7A Pre-Season Top Ten Rankings

This off-season has been like no other and has seen so many ups and downs. The COVID-19 pandemic has driven prospects to transfer out of state and even chose between playing their senior season or enrolling early at their respective university. Truthfully, it’s been extremely hard to track who has decided to head to college a semester ahead of schedule or suit up for their high school program for one last season. We’re going to give it a whirl, though, and try to give you the most accurate Pre-season ranking possible. With being said, here is our Pre-Season Top Ten for Class 7A. <hr /> 1. Mount Carmel The defending state champs return this winter as the heavy favorites to win Class 7A. Led by their quarterback and Temple commit [player_tooltip player_id="20217" first="Justin" last="Lynch"], the Caravan are loaded on the offensive side of the football. Division I recruit [player_tooltip player_id="20356" first="Kenenna" last="Odeluga"] will line up behind Lynch at Running back, and Western Michigan commit [player_tooltip player_id="20254" first="Jaali" last="Parker"] will be his main target on the perimeter. Their offense will be explosive and should be among the state’s best. Last fall, their defense was stellar, never giving up more than 20 points in a single game. However, it looks like they’ll have to replace their biggest playmaker in safety [player_tooltip player_id="20205" first="Benjamin" last="Perry"], who will be enrolling early at Louisville. Perry looked to be a strong candidate to win our Defensive Player of the Year Award. Look for linebacker & St. Thomas commit [player_tooltip player_id="20333" first="Austin" last="Haygood"], along with safety [player_tooltip player_id="65541" first="Sam" last="Del Valle"] to be the Carvan’s focal point on defense. Mount Carmel will obviously have to get through a dreaded Catholic League schedule, but I don’t see too many issues there. They return pretty much everyone from a team that didn’t lose a game last year and have the talent & leadership to repeat in 7A. Jordan Lynch has done a spectacular job with the Caravan and already looks to be among the state’s top coaches.   2. Batavia Batavia, to me, scored the transfer of the off-season when they picked up junior running back [player_tooltip player_id="20871" first="Josh" last="Dornink"] from Aurora Christian. He figures to be an integral part of the Bulldogs offense this winter as Batavia looks to get back to the state championship game. One of the most exciting players in all of Illinois returns in senior wide receiver & NIU commit [player_tooltip player_id="20255" first="Trey" last="Urwiler"]. He’ll be joined Northern Iowa offensive line commit Jackson Heringa & Eastern Illinois offensive line commit [player_tooltip player_id="65479" first="Jack" last="Valente"]. Their defense has a star-studded cast as well, led by senior Arizona commit [player_tooltip player_id="20319" first="Mojo" last="Weerts"], who is one of the state’s top linebacker prospects. Senior defensive back Evan Kopf looks to be the leader of the Bulldogs secondary this winter. A name to remember is up and coming sophomore linebacker Tyler Jansey, who got varsity time as a freshman. Despite his age, he’s already flashed Power-Five type ability. Batavia has the makings of a serious contender in Class 7A. They’ll score a lot of points, play fundamentally sound on defense and win the special teams battle. Their regular-season schedule will be much easier than last fall, and I expect them to enter the playoffs with an unblemished record and nice playoff seeding, priming them for a favorable championship run. [caption id="attachment_57661" align="alignnone" width="297"]<img class="wp-image-57661 size-medium" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2020/10/Tyler-Jansey-297x300.jpg" alt="" width="297" height="300" /> LB Tyler Jansey[/caption]   3. Nazareth Let’s address the elephant in the room; yes, the state’s #1 Overall player J.J. McCarthy is gone for good. McCarthy had All-American type ability and was the unquestioned leader at Nazareth. He’s not the only one, defensive lineman [player_tooltip player_id="20200" first="Ryan" last="Keeler"] has elected to forgo his senior season and will enroll early at Rutgers, senior tight end & Syracuse commit [player_tooltip player_id="20214" first="Landon" last="Morris"] transferred out of state to finish his career as did fellow senior tight end & Ball State commit [player_tooltip player_id="20277" first="Tanner" last="Koziol"]. Yes, Naz will have to replace some key pieces, but they do have some very talented players returning. The state’s #1 Overall wide receiver in the 2022 class is back in [player_tooltip player_id="20878" first="Tyler" last="Morris"], as is sophomore athlete Caleb Miller. On the defensive side, Ball state commit [player_tooltip player_id="20304" first="Drew" last="Hughes"] & Power-Five recruit [player_tooltip player_id="20212" first="Daine" last="Hanson"] will pace the defensive line. They brought in three big-name transfers in quarterback [player_tooltip player_id="65706" first="Aidan" last="Pieper"] (St. Charles North), wide receiver [player_tooltip player_id="20882" first="Quentrell" last="Harris"] (Lyons), and defensive back [player_tooltip player_id="20932" first="Peter" last="Roll"] (Lake Park). Don’t sleep on this team, they still have a roster loaded with Division I prospects and can contend for a state title yet again.   4. Phillips Phillips has become the gold standard of football programs in the CPS. All these guys do is win and send prospects to the next level. What Head Coach Troy McAllister has been able to build and sustain to me is nothing short of spectacular. This year the Wildcats should certainly be in the hunt in 7A. Their defense has multiple Divison I recruits in defensive back & Miami (OH) commit [player_tooltip player_id="20337" first="Deavion" last="Pierce"], defensive lineman & Toledo commit Viontrell Chairse, and future Bowling Green defensive back [player_tooltip player_id="20338" first="Willie" last="Jones"]. Keep an eye on senior linebacker Jason Cannon Jr., as he was a terror as a junior and has been flying under the radar in recruiting. Expect points to be few and far between for opposing offenses this winter. Their offense will be led by senior running back Jamel Brit, senior wide receiver Jahnez Williams and senior offensive lineman Torrence Gresham. Junior to be Tyler Turner will be the man behind center, after two stellar seasons on the lower levels. Keep an eye out for junior offensive linemen [player_tooltip player_id="20906" first="Damien" last="Thomas"] & [player_tooltip player_id="65765" first="Jaylin" last="Caldwell"], both are two very talented prospects with a bright future. It looks like business as usual for Phillips, and the Wildcats figure to have another deep playoff run in their back pocket. [caption id="attachment_36914" align="alignnone" width="458"]<img class="wp-image-36914" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2020/07/tyler-turner-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="458" height="301" /> QB Tyler Turner[/caption]   5. Prospect I think this is one of the most underrated teams in the entire state. Their roster is filled with college-level prospects who had impressive junior campaigns. Head coach Dan Deboeuf has rebuilt the Prospect program and has them back to a perennial playoff team. This year, however, they look to take it a step further after falling in the second round to Rolling Meadows last season. They most certainly have the roster to do it, as they return senior quarterback [player_tooltip player_id="20230" first="Alex" last="Moeller"], along with talented senior wide receivers [player_tooltip player_id="65233" first="Noah" last="Marx"] and [player_tooltip player_id="65236" first="Tyson" last="Splinter"]. The offensive line will be anchored by senior sleeper Eric Malinowski. Do it all athlete [player_tooltip player_id="65566" first="Luke" last="Zardzin"] is also back and will be their workhorse at tailback and figures to be a key cog at linebacker as well. Their matchup against Hersey this year will be a big one, and it could be two undefeated teams vying for a #1 overall playoff seed. To me, Prospect has the weapons to make a serious splash come playoff time. [caption id="attachment_57669" align="alignnone" width="261"]<img class="wp-image-57669 size-medium" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2020/10/Tyson-Splinter-261x300.jpg" alt="" width="261" height="300" /> WR [player_tooltip player_id="65236" first="Tyson" last="Splinter"][/caption]  The Next Five 6. Lake Zurich 7. Rolling Meadows 8. Wheaton Warrenville South 9. Hersey 10. Willowbrook