Chicago Prairie Football League

{{Short description|High school football conference in Illinois}}

{{Infobox sports league

| name = Chicago Prairie Football League

| founded = 2023

| conference = IHSA

| teams = 5

| region = Northern Illinois (Cook, DuPage, LaSalle, Livingston, and Will counties)

| formerly =

| title =

| map =

| map_size =

| map_caption =

}}

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

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).{{Cite web|url=https://www.daily-journal.com/sports/dwight-football-joins-new-chicago-prairie-football-league/article_98bda160-5ae5-11ed-97da-5f54996268b3.html|title=Dwight football joins new Chicago Prairie Football League|access-date=March 13, 2023|date=Nov 2, 2022|author=Smith, Cody|work=Daily-Journal}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.shawlocal.com/friday-night-drive/news/2022/11/02/seneca-dwight-among-8-teams-forming-chicago-prairie-football-league/|title=Seneca, Dwight among 8 teams forming Chicago Prairie Football League|access-date=March 13, 2023|date=Nov 2, 2022|author1=Pedelty, J.T.|author2=Soucie, Steve|author3=Ellerbrock, Charlie |work=Shaw Local News Network}}

In 2024-25, Elmwood Park and Ridgewood would leave the conference for the Upstate Eight Conference. Westmont would leave the conference becoming independent.

{{OSM Location map

| coord = {{coord|41.61|-88.35}}

| zoom = 9

| width = 700

| height = 600

| caption = Locations of Chicago Prairie Football League Schools

| mark1 = White pog.svg

| label1 = Dwight

| mark-coord1 = {{coord|41.085497|-88.427350}}

| label-pos1 = top

| label-color1 = green

| mark2 = Yellow pog.svg

| label2 = Elmwood Park

| mark-coord2 = {{coord|41.922206|-87.830514}}

| label-pos2 = right

| label-color2 = black

| mark3 = Green pog.svg

| label3 = Ridgewood

| mark-coord3 = {{Coord|41.961081|-87.813896}}

| label-pos3 = right

| label-color3 = black

| mark4 = Yellow pog.svg

| label4 = Marquette

| mark-coord4 = {{coord|41.350410|-88.839633}}

| label-pos4 = bottom

| label-color4 = blue

| mark5 = Yellow pog.svg

| label5 = Westmont

| mark-coord5 = {{Coord|41.818991|-87.963581}}

| label-pos5 = left

| label-color5 = maroon

| mark6 = White pog.svg

| label6 = Walther Christian

| mark-coord6 = {{Coord|41.893455|-87.845036}}

| label-pos6 = bottom

| label-color6 = green

| mark7 = White pog.svg

| label7 = Seneca

| mark-coord7 = {{Coord|41.314794|-88.602747}}

| label-pos7 = bottom

| label-color7 = green

| mark8 = White pog.svg

| label8 = St. Bede

| mark-coord8 = {{coord|41.321747|-89.165565}}

| label-pos8 = top

| label-color8 = green

}}

All-time membership

class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"
School ! Location ! County ! Mascot ! Colors ! Other Sports Conference ! Enrollment{{cite web \| url=http://ihsa.org/Schools/EnrollmentsClassifications/NumericEnrollments.aspx \| title=Numeric Enrollments {{pipe}} Enrollments & Classifications {{pipe}} Schools {{pipe}} IHSA }} ! IHSA Classes 1/2/3/4 ! IHSA Football Class ! IHSA Football Coop{{cite web \| url=https://www.ihsa.org/Sports-Activities/Football/Conference-Schedules-Standings-Results?url=/data/fb/conf.htm \| title=Football Conference Schedules, Standings & Results}}
Dwight High School{{cite web\|url=https://www.dwight.k12.il.us/\|title=Dwight Public Schools {{pipe}} Home\|website=dwight.k12.il.us\|access-date=March 13, 2023}} \| Dwight, IL \| Livingston \| Trojans \| {{color box\|green\|border=silver}} {{color box\|white\|border=silver}} Green, White \| Tri-County \| 264.44 \| A/1A/1A \| 2A/3A \| Yes
Marquette Academy{{cite web\|url=http://www.marquetteacademy.net/\|title=Marquette Academy - Ottawa, IL\|website=marquetteacademy.net\|access-date=March 13, 2023}} \| Ottawa, IL \| LaSalle \| Crusaders \| {{color box\|navy\|border=silver}} {{color box\|#C5B358\|border=silver}} Navy, Vegas Gold \| Tri-County \| 154 \| A/1A/1A \| 1A \| No
Seneca High School{{cite web\|url=https://www.senecahs.org/\|website=senecahs.org\|title=Seneca High School\|access-date=March 13, 2023}} \| Seneca, IL \| LaSalle \| Fighting Irish Lady Irish \| {{color box\|green\|border=silver}} {{color box\|white\|border=silver}} Green, White \| Tri-County \| 428.5 \| 1A/2A \| 2A/3A \| No
St. Bede Academy{{cite web\|url=https://www.st-bede.com/\|website=st-bede.com\|title=Saint Bede Academy\|access-date=March 13, 2023}} \| Peru, IL \| LaSalle \| Bruins \| {{color box\|green\|border=silver}} {{color box\|white\|border=silver}} Green, White \| Tri-County \| 282 \| A/1A/1A \| 1A \| No
Walther Christian Academy{{cite web\|url=https://www.walther.com/\|title=Walther Christian Academy - Walther Christian Academy\|website=walther.com\|access-date=March 13, 2023}} \| Melrose Park, IL \| Cook \| Broncos \| {{color box\|green\|border=silver}} {{color box\|white\|border=silver}} Green, White \| Northeastern Athletic \| 205 \| A/1A/1A \| 1A \| No

class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"

School

! Location

! County

! Mascot

! Colors

! Other Sports
Conference

! Enrollment{{cite web | url=http://ihsa.org/Schools/EnrollmentsClassifications/NumericEnrollments.aspx | title=Numeric Enrollments {{pipe}} Enrollments & Classifications {{pipe}} Schools {{pipe}} IHSA }}

! IHSA Classes 1/2/3/4

! IHSA Football Class

! IHSA Football
Coop{{cite web | url=https://www.ihsa.org/Sports-Activities/Football/Conference-Schedules-Standings-Results?url=/data/fb/conf.htm | title=Football Conference Schedules, Standings & Results}}

Dwight High School{{cite web|url=https://www.dwight.k12.il.us/|title=Dwight Public Schools {{pipe}} Home|website=dwight.k12.il.us|access-date=March 13, 2023}}

| Dwight, IL

| Livingston

| Trojans

| {{color box|green|border=silver}} {{color box|white|border=silver}}
Green, White

| Tri-County

| 264.44

| A/1A/1A

| 2A/3A

| Yes

Marquette Academy{{cite web|url=http://www.marquetteacademy.net/|title=Marquette Academy - Ottawa, IL|website=marquetteacademy.net|access-date=March 13, 2023}}

| Ottawa, IL

| LaSalle

| Crusaders

| {{color box|navy|border=silver}} {{color box|#C5B358|border=silver}}
Navy, Vegas Gold

| Tri-County

| 154

| A/1A/1A

| 1A

| No

Seneca High School{{cite web|url=https://www.senecahs.org/|website=senecahs.org|title=Seneca High School|access-date=March 13, 2023}}

| Seneca, IL

| LaSalle

| Fighting Irish
Lady Irish

| {{color box|green|border=silver}} {{color box|white|border=silver}}
Green, White

| Tri-County

| 428.5

| 1A/2A

| 2A/3A

| No

St. Bede Academy{{cite web|url=https://www.st-bede.com/|website=st-bede.com|title=Saint Bede Academy|access-date=March 13, 2023}}

| Peru, IL

| LaSalle

| Bruins

| {{color box|green|border=silver}} {{color box|white|border=silver}}
Green, White

| Tri-County

| 282

| A/1A/1A

| 1A

| No

Walther Christian Academy{{cite web|url=https://www.walther.com/|title=Walther Christian Academy - Walther Christian Academy|website=walther.com|access-date=March 13, 2023}}

| Melrose Park, IL

| Cook

| Broncos

| {{color box|green|border=silver}} {{color box|white|border=silver}}
Green, White

| Northeastern Athletic

| 205

| A/1A/1A

| 1A

| No

Sources:IHSA Conferences,{{cite web|url=https://www.ihsa.org/Schools/Conferences-Affiliated-Schools|title=IHSA.org Conferences|website=www.ihsa.org}} and IHSA Member Schools Directory{{cite web|url=https://ihsa.org/Schools/School-Directory?url=/data/school/m.htm|title=Schools - IHSA|website=www.ihsa.org}}

References

External links

Category:High school sports in Illinois

Category:Illinois high school sports conferences