By Jack Lydon
A soft opening for the 2025 high school football season with the pre-season scrimmage against Libertyville High School for the 4A reigning state champion DePaul Prep Rams. They don’t keep score nor use the clock in these pre-season scrimmages so there wasn’t a winner. It was mostly just a chance to see how the new starters work together.
At times, it took on the look of a hockey game with the entire first team being substituted for the entire second team, like a line change. The game opened with the starters against the starters. Libertyville opened the game with the ball on their 40-yard line and moved right down the field aided by some sloppy tackling by the Rams. Libertyville senior running back Gavin Dickson capped off the drive with a four-yard run off the left tackle.
“We spent all week prepping for Fenwick and they gave us some looks that we know weren't prepared for. I said let’s just line up play football. Our guys responded by doing that. There were some mistakes, but mistakes that I expected and what I know are correctible if we game plan and scheme,” DePaul Prep head coach Mike Passarella. He wasn’t worried about the opening drive. The Rams throttled Libertyville for the rest of the scrimmage.
The Rams answered on the next series with a 56-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Jackson Grabinski to senior wide receiver Connor Barefield. It kind of took me back to the Coal City state semi-final playoff game. The Coal City Coalers drove the field for a touchdown which took most of the third quarter. Bing, bing, bing—the Rams and Juju Rodriguez answered with a touchdown of their own in three plays. The Rams went on to win 21-14 and advance to the 4A State Championship game.
The Rams topped Mt. Zion 40-6 to win 4A state championship. The Chicago Catholic/East Suburban Catholic Super Conference went on to win four of the eight state championships. The Rams victory was not without complaints by detractors who argued that DePaul Prep was actually a school that should have been in 6A based on its enrollment. Some truth in that but the Rams didn’t make the rules and played and won the games on the schedule.
It’s a whole new world now. The IHSA changed the rules and school enrollments and classification will change every year now, not every two years as it was. Based on the enrollment and the multiplier DePaul Prep’s enrollment for classification purposes is 2214. That probably puts them in the 7A classification—a move up three spots.
Adding to this change, is the significantly harder schedule. Gone are Deerfield and Amundsen. The Rams will face Fenwick and St. Ignatius, two more Chicago Catholic League teams, for an entirely CCL/ESCC Super-conference schedule. Getting to six wins and making the playoffs will be a challenge. Doubt the Rams at your peril. They tend the wins the games on the schedule whomever might appear thereon.
The Rams will be fine, 7A or not. There are a ton of kids in the program and the notoriety of a championship is drawing talent. The offensive line is big and skilled. New quarterback Jackson Grabinski looks the part and has a big, accurate arm. This might be a reach but there seems to be a culture of athletic success at DePaul Prep. Basketball, cross country, volleyball, baseball. The soccer teams are winning. Don’t be surprised if DePaul Prep makes some noise in 7A football.
