:quality(70):focal(1275x500:1285x510)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/shawmedia/RUJ7P3RAG5HLPGJBZZAOMH422E.jpg)
At one point or another during the season, a marquee matchup will often be referred to as a measuring-stick game.
These usually come after a little bit of buildup and after a few games have been under each team’s belt. But the current football landscape means that those games are coming much quicker on the schedule than in past years.
[ Friday Night Drive’s Power Rankings: 2022 preseason ]
Scheduling for power programs has become a very difficult process. Most potential opponents, keenly aware of the fact that they’ll need to get a certain number of wins to qualify for the playoffs, might blanche at the notion of squaring off against a top program.
It’s creating the need for power programs to seek out power opponents. That opponent might come from in-state or it might require a team either welcoming a stronghold from another state or hitting the road to a neighboring state.
The end result is an absolutely loaded Week 1. The clarity such a week can provide could set the tone of the entire season.
Let’s look at a few of the Week 1 matchups of interest.
St. Rita at Mount Carmel, 7:30 p.m. Friday: As if the CCL/ESCC isn’t hard enough, these two programs were essentially forced to schedule yet another rigorous game into already jam-packed schedules. Problems finding willing opponents led to this historical rich series being placed back on the schedule. It stretches the boundaries of what can really be considered a nonconference game.
Cincinnati St. Xavier at Loyola, noon Sunday: Can’t make it out to this one? You can catch it on ESPN. That’s a visage reserved for the elite of the elite programs. Some eyebrows were raised when St. Xavier dropped its season opener last weekend. But that loss came at the hands of Lakota West, which isn’t exactly a slouch in its own right. Lakota West is a consensus top five team in Ohio right now, regardless of class.
Glenbard West at Marist, 1 p.m. Saturday: Neither of these teams have a history of backing away from an early season challenge so its not surprising to see them lock horns here. Both of these squads should be excellent and both will be looking to start their season on the right foot largely due to the many hurdles that lie ahead on both of their schedules.
East St. Louis at St. Frances Academy, 8 p.m. Saturday: East St. Louis tends to seek out the best programs that it can find anywhere in the United States and that philosophy certainly seems to be extending into the 2022 season with this kickoff game in Maryland. St. Frances is currently the No. 3 -anked team nationally by MaxPreps and was featured in a 2020 HBO docuseries titled “The Cost of Winning.” St. Frances plays a national-based schedule and will square off against teams from Texas, Florida and Hawaii before closing its regular season with a matchup with IMG Academy.
Rochester at Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin, 7:30 p.m. Friday: This could very well be the last “Leonard Bowl” as father Ken, head coach of Sacred Heart-Griffin, and son Derek, coach of Rochester, have done battle for central Illinois supremacy for multiple years. Ken Leonard will retire at the conclusion of this season and will do so as the state’s all-time winningest coach. The two programs split a pair of matchups last season, with Sacred Heart-Griffin’s win over Rochester in the Class 4A semifinals securing it a place in the title game, where it ultimately fell to Joliet Catholic.
Other games of note: Batavia at Chicago Phillips; Barrington at Warren; Glenbard North at Kenwood; Hillcrest at Brother Rice; Homewood-Flossmoor at Naperville North; Minooka at Bolingbrook; Lincoln-Way East at Crete-Monee; Kankakee at Nazareth; Montini at IC Catholic; Neuqua Valley at Oswego; Wheaton St. Francis at Lake Forest.