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Long Road Trips Part Of Tougher Trinity, Lutheran No. 2018 Schedules
By Jim Wieners
After one-loss seasons in 2017, Trinity Catholic and Lutheran North Football teams will be hitting the road, figuratively and literally, to open the 2018 seasons
Trinity will be taking one of the longest road trips, if not the longest, ever for a high school sports event. Trinity Football will travel 771 miles to Norman Park, Ga., for an Aug. 25 contest against Colquitt County. The Game will start at 7 p.m., which could mean 6 p.m. St. Louis time or 8 p.m. Norman Park time.
Travel time for Trinity will be 11 hours and 34 minutes, via bus. An air trip from St. Louis Lambert International Airport, a two-stop trip to Albany, Ga., is over 3:10. Norman Park is about 207 miles (3:09 travel time by ground), south of Atlanta.
It will be the second game of the season for Colquitt County, which opens Aug. 18 vs. McEachern, a day game at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta, home of the National Football League‘s Falcons. While Trinity was Class Two, District Three Runner Up to Lutheran North last year Colquitt County was Georgia High School Association Class 7A runner up to North Gwinnett (GHSA only uses letters, not the number seven).
Lutheran North will also have a long trip for their season opener but the trip to the Chicago area is much shorter than Trinity. It will be a 292-mile trip, 4:19 by ground or one hour by air from Lambert to O’Hare or Midway, for an Aug 24, 7 p.m. game at LaGrange Park Nazareth Academy. While Lutheran North was a Class Two semifinalist, losing to seven-peat state champion Lamar 7-6, Nazareth Academy is an Illinois High School Association Class 6A runner up to Crystal Lake Prairie Ridge.
Week Two will send both Trinity and Lutheran North to East. St. Louis, Ill., for a pair of Sept. 1 games at Clyde Jordan Stadium. At 5 p.m., Lutheran North battles IHSA Class 8A Second-Round qualifier Homewood-Flossmoor while at 8 p.m. Trinity takes on the host Flyers, defending Southwestern Conference Champions and IHSA Class 7A Quarterfinalists.
Both Lutheran North and Trinity will travel to Cincinnati to take on LaSalle, an all-boys school that was Ohio High School Athletic Association Division II Region Eight runner up to eventual Division II state runner up Winton Woods.
Lutheran North travels 349 miles, 5:16 by ground via Indianapolis or 1:10 by air nonstop (3:10 connecting), to Cincinnati for a 7 p.m. game, (6 p.m. St. Louis time) against LaSalle, Sept. 7, week three. Trinity Closes the 2018 season Oct. 19 as the Titans travel 340 miles, 5:06 by ground via Indianapolis or the same time like Lutheran North by air, for a 7 p.m.
Lutheran North also travels 81 miles — via Interstate 70 and 44, Downtown St. Louis, Interstate 55 and U.S. 67 to Farmington — for n Oct 12, 7 p.m. game against the Black Knights. The Crusaders close the season Oct. 19 with a 7 p.m. home game against Chaminade College Prep. In the Metro League Lutheran North plays at home against Westminster Christian Academy (Sept. 14, 7 p.m.) and John Burroughs (Oct. 6, 2 p.m.) while visiting Lutheran South (Sept. 21, 7 p.m.) and Mary Institute Country Day School (Sept. 29, 1 p.m.).
Trinity also plays two home games both at 7 p.m. The Titans host Archdiocesan Athletic Association rival Duchesne (Sept. 21) as well as Public High League Champion and Class Three, District Two runner up Clyde C. Miller Career Academy (Oct. 5). Other road games, all starting at 7 p.m. include St. Louis University High (Oct. 12) and three AAA games — Bishop DuBourg (Sept. 70, O’Fallon Christian (Sept. 14) and Lutheran St. Charles County (Sept. 28).
OPENERS AGAINST ILLINOIS, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI TEAMS — Two Suburban XII Conference North Division teams open the season in Illinois against Southwestern Conference teams then plays the next week against teams from Southeast Missouri. McCluer North, winless in 10 games last season opens Aug. 24, 7 p.m. at Edwardsville, IHSA Class 8A Semifinalist (losing to state runner up Wilmette Loyola Academy), then hosts Sikeston Aug. 31 at 4:15. Riverview Gardens, Class Four, District Three runner up to Parkway Central, visits Class 7A First Round qualifier Belleville West Aug 24 and SEMO North Champion Poplar Bluff Aug. 31 in 7 p.m. games.
