Is Aurora Christian the Class 1A favorite?

[Cat Box]

This is not a typo.
Aurora Christian is, in fact, classified at 1A this year. It is the first time AC has been Class 1A since the 2005 season. AC jumped up to 3A from 2006 to 2016 (exception being 4A and a runner-up finish in 2008). Enrollment took AC down to 2A last year. They have not won a playoff game since 2013 so the multiplier is gone.

With an actual enrollment of 233 and no multiplier, AC is a legit 1A school. Chances are very good AC wins a playoff game this year and gets multiplied back up to 2A.

Perennial 1A powerhouses are:
Lena-Winslow and Forreston in the North and Tuscola in the South.

Will AC be a pre-season favorite? Teams are either going to be super pissed AC is in 1A or super pumped to get a shot at the Eagles. How does AC match up against the farm boy, wing-T schemes they will see in the playoffs? Does anyone north of I-80 even care?

 

[Voodoo Tatum 21]

How are they lookin this year? Are most of the wrestlers from their state champ wrestling team also playing Football?

I’d like to see AC vs Forreston. I think Forreston is a team that should at least think about petitioning up to 2A (they have been very very strong the past 4 years in 1A. A title and multiple semi final apparebces?)

 

[Cat Box]

How are they lookin this year? Are most of the wrestlers from their state champ wrestling team also playing Football?

I’d like to see AC vs Forreston. I think Forreston is a team that should at least think about petitioning up to 2A (they have been very very strong the past 4 years in 1A. A title and multiple semi final apparebces?)

I think Forreston would like to play AC, too. The Eagles beat Forreston in extra innings in the Class 1A Super Sectional game this year and eventually won the State Championship.

AC will be loaded on defense with 9 returning starters. Offense is TBD with a sophomore QB leading the way. He's a talented and smart kid. AC did well per typical in summer 7-on-7's with him at QB. Always have plenty of good route runners to catch the ball.

I think a 6-3 regular season finish is reasonable coming out of the big division of the Metro Suburban. Need to find 4 wins amongst:
Aurora Central
Riverside Brookfield
ICCP
St. Francis
Bmac
Guerin Prep
Wheaton Academy

 

[FootballTrack8]

If Chicago Hope is in 1A & can stay healthy they can make a serious run for a state title, many athletes on that squad

 

[illini14]

I think Forreston would like to play AC, too. The Eagles beat Forreston in extra innings in the Class 1A Super Sectional game this year and eventually won the State Championship.

AC will be loaded on defense with 9 returning starters. Offense is TBD with a sophomore QB leading the way. He's a talented and smart kid. AC did well per typical in summer 7-on-7's with him at QB. Always have plenty of good route runners to catch the ball.

I think a 6-3 regular season finish is reasonable coming out of the big division of the Metro Suburban. Need to find 4 wins amongst:
Aurora Central
Riverside Brookfield
ICCP
St. Francis
Bmac
Guerin Prep
Wheaton Academy

Forreston's HC left this offseason for Rockford Guilford. Will be interesting to see how Forreston does moving forward.

 

[PowerI66]

Forreston's HC left this offseason for Rockford Guilford. Will be interesting to see how Forreston does moving forward.

Didn't their stud LB/RB also graduate?

 

[illini14]

Didn't their stud LB/RB also graduate?

No idea.

 

[Gene K.]

I for one would like to see AC make a run for the 1A Championship. Would be good for the school and the kids. Great school with a great tradition.

 

[rfb321]

Sure they are in 1A? The IHSA site shows a true enrollment of 233 and then a multiplied(1.65) enrolment of 384.45. I'm unaware of the rule that removes the multiplier for not winning playoff games. Though the rules are quite cryptic. Any experts out there to clarify?

 

[MR. "T"]

Sure they are in 1A? The IHSA site shows a true enrollment of 233 and then a multiplied(1.65) enrolment of 384.45. I'm unaware of the rule that removes the multiplier for not winning playoff games. Though the rules are quite cryptic. Any experts out there to clarify?

I thought I heard they can't be in the playoffs for 5 years before the multiplier is taken away. I believe its in the other sports where the multiplier is taken away if they don't win any playoff games for 5 years. Every body makes the playoffs the other sports.

 

[eagles2k3]

Biggest competition will come from the nuic. Lena Winslow, Forreston, Dakota all come out of that conference. In the south I would guess tuscola. They’re not a wing t team though. In the past AC would generally just outscore teams and get by on d. Will be interesting to see how they do without a stud qb like they always seem to have. Still think they’ll struggle to make the playoffs. They’ll have two cupcake wins at the start but after that their only gimme is guerin. They need to beat aurora central, st Francis, and I would guess two more teams since they won’t get a ton of playoff points out of those first two games. Won’t beat ic, rb, and bmac. Close against Wheaton academy I think, they have a solid program. Can’t afford any hickups against anyone. Just my opinion. No idea what McMillen will have done with Francis either.

 

[rfb321]

Theyare 1A. The IHSA Multiplier page has them listed in dark green for football this year, which means Multiplied last year; waiver this year (gained the waiver). Still cant find the rule though.

 

[No Bias---Just Reality]

Biggest competition will come from the nuic. Lena Winslow, Forreston, Dakota all come out of that conference. In the south I would guess tuscola. They’re not a wing t team though. In the past AC would generally just outscore teams and get by on d. Will be interesting to see how they do without a stud qb like they always seem to have. Still think they’ll struggle to make the playoffs. They’ll have two cupcake wins at the start but after that their only gimme is guerin. They need to beat aurora central, st Francis, and I would guess two more teams since they won’t get a ton of playoff points out of those first two games. Won’t beat ic, rb, and bmac. Close against Wheaton academy I think, they have a solid program. Can’t afford any hickups against anyone. Just my opinion. No idea what McMillen will have done with Francis either.

Idk about this years AC team or this years RB team but based on previous years they can beat RB. RB's record has been bolstered recently by extremely week conference competition. With the strengthened division of this re-aligned conference it will not go as well unless they are also better (and I have no idea if they are or aren't).

 

[Cat Box]

Sure they are in 1A? The IHSA site shows a true enrollment of 233 and then a multiplied(1.65) enrolment of 384.45. I'm unaware of the rule that removes the multiplier for not winning playoff games. Though the rules are quite cryptic. Any experts out there to clarify?

The rules are 4 years without a playoff win and you lose the multiplier.
Take it to the bank. AC is 1A this year.

 

[Cat Box]

Biggest competition will come from the nuic. Lena Winslow, Forreston, Dakota all come out of that conference. In the south I would guess tuscola. They’re not a wing t team though. In the past AC would generally just outscore teams and get by on d. Will be interesting to see how they do without a stud qb like they always seem to have. Still think they’ll struggle to make the playoffs. They’ll have two cupcake wins at the start but after that their only gimme is guerin. They need to beat aurora central, st Francis, and I would guess two more teams since they won’t get a ton of playoff points out of those first two games. Won’t beat ic, rb, and bmac. Close against Wheaton academy I think, they have a solid program. Can’t afford any hickups against anyone. Just my opinion. No idea what McMillen will have done with Francis either.

Not sure why you believe AC wont beat Bmac. AC routed Bmac 55-28 last year @ the Bmac homecoming. AC was down 28-14 mid-second quarter and defense shut down and shut out Bmac rest of the game. Offense scored 41 unanswered points. Game is at AC this year. With 9 returning defensive starters, I think Eagles should be favored to win.

Agree about losses to ICCP and RB.

AC should handle ACC.

St. Francis and Wheaton Academy will be dog fights. Francis won't be bad forever - they are improving. Wheaton Academy has a respectable program and enrollment is 3x the size of AC.

 

[doctor_d]

I for one would like to see AC make a run for the 1A Championship. Would be good for the school and the kids. Great school with a great tradition.

I would think that all 1A eligible schools would like a championship, and it would be good for their school and kids.

 

[MR. "T"]

The rules are 4 years without a playoff win and you lose the multiplier.
Take it to the bank. AC is 1A this year.

In my opinion a 1A AC should win a 1A State Title!

 

[Gene K.]

I would think that all 1A eligible schools would like a championship, and it would be good for their school and kids.

I agree with your post and meant no disrespect to any of the other 1A teams. Last year on the board I seen some negative comments on AC (football and wrestling) which I felt were uncalled for. AC is a small school but they played very well against bigger schools last year. They have a lot of talented athletes coming back this year so moving down in class can only be beneficial for them.

 

[Cat Box]

I agree with your post and meant no disrespect to any of the other 1A teams. Last year on the board I seen some negative comments on AC (football and wrestling) which I felt were uncalled for. AC is a small school but they played very well against bigger schools last year. They have a lot of talented athletes coming back this year so moving down in class can only be beneficial for them.

You're not wrong. The legendary "Dumpster Fire" thread was born out of negative AC comments.

 

[doctor_d]

I agree with your post and meant no disrespect to any of the other 1A teams. Last year on the board I seen some negative comments on AC (football and wrestling) which I felt were uncalled for. AC is a small school but they played very well against bigger schools last year. They have a lot of talented athletes coming back this year so moving down in class can only be beneficial for them.

I’m sure they will be quite a handful in the 1A playoffs. I just thought that the post seemed redundant and obvious because every school would love to win a championship. I think I was just being grumpy. Good luck to the Eagles.