Who is Your Teams Biggest Rival?

[Wassup13_rivals219252]

Who is Your Teams Biggest Rival?

What is your most memorable game between them?

Has your rival team changed throughout the decades?

 

[Cross Bones]

Right now as of today, probably H-F.

2013 game at H-F won a game we had no business winning in OT.

90's to mid 00's - Romeoville & Andrew
Mid 00's to mid 20's - LWE & H-F
Moving forward - I expect it to be Oswego (if H-F doesnt stay on the schedule)

Dont know if any of those were reciprocal other than Romeoville

 

[kpjasion]

Definitely Fremd. Hub Arkush even did a piece on the rivalry about 12 years ago.



I think the most memorable would be in 2024. Fremd came in 7-0 and Palatine was 6-1. Pirates recovered a Fremd fumble from the 1 yard line with a minute left in the game to hold onto a 28-21 victory.

 

[Anon430504]

Right now as of today, probably H-F.

2013 game at H-F won a game we had no business winning in OT.

90's to mid 00's - Romeoville & Andrew
Mid 00's to mid 20's - LWE & H-F
Moving forward - I expect it to be Oswego (if H-F doesnt stay on the schedule)

Dont know if any of those were reciprocal other than Romeoville

In the 70’s & 80’s The Brook was rivals with Romeoville & until 1981 with Joliet Catholic as they didn’t like each other from the Illini 8 days

 

[Cross Bones]

In the 70’s & 80’s The Brook was rivals with Romeoville & until 1981 with Joliet Catholic as they didn’t like each other from the Illini 8 days

The JCA series is so lopsided it cant be a rivalry. I have to say "since 1993" when discussing JCA

 

[McCaravan]

Historically MC's rival is Rita, but unfortunately it has been lobsided lately as MC is on a 8-0 run vs them and a few of them have been running clocks. They are not playing this year. Mutual respect is there between them and I hope they play again because it's a great game to watch when both teams are rolling.

There is no love lost between MC and BR and not a lot of mutual respect. They don't like each other and that makes for fun viewing but it's been 4-1 and if Elliott wasn't hurt in 2024 I'll bet good money it would be 5-0 and MC holds a commanding lead in the overall series but I see this really picking up steam the next few years.

The thorn is MC's side is Loyola! Not including the playoff win last year the last 10 regular season games is 7-3 in favor of LA and 2 of MCs 3 wins came down to a last second FG in 2019 and stalling LA final drive in 2022.....they got MCs # and they got their Coach back who has been the mastermind. Will be interesting.

 

[Wassup13_rivals219252]

Historically MC's rival is Rita, but unfortunately it has been lobsided lately as MC is on a 8-0 run vs them and a few of them have been running clocks. They are not playing this year. Mutual respect is there between them and I hope they play again because it's a great game to watch when both teams are rolling.

There is no love lost between MC and BR and not a lot of mutual respect. They don't like each other and that makes for fun viewing but it's been 4-1 and if Elliott wasn't hurt in 2024 I'll bet good money it would be 5-0 and MC holds a commanding lead in the overall series but I see this really picking up steam the next few years.

The thorn is MC's side is Loyola! Not including the playoff win last year the last 10 regular season games is 7-3 in favor of LA and 2 of MCs 3 wins came down to a last second FG in 2019 and stalling LA final drive in 2022.....they got MCs # and they got their Coach back who has been the mastermind. Will be interesting.

Almost always there is one team that has your number.

 

[McCaravan]

Almost always there is one team that has your number.

Once the rivalry renewed in 1991 JCA beat MC in 1991, 1992 semis, 1993, 1994, 2000, and 2001. Rivalry a was stopped after 2002. They played in the Soldier Field Kickoff in 2007 when Jordan Lynch making his first start made a bad desperation pitch that the MC RB ran and got and blindly threw up a "pass" that somehow landed in a MC WR hands with 70 yards of open field in front of him and MC miraculously won. They renewed the rivalry again 2 seasons ago but I don't think it will ever get its old swag back it had when they were trading blows starting in 1991. Two different teams now.

 

[LWN_Pheonix]

Maine South

 

[4Afan]

For Morris I would say now it's Sycamore.

Back in the Little 7 days it was Oswego and Geneva. It's funny, Sycamore was in the Little 7, but were never really considered a rival when I was growing up.

Most memorable game against Oswego for me would have been 1992. I was only 10 so the details are fuzzy, but Morris beat Oswego fairly easily, I believe, and that was the year Oswego went on to win their lone state title. It carried over to basketball season when all the Oswego football players showed up wearing their medals while the Morris student section just kept chanting the score of the game. Pretty sure it spilled over into the parking lot after the game.

For the playoffs, JCA has always been a good time. From Alstott on a Wednesday in 1990 to wide right in 1999 to the 2001 title game and Morris pulling out the "lonesome polecat" formation (I still say it was a catch at the end) to the 2005 "Dergo Game" through the 2006 regular season and playoffs I think Morris is the only team to ever beat JCA 3 times in a 12 month period.

 

[Carmine Evergreen]

For Morris I would say now it's Sycamore.

Back in the Little 7 days it was Oswego and Geneva. It's funny, Sycamore was in the Little 7, but were never really considered a rival when I was growing up.

Most memorable game against Oswego for me would have been 1992. I was only 10 so the details are fuzzy, but Morris beat Oswego fairly easily, I believe, and that was the year Oswego went on to win their lone state title. It carried over to basketball season when all the Oswego football players showed up wearing their medals while the Morris student section just kept chanting the score of the game. Pretty sure it spilled over into the parking lot after the game.

For the playoffs, JCA has always been a good time. From Alstott on a Wednesday in 1990 to wide right in 1999 to the 2001 title game and Morris pulling out the "lonesome polecat" formation (I still say it was a catch at the end) to the 2005 "Dergo Game" through the 2006 regular season and playoffs I think Morris is the only team to ever beat JCA 3 times in a 12 month period.

Oswego won the 7A state title in 2003.

 

[Still Missing34]

Oswego won the 7A state title in 2003.

and they have two state titles - 1992

Most would say Oswego's rival is Oswego East, but in recent years, I'd say it's Plainfield North with Minooka right on their heels.

 

[SiuCubFan8]

For Saint Francis, historically it has been Montini though Broncos have dominated it historically, more recently I would peg it as Naz and IC.
Marmion has been in that discussion over the years as well.

 

[eagles2k3!]

For Saint Francis, historically it has been Montini though Broncos have dominated it historically, more recently I would peg it as Naz and IC.
Marmion has been in that discussion over the years as well.

IC and St. Francis have had a lot of great games over the years. The rivalry is strong, but I don't think it's antagonistic. It seems like a respectful rivalry IMO.

 

[RIP ESCC]

Marist vs BR has been a great Rivalry. It was canceled for a while but returned back in 2011 in which both teams were very good. It looks like the teams have played 14 times in the regular season since then (Did not play in 15) and each team has won 7 times. Recently they played in the Semis (2018) in Which BR won at Marist. When both teams are good which they have been in past the neighborhood is electric for this game.

 

[HuskieFan2020]

Easy one for me here: Naperville North vs. Naperville Central.

 

[Silver Rain]

The thorn is MC's side is Loyola! Not including the playoff win last year the last 10 regular season games is 7-3 in favor of LA and 2 of MCs 3 wins came down to a last second FG in 2019 and stalling LA final drive in 2022.....they got MCs # and they got their Coach back who has been the mastermind. Will be interesting.

The LA-MC rivalry is like the Cubs vs the Sox. When MC wins and LA loses, even when they aren't playing each other, it is a beautiful day in the neighborhood. When MC and LA play each other, it is a holy day of obligation. Like all true rivalries, it is a love-hate relationship, in the sense that LA is a team I love to hate.

I need to be careful here because the Ramblers are a little touchy about the relative merits of each program, but I think that Dean said, overall, their record against each other is nearly even. There is no question, however, that Holecek elevated the program. Before he arrived in 2006, LA had won a single state championship, which occurred in '93 with John Hoerster. Holecek won his first title in 2015. MC, meanwhile, had accumulated 12 in that time, all but one under Frank Lenti.

LA fans don't want to hear about the lost decades when they were a no-show in Champaign. But I think it's fair to bring it up. Even with Holecek, they won only three titles in 17 years, compared to five in seven for Jordan Lynch. This is a permanent sword in their side, and they sputter in indignation whenever it is mentioned. But the record is clear: MC 17, LA 6.

 

[4Anorth(not4aFan)]

For Morris I would say now it's Sycamore.

Back in the Little 7 days it was Oswego and Geneva. It's funny, Sycamore was in the Little 7, but were never really considered a rival when I was growing up.

Most memorable game against Oswego for me would have been 1992. I was only 10 so the details are fuzzy, but Morris beat Oswego fairly easily, I believe, and that was the year Oswego went on to win their lone state title. It carried over to basketball season when all the Oswego football players showed up wearing their medals while the Morris student section just kept chanting the score of the game. Pretty sure it spilled over into the parking lot after the game.

For the playoffs, JCA has always been a good time. From Alstott on a Wednesday in 1990 to wide right in 1999 to the 2001 title game and Morris pulling out the "lonesome polecat" formation (I still say it was a catch at the end) to the 2005 "Dergo Game" through the 2006 regular season and playoffs I think Morris is the only team to ever beat JCA 3 times in a 12 month period.

Have to agree that today it is Sycamore....but there were a few years where Minooka vs Morris and Kaneland vs Morris were some pretty heated battles.

 

[4Afan]

Have to agree that today it is Sycamore....but there were a few years where Minooka vs Morris and Kaneland vs Morris were some pretty heated battles.

Yeah there were a couple good games with Kaneland in the 90's when they won back to back state titles when PJ Fleck was there, but outside of that they weren't really competitive.

Same with Minooka, they had the one big win over Morris in the playoffs and a couple close games, but otherwise they typically weren't good.

 

[eagles2k3!]

Definitely Fremd. Hub Arkush even did a piece on the rivalry about 12 years ago.



I think the most memorable would be in 2025. Fremd came in 7-0 and Palatine was 6-1. Pirates recovered a Fremd fumble from the 1 yard line with a minute left in the game to hold onto a 28-21 victory.

This is an underrated rivalry. It's extremely intense for a number of reasons.
#1- The players all play together growing up for the Palatine Panthers. There is only one program and they feed to both schools.
#2- They bring the youth programs onto the field for the coin toss. Kids going to Fremd on one side and Kids going to Palatine on the other. The divide grows early and gets the kids going from 8u on. At the 2024 game the refs had to pull the little kids back bc they were in each others faces. Hahaha.
#3- It really is indeed a battle for the tracks. The dividing line for the schools is literally the Metra Northwest Line that passes through downtown Palatine.
#4- The parents are probably the most intense on this list. When they play together they are all pals but as soon as they put on the Scarlet or Green the gloves come off.
#5- The crowd for these games is huge. The game @kpjasion is referring to from 2024 was about 5,000 strong. You don't see that too much anymore. The student bodies come out in full force for this one.

I think Michael O'brien was covering the 2024 game and he said it was one of the best atmospheres he'd seen in a while. He loved the coin toss with the kids on each side.

 

[atrain97]

Cary Grove vs Prairie Ridge, so many memorable games, but my tears still stain the bleachers from the 2nd round playoff game from 2017, when Superman scored from 66 yards out with less than a minute. i am not bitter, but Jeff Jenkins holding still haunts me.

 

[kpjasion]

This is an underrated rivalry. It's extremely intense for a number of reasons.
#1- The players all play together growing up for the Palatine Panthers. There is only one program and they feed to both schools.
#2- They bring the youth programs onto the field for the coin toss. Kids going to Fremd on one side and Kids going to Palatine on the other. The divide grows early and gets the kids going from 8u on. At the 2024 game the refs had to pull the little kids back bc they were in each others faces. Hahaha.
#3- It really is indeed a battle for the tracks. The dividing line for the schools is literally the Metra Northwest Line that passes through downtown Palatine.
#4- The parents are probably the most intense on this list. When they play together they are all pals but as soon as they put on the Scarlet or Green the gloves come off.
#5- The crowd for these games is huge. The game @kpjasion is referring to from 2024 was about 5,000 strong. You don't see that too much anymore. The student bodies come out in full force for this one.

I think Michael O'brien was covering the 2024 game and he said it was one of the best atmospheres he'd seen in a while. He loved the coin toss with the kids on each side.

Hehehe.. my wife is gonna kill me, but I can definitely confirm #4 above. The video below is from the 2014 game(the Hub Arkush video was that year and about this game) where Palatine came in thought of as the decided underdog but won 24-17. Our son Nathan was on that team and the lady screaming "payback for last year people "( A 28-26 Palatine loss at Fremd) is indeed my lovely wife

 

[tydooley2495]

A&M and Tuscola used to have a really solid rivalry about 15 to 16 years ago. Throw in St. Teresa and Maroa Forsyth as well. All 4 were considered rivals with each other in some capacity. Now with the conference shifts, A&M/O-V's rival is probably Warrensburg Latham or Shelbyville since those are the two closest in proximity to A&M.

 

[eagles2k3!]

Cary Grove vs Prairie Ridge, so many memorable games, but my tears still stain the bleachers from the 2nd round playoff game from 2017, when Superman scored from 66 yards out with less than a minute. i am not bitter, but Jeff Jenkins holding still haunts me.

How much time was left? Wasn’t it the last play of the game and they called an option keep? Only programs in the state that wouldn’t be passing there.

 

[Roamin' Catholic]

Pittsfield... still "word for strongly dislike" them... Some dweeb put cheese on my face one year as a kid, then ran his finger across my face and ate the cheese. I knew that night I'd never be a Saukee, that's some weird stuff.

That said, if we're going old school... QND v. Beardstown, Hamilton, Pittsfield circa 1700BC-1997AD.
If we're going interim-school Palmyra MO, Monroe City MO, Hannibal MO, Breese Mater Dei circa 1998-2014.
If we're right now in contemporary-school, nobody really. Although we'd love another date with our friends in Maroa!

Kind of the bummer of being Independent for so long... no real lasting regular season games outside the few listed...

 

[atrain97]

How much time was left? Wasn’t it the last play of the game and they called an option keep? Only programs in the state that wouldn’t be passing there.

7.8 seconds left. CG took the lead with 59 seconds left.

CG lost twice to PR that year, by a total of 5 points.

 

[DMurph11]

For Saint Francis, historically it has been Montini though Broncos have dominated it historically, more recently I would peg it as Naz and IC.
Marmion has been in that discussion over the years as well.

Forgive me for waxing poetic here and they don’t play in football often (if ever) but Franny’s one true rival is Benet.

When I was growing up the energy and anticipation of those games were incredible. Tickets would sell out in minutes (not kidding). The target back in the day was always “beat Benet”. Didn’t matter at what…just beat Benet.

You used to have a select core group of parochial schools where essentially half would go to Francis and half would go to Benet. And from the 5th grade on you knew which camp you were in. So by the time you played them at the varsity level, it was years in the making.

if James White can make Benet a contender and Franny keeps the train rolling that could be an electric matchup if future schedules allow.

Sad it’s gone by the wayside for various reasons. Was one of if not the best private school rivalry in the state.

 

[atrain97]

Did this thread get flushed? It's not showing up

 

[Patrick Devitt]

When I was in high school it was Holy Cross versus St.Patrick. Notre Dame will argue that the Dons vs Shamrocks rivalry is bigger and more important andnsince they're both still open and not a housing development I would agree with them

In the final years of Guerin's existence I would say the rivalry with Elmwood Park was their biggest.

 

[McCaravan]

When I was in high school it was Holy Cross versus St.Patrick. Notre Dame will argue that the Dons vs Shamrocks rivalry is bigger and more important andnsince they're both still open and not a housing development I would agree with them

In the final years of Guerin's existence I would say the rivalry with Elmwood Park was their biggest.

Weber?

 

[Patrick Devitt]

Weber?

Weber was closed before I entered high school so I cant attest to that rivalry.

@Catch-22 any insight into HC-Weber?