Two Saturday afternoon home games for the remaining CS8 teams with temperatures expected to be in the mid to high 50's. Not quite as nice as last week but still great for this time of year.
2PM #2 Washington (10-1) at #6 Chatham (8-3)
Washington gave up 27 points in Week 1 to Kaneland and then has surrendered only 67 the rest of the season. They have held 8 teams to fewer than 10 points, including a 21-0 shutout of a usually dangerous Crete Monee last week. Crete ended Chatham's season in both the 2018 and 2021 playoffs. The Panthers only loss was 7-3 in Week 2 to Kankakee, who plays East St Louis in the other part of the southern 6A bracket. There is one common opponent: Chatham beat Danville 14-12 in Week 1, while Washington won 59-14 in Week 10. I expect Washington to have a physical run-first offense, but no individual stats are available on Max Preps. After some ups and downs during the regular season, the Titans offense is on fire, scoring 63 and 52 points the last two weeks. Sophomore QB Colton Knoedler is closing in on 30 TD's for the season, with 11 so far in the playoffs. Last week, Chatham won a 52-51 overtime thriller on the road at Oak Lawn Richards by relying almost entirely on passing. It's very doubtful the Titans will win this week if they give up 51 points, or anything close to it. Expect a loud home crowd to give the Titans an early emotional boost. However, this matchup reminds me of the 1997 quarterfinal contest between a rising but young Chatham team against an established Metamora. It was close for a half before Metamora pulled away decisively 58-26. The Titans undersized defense is going to have trouble keeping the Panthers out of the end zone. The offense, though effective, will struggle to match Washington score for score. Washington 46 Chatham 21 (Cal Preps projection: 35-19 Washington)
4 PM #4 Breese Central (9-2) at #1 Rochester (11-0)
This is a rematch of the 2nd round playoff game last year, which Rochester won 42-0. Breese Central's two losses are to 5A Highland 35-14 in Week 1 and 3A Roxana 52-28 in Week 7. Both those teams are still alive in the playoffs. The Cougars beat three playoff teams during the regular season and own wins over Cahokia (19-2) and Mt Zion (16-13) in the playoffs. That's back-to-back impressive performances by the Breese Central defense against two pretty good offenses. The Cougars have a QB who has thrown for over 1,700 yards and 24 TD's, two running backs with over 500 yards rushing, and a WR with around 800 yards receiving and 10 TD's. The Rockets are hoping for a cleaner performance by their offense this week. Against Coal City, the offense had three first half turnovers, including losing a fumble on the first play of the game. The defense responded as it has all season by only allowing a field goal on the Coalers first drive and forcing two turnovers. One interception was returned for a TD by DB Mason Jacobs. Bryan Zulauf and Parker Gillespie have been splitting snaps at QB since Gillespie returned from an injury for the first time in Week 8. With Gillespie out much of the season, Henry Buecker has really developed at WR. He had three TD's and multiple big plays last week. Rochester 45 Breese 13 (Cal Preps projection: 42-14 Rochester)
