What’s at stake in Harlem-Hononegah showdown

Hononegah, Harlem and Boylan all kept serve Friday night in the NIC-10 football race.Hononegah beat Jefferson, 49-6, in Rockton to clinch its second straight NIC-10 football title. That's the first time Hononegah has won back-to-back football titles since joining the NIC-10 in 1982.

Harlem beat Auburn, 34-7, at Wyeth Stadium to move to 7-1 on the season. It's the ninth time Harlem has reached at least seven wins in coach Jim Morrow's 14 seasons.

Boylan downed East, 40-6, at Boylan to also move to 7-1.

Boylan closes next week against the 1-7 J-Hawks, so barring a miracle, the Titans will finish 8-1.

Harlem travels to Hononegah hoping to create a three-way tie for first place.

The Indians and Huskies both are playing for a couple of significant milestones.

Harlem has made the playoffs 16 times in the past 21 seasons, but the Huskies haven't won a NIC-10 football title since 1997. Harlem was second in 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2012, all to Boylan.

Hononegah is playing for a second straight undefeated trip through the NIC-10. It would be just the fifth time such a streak has happened since 1963, when Harlem, Guilford and Belvidere joined the conference.

The Indians are hoping to join this list.

Rockford East, 1973-1974
Rockford Guilford, 1981-1982
Freeport, 2000-2004
Rockford Boylan, 2005-2013