advertisement

DVC off balance after mediocre nonconference showing

It's a little early for the DuPage Valley Conference to push the panic button.

Don't be surprised, though, if some of its football teams have it on standby.

While it may not seem like an especially odd season for one of the state's premier football conferences, it is. There's simply no way to avoid the fact that the DVC posted a mediocre record in nonconference play the last two weeks.

With conference play set to kick off Friday evening, the lack of nonconference dominance concerns some of the coaches.

“It hasn't been a typical year,” said Wheaton North coach Joe Wardynski. “If you polled the coaches, I'd say we're disappointed in how we did.”

In the previous 10 seasons the DVC posted a nonconference record of 121-39 — a stunning winning percentage of .756. With a peak of 14-2 marks in 2010 and 2008, the worst the DVC did was a 10-6 nonconference record in 2002.

This season? The DVC went an unheard of 8-8.

“We're about .500, which some people might think is a down year,” said Naperville Central coach Mike Stine. “But we played some pretty tough teams.”

That's certainly one aspect of the .500 record.

Wheaton Warrenville South (0-2) played perhaps the state's toughest nonconference schedule against Maine South and Glenbard West. Wheaton North (1-1) faced Bartlett and Geneva while the Napervilles, both 1-1, each played Neuqua Valley and Naperville Central played Waubonsie Valley.

Tough competition isn't the simple answer, though. The DVC always plays stiff competition.

“Maybe the perception is there because the front-runner for the last couple of years isn't the front-runner anymore,” said WW South coach Ron Muhitch, whose team won the last two DVC titles. “I think the DVC will improve as the season goes along. There are going to be some incredible games this year.”

Every DVC champion since 1997 won the league with a perfect 7-0 record, but parity may finally come to the conference this season. The scramble for the playoffs, meanwhile, begins immediately.

It's a scary thought heading into Friday's Naperville North-Wheaton North showdown. One of those teams will be 1-2 after the game, and they'll need to scrape out four wins in the final six games just to reach the playoffs.

“It's hard to say Game 3 is a big one, but this is definitely a big one,” Wardynski said. “It's going to be tough for everyone.”

In past years the DVC's strong nonconference record allowed five-win teams to be virtually guaranteed a playoff berth because of the large number of playoff points for each team. This year, however, a five-win team may remain on the outside looking in when the pairings are announced.

West Aurora is 2-0 right now, but the Blackhawks have only 6 playoff points. That means the nine opponents on their schedule have a total of 6 wins, a tenuous situation if West Aurora wins three DVC games and sits on the playoff bubble.

Glenbard East (1-1) fell 2 points shy of taking a 2-0 record into DVC play after last week's tough loss to Lake Park. It could be costly. Four wins in the DVC will be a chore for the Rams to achieve, and even then they may not have enough playoff points to qualify for the postseason.

“In the past the DVC kind of separated itself from the pack,” said Rams coach John Walters. “This year more than any the seven-week schedule is going to be real interesting.”

All that matters, of course, is how the DVC finishes. If the Wheatons make a run in Class 7A, or if the Napervilles and Glenbard North do the same in 8A, nothing that happened in nonconference play is going to matter.

Getting to the postseason may be tough, but these teams will be battle-tested if they qualify. And with so many inexperienced DVC teams enduring growing pains right now, the ceiling could be pretty high down the road.

Don't count out the DVC just yet.

“We've lost some tough games,” Stine said. “But I bet the DVC teams would love another shot at a rematch.”

kschmit@dailyherald.com