A weekly thread to talk about teams and conferences in the 618(southern Illinois).
The biggest story of last week didn’t come from the field, but rather the IHSA office as they forced Mt. Vernon to forfeit earlier wins over Triad and Althoff. Triad and Althoff improved to 4-2 with the news, while the Rams fell to 3-3. This obviously had effects on the playoff picture, but it also knocked Mt. Vernon one game from the lead of the South Seven title race. Here is the most informative article I've found on the situation.
Cahokia(3-4) comes back for 32-26 OT win over Mt. Vernon(3-4)
A bad week continued to get worse for Mt. Vernon as they lost in brutal fashion. A touchdown with just 4 minutes to play pushed them ahead 26-18, but a failed two point try kept it to a one possession game.
All still seemed well as they would force a Comanche turnover on downs with 2 minutes to play. But a quick stop would give the ball to Cahokia for one final chance. They took full advantage of that and tossed a 69 yard Hail Mary with 17 seconds left to play. A subsequent two point conversion forced overtime.
Omarion Gooden, who scored the final 8 points in regulation, rushed a touchdown in the opening overtime period for Cahokia. A failed two point try left the door wide open for Mt. Vernon, but they failed to score in response.
Not sure there is a team in Illinois that had a tougher week than the Rams. We’ll see if they can turn that into fuel or let it derail their season with a chance at the conference title next week.
Cahokia also keeps the door open for the postseason with their win. They’ll need to eat their Wheaties however as they finish against O'Fallon(6-1) and Althoff(4-3).
Marion(4-3) erases a 17-0 hole to force OT and tackle Centralia(5-2) 32-31
Centralia could clinch sole possession of the conference with a win and they seemed well on their way with a 17-0 lead at halftime. But Marion had other plans.
The visiting Wildcats bit back with 24 consecutive points as Jordyn Beverly and Evan Noelle combined for 3 touchdowns and 3 successful two point conversions.
Centralia responded with an Amir Johnson touchdown carry and an extra point kick in the final minutes to force overtime at 24-24.
Amir Johnson tacked on his third touchdown of the game in the first overtime period and Marion elected to kick their PAT to go up 30-24.
The visitors responded with yet another touchdown from Jordyn Beverly and made the successful choice to rush for 2 with Evan Noelle for the 31-30 win.
This win keeps four of the six S7 teams mathematically alive for the conference playoff berth.
Althoff(4-3) gets doinked by Carbondale(2-5)
Final score here was 10-7 after the Terriers won on a final second field goal that bounced in off the upright. Here’s video of the tough finish.
Althoff really could have used this one both for the conference race and their playoff aspirations. This was the Terrier’s first win since beating a bad Granite City team in week 1.
So who will win the South Seven?
We’ll have to watch Centralia at Mt. Vernon and Cahokia at Althoff.
If Centralia wins, they are the undisputed South Seven champions. But things get interesting if they lose.
A Mt. Vernon win would tie them at 3-2 in conference play with Centralia. It would also tie them with the winner of Althoff and Cahokia, who will also become 3-2 in S7 play.
The tiebreaker would become the fewest points allowed against the other two teams. I'm basing all of this off of 1-0 being used as the score for the Mt. Vernon-Althoff forfeit, let me know if that is wrong for tiebreaking purposes.
Mt. Vernon wins the conference playoff qualification(a big deal since they have a tough matchup in week 9) by beating Centralia by 14 or more, plus either
1. Althoff wins and gives up 8 more than Mt. Vernon or
2. Cahokia wins and doesn’t give up 24 points less than Mt. Vernon.
Althoff wins the conference playoff berth with a win of their own and a Centralia loss, while also allowing 8+ less than Centralia.
Cahokia wins the conference playoff berth with a win of their own and a Centralia loss, while also allowing 37+ less than Centralia.
Other week 7 scores worth noting:
-Edwardsville(6-1) escapes Belleville East(3-4) 28-27 in 2OT. This was not a game I expected to be super close, but the Lancers showed they can play ball. Belleville East will make the playoffs if they take care of Belleville West and Granite City who are a combined 1-13 this season.
-Highland(6-1) had a running clock at half on their way to a 49-10 rout of Waterloo(5-2). If you don’t believe in Highland yet, I’m not sure what to tell you. Their dominance on both sides of the line puts them in the conversation for a 4A/5A run to the title game.
-East St. Louis, O’Fallon, Mascoutah and Triad all dominated conference games as expected. These will all be playoff teams come pairing night.
Week 8 Games to Watch(All kickoff Friday at 7:00)
-Centralia(5-2) at Mt. Vernon(3-4).
-Marion(4-2) at Cahokia(3-4).
-Waterloo(5-2) at Triad(5-2). Expect a lot of running the ball here. Whoever wins this game will take second place in the Mississippi Valley Conference(behind Highland) and I expect a good game.
-Edwardsville(6-1) at East St. Louis(5-2). There will be a lot of talent on the field in this one, as per usual. Hopefully the Tigers can keep this one from getting ugly.
The biggest story of last week didn’t come from the field, but rather the IHSA office as they forced Mt. Vernon to forfeit earlier wins over Triad and Althoff. Triad and Althoff improved to 4-2 with the news, while the Rams fell to 3-3. This obviously had effects on the playoff picture, but it also knocked Mt. Vernon one game from the lead of the South Seven title race. Here is the most informative article I've found on the situation.
Cahokia(3-4) comes back for 32-26 OT win over Mt. Vernon(3-4)
A bad week continued to get worse for Mt. Vernon as they lost in brutal fashion. A touchdown with just 4 minutes to play pushed them ahead 26-18, but a failed two point try kept it to a one possession game.
All still seemed well as they would force a Comanche turnover on downs with 2 minutes to play. But a quick stop would give the ball to Cahokia for one final chance. They took full advantage of that and tossed a 69 yard Hail Mary with 17 seconds left to play. A subsequent two point conversion forced overtime.
Omarion Gooden, who scored the final 8 points in regulation, rushed a touchdown in the opening overtime period for Cahokia. A failed two point try left the door wide open for Mt. Vernon, but they failed to score in response.
Not sure there is a team in Illinois that had a tougher week than the Rams. We’ll see if they can turn that into fuel or let it derail their season with a chance at the conference title next week.
Cahokia also keeps the door open for the postseason with their win. They’ll need to eat their Wheaties however as they finish against O'Fallon(6-1) and Althoff(4-3).
Marion(4-3) erases a 17-0 hole to force OT and tackle Centralia(5-2) 32-31
Centralia could clinch sole possession of the conference with a win and they seemed well on their way with a 17-0 lead at halftime. But Marion had other plans.
The visiting Wildcats bit back with 24 consecutive points as Jordyn Beverly and Evan Noelle combined for 3 touchdowns and 3 successful two point conversions.
Centralia responded with an Amir Johnson touchdown carry and an extra point kick in the final minutes to force overtime at 24-24.
Amir Johnson tacked on his third touchdown of the game in the first overtime period and Marion elected to kick their PAT to go up 30-24.
The visitors responded with yet another touchdown from Jordyn Beverly and made the successful choice to rush for 2 with Evan Noelle for the 31-30 win.
This win keeps four of the six S7 teams mathematically alive for the conference playoff berth.
Althoff(4-3) gets doinked by Carbondale(2-5)
Final score here was 10-7 after the Terriers won on a final second field goal that bounced in off the upright. Here’s video of the tough finish.
Althoff really could have used this one both for the conference race and their playoff aspirations. This was the Terrier’s first win since beating a bad Granite City team in week 1.
So who will win the South Seven?
We’ll have to watch Centralia at Mt. Vernon and Cahokia at Althoff.
If Centralia wins, they are the undisputed South Seven champions. But things get interesting if they lose.
A Mt. Vernon win would tie them at 3-2 in conference play with Centralia. It would also tie them with the winner of Althoff and Cahokia, who will also become 3-2 in S7 play.
The tiebreaker would become the fewest points allowed against the other two teams. I'm basing all of this off of 1-0 being used as the score for the Mt. Vernon-Althoff forfeit, let me know if that is wrong for tiebreaking purposes.
Mt. Vernon wins the conference playoff qualification(a big deal since they have a tough matchup in week 9) by beating Centralia by 14 or more, plus either
1. Althoff wins and gives up 8 more than Mt. Vernon or
2. Cahokia wins and doesn’t give up 24 points less than Mt. Vernon.
Althoff wins the conference playoff berth with a win of their own and a Centralia loss, while also allowing 8+ less than Centralia.
Cahokia wins the conference playoff berth with a win of their own and a Centralia loss, while also allowing 37+ less than Centralia.
Other week 7 scores worth noting:
-Edwardsville(6-1) escapes Belleville East(3-4) 28-27 in 2OT. This was not a game I expected to be super close, but the Lancers showed they can play ball. Belleville East will make the playoffs if they take care of Belleville West and Granite City who are a combined 1-13 this season.
-Highland(6-1) had a running clock at half on their way to a 49-10 rout of Waterloo(5-2). If you don’t believe in Highland yet, I’m not sure what to tell you. Their dominance on both sides of the line puts them in the conversation for a 4A/5A run to the title game.
-East St. Louis, O’Fallon, Mascoutah and Triad all dominated conference games as expected. These will all be playoff teams come pairing night.
Week 8 Games to Watch(All kickoff Friday at 7:00)
-Centralia(5-2) at Mt. Vernon(3-4).
-Marion(4-2) at Cahokia(3-4).
-Waterloo(5-2) at Triad(5-2). Expect a lot of running the ball here. Whoever wins this game will take second place in the Mississippi Valley Conference(behind Highland) and I expect a good game.
-Edwardsville(6-1) at East St. Louis(5-2). There will be a lot of talent on the field in this one, as per usual. Hopefully the Tigers can keep this one from getting ugly.
