5 storylines to watch heading into Week 4 of high school football
Here are five things to keep an eye on Week 4 of the high school football season.
Battle of Grayslake:
You can't beat a rivalry game like Grayslake North vs. Grayslake Central especially with both off to 3-0 starts and high-powered offenses to watch. Central won last year's matchup 28-25 and features wide receiver Kaiden Miller. He scored 4 touchdowns last week - setting the school record for TD catches in the process. Quarterback Jake Donohue leads the Grayslake North attack. He is 49-for-88 passing for 737 yards so far with 9 touchdowns.
More marquee matchups:
That's not the only 3-0 vs. 3-0 game you don't want to miss.
Carmel and St. Viator will put their perfect records on the line Friday at Forest View. The Lions are looking to go 4-0 for the first time since 2006 while Carmel is 3-0 for the first time since 2010.
Viator's Charlie Dolsen-to-Michael Nix combination already has connected for five touchdowns. There's another matchup of unbeatens in the West Suburban Gold with No. 12 Downers Grove North traveling to No. 5 York.
Neuqua Valley has an OT loss, but the DuPage Valley Conference opens play with a battle between top 10 teams - the No. 10 Wildcats and No. 4 Naperville North. The Huskies won last year's game, a 34-32 classic. That was the only loss the Wildcats suffered until another heartbreaker, 14-13 to Maine South in the Class 8A quarterfinals.
Needing a win:
Barrington is one of those teams, 0-3 for the first time since 2001. Then again, 99 percent of the teams in the state would be 0-3 as well after opening against Warren, Maine South and Maine South like Barrington has.
Week 3 hero:
It's hard to imagine a more exciting end to a game than Lake Zurich's 13-10 victory over Stevenson last week.
Danny Vuckovic was the hero, drilling a 52-yard field goal as time expired.
Bears coach Ronald Planz called Vuckovic a weapon, and not just with his field goal range. He's also helped turn the field by averaging 43.4 yards per punt.
Emotional night in St. Charles:
The annual St. Charles East Jodie Harrison Hall of Fame ceremony is this weekend. It's always a special time, even more so this year with one of the inductees Justin Hardy, the 2018 graduate who lost his courageous battle with cancer earlier this year.
Hardy drew national attention and praise during his 13-month fight with stomach cancer while continuing to play basketball at Washington University with his Hardy Strong mantra. As the bio of Hardy says best in the Saints' Hall of Fame program: "Justin Hardy's all-too-brief life will always be celebrated for his unceasing optimism and grace under pressure. He exemplified the virtues inherent to athletic and human greatness everywhere: courage, pride, honor, sacrifice, and commitment. Justin personified the resilience of the human spirit facing overwhelming odds."
Four other athletes - Lexi Baltes, Mike Edmondson, Tyler Evans and Laurie Seidl - are being inducted, along with contributors Barb and Walt Miller, and coaches Mike Powers and Gary Gilmore. There is an induction ceremony from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Moose Lodge.
St. Charles East also is recognizing four state championship teams - 1992 girls soccer, 1982 boys swimming, 2001 girls volleyball and 1991 boys golf. The school now has 50 state championship teams and plans to recognize them all; they started last year with the seven state champs in the historic 1998-99 school year and will continue honoring four a year until they get all 50. The Saints football team takes their 2-1 record into Friday's DuKane Conference matchup against Glenbard North. The HOF inductees, along with the state championship teams, will be recognized between the sophomore and varsity games.