I've just seen what I believe is one of the best, if not the best, defense I've seen in high school football in Illinois in the last 50 years. In fact, I've seen Loyola's defense in action on three occasions and I've never ceased to be impressed by its intensity, aggressiveness, depth, flexibility and versatility.

Oh, as fans and media, we tend to gravitate to the offense, the teams that average 40 or more points per game, the prolific passing teams, players such as St. Rita's Billy Marek, Maine South's Matt Perez, Wheaton Warrenville South's sensational passing attack of 1998 headed by Jon Beutjer and Jon Schweighardt and Joliet Catholic's 1999 powerhouse led by J.R. Zwierzynski.

But let's talk defense. Defense wins championships, remember? That's what we are constantly reminded of. That's what coaches preach. Defense, defense, defense.

What does it take to have an elite college football program in today's world?

Great assistant coaches, split evenly between coaching and recruiting. You can afford to have great offensive and defensive coordinators who don't like to recruit but you must have seven great recruiters and pay them well.

"To consistently have a winning program, you have to have great facilities, everything you need within walking distance, an indoor practice facility, meeting rooms, tele-media room, weight rooms, conference rooms, players lounge rooms and tutoring rooms," said recruiting analyst Tom Lemming, who for 31 years has observed how colleges engage in the business of recruiting high school prospects.

But there is more to it than that.

The Catholic League Blue has qualified four of its six members for this week's state quarterfinals while the DuPage Valley has advanced three. So it's only natural to resume the debate: Which conference is better?

From the first time I covered a Catholic League football game--a Mount Carmel/Loyola matchup in Wilmette on the first day I started to work for the old Chicago Daily News on Sunday, Sept. 8, 1968--I recognized that these Chicago kids played with a split lip and a swagger than nobody else had.

I had witnessed high school football in the old South Suburban League--Bloom's 1957 powerhouse, led by Leroy Jackson, left a lasting impression on me; so did Thornton's 1965 team with LaMarr Thomas--and I covered the East St. Louis/Belleville and Kirkwood/Webster Groves Thanksgiving Day rivalries while working for the St. Louis Globe-Democrat.

Football fans are pretty savvy. They have taken advantage of the modern advances in technology to keep connected with what is happening at colleges from coast to coast. They watch videos of the top prospects. It doesn't take a course in nuclear physics to determine if a player is a big-time prospect or not.

But recruiting analyst Tom Lemming, who has been evaluating high school players for 31 years, insists most fans don't understand there is a pecking order that has been built up over 100 years. Even if your school does well, it has trouble overcoming Michigan or Ohio State or Notre Dame in the Midwest when it comes to recruiting 5-star players.

Lemming points out there are 16 schools--the Super Sixteen--that have a distinct advantage in recruiting. They are Michigan, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Penn State, USC, Alabama, Oklahoma, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Nebraska, Auburn, LSU, Tennessee, Miami and Florida State.

The postseason football playoff, which was introduced in 1974, has forever changed the face of the game in Illinois in dramatic fashion--for the good and for the not-so-good. Folks who have only watched high school football for the past 35 years probably aren't aware of the way it was. But old-timers are.

"The state playoffs have ruined conferences and rivalries and common opponents," said Kankakee Bishop McNamara coach Rich Zinanni, who won state championships in 1982, 1985, 1986 and 1987 and settled for seconds in 1978 and 1981.

"Nobody wants to play anybody (good) for fear of losing. It forces you to find wins on your open dates (so you will qualify for the playoff). The way the system is set is you are in if you are 6-3 but if you are 5-4 it depends on points. The reality is you don't get anything for strength of schedule."

As I have written, I don't have a vote in the Sun-Times Player of the Year or All-Chicago Area selections, only recommendations of what I have observed by covering games during the season. But it is abundantly clear that the POY for 2009 will be either Matt Perez of Maine South or John Whitelaw of Hinsdale Central.

But what about Christian Lombard of Fremd and Jimmy Garoppolo of Rolling Meadows? Or Providence's Peter Houlihan, the Catholic League Blue's top-rated player?

Recruiting analyst Tom Lemming argues that Lombard, a 6-6, 295-pound offensive lineman who is committed to Notre Dame, should be the choice.

"He is having a dominating year," Lemming said. " He is playing as well or better than any offensive lineman in the country."

I covered the University of Illinois football program in the waning years of the Ray Eliot regime and during the Pete Elliott era and had some interesting experiences with Mike White during his time in Champaign-Urbana. So what is Ron Zook doing wrong and what can be done to save the Illini program? Let me count the ways.

Let's use Mike White as a model. Sure, he wasn't a saint and he violated some rules that created another scandal and put the university in jail. But let's remember the positive things that helped to build an undefeated Big 10 champion and a Rose Bowl team and attract several big-time players to the campus.

At the same time, he changed the face of Big 10 football and high school football in Illinois. He brought in a new passing offense that influenced nearly every high school coach in the state, forever changing the dynamics of the game.

I have covered high school football games for 50 years, from Champaign to St. Louis to Chicago, and I have witnessed some outstanding individual performances...Billy Marek, Ryan Clifford, Eric Kumerow, Dempsey Norman, Howard Jones, Kevin King, Roy Parker, Rocky Harvey, Sean Price, Jon Beutjer, Jordan Tassio and others.

But I have never seen a better single-game performance than Matt Perez' 341-yard, four-touchdown, two-sack spellbinder in Maine South's dramatic 45-34 victory over Glenbrook South last Saturday in Park Ridge.

As a retired sportswriter, I no longer have a vote. But if Perez isn't the Sun-Times Player of the Year, then God didn't make little green apples and it don't rain in Indianapolis in the summertime.

I don't often criticize recruiting services or analysts -- everybody has his own way of trying to do the best job he can, I rationalize, and some do it better than others -- but I wish someone could explain to me how everybody came up with such varying evaluations of the Chicago area's top three players this year.

We're talking about tight end C.J. Fiedorowicz of Johnsburg, wide receiver Kyle Prater of Proviso West and offensive lineman Christian Lombard of Fremd.

Fiedorowicz, who is committed to Illinois but has indicated his intention to visit Iowa and Wisconsin, is rated as the No. 13 player in the nation (and the best tight end of all) by Tom Lemming. But he is rated No. 65 by Scout, No. 85 by ESPN and No. 111 by Rivals.

Recruiting analyst Tom Lemming has an exhausting schedule, even when he isn't traveling coast to coast from December to June to personally evaluate the top 1,500 football players in the nation.

In recent weeks, he has interviewed Johnsburg's C.J. Fiedorowicz, Proviso West's Kyle Prater and Fremd's Christian Lombard on his television show that is carried nation-wide by CBS College Sports. And he has attended games involving Lombard and Prospect's Miles Osei.

Lemming insists no offensive lineman in the Midwest is playing better than the 6-6, 295-pound Lombard, even better than Seantrel Henderson of St. Paul, Minn., who is widely regarded as the No. 1 player in the nation.