A weekly thread to talk about 618(southern Illinois) teams.
I went 9-1 last week, I think everyone else missed that 1(Mascoutah over Highland). I nearly missed another huge upset with SHG @ Waterloo(more on that after this week's games)
6A: #7 Crete Monee(9-2) @ #6 East St. Louis(9-2)
Saturday at 2:00
The Flyers will soar into this one fresh off a 40-0 decision over Normal West(who had given up 18 points all year outside of mighty Richmond-Burton). Crete looks like another impressive team that will try to slay Goliath. The Warrior have an effective looking offense, a must if you want to score on this Flyers defense. I still like the Flyers however, who have outscored Illinois opponents 270-7 when at home this year.
5A: #3 Peoria(10-1) @ #7 Mascoutah(7-3)
Saturday at 2:00
Mascoutah surprised everyone last week after reversing a 56-0 loss into a 55-42 win over conference foe Highland.
Was it because of a bunch of injuries? No, both teams had their main core in both games
Was it with trick plays? Mascoutah scored on a trick play one time.
So how did they do it? The Indians offense was almost exclusively focused around their two best playmakers: Quincy Hall and Allen Middelton. Middelton, an SIUC commit, was used several times from the wildcat. He used these extra touches to finish with 194 yards on the ground, 49 yards passing, and 85 caught yards. He finished with 4 touchdowns(counting a throw) and 3 of them came from 49 yards+.
McKendree commit Quincy Hall also had a career day in the upset of the year. Hall finished with 210 yard and 3 touchdowns off of just 9 offensive touches. Like Middelton, Hall also plays defense and led the team with 11 tackles and closed out the game with a fumble recovery returned for a touchdown.
Now, they enter as underdogs again. Peoria loves to put up points, try for onside kicks, and go for two. The Lions were only good at one of those last week, but it was all they needed to win 48-21 over Kankakee. I expect a shootout this week and it may come down to how well Peoria fares on the onside kicks/two point conversions. I'll pick a tough to beat at home Mascoutah team to continue their momentum with another upset.
4A: #4 Rochester(10-1) @ #1 Carterville(11-0)
Saturday at 1:00
Calpreps has the line as Rochester -7, without factoring in Carterville's homefield advantage. That's probably a lot closer than most of the state projects this one to be, given the Rockets pedigree. Rochester had the more impressive regular season schedule, but let's look at what each team has done in the postseason.
Rochester opened with a sloppy half against an underrated Effingham squad, before winning 45-14. They followed that up with a 45-0 trouncing of Breese.
Carterville has not scored as many points, but they have still been highly impressive. In the first round, they sent Geneseo home on a long bus ride with a 36-7 loss. They faced another high pedigree opponent last week, when they shutout Coal City in 22-0 fashion.
So we are left with a defense on a roll against a high scoring offense. Who wins that battle? Probably Rochester, but watch out if the weather turns bad or windy.
I will still take Rochester in this one, but it is worth keeping an eye on.
An interesting note: Rochester has only played on the road once in the last five weeks. A three hour(one way) road trip becomes a little more daunting with that in mind.
2A: #14 Althoff(7-4) @ #2 Johnston City(11-0)
Saturday at 4:00
Why can't Cinderella keep dancing? Althoff, stumbled into the postseason at 5-4 record that included a win by forfeit. But their 4A/5A schedule has paid major dividends as they swing through the 2A bracket. The Crusaders won in round 2 with a 26-14 verdict over Red Bud, who scored on two fourth quarter pick sixes. Althoff had all three of their touchdowns supplied by Jordan Lewis, with two scores coming on defense. He snagged a 27 yard catch for the only offensive score of this game.
Standing in the way of the glass slipper Crusaders is an undefeated Johnston City squad. The Indians have dominated all year, having won all but one game by multiple possessions. They have not been held to less than 28 points this season, finishing with that total twice.
Both Calpreps and Massey have this 618 vs 618 game coming down to a single possession. I think if that comes true, Althoff wins this one. The Crusaders have played 5 games that came down to 6 points or less and have a 4-1 record in them. As aforementioned, Johnston City has only played one game within a possession(a 33-28 win over Sesser-Valier).
edgytim.rivals.com
