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Steve Soucie’s Week 7 games to watch: More “prove it” games for teams with top records

Challenges abound for team’s with great marks thus far

By Steve Soucie
Joliet Catholic's Lawrence Stringham (24) runs the ball during the varsity football game between Joliet Catholic and Nazareth academies on Friday, Sep. 27, 2024 in La Grange Park.

Joliet Catholic's Lawrence Stringham (24) runs the ball during the varsity football game between Joliet Catholic and Nazareth earlier this season. Joliet Catholic will travel to play Mount Carmel in Week 7, the first time the two titanic programs have met since 2007. (Tony Gadomski/Tony Gadomski for Shaw Local New)

Week 6 brought a litany of games that provided opportunities for a lot of unexpected strong teams to prove that they belong in the rarified air of some of those top teams.

Many of them did just that.

And while Week 7 doesn’t have quite as many marquee games as Week 6, there are still five games that pair two of the state’s remaining 49 undefeated teams and there are countless other one-loss and two-loss squads that have a game on the slate this week that can put a real stamp on their regular seasons.

Other things to consider:

* 26 of the 49 undefeated teams are playing opponents in Week 7 with records above the .500 mark.

* There are 73 teams in the state with 5-1 records. Inside of that group 12 of those teams are playing one another in Week 7, another six are squaring off with currently undefeated teams and 12 more are playing opponents that are above .500. There’s going to be movement in that group and the number of teams that end up at 6-1 when the dust clears is going to shrink.

Week 7 is almost always a week that starts to really separate those teams that are going to make a push for a top five seed in their respective classes. It also tends to be a week where there’s a clear division between teams that currently reside at the .500 mark, a loss in Week 7 can be catastrophic in that quest.

Here’s a look at some of the top games in Week 7:

Joliet Catholic (4-2) at Mount Carmel (4-2), 7:30 p.m. Friday: Two of the truly iconic programs in IHSA football as both are the all-time leaders in state championships with 15 each. It seems almost strange that the two programs haven’t met since 2007, but it probably won’t take too long to rekindle the rivalry.

Coal City (5-1) at Wilmington (6-0), 7 p.m. Friday: Separated by just 10 miles, these two fierce combatants have no love lost for one another. WIlmington has dominated the rivalry in recent seasons and is off to a tremendous start, but Coal City has also been fantastic in the five games since a Week 1 loss to Morris.

Lyons (6-0) at Downers Grove North (6-0), 7:30 p.m. Friday: Downers Grove North has been dominant from the drop. Prior to surrendering 14 points to York in Week 6, DGN hadn’t allowed more than a touchdown to any opponent all year. Lyons’ road to its undefeated record has been a little bit more arduous , but the Lions have some quality wins to show for it.

Woodstock North (6-0) at Richmond-Burton (4-2), 7:30 p.m. Friday: Woodstock North is trying to go 7-0 for the first time in school history and come awfully close to sewing up a Kishwaukee River Conference title to go along with said win. But Richmond-Burton, who has dominated this league for years, isn’t likely to relent its perch easily and seemed to have reawoken the beast within them with a lopsided win over Sandwich in Week 6.

Dixon (6-0) at Johnston City (6-0), 7 p.m. Friday: This battle of undefeateds wasn’t supposed to happen. Both Dixon and Johnston City had vacancies on their schedules because of initial opponents bowing out of varsity football for the season, but instead of taking a forfeit win both programs decided they’d rather grapple with a quality opponent than take the week off.

Other games of note: Marist at St. Ignatius; Carmel at DePaul Prep; Paxton at Monticello; Kaneland at Rochelle; Wauconda at Antioch; Williamsville at New Berlin; Lockport at Lincoln-Way East; Bismarck-Henning at Momence; Minooka at Plainfield North; Oak Lawn Richards at Lemont; Fenwick at Benet