GardenStateBaller Posted August 13, 2022 Share Posted August 13, 2022 2 hours ago, Bones said: OOS games of interest: Crete (Monee) Sep. 3 -- Merrillville (Andrean), IN East St. Louis (Sr.) Aug. 27 -- Baltimore (St. Francis Academy), MD Sep. 3 -- St. Louis (Christian Brothers), MO Sep. 10 -- Fairburn (Creekside), GA Oct. 21 -- St. Louis (De Smet Jesuit), MO Edwardsville (H.S.) Aug. 26 -- Jackson, MO Sep. 10 -- St. Louis (Soldan), MO Oct. 21 -- St. Louis (Christian Brothers), MO Naperville (Neuqua Valley) Sep. 9 -- St. Louis (St. Mary's), MO Wilmette (Loyola Academy) Aug. 28 -- Cincinatti (St. Xavier), OH ESL flexing its muscles once again in this respect. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bones Posted August 14, 2022 Author Share Posted August 14, 2022 (edited) With this being the last week before game week we'll look at some of the top games across the state. Rochester @ Sacred Heart Griffin - the final installment of "The Leonard Bowl" pits two of the top programs from Central Illinois, coached by a father (SHG) and son (RHS). With the father retiring at the end of the season, unless the two meet in the playoffs this will be the last time they face off. Rochester has won 8 championships since 2010 with 7 being in 4A and 1 (2019) in 5A. SHG has won 2 championships and 2 runner-ups in the same span all in 5A. St. Rita @ Mt. Carmel - Biggest rivalry on the South Side when it comes to football. This is the 100th installment I believe. Not sure how long these two have been playing but it's been a long time. The rivalry took some time off as Rita was moved to a different division in the conference but was renewed last season as the MC Caravan upended the Chicago area preseason #1 16-9 in front of a packed house at Rita. Look for Rita to be motivated to return the favor as MC looks to be highly highly ranked if not #1 when rankings roll out. Rita was the 7A runner-up in '21 while MC made it to the quarter finals on the other side of the bracket. Fenwick vs Oak Park-River Forest - two basketball schools located in the same town (Oak Park) renew a rivalry after a long layoff. Fenwick being the HS of past NBA star Corey Maggette while OPRF lays claim to Iman Shumpert most recently of the bum ass Brooklyn Nets 🤣. Fenwick is coming off of their 1st championship, in 5A while OPRF boasts 5 MNCs in their history. Fans are always rowdy when these schools play, regardless of the sport. Glenbard North vs Kenwood in Chicago - Glenbard North is a consistently tough football program coming off of a 8A quarter finals appearance where they gave champion, Lockport, their closest game of the playoffs. GBN has no championships but has 4 runner ups in their history. In 2016 GBN and Greg Newsome (Browns) took a highly rated ESL to the brink in the 2nd rd of 7A playoffs. GBN is also where Justin Jackson (Lions) played HS ball. As previously noted Kenwood is home to 4 of the top 35 recruits in IL for the 2023 class and at least one of the top 15 for 2024 and thus is probably the 2nd "most talented" (although I hate that term) team in the state. They will be motivated to show they can play with suburban and private schools. Here's there chance. Glenbard West @ Marist - Glenbard West is coming off of a down year in which they demolished Grandville, MI, but lost two conference games which is unheard of. Always a title threat in 7A, the Hitters have found the sledding a little more difficult in 8A as they reside on the edge between the two classes. They still remain a tough out regardless of the bracket. Marist plays in the same conference with Loyola and Mt. Carmel (And Bro. Rice) so they're always battle tested. Last season they dropped a close game in the 8A semi finals to Maine South. Not sure what either returns but name recognition alone makes this a top week 1 game. St. Frances vs East St. Louis - you guys know about this one. I'm interested in seeing who the flags get thrown on. St. X @ Loyola - you guys also know this one. Expect the cooking to be home 🤣 Edited August 14, 2022 by Bones 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bones Posted August 23, 2022 Author Share Posted August 23, 2022 (edited) X @ Loyola Article on the Loyola v X matchup. Edited August 23, 2022 by Bones Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bmore410 Posted August 23, 2022 Share Posted August 23, 2022 On 8/13/2022 at 7:26 AM, Bones said: OOS games of interest: Crete (Monee) Sep. 3 -- Merrillville (Andrean), IN East St. Louis (Sr.) Aug. 27 -- Baltimore (St. Francis Academy), MD Sep. 3 -- St. Louis (Christian Brothers), MO Sep. 10 -- Fairburn (Creekside), GA Oct. 21 -- St. Louis (De Smet Jesuit), MO Edwardsville (H.S.) Aug. 26 -- Jackson, MO Sep. 10 -- St. Louis (Soldan), MO Oct. 21 -- St. Louis (Christian Brothers), MO Naperville (Neuqua Valley) Sep. 9 -- St. Louis (St. Mary's), MO Wilmette (Loyola Academy) Aug. 28 -- Cincinatti (St. Xavier), OH SFA easy win #LLLP1 #LLA4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bones Posted August 23, 2022 Author Share Posted August 23, 2022 Rankings are coming out. MO side dominating except for #1. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bones Posted August 23, 2022 Author Share Posted August 23, 2022 Chicagoland top 30. Click that lank to read the blurbs about each squad. Still awaiting 1 statewide poll and the Chicago Sun Times poll. 1. Lincoln Way East 2. Mt. Carmel 3. Loyola 4. Batavia 5. Maine South 6. Glenbard West 7. Warren 8. Neuqua Valley 9. Marist 10. Bolingbrook 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bones Posted August 23, 2022 Author Share Posted August 23, 2022 10 hours ago, Bmore410 said: SFA easy win #LLLP1 #LLA4 Who is SFA 🤔 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bones Posted August 23, 2022 Author Share Posted August 23, 2022 Chicago Sun Times Chicagoland top 10: 1. Mt. Carmel 2. Lincoln Way East 3. Loyola 4. Batavia 5. Bolingbrook 6. St. Rita 7. Glenbard West 8. Prarie Ridge 9. Warren 10. Kankakee Statewide poll should be out later today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GardenStateBaller Posted August 23, 2022 Share Posted August 23, 2022 2 hours ago, Bones said: Who is SFA 🤔 St Frances Academy over ESL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bones Posted August 23, 2022 Author Share Posted August 23, 2022 42 minutes ago, GardenStateBaller said: St Frances Academy over ESL I know that, just gotta jab at those guys. I mean they should beat the 6A (out of 8 classes) runner-up of a bad football state like a drum, no? Next year they can level up to the 6A champ, then the 7A runner-up etc 🤣 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bones Posted August 23, 2022 Author Share Posted August 23, 2022 And finally the statewide https://www.shawlocal.com/friday-night-drive/analysis/2022/08/23/friday-night-drives-power-rankings-2022-preseason/ 1. East St. Louis 2. Mt. Carmel 3. Loyola 4. Maine South 5. Glenbard West 6. Lincoln Way East 7. Batavia 8. Warren 9. Kankakee 10. Neuqua Valley 11. Marist 12. Bolingbrook 13. Joliet Catholic 14. St. Rita 15. Naperville North 16. Lockport 17. Jacobs 18. St. Ignatius 19. Lemont 20. Hinsdale Central 21. Palatine 22. Prospect 23. Cary Grove 24. Willowbrook 25. Kenwood 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bones Posted August 23, 2022 Author Share Posted August 23, 2022 Okay, now my take on the rankings. The St. Louis area rankings being 9 teams on the MO side of the river shows where the IL teams down there are presently. East Side is obliterating their conference foes. And their non-conference games are out of state making them hard to gauge against the rest of the top teams. The state wide rankings are 24 Chicago area teams and EStL. In the best year for the rest of the state you could end up with at most 7 schools outside of Chicago in the top 25, but 3-4 is most probable. The rankings are overwhelmingly 8A and 7A. The ones below are the favorites to win a championship in 4/5/6. You'll notice that they don't have to defeat any of the other top teams to win a championship or maintain a ranking. So when you see me question whether those teams are actually the best in the state, that is why. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GardenStateBaller Posted August 23, 2022 Share Posted August 23, 2022 5 minutes ago, Bones said: Okay, now my take on the rankings. The St. Louis area rankings being 9 teams on the MO side of the river shows where the IL teams down there are presently. East Side is obliterating their conference foes. And their non-conference games are out of state making them hard to gauge against the rest of the top teams. The state wide rankings are 24 Chicago area teams and EStL. In the best year for the rest of the state you could end up with at most 7 schools outside of Chicago in the top 25, but 3-4 is most probable. The rankings are overwhelmingly 8A and 7A. The ones below are the favorites to win a championship in 4/5/6. You'll notice that they don't have to defeat any of the other top teams to win a championship or maintain a ranking. So when you see me question whether those teams are actually the best in the state, that is why. Which of those teams other than ESL is most likely to schedule SFA in 2023? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bones Posted August 27, 2022 Author Share Posted August 27, 2022 Some IL scores Mt. Carmel 35 St. Rita 3 Lincoln Way East 41 Crete Monee 15 Neuqua Valley 28 Oswego 3 Nazareth 2 Kankakee 0 (this was not a forfeit) Sacred Heart Griffin 62 Rochester 27 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bones Posted August 28, 2022 Author Share Posted August 28, 2022 Saturday scores Glenbard North 21 Kenwood 18. Kenwood is the 2nd "most talented" team in the state after ESL. They show flashes but are inconsistent. Glenbard N did what they always do, they trailed most of the game but stayed within striking distance. Then when Kenwood made a mistake they capitalized and scored a late TD. Lead the game for all of less than 3 mins, but secured the W. Kenwood's QB went down late in the 3rd and offense became stagnant. Glenbard West 33 Marist 31 - West jumped out to a 21-0 lead within 5 minutes and was able to hold on for the win. More impressive is that they did it without their Swiss army knife best player. He's their best RB, best WR, starts at DB, and return man. Marist did a good job of coming back and they have some huge bodies out there that pass the eye test. But this is football not a SFA photo shoot. Oak Park River Forest 35 Fenwick 7 - coming off of a 5A championship I think people expected more than to be blown out by a team that hovers near the middle of their conference (same conference as Glenbard W). Fenwick did lose a ton including 14 starters, but to me the difference is likely that OPRF had the type of bodies with their large enrollment and also demographics (think West side of Chicago with a wealthy suburb sprinkled in) that just doesn't exist with the public schools of 5A. That and there's Hatfield/McCoys thing there. Simeon 41 Wheaton Warrenville South 23 - national FB fans who have followed for a while should be familiar with WWS, hoops fans should be familiar with Simeon. WWS at one point was one of if not the top program in the state (check 2010 rankings) and Simeon looked like the best Chicago Public School. Simeon isn't new to being credible on the gridiron like Kenwood is. After shaking the early season jitters the Wolverines steamrolled. WR Malik Elzy (top WR in the state for '23/Cincy recruit) was a load. Also had 2 guys on the D line that looked like former Simeon player Tez Wilson (look him up). They have an interesting game next week. Batavia 43 Phillips 0 - Expected outcome by me, but oddly surprised others. Phillips for a few years was present in national discussions as they collected high end talent and won IL championships in 4A and 5A, which they then used to garner high rankings and play OOS games such as Pickerington Central on ESPN. Phillips has fallen some over the past two seasons after losing their coach. Batavia tends to have P5 type LBs (they have 2 this year) and just play solid fundamentally sound FB. For example in '19 they played ESL (#51 in this site's poll) in week 1 and lost 31-17, finished the season 9-3 and made it to the 7A quarter finals before losing by 14 to Nazareth. Batavia plays LWE next week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GardenStateBaller Posted August 28, 2022 Share Posted August 28, 2022 ESL is the #1 team in IL. No other team listed could hang with SFA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bones Posted August 28, 2022 Author Share Posted August 28, 2022 (edited) 28 minutes ago, GardenStateBaller said: ESL is the #1 team in IL. No other team listed could hang with SFA. SFA would have zero chance of winning 8A or 7A. None. Edited August 28, 2022 by Bones 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GardenStateBaller Posted August 28, 2022 Share Posted August 28, 2022 Can ESL and LA play each other this season? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bones Posted August 28, 2022 Author Share Posted August 28, 2022 5 minutes ago, GardenStateBaller said: Can ESL and LA play each other this season? Not unless there is covid cancelations. After seeing both, I'd go with LA fairly comfortably. But it's only week 1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GardenStateBaller Posted August 28, 2022 Share Posted August 28, 2022 5 minutes ago, Bones said: Not unless there is covid cancelations. After seeing both, I'd go with LA fairly comfortably. But it's only week 1. ESL will be in our T25 this week. I was very impressed with them last night. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bones Posted August 28, 2022 Author Share Posted August 28, 2022 Just now, GardenStateBaller said: ESL will be in our T25 this week. I was very impressed with them last night. I love ESL. They're my 2nd favorite team to watch and I always go to their games when they come up north, and have gone to their event once. They're fearless and play with aggression. I do my best to give unbiased analysis of the state of football in IL though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GardenStateBaller Posted August 28, 2022 Share Posted August 28, 2022 4 minutes ago, Bones said: I love ESL. They're my 2nd favorite team to watch and I always go to their games when they come up north, and have gone to their event once. They're fearless and play with aggression. I do my best to give unbiased analysis of the state of football in IL though. Flo is streaming their doubleheader event next weekend. CBC vs ESL IMG vs Desmet Jesuit 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bones Posted August 29, 2022 Author Share Posted August 29, 2022 Twas a great weekend of football in the state of IL. It went pretty much as expected except East Side and Loyola whom I expected to both be eviscerated considering the quality of opponents' reputation AND considering they have had scrimmages and jamborees and even a game so far, while the IL teams had none 😏 Top games for week 2: Batavia @ Lincoln Way East Bro. Rice @ St. Rita Immaculate Conception @ Joliet Catholic Naperville North @ Glenbard North Warren @ Maine South Bolingbrook @ Simeon CBC (MO) @ East Side Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GardenStateBaller Posted August 29, 2022 Share Posted August 29, 2022 5 hours ago, Bones said: Twas a great weekend of football in the state of IL. It went pretty much as expected except East Side and Loyola whom I expected to both be eviscerated considering the quality of opponents' reputation AND considering they have had scrimmages and jamborees and even a game so far, while the IL teams had none 😏 Top games for week 2: Batavia @ Lincoln Way East Bro. Rice @ St. Rita Immaculate Conception @ Joliet Catholic Naperville North @ Glenbard North Warren @ Maine South Bolingbrook @ Simeon CBC (MO) @ East Side CBC plays at ESL in its doubleheader Classic event this weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bones Posted August 29, 2022 Author Share Posted August 29, 2022 New top 25 with some changes. I'll rank them myself after I see LWE/Batavia on Friday. https://www.shawlocal.com/friday-night-drive/analysis/2022/08/29/friday-night-drives-power-rankings-how-did-week-1-shake-up-our-top-25/ 1. Loyola 2. Mt. Carmel 3. East St. Louis 4. Glenbard West 5. Maine South 6. Lincoln Way East 7. Batavia 8. Warren 9. Neuqua Valley 10. Bolingbrook 11. Joliet Catholic 12. Marist 13. Naperville North 14. Nazareth 15. Lockport 16. Jacobs 17. Prospect 18. Kankakee 19. Lemont 20. Cary Grove 21. Palatine 22. St. Rita 23. Notre Dame 24. St. Patrick's 25. Simeon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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