UEC: October 2008 Archives

At The Office, before the 2008 season began, we guessed the number of victories each program would finish with, and how the DuPage Valley Conference would play out. Those projections fall comfortably on the laughable-to-accurate range, though this weekend could change that assessment.

Let's start with "What Went Wrong":

Team: Neuqua Valley (4-5)
Staffer: Paul LaTour
Prediction: 6 wins
The quote: "(A) return to the playoffs should be in the offing for Neuqua."
The bright side: LaTour now has a new nugget for historical reference, such as: "The last time the Wildcats were eliminated from playoff consideration in a presidential election year after a game that ended with a combined final score less than the integer 21 was 2008."

Team: Benet (2-7)
Staffer: Sean Fuchs
Prediction: 5 wins
The quote: "With five teams on the schedule that won eight or more games last year, including Class 6A state champion Joliet Catholic, the Redwings will do well to get those five victories."
The bright side: Fuchs no longer covers Benet and has taken his demented sense of humor to Bolingbrook. Here's how he led a recent column on The Brook: "Going undefeated in the regular season is a great accomplishment. It also means nothing."

And continue with "What Might Go Wrong":

This morning Paul LaTour analyzes the Upstate Eight Conference and how it has historically struggled in the postseason. R.J. Gerber of The Courier News agrees, saying that undefeated Bartlett has something to prove in Class 8A.

The Naperville North program has already earned that respect, but if it is to repeat, then it may at some point have to lean more on its passing game. Its road back to Champaign could go through 9-0 Bolingbrook, which, as Bill Scheibe of The Herald News explains, has a strong secondary.

And finally Stephen Spiewak of MaxPreps shares his three games in 24 hours odyssey, which began at Harshbarger-Welzel Field last Friday.

The slim chance Neuqua Valley had left to reach the playoffs was eliminated earlier this afternoon. Neuqua, which hadn't missed the postseason since 2001, finished 4-5. The Wildcats needed fewer than 256 teams to have at least five wins.

-Today we catch up with Nick Mlady and wonder if Wheaton Warrenville South-Naperville North will be another Instant Classic.

-It's already drawing national attention. MaxPreps calls it the state's game of the year and embedded at the bottom of that preview story is links to videos of North and WW South.

-According to a the latest IHSA media release, Naperville Central (5-3) and Waubonsie Valley (5-3) are both in the playoffs with a win Friday night. A Neuqua Valley (4-4) win keeps it on the bubble but with 47 playoff points entering Friday the Wildcats should have some tiebreaker advantages.

-Jim Owczarski checked in with Waubonsie the other day and says it has turned the corner. His column also takes a what could have been slant to a season like West Aurora's.

-Random notes from the IHSA: If Providence Catholic beats Guerin, the entire five-team Chicago Catholic Blue will play in the postseason, making it the only league in the state to have all of its members qualify. ... The Upstate Eight Conference has a chance for six teams to qualify.

With two games remaining and a 3-4 record, Neuqua Valley knows it must run the table or face playoff extinction. That would end a six-year run of postseason appearances.

If the scenario sounds familiar, that's because the Wildcats faced the same deal last season.

Join me around 7 p.m. for the Sun's Game of the Week live blog. We should have a good one tonight with host Neuqua Valley taking on its long-time rival Bartlett. The Wildcats (3-3, 2-2 UEC) enter after back-to-back wins helped save their season, while the undefeated Hawks (6-0, 4-0) are considered one of the top Class 8A teams in the state.

Waubonsie Valley (3-3) has yet to earn a true road win. It lost at Prairie Ridge and St. Charles East and the win against Neuqua Valley - the night that might have turned its season around - came at neutral site North Central College.

That's the challenge facing Waubonsie Friday night at Bloom Trail High School. The Warriors go out of conference and on the road to face Bloom Township, a team consolidated from two schools - Bloom and Bloom Trail.

"You're going into a strange environment. We've never been there to play," Waubonsie coach Paul Murphy told The Sun's Paul LaTour this week. "We're 0-2 on the road...so we've got to (do) a better job of treating it like a business trip and not like a vacation. We've got to come off the bus ready to go.

"We've already talked to our team about it (Monday) and we talked again (Tuesday): 'Guys, we've got something to prove here. Yeah, we've gone on a nice roll here, but we've been playing at home and at North Central. ... Now we've got to prove that we can do this on the road.'"

After starting out 0-3, Waubonsie (3-1 Upstate Eight Conference) still has a lot to play for - a playoff berth and a share of the conference title. Last season wide receiver Alex Stokowski connected with quarterback Tyler Castro for three touchdown catches in a 34-0 homecoming win over Bloom in Aurora - and that was well before Waubonsie became the passing team it is now.

But beyond the numbers or opponent, the process could have an impact by Week 10.

"This is like a playoff trip. If you do make the playoffs, you don't know where the state's going to send you. We've got to learn how to travel. We've got to learn to come off the bus and be ready to play a football game. And I think it's a great challenge to see if we truly deserve to become a playoff team," Murphy said. "Can we go out on the road now and win a game in a hostile environment against a team that's got the same record as us? I've got to assume they're looking at (this as) a playoff game as well, so we've got to be ready for their best shot."

By wv2010, Waubonsie Valley High School student

In two short weeks, Waubonsie Valley has moved from the back half of the UEC standings to 3rd at 2-1 in conference play. That status will be seriously contested tonight, as a talented Lake Park team comes into Death Valley with both pride and playoff aspirations at stake. Lake Park posts an overall record of 1-4, but the Warriors must ignore this seemingly dismal mark. The Lancers beat Neuqua Valley 20-6, played Naperville Central to within eight points, and just last week took conference leading St. Charles East into double overtime, eventually losing a thriller 42-41. Simply put, Lake Park has been a squad that plays tough throughout, but fades out just before they can pull out a victory.

The Wildcats need a 3-1 finish if they hope to reach the postseason for a seventh year in a row. But it's a season that continues to see little go right for the team from south Naperville.