Hey everybody hope all is well....here is some more crap and stuff.
My Weekend of Blowouts in the Rain....
Really hard to complain much about wither the blowouts or the rain to be fair. Saw Marist blowout Naz 42-0 in a game that was a bit more entertaining early than the score indicated. Road Runners had it's chances, moved the ball a bit better on the ground than I expected and just could not finish drives including it's best drive of the game...it's first drive. Marist? Was the main reason why I wanted to see this once since the Redhawks were the highest ranked team I had that I hadn't seen live> Had heard a lot of good about the Marist defense and the defensive line and they indeed are a strength. Also really liked Marist offense and QB Mike Markett....plus RB Delonte Harrell just picked things up where he left off last season. I came away feeling good about where I have Marist pegged in the polls etc and they are another team that is pretty strong, not overwhelming but very good.
Barrington? Starts with one of the best pork chop sandwiches out there and ends in typhoon conditions but the in between was entertaining in it's 47-21 win over Hoffman Estates. The Broncos are another nice team and QB Ray Ni(t)ro plus a good group of offensive skills. Barrington's defense was also a bit better than I expected and the only real question I have in terms of Barrington is can they keep Ray Ni(t)ro in one piece in the post-season? Now to be fair this is every team's concern but in the case of Barrington if Ray gets hurt....he's such a big part of the offense it would be a devastating loss to say the least. Hoffman Estates? I'm still trying top come to terms if the Hawks were over-ranked (very possible) or just ran into a Barrington buzzsaw playing on the road on a Saturday afternoon? Again weird things can and will happen to mainly Friday night teams that play on Saturdays so...yet I can see the Hawks having the potential of doing some good things in the post-season and I would really like this team in 6A north even better than in 7A.
Everyone is beatable...
Sure I can say that every year but this year....seems to be an exceptional year of the very good and not a whole lot of great out there. Between teams I've seen live (my best indicator) along with various TV and Hudl...I'm still in search of that one dominant team in Illinois..and I'm pretty sure I won't find them.
Need proof aka my take on some of the top teams?
LWE- terrific defense especially the Dline. Offense can run the football and I love the toughness of QB Morrison is impressive. Also Henning is a game changer. Yet issues? Can the Beast pass the ball down the field and on a consistent basis if needed? Also what if the defensive line/pressure is handled how will the back seven do in coverage?
Prairie Ridge- Superman sat out last week because of injury and if that continues not good for the Wolves.
Maine South- Hawks has a lot of positives but what if a LWE can slow down Koko again? Will the offense be able to adjust and move the football/find a way to get Koko more involved?
Marist- Liked the offense a ton and really not a lot to not like here.
East St Louis- running backs dropping like flies to injury these days....also feels like a downer year in the SWern to me...
Lake Zurich- Can the Bears also throw the ball downj in and down out if needed? Also RB/LB Joey Stutzman is a huge key for the Bears needs to remain healthy.
Phillips- Lots to like and has the best odds of winning a state title in 5A. Just have wondered who is that big time game breaker type for the Wildcats this season? When the Wildcats won it all a few years ago? No one had as big of an impact than Quayvon Skanes who was just a difference maker and a kid who could break open a game at any point. Does Phillips have that guy?
Loyola- Have gotten better each week but outside of QB Boyle who else steps up offensively?
Glenbard West- How deep are the Hitters anyways? Lots to like with the dual RB's WR Pierce and an improved passing game from QB Hollensby...just really wonder if the injury monster has much more effects the Hitters this post-season (honestly I can say that about more teams this season than I can ever remember).
H-F- take away Justin hall and is the passing game stable enough to carry the Vikings in the post-season?
Barrington- see Prairie Ridge thoughts and insert the name Ray Niro in place of Superman.
Deep Polling Thoughts....
Was a wild weekend at the Polling Ranch. Top 30 Chicagoland poll had some wide swings so here are some thoughts behind the madness.
DVC- the whacky DVC,,,,I was really impressed with NC when I saw them a week ago so I'm assuming the rest of the DVC is solid. Had to add Naperville North to the Top 30 after beating Central but the two previous losses kept them lower in the poll. Wheaton North was a no brainer to add and had to add them high as well. No question I slept on the Falcons. I have a feeling I wasn't the only one. NV? Yeah stunned at such a bad loos last Friday to WN but again still deserve to remain in for now.
I eliminated Hoffman Estates and Morris, and I still think HE can be a Top 30 team down the line but no way they remain in after Saturday's loss to Barrington. Morris? Welcome to the NIll Big 12 East where truly anyone can beat anyone.
Next Teams in? I gave LW Central consideration but the DVC scenario killed that off for a week at least. Looking harder at Niles ND again (but how good is the ESCC really?) plus
Hersey/Meadows winner could be in next week.
So why do I put out my polls so early?
I really take pride in at least doing my own homework, putting my own polls together without looking at anyone else's work and I've always have done that. The only paper I subscribe to outside of getting the Joliet Herald delivered (wife also likes it) is the Daily Herald because they kill it in prep football. I also want to make sure the paying customer here gets top priority and a first look on just about everything I do here (same goes for Soucie's stuff with Soucie's blessing etc.). You deserve that in my opinion so....
Recruiting and Evals
Always a weird time of the year from a recruiting perspective because you want to pay attention to the 2018 kids but the recruiting calendar turned the page from a bigger school perspective months ago. I'm starting to slowly work in 2019 and 2020 names and stories and once I get though playoff madness I'll start full evaluations on 2019 and 2020 here and only here. Same goes for an updated 2019 and 2020 recruit listing.
Next Week?
Considered Loyola at Provi but it's looking like Hersey at Rolling Meadows (I wonder if Rolling Meadows Mom is still alive? Or gets free time/computer time at the asylum?) then Saturday the Crossbones Sandbagging Company at Thornton.
Later
My Weekend of Blowouts in the Rain....
Really hard to complain much about wither the blowouts or the rain to be fair. Saw Marist blowout Naz 42-0 in a game that was a bit more entertaining early than the score indicated. Road Runners had it's chances, moved the ball a bit better on the ground than I expected and just could not finish drives including it's best drive of the game...it's first drive. Marist? Was the main reason why I wanted to see this once since the Redhawks were the highest ranked team I had that I hadn't seen live> Had heard a lot of good about the Marist defense and the defensive line and they indeed are a strength. Also really liked Marist offense and QB Mike Markett....plus RB Delonte Harrell just picked things up where he left off last season. I came away feeling good about where I have Marist pegged in the polls etc and they are another team that is pretty strong, not overwhelming but very good.
Barrington? Starts with one of the best pork chop sandwiches out there and ends in typhoon conditions but the in between was entertaining in it's 47-21 win over Hoffman Estates. The Broncos are another nice team and QB Ray Ni(t)ro plus a good group of offensive skills. Barrington's defense was also a bit better than I expected and the only real question I have in terms of Barrington is can they keep Ray Ni(t)ro in one piece in the post-season? Now to be fair this is every team's concern but in the case of Barrington if Ray gets hurt....he's such a big part of the offense it would be a devastating loss to say the least. Hoffman Estates? I'm still trying top come to terms if the Hawks were over-ranked (very possible) or just ran into a Barrington buzzsaw playing on the road on a Saturday afternoon? Again weird things can and will happen to mainly Friday night teams that play on Saturdays so...yet I can see the Hawks having the potential of doing some good things in the post-season and I would really like this team in 6A north even better than in 7A.
Everyone is beatable...
Sure I can say that every year but this year....seems to be an exceptional year of the very good and not a whole lot of great out there. Between teams I've seen live (my best indicator) along with various TV and Hudl...I'm still in search of that one dominant team in Illinois..and I'm pretty sure I won't find them.
Need proof aka my take on some of the top teams?
LWE- terrific defense especially the Dline. Offense can run the football and I love the toughness of QB Morrison is impressive. Also Henning is a game changer. Yet issues? Can the Beast pass the ball down the field and on a consistent basis if needed? Also what if the defensive line/pressure is handled how will the back seven do in coverage?
Prairie Ridge- Superman sat out last week because of injury and if that continues not good for the Wolves.
Maine South- Hawks has a lot of positives but what if a LWE can slow down Koko again? Will the offense be able to adjust and move the football/find a way to get Koko more involved?
Marist- Liked the offense a ton and really not a lot to not like here.
East St Louis- running backs dropping like flies to injury these days....also feels like a downer year in the SWern to me...
Lake Zurich- Can the Bears also throw the ball downj in and down out if needed? Also RB/LB Joey Stutzman is a huge key for the Bears needs to remain healthy.
Phillips- Lots to like and has the best odds of winning a state title in 5A. Just have wondered who is that big time game breaker type for the Wildcats this season? When the Wildcats won it all a few years ago? No one had as big of an impact than Quayvon Skanes who was just a difference maker and a kid who could break open a game at any point. Does Phillips have that guy?
Loyola- Have gotten better each week but outside of QB Boyle who else steps up offensively?
Glenbard West- How deep are the Hitters anyways? Lots to like with the dual RB's WR Pierce and an improved passing game from QB Hollensby...just really wonder if the injury monster has much more effects the Hitters this post-season (honestly I can say that about more teams this season than I can ever remember).
H-F- take away Justin hall and is the passing game stable enough to carry the Vikings in the post-season?
Barrington- see Prairie Ridge thoughts and insert the name Ray Niro in place of Superman.
Deep Polling Thoughts....
Was a wild weekend at the Polling Ranch. Top 30 Chicagoland poll had some wide swings so here are some thoughts behind the madness.
DVC- the whacky DVC,,,,I was really impressed with NC when I saw them a week ago so I'm assuming the rest of the DVC is solid. Had to add Naperville North to the Top 30 after beating Central but the two previous losses kept them lower in the poll. Wheaton North was a no brainer to add and had to add them high as well. No question I slept on the Falcons. I have a feeling I wasn't the only one. NV? Yeah stunned at such a bad loos last Friday to WN but again still deserve to remain in for now.
I eliminated Hoffman Estates and Morris, and I still think HE can be a Top 30 team down the line but no way they remain in after Saturday's loss to Barrington. Morris? Welcome to the NIll Big 12 East where truly anyone can beat anyone.
Next Teams in? I gave LW Central consideration but the DVC scenario killed that off for a week at least. Looking harder at Niles ND again (but how good is the ESCC really?) plus
Hersey/Meadows winner could be in next week.
So why do I put out my polls so early?
I really take pride in at least doing my own homework, putting my own polls together without looking at anyone else's work and I've always have done that. The only paper I subscribe to outside of getting the Joliet Herald delivered (wife also likes it) is the Daily Herald because they kill it in prep football. I also want to make sure the paying customer here gets top priority and a first look on just about everything I do here (same goes for Soucie's stuff with Soucie's blessing etc.). You deserve that in my opinion so....
Recruiting and Evals
Always a weird time of the year from a recruiting perspective because you want to pay attention to the 2018 kids but the recruiting calendar turned the page from a bigger school perspective months ago. I'm starting to slowly work in 2019 and 2020 names and stories and once I get though playoff madness I'll start full evaluations on 2019 and 2020 here and only here. Same goes for an updated 2019 and 2020 recruit listing.
Next Week?
Considered Loyola at Provi but it's looking like Hersey at Rolling Meadows (I wonder if Rolling Meadows Mom is still alive? Or gets free time/computer time at the asylum?) then Saturday the Crossbones Sandbagging Company at Thornton.
Later
