Five games to watch during the 2023 football season

With the IHSA officially releasing high school football schedules for the 2023 season, here’s a first-blush look at five intriguing matchups awaiting Morris Herald-News-area football fans this fall.

Week 1: Morris at Coal City

Morris and Coal City renew their Battle of Grundy County to begin the season. Morris holds a 3-1 edge in the series, including a 49-10 thumping of the Coalers last season. Still, there’s nothing like two schools with rich traditions that are separated by less than 15 miles getting together.

Coal City always prides itself on its defense, and it will get a stern test with the talented group of skill position players that Morris will have on the field. The Coalers’ defense, though, should provide Morris a good test for a virtually all new offensive line.

Week 4: Elmwood Park at Seneca

Goodbye, Vermilion Valley Football Alliance. Hello, Chicagoland Prairie Football League.

Coming off an undefeated regular season and the Vermilion Valley North’s conference championship, the Fighting Irish will follow up three games against former conference foes (Wilmington in Week 1, Lisle in Week 2 and Westmont in Week 3 in both teams’ Chicagoland Prairie opener) with their first brand-new league opponent Sept. 15, Class 4A/5A school Elmwood Park, formerly of the Metro Suburban. It should be a great test for both teams, and an early indicator of how the league’s larger and smaller schools might stack up as the season plays out in a conference with teams ranging in school size from 1A to 5A.

[Who’s in the new Chicago Prairie Conference?]

Week 7: Wilmington at Coal City

Year in and year out, this has been the game to watch in the former Interstate Eight Conference and current Illinois Central Eight. No matter what the league calls itself, it seems that Coal City and Wilmington are always near the top of the football standings. Wilmington won a hard-fought 17-7 decision last season.

This year should be no different, as both programs tend to reload rather than rebuild. The names change, but the football doesn’t. Expect a physical game with plenty of hard hitting, but also two teams and programs that respect each other immensely. Wilmington at Coal City on a fall Friday. It doesn’t get much better.

Week 7: Plainfield North at Minooka

Two of the heavyweights in the Southwest Prairie Conference West Division do battle late in the season, with the division title possibly hanging in the balance. Plainfield North scored a miraculous 22-21 win over the Indians last year en route to the league title, and Minooka coach Matt Harding’s squad would like nothing more than to return the favor.

Making the playoffs has become the expectation at Minooka over the last decade, and this game will go a long way toward deciding if the Indians return to the postseason for the sixth straight season.

Week 9: Sycamore at Morris

Since joining the Interstate Eight/Kishwaukee River Conference, both Morris and Sycamore have been battling for the top spot in the White Division, and this season promises to be more of the same. Even if one team or another stumbles a bit in the first eight weeks, the Week 9 matchup will provide a good barometer for both teams heading in to the playoffs.

Sycamore secured the league championship last season with a 28-0 victory after Morris had beaten them for the conference title the previous season. Who will come out on top this year?