Chicago Prairie Football League
| Conference | IHSA |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2023 |
| No. of teams | 5 |
| Region | Northern 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.
Origins
[edit]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]
In 2024-25, Elmwood Park and Ridgewood would leave the conference for the Upstate Eight Conference. Westmont would leave the conference becoming independent.
All-time membership
[edit]| School | Location | County | Mascot | Colors | Other 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 | 264.44 | A/1A/1A | 2A/3A | Yes |
| Marquette Academy[6] | Ottawa, IL | LaSalle | Crusaders | Navy, Vegas Gold |
Tri-County | 154 | A/1A/1A | 1A | No |
| Seneca High School[7] | Seneca, IL | LaSalle | Fighting Irish Lady Irish |
Green, White |
Tri-County | 428.5 | 1A/2A | 2A/3A | No |
| St. Bede Academy[8] | Peru, IL | LaSalle | Bruins | Green, White |
Tri-County | 282 | A/1A/1A | 1A | No |
| Walther Christian Academy[9] | Melrose Park, IL | Cook | Broncos | Green, White |
Northeastern Athletic | 205 | A/1A/1A | 1A | No |
Sources:IHSA Conferences,[10] and IHSA Member Schools Directory[11]
References
[edit]- ^ Smith, Cody (Nov 2, 2022). "Dwight football joins new Chicago Prairie Football League". Daily-Journal. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b c "Numeric Enrollments | Enrollments & Classifications | Schools | IHSA".
- ^ "Football Conference Schedules, Standings & Results".
- ^ "Dwight Public Schools | Home". dwight.k12.il.us. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
- ^ "Marquette Academy - Ottawa, IL". marquetteacademy.net. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
- ^ "Seneca High School". senecahs.org. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
- ^ "Saint Bede Academy". st-bede.com. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
- ^ "Walther Christian Academy - Walther Christian Academy". walther.com. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
- ^ "IHSA.org Conferences". www.ihsa.org.
- ^ "Schools - IHSA". www.ihsa.org.