High school football conference in Illinois
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).[ 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.
10km
St. Bede
Seneca
Walther Christian
Westmont
Marquette
Ridgewood
Elmwood Park
Dwight
Locations of Chicago Prairie Football League Schools
All-time membership
School
Location
County
Mascot
Colors
Other Sports
Enrollment[ 3]
IHSA Classes 1/2/3/4[ 3] IHSA Football Class[ 3] IHSA Football[ 4]
Dwight High School [ 5] Dwight, IL
Livingston
Trojans
Tri-County
264.44
A/1A/1A
2A/3A
Yes
Marquette Academy [ 6] Ottawa, IL
LaSalle
Crusaders
Tri-County
154
A/1A/1A
1A
No
Seneca High School [ 7] Seneca, IL
LaSalle
Fighting Irish
Tri-County
428.5
1A/2A
2A/3A
No
St. Bede Academy [ 8] Peru, IL
LaSalle
Bruins
Tri-County
282
A/1A/1A
1A
No
Walther Christian Academy [ 9] Melrose Park, IL
Cook
Broncos
Northeastern Athletic
205
A/1A/1A
1A
No
Sources:IHSA Conferences,[ 10] [ 11]
References
^ Smith, Cody (November 2, 2022). "Dwight football joins new Chicago Prairie Football League" . Daily-Journal . Retrieved March 13, 2023 . ^ Pedelty, J.T.; Soucie, Steve; Ellerbrock, Charlie (November 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 .
External links
Boys' sports Girls' sports Activities Special co-ed activities Emerging sports Athletic conferences Former conferences
