DuKane Conference

[prince_of_pilfer]

The non-conference slate has been completed and hopefully the teams feel as if they got most if not all of the wrinkles out heading into conference. What's everyone's feelings going into week 3 for this power conference?

Batavia-close loss to LWE this past week, they're a legitimate conference and state championship contender.
Wheaton North-might have rated them a little too high during the preseason, they get SCN this week, so we'll see where they really stand.
St Charles North-2 nice wins for this program, could this be the year they get over the hump.
Geneva-another team with a 2-0 start, they're on a trajectory that if they end up in 6A they could be a major problem.
Glenbard North- 2 losses to start the year but they'll get healthy this week with a visit from SCE.
WWS-I predicted 3-6 and with 6 pts on the year you have to wonder how things will shake out this year. Huge game vs Geneva this Friday.
St Charles East-loss to Wheaton Academy....no bueno. This could be an 0-9 campaign for the the Fighting Saints.
Lake Park-I gave them no respect this preseason and they're 2-0 to start the year. Things get a lot tougher from here on out though.

GOW-St Charles North @ Wheaton North

 

[ClownBaby]

The biggest issue for WWS offense is between suspensions and injuries they were missing their top 3 offensive weapons things should get better as the season moves on but they have to try to stay out of the hole. On the promising side of the things the defense looks solid and the Soph RB looks like he will be a big time player in a year.

 

[DJrodey24]

Geneva...

Good News: Rita moves to 7A, Prairie Ridge goes to 5A, and I think the Vikings benefit the most in November. A 6-3 Geneva team would have seen the Mustangs again, probably PR too. Not this time. Road clears a bit, depending on the path of course.

Bad News: Just as Geneva gets real good again, Batavia shows up with what I believe is the best team in their school's history. At least it's at our place this year. Wait, STC North is real damn good too? Lake Park doesn't suck? Man this is going to be hard.

Wheaton South-Geneva, should be real interesting this week to get a read on both.

 

[stl705]

Agree, Batavia and SCN look like top 5-8 teams in the entire state to me, and I don’t think Geneva and WN are far behind.

 

[thor2x152]

SCN went undefeated in conference & won the DuKane last year.

They tied for the conference championship in the COVID season.

They went to the state championship in 2018 the first year the conference existed.

While they haven't been as good as Batavia, I'd say they've gotten over the hump a few times already.

 

[prince_of_pilfer]

SCN went undefeated in conference & won the DuKane last year.

They tied for the conference championship in the COVID season.

They went to the state championship in 2018 the first year the conference existed.

While they haven't been as good as Batavia, I'd say they've gotten over the hump a few times already.

We have a difference of opinion on what getting over the hump is then. IMO, for this conference getting over the hump is landing that State Championship. That's what teams do in this conference. WIN. STATE. TITLES.

WWS-they've have a couple two, tree, oh wait 7 State titles
Wheaton North-yep, just a couple of years ago, 4 total
Batavia-The have 2 STATE TITLES

SCN-they are right on the cusp IMO. Like I said, could this be the year? Undoubtedly this conference will prepare teams to make long, deep, playoff runs.

Good luck to the North Stars!

 

[eagles2k3]

We have a difference of opinion on what getting over the hump is then. IMO, for this conference getting over the hump is landing that State Championship. That's what teams do in this conference. WIN. STATE. TITLES.

WWS-they've have a couple two, tree, oh wait 7 State titles
Wheaton North-yep, just a couple of years ago, 4 total
Batavia-The have 2 STATE TITLES

SCN-they are right on the cusp IMO. Like I said, could this be the year? Undoubtedly this conference will prepare teams to make long, deep, playoff runs.

Good luck to the North Stars!

I think SCN is a great team but not sure if they are a state title contender. An issue they may struggle with is size. They are not a big team. They are more than capable of taking away team's size advantage if they play the edges and use their quick passing game. QB makes fantastic throws, and receivers are very good. This is what they did against Palatine and mitigated the advantage Palatine had in the trenches. Defensively they struggled at times to stop Palatine. They finally made some stops in the third quarter(this was the difference maker) when Palatine lost their top receiver and running back. RB came back in the 4th and Palatine took the lead but SCN was able to make one last drive to put the game away.

 

[prince_of_pilfer]

Palatine was Game 1 of the season. Did I mention they played Palatine in Game 1 of the season.

Teams change a lot from week 1 to playoffs. This DuKane conference is no joke amigo. It will get every team ready for the post season.