4Afan said:

Would love a Wilmo/Althoff game in 2A. Hopefully Althoff wouldn't be intimidated by the Harley's

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skeetz45 said:

Yes Rochelle and the Michigan team. The Mich team is no pushover and Rochelle is loaded.

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cigaros said:

Good assessment. I have warned many Rocket faithful that this could be the season the Rockets see four losses. The fourth being in the playoffs, but nonetheless, it will not be like seasons since 2009. I doubt their run of making it to the quarterfinals at least will continue.

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SiuCubFan8 said:

The Hubs? They have a bunch returning.

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corey90 said:

1A - Camp Point- same old same old.

2A - Althoff why not?

3A - Byron should be up to the task.

4A - Rochester easy road and another title. Rockets won’t be challenged unless they move up a class or two.

5A - St. Francis until someone else proves otherwise.

6A - Cary Grove until ESL finds a defense that can stop the Cary Grove run.

7A - Mt. Carmel Clear favorite. Should play in 8A this year but will definitely be moved up next year.

8A - LWE Griffins have a QB and are loaded. I think they finally get by Loyola.

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crusader_of_90 said:

1A - Camp Point

2A - Althoff

3A - Byron

4A - Rochester

5A - St. Francis

6A - East St. Louis

7A - Mt. Carmel

8A - Edwardsville

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4Afan said:

I saw that and immediately though of Whistle Pig.

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FB1976 said:

Well @rocketnation, I'm curious to hear your thoughts, but after the Week 0 scrimmage I'm feeling a tad underwhelmed with varsity.

The Rocket upperclassmen couldn't really get anything going on the offensive side of the ball. Lots of dropped balls and missed assignments/routes. Neither Belleville West nor Rochester scored on the 24 plays each team was allotted.

I think the defense overall performed okay, but definitely not as impressive as last year's D. The offense is really in need of some leaders to step up. No one jumps out as a star performer. Reliance on the option and runs up the middle by Zulauf were common and regularly stymied by BW.

Now for the good news...The Freshman and Sophmore teams were flat out impressive and dismantled BW. Again both teams were allotted 24 offensive plays and the Rockets scored 4 TDs to the Maroon's 1 in both games.

The Gregory brothers were electric and dominating. Khordell was the Rocket QB on the Freshman squad and threw bombs all over the field finding his brother Khornell several times. Pretty sure Khornell scored all four TDs including one pick-6. The Freshman defense was equally dominant.

The Sophmores also excelled with JP at QB and showcasing a dominant defense of their own.

All-in-all...as I suspected this season may be a rough one to experience...but in the words of Timbuk3, "The future's so bright I gotta wear shades."

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jthebro2 said:

Since I’m new to this website I wasn’t present for the weekly analysis of all the games last season, and I was wondering if anyone could tell me or describe to me the reaction and reception to U-High’s upsets in 2023 in the Springfield area? I’m thinking of games like Springfield and MacArthur specifically.

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4Afan said:

Always possible, but who do you have beating them outside of Sycamore?

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JCHillmen said:

I think Iowa City is a must win. Oswego should be a dogfight. If you go 0-2 to start, 5 wins is probably off the table. Even 1-1 makes it a tall order. So really I see Oswego as the huge barometer game. Win that fairly handily and it's "game on" for a big season. Win it close and it's still a sigh of relief. Lose it and all of a sudden it becomes necessary to win one of the coin flip or underdog games (Marist, MC, Naz, PC). That's even putting Fenwick and ND in the "got to have it" as wins category, but they are far from guarantees.

That offensive line really should be all kinds of fun to watch if you're a football trench nerd, though. There are nice pieces back on defense. If the defense can become a well above average unit and the offense can find a way to add a consistently effective (even if only used as necessary) passing game to complement their mammoth and experience offensive line and stable of running backs, then the sky is the limit and you could see 7 plus wins.

Most likely outcome is 5 or 6 wins.

3-4 wins if things go south. 7-8 wins if the offensive line comes out and asserts their dominance like they are capable.

4 wins may be enough to get into the dance once again this year but nobody wants to depend on that.

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cigaros said:

I love the Missile Pigs idea! The logos would be AWESOME!!!

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skeetz45 said:

I think Morris goes 6-3. Young at all key positions.

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4Afan said:

We're here, it's week 1. The season is upon us! All the fun, but stupid, offseason arguments are over. Does your team have a chance? What is their ceiling? If they're not a title contender what win makes your season?

Morris will be Morris and should be 7-0 heading into Sycamore and then I know nothing about the team from Grand Rapids. After that it depends if they go 4A or 5A. 5A they make the quarters or semis. They go 4A, is it another clash with Rochester?

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MMA_Det said:

NASA… please don’t tell me that he is one of those Round Earthers

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