Massive amounts of questions are answered when the dust clears at the end of Week 1.

But more so than any other Week 1 in recent memory we didn’t get a bunch of those answers until the last possible second in a multitude of games around the state.

Here are a few of the many fantastic finishes around the state of Illinois:

• One of the more intriguing games in the state was also one of the first to finish on Thursday. East St. Louis traveled to play Bergen Catholic, a team currently ranked No. 17 nationally in the MaxPreps rankings and the Flyers seemed to have a marquee victory within their grasp.

But a blocked punt inside of two minutes set up a Bergen touchdown drive and pulled the Crusaders to within a point. Bergen went for the two, got it, and escaped with a 22-21 win. It’s certainly not the last chance for the Flyers to make a mark on the national stage as they will play both Bishop Gorman (Nev.) (Currently ranked No. 3) and IMG Academy (No. 7) later this season.

• Hours later, Wheaton St. Francis almost followed the same script as it blocked a late punt, setting up a touchdown with 12 seconds to play that allowed the Spartans to escape with a 38-34 win over Kenwood.

• The fantastic finishes carried over into Friday night where Jack Swick’s 24-yard field goal as time expired allowed Glenbard West to collect a bit of a surprise 31-28 win over Batavia.

• Wilmington appeared to be on its way to beat Morris in a battle that many had hoped to see for decades. The Wildcats punched in a touchdown with 4:21 left to play in the game, forcing Morris into an extended two-minute drill which it ran flawlessly, scoring with 22 seconds left to earn a 27-20 win.

• Friday Night Drive’s No. 1-ranked team also demonstrated a flair for the dramatic in its battle with national powerhouse Cincinnati Moeller. The two teams scrapped back and forth with Mount Carmel closing to within one point and a decision to make on the extra point with just seconds to play. The Caravan elected to go for two and the win with new Mount Carmel QB Emmett Dowling floating a perfect pass to Quentin Burrell for two points and the win. The contest served as a coming-out party for new Caravan quarterback Dowling, who threw for nearly 400 yards in the win.

And the list could go on. Glenbrook South’s overtime victory over York and Loyola’s touchdown in the final seconds to escape Indiana and Merrillville as well as St. Charles North’s decision to go for two and the win against Minooka certainly would draw headlines as well in a more mundane week.

Power conferences flex muscles

It was a strong Week 1 for a lot of leagues, but the one that stood out was the West Suburban Silver, as the league collectively went 6-1 on the opening week of the season in nonconference games.

The lone loss, by York, came in overtime.

That’s just yet another indication that once this league gets into conference play the battles are likely to be fierce across the board.

Both the CCL/ESCC Blue and Green Divisions went 4-0 on the week and the league collectively went 16-8 as a group, and three of those losses came at the hands of other CCL/ESCC teams.

Stat book

• Lincoln-Way East’s standout quarterback Jonas Williams is quickly closing in on a number of the IHSA’s all-time passing records.

Williams, a USC recruit, threw for 358 yards and four touchdowns in the Griffins’ runaway victory over Maine South in Week 1.

Those numbers moved him up the board on the IHSA career lists as he now stands in fourth place on career leaderboard for touchdown passes with 113. That leaves him 14 touchdown passes short of the record that is co-owned by Jordan Roberts from Aurora Christian and Tyler Hutchinson of Greenville.

Williams now has 9,290 career passing yards, putting him fifth on that all-time list currently. Only three passers in IHSA history have thrown for more than 10,000 yards with recent Nazareth graduate Logan Malachuk currently atop the list at 11,190 yards.

• Something about Week 1 one must agree with Warren’s standout running back Aaron Stewart.

Last season, Stewart ran for 361 yards in a season-opening win over Hersey.

This year, Warren went even further rushing for 438 yards in yet another win for the Blue Devils over Hersey.