Chicago Prairie Football League

Last updated
Chicago Prairie Football League
Conference IHSA
Founded2023
No. of teams8
RegionNorthern Illinois (Cook, DuPage, LaSalle, Livingston, and Will counties)

The Chicago Prairie Football League is a high school football only conference in northern Illinois. The conference participates in the Illinois High School Association. The conference includes five small public and three small private high schools, with enrollments between 150 and 950 students in Cook, DuPage, LaSalle, Livingston, and Will counties.

Contents

Origins

The Chicago Prairie Football League has roots in the new Vermilion Valley Conference within the state of Illinois.

For football, the Vermilion Valley was divided into two divisions with six teams each, North and South. The north included Iroquois West and Watseka from the Vermilion Valley, Seneca and Dwight (coop) from the Tri-County Conference and Clifton Central and Momence High Schools from the River Valley Conference. Whereas the south included Bismarck-Henning-Rossville-Alvin, Salt Fork, Oakwood, Westville, Hoopeston Area (coop), and Georgetown-Ridge Farm (coop), all from the Vermilion Valley.

Due to travel time and distance between schools, the Chicago Prairie Football League formed with Dwight, St. Bede, Ottawa Marquette and Seneca coming from the Tri-County as well as Elmwood Park, Ridgewood and Westmont from the Metro Suburban and Walther Christian from the Northeastern Athletic to make up the newly formed 8-team conference tentatively named the Chicago Prairie Football League (CPFL). [1] [2]

Locations of Chicago Prairie Football League Schools

All-time membership

SchoolLocationCountyMascotColorsOther Sports
Conference
Enrollment [3] IHSA Classes 1/2/3/4 [3] IHSA Football Class [3] IHSA Football
Coop [4]
Dwight High School [5] Dwight, IL Livingston Trojans  
Green, White
Tri-County 264.44A/1A/1A2A/3AYes
Marquette Academy [6] Ottawa, IL LaSalle Crusaders  
Navy, Vegas Gold
Tri-County154A/1A/1A1ANo
Seneca High School [7] Seneca, IL LaSalle Fighting Irish
Lady Irish
  
Green, White
Tri-County428.51A/2A2A/3ANo
St. Bede Academy [8] Peru, IL LaSalle Bruins  
Green, White
Tri-County282A/1A/1A1ANo
Elmwood Park High School [9] River Grove, IL Cook Tigers  
Black, Gold
Metro Suburban 957A/2A/3A5ANo
Ridgewood High School [10] Norridge, IL Cook Rebels  
Kelly Green, White
Metro Suburban794A/2A/3A5ANo
Westmont High School [11] Westmont, IL DuPage Sentinels  
Burgandy, Gold
Metro Suburban375A/1A/2A2ANo
Walther Christian Academy [12] Melrose Park, IL Cook Broncos  
Green, White
Northeastern Athletic 205A/1A/1A1ANo

Sources:IHSA Conferences, [13] and IHSA Member Schools Directory [14]

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References

  1. Smith, Cody (Nov 2, 2022). "Dwight football joins new Chicago Prairie Football League". Daily-Journal . Retrieved March 13, 2023.
  2. Pedelty, J.T.; Soucie, Steve; Ellerbrock, Charlie (Nov 2, 2022). "Seneca, Dwight among 8 teams forming Chicago Prairie Football League". Shaw Local News Network . Retrieved March 13, 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 "Numeric Enrollments | Enrollments & Classifications | Schools | IHSA".
  4. "Football Conference Schedules, Standings & Results".
  5. "Dwight Public Schools | Home". dwight.k12.il.us. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
  6. "Marquette Academy - Ottawa, IL". marquetteacademy.net. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
  7. "Seneca High School". senecahs.org. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
  8. "Saint Bede Academy". st-bede.com. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
  9. "Elmwood Park High School | EPCUSD 401 | Elmwood Park High School". epcusd401.org. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
  10. "Home of the Rebels | Ridgewood High School". d234.org. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
  11. "Westmont High School". cusd201.org. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
  12. "Walther Christian Academy - Walther Christian Academy". walther.com. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
  13. "IHSA.org Conferences". www.ihsa.org.
  14. "Schools - IHSA". www.ihsa.org.