It’s hard to argue with the notion that the CCL/ESCC is the top conference in the state.

Compelling evidence can be provided for that point simply by looking at last year’s state finals, where the league brought home five different state championship titles. (Loyola in 8A, Mount Carmel in 7A, Nazareth in 5A, DePaul Prep in 4A and Montini in 3A).

And with that array of quality teams, there’s going to be weeks during the season that really show the quality of the league.

That definitely happened in Week 6.

There was obviously the showdown between two of the top teams in the state where Mount Carmel fended off Brother Rice.

But there was a lot more going on around the league:

• Montini and Carmel in what was probably the most entertaining game of the season thus far where a pair of junior quarterbacks combined for over 1,000 yards passing in a 55-54 Montini victory.

• IC Catholic, the smallest school in the CCL/ESCC by natural enrollment, proved once again it is more than capable of grappling with the big dogs, bouncing back from a narrow loss to Nazareth in Week 4 with an impressive victory over Wheaton St. Francis.

• St. Patrick, who hasn’t made a playoff field since 2021, took control of the CCL Purple Division with a win over Benet.

This weekly league chaos is also leading to a lot of pretty good football teams stacking more losses than they are comfortable with at this stage of the season.

There are just two undefeated teams left in the CCL/ESCC’s membership: Mount Carmel and Montini. And the one-loss group has just three teams: Brother Rice, Nazareth and Fenwick. (Technically there are four teams in this group, but since Loyola did not play in a Week 2 game, they can’t finish any higher than in the two-loss group).

But aside from the group of five teams with one loss there’s a giant collection of teams sitting with two to three losses, with many of those same teams have games against multiple teams with similar number of losses.

It’s the same circumstance that has been playing out since the league began and it’s also a scenario that is causing some good teams to be looking at bleak forecasts for playoff qualification. Teams like St. Rita, Joliet Catholic and DePaul Prep already have four losses. Marist already needs to hope that four-win teams are needed in the playoff field and has to run the table to even get into that discussion.

There’s obviously a benefit to playing in such a competitive league, but a lot of teams are seeing the downside of it as well.

Defensive lockdown

Offensive output is at one of the highest levels in recent memory, which makes the efforts of the six playoff-eligible teams in the state of Illinois that are currently allowing less than a touchdown per game to opponents.

Camp Point Central, Hardin Calhoun, Chicago Richards, Heyworth, Lincoln-Way East, Dixon and Ridgeview have all allowed 34 or fewer points to opponents, with Camp Point Central leading the way with just 20 points allowed all year.

Dixon’s recent defensive run is notable even for this group, but after allowing 28 of those points to Byron in Week 2, the Dukes have strung together four consecutive shutouts.

These teams are doing this in an environment where lockdown defense almost doesn’t exist. 134 teams won games this week where they scored at least 40 points, and two teams – Peoria and Bolingbrook – reached the 80-point mark.

Locked in

45 teams officially clinched playoff berths by earning their sixth victory.

After a number of showdowns around the state featuring undefeated teams just three conferences (Chicagoland Christian, Little Illini and Sangamo) have more than one undefeated team in their midst.

122 teams have reached at least the five-win marker.

Record breaker

Lincoln-Way East’s Jonas Williams now holds the state record for touchdown passes in a high school career with the first touchdown he threw against Metea Valley.

That was the first of four touchdown passes he threw in the victory, moving him to 131 touchdown tosses, surpassing the previous mark that was shared by Jordan Roberts of Aurora Christian and Tyler Hutchinson.

Williams, a USC recruit, now has his sights on the career passing yardage record. He currently has 10,491 career passing yards, 699 short of the all-time mark set by Logan Malachuk of Nazareth last season. Williams is currently fourth on that list.