recruit made his debut Friday night at Lincoln-Way East. We’ll get to that in a minute, though.
Because the guy who stole the show in the Griffins’ 49-22 win over Maine South was junior running back Brody Gish.
Our preseason feature for Lincoln-Way East was on senior running back Zion Gist, who committed to Western Michigan over the summer and was poised for a huge season. Gist went out early in the season opener with an apparent injury. Let’s hope it’s not serious.
But waiting in the wings was Gish, who stepped in to run for 203 yards and three touchdowns against one of the top programs in the state. Wow. Knowing coach Rob Zvonar has a player like that on his bench has to be a scary thought for the rest of the state.
Now back to Williams. All he did was throw for 355 yards and four TDs.
We all know how good Williams is, but I wondered if he would struggle some in his first game with new teammates, especially with the Griffins lacking experience at receiver.
It could have been similar to what happened with Williams’ future school on Saturday. Oregon has Heisman favorite Dillon Gabriel at quarterback, but the transfer from Oklahoma had a tough time getting going in Game 1 and the Ducks had to survive a potential monumental upset against Idaho, holding on 24-14.
Maine South, relative to Illinois high school football, is certainly no Idaho. But Williams was lights out. I guess we shouldn’t be surprised.
With both Loyola and Mount Carmel losing in Week 1, Lincoln-Way East is now pretty much unquestionably the top-ranked team in Chicagoland.
There’s a long way to go, but the gauntlet has been thrown down by the Griffins.
Hitting the panic button?
A pair of teams in the Daily Southtown’s preseason top five are 0-1. So, how nervous should they be?
At Mount Carmel, no worries at all. The Caravan showcased new offensive stars like sophomore receiver Quentin Burrell and senior running back Danyil Taylor Jr., who moved to the backfield after playing tight end last season.
A 42-38 loss to the Hun School from Princeton of New Jersey, a prep school that featured some fifth-year seniors and a ton of size, is no reason for alarm.
Now, at Providence, there’s some cause for concern. The Celtics were stunned on the final play of the game Friday night as host Wheaton North scored a TD as time ran out for a 23-22 win.
Not a terrible loss by any means, but Providence’s schedule is a doozy, with games in the final month of the regular season against much-improved Marist as well as Loyola and Joliet Catholic.
Add in some other tricky conference games, and Friday night’s upcoming crosstown battle against Lincoln-Way Central sure looks like a must-win for the Celtics.
The Knights showed off plenty of firepower in a 56-40 win over St. Charles East and will certainly be hungry to take on the Catholic school down the road.
I do expect the Celtics to respond to adversity, though.
Most eye-opening score
Argo 45, De La Salle 0. You’d be forgiven for thinking that was a misprint, but it was all Argonauts on Friday night at 35th and Michigan Avenue.
The Meteors, who just missed the playoffs at 4-5 in 2023, are low on numbers and have a rebuild ahead under new coach Harold Blackmon.
But how about Argo?
When Phillip Rossberg took over as head coach in 2022, the Argonauts had not made the playoffs since 2013. They won zero or one game five times in six seasons between 2015 and 2020.
Now, Argo is coming off back-to-back playoff appearances for the first time in program history and just took down a CCL/ESCC program. Things have come a long way in Summit.
One player to watch the rest of the season for the Argonauts is senior running back Steven Holmes, who piled up 142 yards and four TDs, all in the first half.
On we go to a loaded Week 2. Mount Carmel at St. Rita. Marist at Brother Rice. The aforementioned battle of New Lenox. Let’s enjoy the ride.
