The Illinois high school football season is officially underway and with the help of a new sponsor, the IHSA is looking for the best pork chop sandwich that's being grilled up for high school games across the state on Friday nights.

There is something delightfully Midwestern about a grilled pork chop sandwich at a high school football game. I could be wrong, but I don't think they're grilling up many pork chop sandwiches for football games in South Carolina. They've been a staple at high school football games for as long as I can remember and one of the best might be right here in NIC-10 country.

It should be noted that I might be a little biased when it comes to Harlem's pork chop sandwiches. It's where I graduated from, and have been going to football games there since I was about 5 years old. I don't know when the tradition started at Harlem, but I remember the dads manning the huge grill outside the concession stand since at least my freshman year of high school about (gulp) 25 years ago.

Not too thick, not too thin and seasoned just right, a pork chop sandwich at a Harlem High School football game is a must for anyone passing through the gates.

The Twitter post above drew some suggestions from area schools including:

Woodstock High School

Nevermind the spelling mistake.

Sterling High School

 

And,

Sycamore High School


I'm well versed in who has the best hot dogs at high school basketball games in the area, that would be Jefferson, but since this is our first year doing high school football on WROK I'll have to admit that I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to pork chop sandwiches.

We are headed to Hononegah High School this Friday night to broadcast the Hononegah-Freeport game. I'm not sure if they have pork chop sandwiches on the menu or not, but if they do I'll happily start my taste-testing in Rockton.

Pre-game starts at 7PM Friday night with kickoff scheduled for 7:15. Listen live on 1440 WROK or stream the game through the 1440 WROK app.

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