Every sports season, Kaneland faces a multitude of opponents that range from some of the smallest to the largest schools in Illinois. However, one school stands out on a consistent basis as a rival among the many possibilities.
14 miles from Kaneland High School sits one of their Interstate 8 conference opponents, the Sycamore Spartans. These two teams are often highly regarded in multiple sports, and they regularly find themselves being frequent conference champions within their six-team conference. However, even before residing in the Interstate 8 as they have since 2019, these teams have considered each other to be rivals. Throughout their histories, the schools have followed one another from conference to conference, from the Little 7 to the Western Sun to the Northern Illinois Big 12 and finally to the current Interstate 8.
“It’s become so intense that we’ve had to clear the fans before,” boys and girls head varsity soccer coach Scott Parillo said. “The Kane County Sheriff’s Department came and cleared the fans out.”
Last year’s boys soccer matches between the rival schools didn’t see any ejections of players or parents, but there were definitely aggressive screaming matches and heated words exchanged between parents and players.
“The crowds are pretty intense, the players are pretty intense and I think the coaches are,” Parillo said. “You know, it’s the game that you want to win. We all take it a little more seriously. It’s not to say that the other games aren’t as important, because they are, but this is your rival.”
During the most recent boys soccer season, Kaneland and Sycamore both won a game against each other in their two conference matchups of the regular season. This was the fourth year in a row that the soccer teams split wins in their matchups, making it clear that they are evenly matched rivals in that sport.
In boys basketball, both teams consistently have talented programs that have had success beyond the regular season. In the past five years, the Knights and Spartans have matched up 11 times, with Kaneland winning all of those games. Despite that recent run of success, the matchup always produces a competitive atmosphere on both sides. Current Kaneland head coach Ernie Colombe took over the boys program during the 2019-20 season and lost his first two matchups against Sycamore but has not lost since.
“We try to stay consistent so we don’t overwhelm guys,” Colombe said. “If you talk it up too much, you can get them too amped that they don’t perform like they normally do.”
This mentality that the coaches have has carried over to the players as well. Just like in soccer, the basketball players always want to beat Sycamore, but they don’t treat it any differently than any other game. They don’t want to create unnecessary pressure with that rivalry, and that approach has worked well for them over recent years.
“Sycamore’s atmosphere was great,” senior guard Jalen Carter said. “It was definitely really cool to play in. It was different because it was a very good and close game, so both crowds were involved throughout the whole game.”
Carter has faced Sycamore as a Knight in three different sports: football, basketball, and track and field.
“I’d definitely say that the basketball game was way more intense and a lot more fun,” Carter said. “Just because we are in a compacted area so it’s a lot more intense and loud. But the football rivalry probably means more since we haven’t beat them in many years.”
Though the culture and history of the rivalry may vary between sports, it is a matchup that many look forward to each year and that will not be going away as we transition from winter to spring seasons.
