2009 All-DuPage Valley Conference
OFFENSE
Offensive Team Co-Captains: Nick Linne, Naperville Central; Leon Spears, West Aurora
Outstanding Co-Offensive Lineman: Mike Partipillo, Glenbard North; Roco Ammons, Wheaton Warrenville South

Running Back
*Evin Natick, Glenbard North senior
*Idris Hanidu, Naperville North senior
Leon Spears, West Aurora senior

Wide Receivers/Ends
Mike Carev, Glenbard North senior
*Hayden Daniels, Naperville Central junior
Richard Finley, Wheaton North junior
Greg McAndrews, Wheaton Warrenville South senior

Offensive Line
Nick Wozniak, Glenbard North senior
Mike Partipillo, Glenbard North senior
*Soern Osborne, Naperville North junior
Nolan Randall, Naperville North senior
Rocco Ammons, Wheaton Warrenville South senior
Chris Cortopassi, Wheaton Warrenville South senior

Quarterback
Jack Merrithey, Glenbard East senior
Nick Linne, Naperville Central senior
Reilly O'Toole, Wheaton Warrenville South junior

TE/Offensive All Purpose
Lee Skinner, Glenbard East senior
Cam Brate, Naperville Central senior
Mack Tracey, Wheaton Warrenville South senior

DEFENSE
Defensive Team Captain: Nick Lifka, Naperville North
Outstanding Defensive Linemen: Nick Abbate, Glenbard North

Defensive Back
Brandon Salemi, Glenbard North senior
Blake Zumpano, West Chicago senior
Carson Rajcan, Wheaton North senior
Shane Dierking, Wheaton Warrenville South senior
Caleb Bednarz, Wheaton Warrenville South senior

Linebacker
John Pullia, Glenbard North senior
Chris Wahrman, Glenbard North senior
Will Sayer, Naperville Central junior
*Nick Lifka, Naperville North junior
Jack Krejci, Naperville North senior
Jack Eshleman, Wheaton Warrenville South junior

Defensive Line
*Nick Abbate, Glenbard North senior
*Alex Schaefer, Naperville Central senior
*Matt Ives, Wheaton Warrenville South senior
*Tyler Becker, Wheaton Warrenville South senior

Specialist
Steve Jones, Wheaton North senior
Nick Immekus, Wheaton Warrenville South senior

*Represents unanimous selection

Beacon News writer Jim Owczarski breaks down West Aurora's place in the DuPage Valley Conference and its upcoming matchup against Naperville Central. The Blackhawks are pinning their hopes on an offensive line that averages 6 feet, 3 inches and 263 pounds.

Since joining the DuPage Valley Conference in 1997, West Aurora has gone 17-67. Here is how the Blackhawks have stacked up against their rivals over the years:

6-6 vs. Glenbard East
5-7 vs. West Chicago
4-8 vs. Wheaton North
2-10 vs. Glenbard North
0-12 vs. Naperville Central
0-12 vs. Naperville North
0-12 vs. Wheaton Warrenville South

According to Naperville North athletic director Doug Smith, Harshbarger-Welzel Field will be ready for the beginning of next season. Its renovation pushed the Huskies and linebacker Nick Lifka (pictured) to Benedictine for the first and second rounds of the 2008 playoffs, but coming off a 10-1 season they are expected to have a full slate of home games.

The 2009 schedule includes nonconference games against Neuqua Valley and St. Charles East, an Oct. 2 crosstown matchup versus Naperville Central at North Central College and a new DuPage Valley Conference rotation. The Wheaton Warrenville South showdown has been moved from Week 9 to Week 5.

NAPERVILLE NORTH 2009 SCHEDULE
Aug. 28 at Neuqua Valley
Sept. 4 vs. St. Charles East
Sept. 11 at Glenbard North
Sept. 18 vs. West Aurora
Sept. 25 vs. Wheaton Warrenville South
Oct. 2 vs. Naperville Central at North Central College
Oct. 9 at Glenbard East
Oct. 16 vs. Wheaton North
Oct. 23 vs. West Chicago

All games are scheduled for Fridays at 7:30 p.m.

When the ACC raided the Big East a few years ago, it created a ripple effect across the country. It can still be felt in Lincoln Park, where the DePaul hoops program is 0-13 in the rugged Big East. To make matters worse, its next two games are against Pittsburgh and Villanova, which combined are 43-7.

With that in mind - and on a much smaller scale - we looked at the recent rumblings of defections and realignment within the area's conferences. In the same way that Miami football can set off a chain of events that impacts DePaul basketball, the Western Sun's potential movement could force the DuPage Valley and Upstate Eight to make some decisions.

Before we go any further, let's stress that nothing is about to happen. Last week Metea Valley principal Jim Schmid was gracious enough to field our hypothetical questions before a single practice was held at the school, and said the UEC would require some advance notice.

"It's usually at least a year. I know that when DeKalb left, they let us know about a (year-plus) ahead of time. It's usually primarily because of scheduling," Schmid said. "It's certainly ample time where they're able (to) deal with the nuances of primarily the football schedule, (which) is the most challenging one."

Football may not drive everything at every school, but it's a major consideration. Jim Owczarski and Rick Armstrong mapped out some potential scenarios in the Beacon News. What if dominos start falling and, say, a West Chicago leaves the DVC? Or if Geneva spins out and links up with the St. Charles schools? The Glenbard schools aren't all in the same conference - should District 204 stay together?

This is entirely a game of "what-if." But if you were an area athletic director, what would you be looking for to protect your football program's interest?

Naperville North swept through the DuPage Valley Conference undefeated, so it was no surprise when three Huskies received individual honors in the afterglow of a 9-0 regular season.

Senior running back Nick Mlady was named the DVC's offensive team captain, while senior Alex Helms was voted outstanding offensive lineman for opening so many of those holes.

On the other side of the ball, North senior Tim Weidenbacher was recognized as the conference's outstanding defensive lineman. Wheaton Warrenville South senior linebacker Pat Dansdill was selected as the defensive team captain.

The entire team is listed below:

Naperville North moved up to No. 2 in the Chicago Sun-Times rankings after Friday's 35-21 victory over Naperville Central, and from here the schedule is manageable.

Up next is West Aurora (3-3, 1-3), which is 0-11 against North since joining the DuPage Valley Conference in 1997.

The Huskies (6-0, 4-0) then travel to Wheaton North (4-2, 2-2) on Oct. 17. The question then will be which Falcons are available. Quarterback Taylor Graham reportedly broke his ankle and will miss the rest of the season. Running back Mike Trumpy, a Northwestern recruit, sat out last week's 24-21 win over Glenbard East with an injury - his status will be something to monitor as the Falcons prepare for No. 3 Wheaton Warrenville South on Friday.

By Week 9 the hype will be in overdrive for another DVC showdown. WW South might come into Naperville having won its previous 27 DVC games, as well as 35 consecutive regular season games. Meanwhile the Huskies could be defending a 13-game winning streak that includes a Class 8A championship. It would have started after a 42-41 triple-overtime loss to WW South last year in the regular-season finale.

Today we looked at special teams play and how it influenced several season openers. As crazy as some of those game-changing plays were, check out this view of the DuPage Valley Conference:

-Seven of eight DVC teams won in Week 1.
-That group includes Glenbard East (1-0) and West Chicago (1-0), which went a combined 3-15 last season.
-Meanwhile Glenbard North, the only DVC program to lose its opener, was the Class 8A runner-up in 2007.
-And despite losing to Bartlett 28-21, Glenbard North came away with the most playoff points (nine) in the conference from Friday night. All nine teams on the Panthers' schedule are currently 1-0.

Any guesses as to how the DVC will look after Week 9?