Michael O’Brien’s Chicago-area Super 25 football rankings for Week 7

Maine South is back and two other teams join for the first time this season.

By Michael O’Brien

Maine South’s Ryan Kilburg (2) catches a pass for a touchdown as Glenbard West’s Gerik Tyburg (3) defends.

This was the most difficult Super 25 of the season to put together. There were major decisions to be made. How much does Providence drop for getting blanked by St. Rita? Is it wise to rank two Mid-Suburban League teams and shut out the Fox Valley? Is it time to start trusting the Southwest Prairie a little bit more?

Detail-oriented readers will notice that those questions involve schools and conferences that I haven’t seen play yet this season. Football rankings are, in general, much easier than basketball rankings for multiple reasons. The difficulty in football is that you can’t see all the teams play.

So yes, the Southwest Prairie (Oswego still isn’t ranked) is getting punished a little bit for what I saw from them last season and how they did in the playoffs. And that doesn’t explain why I’m leaving out the Fox Valley, a conference I’ve always been very impressed with. The problem is it’s tough to tell which teams to trust right now in the far northwest.

This is getting confusing. Time to get out of my head and into where things stand after six weeks.

Dropping out

Barrington (4-2): Just two weeks ago in this space I about how sure I was the Broncos were a good team. That’s probably still true, but Conant knocked them off this week and the 6-0 Cougars will also take the Super 25 spot.

Montini (4-2): Not a good week for Broncos. Quarterback Deontay Bell was hurt and missed the second half of the loss to Notre Dame. But losing to Notre Dame and Mount Carmel isn’t what drops Montini out, it is the lack of big wins.

St. Charles North (4-2): The same can be said about the North Stars, who have now lost to the two high-quality teams they’ve played so far.

New additions

Conant (6-0): It’s doubtful that many people outside of Hoffman Estates expected the Cougars to crack the rankings this season, but here they are. Running back Malik Frederick led the way in the win against Barrington.

Maine South (4-2): It was only a matter of time until the Hawks returned, everyone pretty much knew that. Coach Dave Inserra picked up his 200th win this weekend.

St. Charles East (5-1): The Fighting Saints get all the spoils after winning the Battle of St. Charles. A major test looms in Week 7 at Batavia.