Michael O'Brien's Super 25 high school football rankings for Week 14

St. Ignatius quarterback Reid Hites finished off Loyola on Saturday by running backward out of his own end zone to intentionally take a safety.

The smart move to secure the Wolfpack’s 21-18 upset of Loyola in the Class 8A quarterfinals.

St. Ignatius restarted its football program in 2006 after shutting it down in the mid-1960’s. Since the restart, the program was 0-12 against Loyola and had not beaten the Ramblers since 1952.

Hites is just a junior, but he’s mastered the triple-option offense along with running backs Luca and Nino Capuano. Hites had 20 carries for 88 yards and two touchdowns against Loyola.

St. Ignatius lost 38-7 at Loyola in October. But the Wolfpack forced Loyola into multiple mistakes on Saturday and dominated the line of scrimmage.

Up next for Ignatius is a trip to Northfield for an 8A semifinal game against New Trier.

Brother Rice ascends

Mount Carmel’s win in Frankfort against undefeated Lincoln-Way East opened up the top spot in the rankings. The Caravan and Brother Rice were the contenders. The Crusaders grab the spot due to their head-to-head win against Mount Carmel in late September.

Brother Rice’s only loss came at Lincoln-Way East in Week 1, before star freshman Sam Holcomb won the full-time starting quarterback job.

Oswego and St. Ignatius join the top five, and Coal City makes its season debut at No. 25. The Coalers only loss this season was against Morris. They host the Warriors in the 4A semifinals this weekend.

Ring around the rosy?

On two plays against Lincoln-Way East, Mount Carmel was up to some pre-snap hijinks. The Caravan players joined hands and danced ring-around-the-rosy style, then ran to the line of scrimmage to snap the ball.

“We call it rosy,” Caravan wide receiver Duran Sims said. “It’s very fun. We came up with it in the middle of the week, it was random, and we all liked it.”

More public vs. private

It was the final game for retiring Lincoln-Way East coach Rob Zvonar, and the successful public school coach was emotional in his postgame comments to the press. But even under those circumstances, the state’s current hot-button issue was on his mind.

“To take a group like this, a true team, a true community team…we had our transfers [previously],” Zvonar said. “It is a little different than [Mount Carmel’s] because they actually have to move. This year we didn’t [have transfers]. This group came from three zip codes, unlike their 103. Their all-star team; we took them deep. We didn’t get the job done, and we are upset about that. I could not be more proud of a group of kids. We almost accomplished something amazing… to have one of the better teams in the country on the ropes. Again, one of the better all-star teams in the country on the ropes. I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

Super 25 high school football rankings for Week 14

With record and last week's ranking

1. Brother Rice (10-2) 3

Won 41-10 at Normal.

Next: Hosts East St. Louis (7A).

2. Mount Carmel (10-2) 4

Won 21-16 at Lincoln-Way East.

Next: Hosts No. 4 Oswego (8A.).

3. St. Ignatius (10-2) 9

Won 21-18 vs. Loyola.

Next: At New Trier (8A).

4. Oswego (11-1) 8

Won 31-7 vs. Bolingbrook.

Next: At No. 3 Mount Carmel (8A).

5. Hersey (12-0) 5

Won 33-14 at Lincoln-Way West.

Next: Hosts No. 9 Downers Grove North (7A).

6. Lincoln-Way East (11-1) 1

Lost 21-16 vs. Mount Carmel.

Season complete.

7. Loyola (10-2) 2

Lost 21-18 at St. Ignatius.

Season complete.

8. IC Catholic (11-1) 6

Won 33-14 at Byron.

Next: Hosts Richmond-Burton (3A).

9. Downers Grove North (11-1) 10

Won 38-29 at Richards.

Next: At No. 5 Hersey (7A).

10. Providence (10-3) 11

Won 42-8 vs. Carbondale.

Next: Hosts Mahomet-Seymour (5A).

11. New Trier (11-1) 14

Won 42-28 at Huntley.

Next: Hosts No. 3 St. Ignatius (8A).

12. Morris (12-0) 15

Won 56-14 vs. Sterling.

Next: At No. 25 Coal City (4A).

13. Nazareth (8-5) 18

Won 62-21 vs. Quincy.

Next: At No. 15 Wheaton-Warrenville South (6A).

14. Fenwick (9-3) 21

Won 14-7 vs. Wheaton North.

Next: Hosts Harlem (6A).

15. Wheaton-Warrenville South (9-3) 22

Won 45-20 vs. Normal West.

Next: Hosts No. 13 Nazareth (6A).

16. Batavia (8-3) 12

Season complete.

17. Maine South (9-2) 17

Season complete.

18. Cary-Grove (10-2) 25

Won 55-36 vs. St. Francis.

Next: Hosts Sycamore (5A).

19. Homewood-Flossmoor (8-3) 16

Season complete.

20. Bolingbrook (10-2) 7

Lost 31-7 at Oswego.

Season complete.

21. St. Rita (7-4) 20

Season complete.

22. Geneva (9-2) 24

Season complete

23. Huntley (11-1)

Lost 42-28 vs. New Trier.

Season complete.

24. Wheaton North (8-4) 23

Lost 14-7 vs. Fenwick.

Season complete.

25. Coal City (11-1) NR

Won 42-14 at Rochelle.

Next: Hosts No. 12 Morris (4A).