The Big Ones

At long last, it's here; HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL SEASON!

Hope you all enjoyed your summer break, but it's time to put the beach blankets and sun screen away and buckle the helmets to knock some heads. Week 1 has some exciting match-ups that will change up the rankings for teams in the Top 10. Away we go.

Tomorrow afternoon, (4)Mount Carmel will try to stop (6)Simeon in the Bears Den, er, Soldiers Field at 2:30. Last season both of these teams made valiant runs for state titles. This year, they both look to do it again. Will Caravan QB Robert Gregory out toss the Simeon D led by two-way star Brandon Greer or will Mount Carmel lose the opener like they did last year against the same team?

Tomorrow night, 7:30, Memorial Stadium, Joliet, Illinois, (12)Joliet Catholic plays host to (7)Carmel and the top seeding for the East Suburban Catholic. Both teams have explosive, 3-man back fields who promise heavy ground attacks from both squads. But will it be Andy Bitto's Corsair's or Dan Sharp's Hilltopper's who come away with the win?

And of course, (16)Minooka travels West down Old Route 6 Friday night to battle long time nemesis Morris. Do Bert Kooi;s Indians have it in them for the upcoming battle with Alan Thorson's Redskins? These two programs, when put on a football field against each other, no matter either skill level, turn this game into a blood fight, er, a death match. Games between the Bears and the Packers for the NFC Championship are like kittens playing with puppies compared to these games. Will this game hold the hatred for ones opponent the games between these squads over the last 40 years has held? Will these two teams come to battle with the "Kill or be Killed" attitude all of Grundy County is hoping they bring? We can only hope so. 

Games of the Week

Some may say that the Bears playing the Cowboys this weekend will be the Game of the Week. Seriously, both teams played like piles of manure which has been festering in Mid-West heat for months. The Bears lost, no matter what the league says. How does one 'go for extra yards' in the end zone? Amend the rule. The Cowboys, well, I really couldn't care less what that two-beer-drinkin-s.o.b-from-Eastern Illinois does either way. But this is about high school football. And these are my Games of the Week.

1. (4)Joliet Catholic pays a visit to (11)Carmel on Friday night at 7:30. Both teams are stacked with crushing backfields and, with no doubt in my mind, this one will come down to which defense turns in the toughest kid on the playground performance.

Catholic wins by 6.

2. (5)Wheaton North, at 7:30 on Friday, busts heads with (9)Glenbard North. Will Reece Butler add huge numbers to his three game total of 756 passing yards and 10 touchdowns? Or will that dominate Panther 'D' keep its 5.6 points a game average in tact?

Glen-North will keep inching up the Top 20 ladder with a 6 point win.

3. (10)Loyola plays host to Mount Carmel at 1:30 Saturday afternoon. Will Malcolm Weaver and E.J. Webb help Loyola to down the Caravan for the third time in two years?

The Caravan plays the role of up-setter in this match-up, downing Loyola by 10.

4. (14)Minooka heads north to battle Mike Romeli's Plainfield East Bengals Friday night. Can the cats scalp the Indians or will Bert Kooi's boys tame the cats like they've done to opponents the three previous games this season?

Minooka walks with the win by 30.

The Big Games

The day that every football player in his teens dreams about has arrived. The Big Game. The one where you leave it all on the field. The one that memories are made. It's time to crown the State Champion. If these games play out anything close to the barn burners last weekend, the entire state of Illinois is in for a few treats this weekend. Lets see....

Friday, November 27

4A

[7]Metamora 41, [8]Geneseo 7
..............................................................................

Saturday, November 28

5A

[12]Montini 29, [6]Joliet Catholic 28

..............................................................................

6A

[1]Cary-Grove 34, [2]Providence 17
..............................................................................

7A

[2]WW South 31, [1]Glenbard West 24---2 OT
..............................................................................

8A

[1]Maine South 41, [4]Marist 17

Area Leaders From Week 13

These following fellas were the top dogs for Week 13.

QB:

1. Jordan Pechloff, Montini (9-4): 334 yards, 5 tds
2. ???
3. ???
4. ???
5. ???

RB:

1. Ryan Gorrell, Montini (9-4): 197 yards, td
2. Josh Ferguson, Joliet Catholic (11-2): 134 yards, 2 tds
3. Tim Hanrahan, Providence (12-1): 121 yards, 3 tds
4. Eric Chandler, Cary-Grove (13-0): 115 yds, 2 tds
5. ???

WR:

1. Jordan Westerkamp, Montini (9-4): 93 yards on 2 touchdown receptions
2. Christian Westerkamp, Montini (9-4): 64-yards on 2 touchdown receptions
3. Anthony Taylor, Montini (9-4): 21-yard touchdown reception
4. ???
5. ???

Defense:

1. Joliet Catholic (11-2): force 6 turnovers against Richwoods
2. Travis Jensen, Joliet Catholic (11-2): 2 ints
3. Chad McCarron, Cary-Grove (13-0): 29-tard int for a td
4. Kyle Liebforth, Cary-grove (13-0): fumble recovery
5. Doug Diedrick, Montini (9-4): int

Special:

1. Ryan Gorrell, Montini, sets new school record with a 94-yard touchdown scamper

2009 Playoffs---Round 3, November 13

Round 3---Friday, Novemember 13

7A

[2]WW South 23, [4]St. Rita 14

5A

[6]Joliet Catholic 47, [2]Washington, Ill. 7

Game of the Week

The end of the regular season is this weekend. A wonderful year of great high school football is ending. Well, for some teams it is ending. The 2nd season starts this Saturday with the playoff pairings. And then it's all fair game, no holds barred, smash mouth football. Sorry, getting ahead of myself. We still need to finish Week 9.

Let's see, who do we have knocking heads this weekend that is worthy of the Game of the Week Title?

Well, (15)Mount Carmel is heading South to battle (5)Providence in New Lenox Friday night. If the games I've witnessed these two schools play against each other means anything to you, which it probably doesn't, this should shape up to be a great game.

But then there's (17)Glenbard North going to visit (10)Naperville Central to try and start their weekend off right.

And (6)St. Rita knocks heads with (7)Loyola that everybody and their mother is going to be claiming as their Game of the Week because they are both so highly ranked. Blah. Blah. And. Blah.

I'm going with (16)Stevenson stopping by the house of higher ranked (13)Warren for a visit and again moving up the list of ranked teams after their win.

My Picks:

Providence 37, Mount Carmel 35
Naperville Central 28, Glenbard North 14
Loyola 21, St. Rita 10
Stevenson 53, Warren 21

and of course...

Minooka 45, Plainfield Central 24

p.s.

Hey Indians, you remember that Plainfield Central knocked your heads around last year 53-15 to lock up the conference championship, right? Well, you win this one, the championship's yours. Well, at least a share of it depending on what Oswego does. Unless, of course, since you smoked them last week, the conference board memebers will just give it to you. Anyway, I'm pretty sure that Cookie's wants to serve Wildcat this weekend as a special, so bring 'em the meat.

p.s.s. Unless some unthinkalbe phenomenon goes down Friday afternoon, the Steelmen of Joliet or the Homewood-Flossmoor Vikings will pick up their first win of the season. Not too bad, I suppose. Practice all summer to get ready for the season, have your butt handed to you each of the eight times you took the field and then, finally, the last game of the season, you pull your first "W". Whoever wins, it'll be a low scorer: H-f is averaging 8.6 points a game, while Joliet, a lowly 6. Good luck fellas.

Game of the Week

So, it's Week 8 and it's pretty much determined who it is that will be playing in the playoffs at the end of the month. What class these teams will actually land is yet to be determined, but, that never really has mattered to me. If a team is good enough to get to the dance, it doesn't matter who they're dancing with, all they need to do is dance. If you didn't pick up on it, the dance is the playoffs.

This coming weekend will be big, with explosive game after explosive game.

Somebody's door to a beautiful, undefeated season will be closed this weekend when
(22)Crystal Lake South goes to (19)Cary-Grove Friday night to battle at 7:15.

(9)Glenbard North plays host and hopes to derail (3)WW South Friday night at 7:30.

Two of the L-W schools will do the dance Friday as well as (25)L-W Central hosts (10)L-W East at 7 o'clock.

Dan Sharp's boys at (13)Joliet Catholic go to (21)Marian Catholic to try and better their playoff spot.

And a newby to Steve Tucker's Top 25, (20)Glenbrook South will try to upset (1)Maine South Saturday at 1:30 in the afternoon.

But then there is the game that matters most to me, and since this is my blog, I can admit this game to the list; Minooka at Oswego, 7 p.m. Friday.

With a win, 5-2 Minooka will lock up a spot in the dance. With a loss, they'll have to really step it up for their season ender. Oswego, also 5-2, is sitting in the same boat as the Indians. If the Panthers win, they're in, with a loss, they've got to step it up as well.

Predictions:

Cary-Grove 28, Crystal Lake South 26
Glenbard North 37, WW South 21
L-W East 39, L-W Central 12
Joliet Catholic 56, Marian Catholic 38
Maine South 35, Glenbrook South 32
Minooka 49, Oswego 37

Game of the Week

This was a tough decesion to make with Joliet Catholic cruising East down Rt. 30 to play against Providence in the "Two Power House Football Programs From The Joliet Area Bowl" this Friday, considering the two schools have stockpiled 22 state titles between them, but The Game of the Week will be played at Maine South as the #2 Hawks play host to #1 WW South at 7:30. Get there early people, it's going to be tough finding a seat.

WEEK 1 IS OVA!!!

So, the first week of high school football is complete and for the most part, the games played out pretty much as many believed they would. But there were a few early season upsets. But upsets make you stronger.

A very big congrats to the Robeson defense, who allowed just 13 yards of offense during their 40-6 man handling of Julian. Dion Grace led the attack with eight tackles and three sacks while freshman Devaughn Gaultney picked up a sack and a fumble recovery. The Robeson "D" also stopped the Julian "O" 15 times behind the line of scrimmage.

In Robbie Gould like fashion, Joliet Catholic kicker Robbie Cranmer kicked a 35-yarder that split the uprights, with no clicks left on the clock, to win the game against Carmel 19-16. Congrats for not loosing your cool like I would have, Robbie, and missed the ball as I tried to kick it.

And to wrap it up, another congrats goes to the boys over at Maine East who have finally ended that horrible 39-game loosing streak they've been riding since 2004 by beating Schurz 19-9. Their last win, 22-0, came October 3, 2004 against Niles North. Feels real nice doesn't it boys?