Won’t be able to make it to Naz-SF this Friday, does Naz stream? I checked NFHS / YouTube but no luck.

Thanks

Geez, the last week already?? Some teams have already punched their ticket to play a 10th game. For other teams, this will be it for them. For 3 teams, this is week 1 of the playoffs. Good luck to all the programs this week and it's been fun following a long.

WB6

United Township over Galesburg: Two teams looking forward to basketball season, but I think UT wants to end its season on a high note more than the Silver Streaks do. A UT win would once again leave fans and players wondering about a week 10 if they had only been able to bring it against Rock Island week 6…

Playoff outlook: Both are out

Geneseo over Rock Island: Geneseo got pretty knocked around last week against Quincy while Rocky raised some eyebrows by putting a nail in Sterling’s season. Rocky will be a tough nut, but I think Geneseo rights the ship at home and wins a low scoring contest to enter the playoffs on a high note.

Playoff outlook: Geneseo is in and looking for a higher seed. Rocky is out.

Moline over Sterling: Moline needs this one to get to 5 wins. Sterling can play spoiler since they can no longer make the playoffs. The game is in Sterling, but how motivated are the Golden Warriors after last week? Moline takes this one to punch their ticket to week 10.

Playoff outlook: Moline needs the win to get to 5 wins. Sterling is out.

Quincy over Mahomet-Seymour: Don’t know a whole lot about M-S, but Quincy is playing good football, is at home, and has a chance to go unbeaten. Give me the Blue Devils.

Playoff outlook: Both are in.

TRAC

Princeton over Hall: Tune up game for the Tiger going into the playoffs. Get in, get the running clock going, get the starters out. Princeton wins big.

Playoff outlook: Princeton is in. Hall is out.

Newman over Mendota: One more week for Newman to figure out something more on offense before the playoffs start. Mendota has had a rough season, but will put in one more good effort for the seniors. Newman wins by several scores though to help their seeding.

Playoff outlook: Newman is in. Mendota is out.

Kewanee over Aurora CC: A good game for the Boilermakers to fine tune a few things for week 10 and make sure they have a home game round 1. Despite having 3 wins, ACC is not a very good team and the Boilermakers should have little trouble getting the running clock.

Playoff outlook: Kewanee is in. ACC is out.

Bureau Valley over Morrison: Ok, a bit of a “I want it to happen” pick, but BV has been playing good, tough football and sits at 4-4. If the team comes into the game ready and hungry to get that 5th win, and maybe catch the Mustangs looking past them to week 10…the upset could happen. In reality, Morrison has too much talent and size, but week 9 is the best time to make your post season dreams happen. Give me the Storm by 1 to make it to the playoffs!

Playoff outlook: Morrison is in. BV needs to win to get to 5 wins.

Orion over Riverdale: It’s been a rough season for both teams, so this game will be about the seniors and trying to let them go out with a win. The Chargers will prove the better team in this match up.

Playoff outlook: Both are out.

Rockridge over Erie-Prophetstown: EP has been playing very well the past 3 weeks and would love to end the season on a high note. Rockridge is just on another level though, which they showed in knocking off Morrison last week. This one won’t be a total blow out, but Rockridge wins comfortably by three scores.

Playoff outlook: EP is out. Rockridge is in.

Monmouth-Roseville over Sherrard: a bit of the drama of this game was taken out by Sherrard losing last week to fall to 5 losses, but this one should still be a good one as two decent teams hammer at each other. MR needs to win this one to get to 5 wins and I have never seen Sherrard not play hard in any game. MR wins a close one to get it’s 5th win.

Playoff outlook: MR needs to win to get to 5 wins. Sherrard is out.

I'll be back home this year and bringing back and WJOL Playoff Pairings Show make sure to join myself along with the WJOL Sports crew from 7:30PM till 10PM as we break down the entire IHSA state playoff field. We will also feature every WJOL area head football coaches in the state playoff field. We will also stream this via You Tube live from the WJOL studios make sure to join us more details forthcoming



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Im open to suggestions…

Currently 220 teams with at least 5 wins and 72 4-4 team. So if exactly half of 4-4 teams win in week 9 there will be no 4-5 teams in the field. I'll leave it to the masses to determine which 4-4 teams will win this week.

My nominee's for the Week 8 Bears HS Player and Coach of the Week?

Coach: Dan Tito Joliet West has the Tigers at 7-1 first time Joliet West has won 7 games in a season since 1969.

Player: Glenbard East senior QB/LB Blake Salvino led the Rams to a 28-14 upset win over Glenbard South and contributed big on both sides of the football.

NFHS camera feed only. No updated scoreboard or clock, No announcers,
I think East Side scored on its first possession. Edwardsville has had trouble mustering any offense.

Five Friday night and one Saturday afternoon contest. Chance of rain tomorrow and storms with heavy rain on Friday could have an impact particularly on the three games with grass fields: Rochester vs Chatham, MacArthur vs SHG, and Jacksonville vs Springfield. Will the weather be bad enough to impact any outcomes?

Friday
Champaign Centennial (5-2) at Eisenhower (1-6)
The Big 12 currently leads the series with the CS8 5-4. This should increase to 6-4 after Friday. Centennial 47 Eisenhower 12

Lincoln (5-2) at U High (5-2)
Tough Week 7's for both teams. After becoming playoff eligible with a win against Jacksonville, Lincoln lost 55-0 at home to Rochester. U High, which had been the surprise of the conference, traveled to Chatham and got shut out 35-0 in what seemed to be a pick 'em game beforehand. U High still has a decent opportunity to go 7-2, which would probably get them a home playoff game. Lincoln is the underdog here and will be a major underdog next week at Chatham. Expect U High to rebound and get their 6th win. U High 34 Lincoln 14

Springfield (2-5) at Jacksonville (3-4)
A must win for the Crimsons if they want to stay in the hunt for the playoffs. Springfield is hoping to play the spoiler. The teams are pretty evenly matched. Jacksonville should come out on top in a close game. If they win, the Crimsons will still need to upset U High at ISU next week for a 5th win. Jacksonville 27 Springfield 21

SHG (6-1) at MacArthur (4-3)
Mac has wins over SHG (2017), Rochester (2014), and Chatham (2014 and 2023), something no other CS8 school can claim. All these wins came in Decatur. The Generals have had an interesting season, starting out 1-3 and losing winnable games against Jacksonville and U High, playing well at times in a loss to Rochester, and upsetting Chatham to start a 3-game winning streak. They have a big offensive line and two hard to bring down runners in QB Cameron France and RB Myson Johnson-Cook. Mac's defense has improved during the season but is not at the level of some of their best teams. SHG has battled injuries all season along with having to replace almost all of the starters from their 4A championship team. Not sure how many, if any, of their injured players will be available against Mac. RB Christian Pollard has been very impressive. He was the difference maker in the win against Chatham, consistently getting tough yards when SHG was trying to run out the clock. The Cyclones would love to jump out to an early and decisive lead as they did at Chatham. They should avoid the upset, but Mac will make it a 4-quarter contest. SHG 31 MacArthur 21

Chatham (5-2) at Rochester (7-0)
Last year, it drizzled, rained, poured, stopped, and then started up again in Rochester's 27-14 win at Rocket Booster stadium. This worked to Rochester's advantage as they ran straight ahead all night with their big boys Keeton Reiss and Ian Lichtenberger. Chatham's fast strike passing attack bogged down in the second half due to the poor field conditions. How much will the weather impact this contest? The defenses have combined to give up only 91 points this season. The Titans have relied on a ball control offense, although Colton Knoedler is throwing the ball more than at the beginning of the season. They will try to grind out drives to keep the ball away from the Rocket offense. Chatham adjusted from their back-to-back losses to MacArthur and SHG by putting reserve QB Brady Dwyer at RB last week against U High and giving him significant playing time. This is Senior night for the Rockets. The defense was outstanding at Lincoln last week and has forced multiple turnovers in every game. QB Bryan Zulauf, RB Nolan Mrozowski, and WR Henry Buecker have all been impressive on offense. No word yet on when injured QB-WR Parker Gillespie could return but doubt it will be Friday. As long as they take care of the ball, the Rockets should come out on top. Rochester 37 Chatham 15

Saturday
Southeast (0-7) at Lanphier (0-7)
The Spartans have been somewhat more competitive in their losses than Lanphier. They have been able to score multiple TD's in four of their losses and have held three of their opponents to 35 points or less. The Lions have been able to score multiple TD's in only two of their games and have surrendered at least 41 points in every contest. Southeast 34 Lanphier 12

Here we are - week 8. Six WSC teams already have 5 wins - Willowbrook, Addison Trail, Lyons, York, Glenbard West, and Downers Grove North. Only York has officilaly clinched a playoff spot, and neither division's champion has been determined.

On the Gold side, barring something very, very unexpected, Downers South will be the conference champ. With AT playing at Leyden on Thursday night, the Blazers are in position to get a 6th win, and clinch a playoff birth for the first time since 2014.

In the Silver Division, there are 3 teams with 1 loss, and two of them play each other this week. York at Lyons is easily the game of the week. York is coming of their first regular season loss since HC came back to stun them in Week 7 of 2021. Lyons is coming of a somewhat surprising dominate win over Downers Grove North (there were people who picked them to win, but I don't think anyone thought DGN wouldn't score until there were 2 minutes left in the game). Just as a seasonal recap - DGN dominated GBW in Week 3; York beat DGN by 11 points week 6; GBW beat Lyons by 3 points week 4; Lyons beat DGN by 10 points and GBW beat York by 21 points in week 7. So if you think you know for certain who will win between York and Lyons, I need you to also buy me a lottery ticket.

Good Luck!

Everyone kind of knew about this for a long time but here we go

ANTIOCH 48 GRAYSLAKE CENTRAL 15
GRANT 27 LAKES 13
GRAYSLAKE NORTH 40 ROUND LAKE 8
WAUCONDA 54 NORTH CHICAGO 0

NEXT WEEK
GRAYSLAKE NORTH @ WAUCONDA
LAKES @ GRAYSLAKE CENTRAL
NORTH CHICAGO @ GRANT
ROUND LAKE ,@ ANTIOCH

CRETE MONEE 65 BLOOM TWP 0
KANKAKEE 63 THORNTON TWP 0
RICH TWP 40 THORNRIDGE 0
RIVERSIDE-BROOKFIELD 35 THORNWOOD 14

NEXT WEEK
CRETE MONEE @ KANKAKEE
RIVERSIDE-BROOKFIELD @ RICH TWP
THORNRIDGE @ THORNWOOD
THORNTON TWP @ BLOOM TWP *SAT

Mike Clark and I talk Districts, DVC/SWSC merge, Week 8 games and look ahead towards Week 9 and playoffs.

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Montini Fans - IMG Academy - #4 Jayden Bradford 45 Yd pass completed to #1 Donovan Olugbode for a TD. SJP 0, IMGA 16

Donovan Olugbode has a offer from University of Georgia and freshman year played for Montini before transferring to IMG.

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With our leaderboard (@McCaravan 68, @pjjp 66, @3OrangeWhips 64, @chiliconcarne 63, @ESCC fan 63) looking insurmountable, it might be time to hop on the @DMurph11 wagon. Or is he a one-hit wonder? Does the algo have a I'm-going-to-take-my-ball-and-go-home component? Eerily accurate regardless.

MCHS @ BR
BR 40 Montini 7
PC @ MC
MC 42 PC 7
SL @ SR
SR 42 SL 14
BA @ LA
LA 42 BA 0
M @ SP
Marist 42 SP 13
SI @ SV
SI 34 SV 14
JC @ MA
JC 42 MA 7
ND @ CoM
CoM 26 ND 14
ICP @ DLS
IC 42 DLS 20
Naz @ Marian, Heights
NAZ 44 Heights 20
F @ DP
F 42 DP 13
SF @ LEO
SF 45 LEO 7

Saw this on Twitter and had to share. Don't think I disagree....

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For me it’s either TF North beating Hillcrest by a point and winning the South Suburban Blue or Decatur Mac upsetting SHG….and also seeing Joliet West get to 7 wins in a regular season for the first time since 1969,,,,,wow

Class 8A EDGYTIM Week 9 poll

1. Lincoln Way East 8-0 (1) @ Bolingbrook
2. Loyola 8-0 (2) vs Mount Carmel
3. Maine South 7-1 (3) vs Evanston
4 Barrington 8-0 (4) @ Conant
5. Naperville Central 7-1 (6) vs Neuqua Valley
6. Warren Township 6-2 (7) @ Zion Benton
7. Glenbard West 6-2 (8) @ OPRF
8. Belleville East 6-2 (9) @ Granite City
9. York 7-1 (10) vs Proviso West
10. Palatine 5-3 (5) vs Schaunburg

Out: None

Class 7A EDGYTIM Week 9 poll

1. Mount Carmel 8-0 (1) @ Loyola Academy
2. Batavia 7-1 (2) @ Glenbard North
3. Edwardsville 7-1 (3) @ Desmet
4, Quincy 8-0 (4) vs Mahomet Seymour
5. Hersey 8-0 (5) vs Elk Grove
6. Hononegah 8-0 (6) @ Auburn
7. Normal Community 8-0 (7) @ Peoria Manual
8. Prospect 6-2 (8) vs Wheeling
9. St. Rita 5-3 (9) @ Brother Rice
10. Wheaton North 5-3 (10) vs Lake Park

Out: None
'
Class 6A EDGYTIM Week 9 poll

1. East St Louis 6-2 (1) No Game
2. Kankakee 8-0 (2) vs Crete-Monee
3. Lake Zurich 7-1 (3) vs Waukegan
4. Geneva 6-2 (4) @ St Charles North
5. Washington 7-1 (5) @ Morton
6. Cary Grove 6-2 (7) @ Dundee Crown
7. Crete-Monee 6-2 (10) @ Kankakee
8. TF North 7-1 (NR) vs Lemont
9. Glenwood 5-3 (6) vs Lincoln
10. Champaign Centennial 6-2 (NR) @ Normal West

Out: Normal West/Dunlap

Class 5A EDGYTIM Week 9 poll

1. Prairie Ridge 8-0 (1) @ McHenry
2 Peoria 6-2 (2) @ Peoria Notre Dame
3 St. Francis 6-2 (3) @ Nazareth Academy
4. Morgan Park 7-1 (4) vs Simeon
5. Carmel 7-1 (5) vs St Patrick
6. Joliet Catholic 6-2 (6) vs St Ignatius
7. Sycamore 8-0 (7) @ Morris
8. Antioch 8-0 (9) vs Round Lake
9. Morton 8-0 (10) vs Washington
10. Glenbard South 7-1 (8) @ Elgin

Out: None

Class 4A EDGYTIM Week 9 poll
1. Rochester 8-0 (1) @ SHG
2. Morris 8-0 (2) vs Sycamore
3. IC Catholic Prep 6-2 (3) vs Fenwick
4. Boylan 7-1 (4) vs Freeport
5. Richmond Burton 7-1 (5) vs Rochelle
6. Murphysboro 8-0 (6) @ DuQuoin
7. St. Laurence 6-2 (7) vs Montini Catholic
8. Rochelle 6-2 (8) @ Richmond Burton
9. Wheaton Academy 7-1 (NR) vs Marian Central Catholic
10. Geneseo 6-2 (9) vs Rock Island

Out: Mt. Zion

LAKE ZURICH 30 MUNDELEIN 14
LIBERTYVILLE 28 ZION BENTON 0
STEVENSON 44 WAUKEGAN 8
WARREN TWP 34 LAKE FOREST 0

NEXT WEEK
MUNDELEIN @ LAKE FOREST
STEVENSON @ LIBERTYVILLE
WARREN TWP @ ZION BENTON
WAUKEGAN @ LAKE ZURICH

Nm