Going into week 2 for Southern Illinois, I thought we had several interesting games but last weekend delivered even better than I expected.
Milk Bowl goes sour: The annual rivalry bout between Breese's Central and Mater Dei High Schools delivered what may have been its most dramatic finish ever. Central, looking to end a five-year skid in the trophy matchup, trailed 14-7 late in the fourth quarter. With just over three minutes remaining, the Cougars tied the game after Preston Baker connected with Carter Deien for their second scoring connection of the game. Central later regained possession with the 14-14 tie still intact and found themselves in position for a game-winning field goal try. They attempted the kick on third down, which proved helpful because Mater Dei blocked their first attempt. The controversy starts here however, as the blocked kick never crossed the line of scrimmage, which usually would mean possession stays with the kicking team on a third down. But, the blocked kick went out of bounds and according to rule Mater Dei should have been given possession. However, Central was given the ball back and Bryce Wieter nailed a 37 yarder to score a 17-14 win. I wish I had video of the disputed play to share here, but I'm yet to come across it anywhere.
As I mentioned last week, winning this game was a lot more important to Mater Dei's season(1-1) than Central's(1-1) because the Knights now have a tough path to five wins. They have three very winnable games in weeks 4,5 & 6, but they'll still need to another game from Althoff/St. Teresa/Effingham/Mt.Zion. On the other hand, Central could win out and enter the postseason at 8-1, starting with a trip to Red Bud next week.
Southwestern Conference:
East St. Louis: Last week's performance on the All Gas, No Brakes Tour saw the Flyers host St. Frances out of Baltimore. Since De Smet backed out of their week nine visit, this game is the only home non-conference on East Side's schedule. With both teams tied at 7-7 after three quarters, this one was decided by the fourth quarter. East Side broke through the gridlock with six minutes remaining off of a rocket of a pass from Pops Battle to Rico Bond, but a missed extra point kept the Maryland visitors within 13-7. St. Frances would end up within six yards of the Flyer end zone near the end of the fourth quarter, but found themselves stuffed on a fourth & two by junior linebacker Elmo Gilliam. East St. Louis(1-1) held on for the win to drop St. Frances to their first 0-3 start in a number of years. A trip down to 2-0 Atascocita, TX is next up for the Flyers and there is a good case for this being the toughest game on their schedule. Massey Ratings gives East St. Louis a 15% chance and Calpreps gives them a 20% to win that out of state battle.
Belleville East: The Lancers scored another key win last week in a 34-14 dispatching of Pekin. This game was as bad as 27-0 late in the third quarter before Pekin found themselves in the endzone and Pekin's only offensive score came with two minutes left to play. Off to a 2-0 start, Belleville East has won two key swing games that has them well positioned for a playoff qualification. Unfortunately, they may not win again for awhile as the head to Lincoln-Way West next week before visiting East St. Louis in week four.
Other Scores: Edwardsville(2-0) 47-6 Cahokia(1-1), Next vs Soldan,MO(0-2) | O'Fallon(2-0) 47-27 Troy,MO(1-1), Next at Lincoln-Way Central(2-0) | Belleville West(1-1) 14-47 Fort Zumwalt West,MO(1-1), Next at Stagg(2-0) | Alton(0-2) 6-40 Quincy(2-0), Next versus Triad(1-1)
I'll update later with South Seven, Mississippi Valley Conference and other notables.
