Steve Millar’s 3 takeaways from Week 2 football in Southland

Week 2 was a special one in the Southland. Man, do I wish I could have been three places at once Friday. Or controlled the scheduling so some of these rivalry games — Mount Carmel at St. Rita, Marist at Brother Rice, Lincoln-Way Central at Providence — were played on different nights.

It sure did make for an exciting Friday, though.

Here are my takeaways from a week that will be tough to beat in the Southland.

We need more of this

Providence and Lincoln-Way Central met Friday night for the first time since 1981. That’s a crazy stat. An overflow crowd watched the Celtics hold off the Knights’ comeback bid for a 23-14 win.

I’m told there were conversations about moving this game to a bigger stadium at a neutral location as Providence’s visiting seating is sorely lacking at the moment, but the Celtics understandably did not want to give up home-field advantage. It no doubt made for an exciting atmosphere as fans stood all around the field.

Props to all involved for making this game happen.

Also, credit to Brother Rice and Marist and Mount Carmel and St. Rita. With the Catholic League and now CCL/ESCC divisions constantly being tweaked over the last decade, these longtime rivals have often found themselves — as they do currently — in different divisions, requiring them to schedule each other out of conference, which they have continued to do.

These teams’ schedules are tough enough that coaches could be forgiven for wanting to line up a sure win out of the league. But how less exciting would the season be if these matchups didn’t happen? They’re musts.

So, let’s hope more administrators and coaches follow this lead. Andrew and Sandburg are now in the same division of the Southwest Valley and will play in Week 7, but the new conference is expected to tweak things for 2025. If they end up separated by realignment, they should still find a way to play every year.

I would love to see more crosstown clashes. Lincoln-Way West-Providence, Andrew-Tinley Park, St. Laurence-Reavis, etc. I understand why these games don’t happen, in some cases, but they sure are fun for the community. We saw it all over the Southland last weekend.

Marist is back

Well, that didn’t take long.

After a disappointing 4-5 season last year, Marist kicked off a new era a couple weeks ago under coach Mike Fitzgerald.

On Friday night in overtime, Marist triumphed over its biggest rival, Brother Rice. The RedHawks were outplayed for large portions of the game by the ultra-talented Crusaders.

Marist is a tough, blue-collar team that feeds off its offensive and defensive lines and hard-nosed senior running back John McAuliffe, however. The win was a perfect showcase of that team’s grit.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. Marist also beat Brother Rice in Week 2 last season, then lost its next four games.

That’s not happening this year.

Brother Rice is much better than it was in 2023, so this was truly a statement win. The RedHawks are well on their way to producing a dominant regular season and being a threat to go deep in the Class 8A playoffs.

Marist was a talented team on paper entering the year — certainly talented enough to be in the Daily Southtown’s preseason Top 10. However, when you go 4-5 the year before and have a new coach, my attitude is “show me.”

The RedHawks have certainly done that.

Fitzgerald undoubtedly inherited a strong roster with some key veterans, but transitions still are never easy. He’s showed just how good of a coach he is by handling the start of 2024 this well.

Most eye-opening score

St. Laurence 42, Evanston 7.

The result here is no surprise, but the margin certainly grabs your attention. The Vikings proved a lot by making the bus ride up to the North Shore and rolling over a traditionally solid program.

After its Class 4A state runner-up finish last season, St. Laurence had to reload with basically a brand-new team this fall.

Coach Adam Nissen’s crew certainly appears to be no one-year wonder. Senior track star Harley Rizzs has picked things up right where Aaron Ball left them as a star running back and Illinois State recruit Chase Kwiatkowski, a transfer from Lake Central in Indiana, is off to a strong start at quarterback.

Heading into another potentially tricky road game at Notre Dame, the Vikings are loudly knocking on the door of our Top 10.

Now, it’s on to Week 3, where the schedule certainly isn’t as strong as last week. But look out for some surprises. I fully expect to be writing about something unexpected in this space next week.

Originally Published: September 10, 2024 at 8:11 a.m.