618 Talk: Who makes the Quarterfinals?

[Formicidae13]

A thread to talk about 618(southern Illinois) teams.

I went 13-2 last week, with Centralia and Collinsville upsetting my picks. I'm more than happy with that showing and let's see if I can keep that rolling.

8A: #6 Loyola(9-1) @ #22 Edwardsville(7-3)
The Tigers at least have a puncher's chance here. A long bus ride for the Ramblers is a good start the upset formula. Maybe they can turn their controversial win over O'Fallon into fuel to show they belong(for the record, I believe O'Fallon only got three downs). I still see the Ramblers as the clear pick, in spite of all of this.

7A: #8 Collinsville(9-1) @ #24 Brother Rice(6-4)
With a two point conversion stop, the Kahoks downed Bradley for their first ever playoff win after being around for over 100 years. This is a tough reward for that, with a long trip to Chicago against this powerhouse. Fingers crossed Collinsville can somehow prove me wrong again.

6A: #6 East St.Louis(8-2) @ #3 Normal West(9-1)
The Wildcats seem to have an impressive defense, usually the first key to defeat the Flyers. East St. Louis still figures to be a heavy favorite and that is no knock on Normal.

5A: #7 Mascoutah(7-3) @ #2 Highland(9-1)
Mascoutah took down Marion by 1 point last week to get here, which may have disappointed Highland. Not because they should be scared of Mascoutah(they have already running clocked them this year), but because this may be a waste of a home game. It looks like the Bulldogs are likely to travel to Kankakee in round three and that is a long haul to a good team.

5A: #4 Morris(8-2) @ #12 Centralia(6-4)
The Orphans upset Triad 27-13 in the only Saturday game that I got wrong last week. Their defense seemingly played lights out and set their offense up with a lot of short fields. They will need their defense and home field to step up big again this week to take down the Morris football squad. What concerns me for the Orphans is they did not seem capable of driving against Triad and I think Morris brings a much stronger offense to the table.

4A: #8 Coal City(7-3) @ #1 Carterville(10-0)
The undefeated Lions are coming off a bigger win than Coal City against what I believe to be a better opponent. Combine that with a 4 hour road trip for the Coalers and I think Carterville is the favorite.

4A: #5 Breese(8-2) @ #4 Rochester(9-1)
Breese had a nice win over Mt. Zion last night. But Rochester looks to just be too good. The Cougars may have a chance if the Rockets have 5 first half turnovers again, if lightning strikes twice in a row.

4A: #6 Murphysboro(8-2) @ #3 Macomb(10-0)
Massey says Murphysboro by 2 and Calpreps says Macomb by 3, so this is as close to a pick 'em as you will see this week. Our Red Devils have some recent postseason success, so I'll say that pays off for a Murphysboro victory.

4A: #2 Sacred Heart-Griffin(10-0) @ #10 Waterloo(7-3)
The Waterloo Bulldogs are fresh off a 76-28 thrashing of Olney where Evan Davis ran wild for over 300 yards. That was also their first playoff victory in nearly 30 years. But, I think their fun in the postseason ends this week against an outstanding Cyclone program.

2A: #6 Red Bud(8-2) @ #14 Althoff(6-4)
The Red Bud Musketeers are hot off an upset of Nashville and Althoff is as well after a win over Shelbyville. Strength of schedule is clearly in the favor of the Crusaders and I think it pays off again, but this should still be one to watch.

 

[dcaudle68]

Well written as always and I agree with all your picks.

 

[St.Louisfootball]

Kankakee over Peoria?

 

[MalleusMaleficarum]

A thread to talk about 618(southern Illinois) teams.

I went 13-2 last week, with Centralia and Collinsville upsetting my picks. I'm more than happy with that showing and let's see if I can keep that rolling.

8A: #6 Loyola(9-1) @ #22 Edwardsville(7-3)
The Tigers at least have a puncher's chance here. A long bus ride for the Ramblers is a good start the upset formula. Maybe they can turn their controversial win over O'Fallon into fuel to show they belong(for the record, I believe O'Fallon only got three downs). I still see the Ramblers as the clear pick, in spite of all of this.

7A: #8 Collinsville(9-1) @ #24 Brother Rice(6-4)
With a two point conversion stop, the Kahoks downed Bradley for their first ever playoff win after being around for over 100 years. This is a tough reward for that, with a long trip to Chicago against this powerhouse. Fingers crossed Collinsville can somehow prove me wrong again.

6A: #6 East St.Louis(8-2) @ #3 Normal West(9-1)
The Wildcats seem to have an impressive defense, usually the first key to defeat the Flyers. East St. Louis still figures to be a heavy favorite and that is no knock on Normal.

5A: #7 Mascoutah(7-3) @ #2 Highland(9-1)
Mascoutah took down Marion by 1 point last week to get here, which may have disappointed Highland. Not because they should be scared of Mascoutah(they have already running clocked them this year), but because this may be a waste of a home game. It looks like the Bulldogs are likely to travel to Kankakee in round three and that is a long haul to a good team.

5A: #4 Morris(8-2) @ #12 Centralia(6-4)
The Orphans upset Triad 27-13 in the only Saturday game that I got wrong last week. Their defense seemingly played lights out and set their offense up with a lot of short fields. They will need their defense and home field to step up big again this week to take down the Morris football squad. What concerns me for the Orphans is they did not seem capable of driving against Triad and I think Morris brings a much stronger offense to the table.

4A: #8 Coal City(7-3) @ #1 Carterville(10-0)
The undefeated Lions are coming off a bigger win than Coal City against what I believe to be a better opponent. Combine that with a 4 hour road trip for the Coalers and I think Carterville is the favorite.

4A: #5 Breese(8-2) @ #4 Rochester(9-1)
Breese had a nice win over Mt. Zion last night. But Rochester looks to just be too good. The Cougars may have a chance if the Rockets have 5 first half turnovers again, if lightning strikes twice in a row.

4A: #6 Murphysboro(8-2) @ #3 Macomb(10-0)
Massey says Murphysboro by 2 and Calpreps says Macomb by 3, so this is as close to a pick 'em as you will see this week. Our Red Devils have some recent postseason success, so I'll say that pays off for a Murphysboro victory.

4A: #2 Sacred Heart-Griffin(10-0) @ #10 Waterloo(7-3)
The Waterloo Bulldogs are fresh off a 76-28 thrashing of Olney where Evan Davis ran wild for over 300 yards. That was also their first playoff victory in nearly 30 years. But, I think their fun in the postseason ends this week against an outstanding Cyclone program.

2A: #6 Red Bud(8-2) @ #14 Althoff(6-4)
The Red Bud Musketeers are hot off an upset of Nashville and Althoff is as well after a win over Shelbyville. Strength of schedule is clearly in the favor of the Crusaders and I think it pays off again, but this should still be one to watch.

The game of most interest to me is the Coal City @ Carterville contest, based on the Lions' convincing victory over Geneseo last week. Facing another historically run-heavy team, can they also bottle them up?

I agree with the Murphysboro pick. The Red Devils have played what appears to be the tougher schedule, and as you said they have had a taste of recent postseason success. I actually see a bigger margin of victory for them than 2 or 3 points, but they are on the road.

It indeed appears that SHG will need to focus on limiting the damage Davis can do, and be sharp in the short-to-medium passing game (unless they elect to run more). Potentially, this could be their toughest game since Rochester. All the top teams in the CS8 this regular season were home games for the Cyclones. This one is on the road.

No need to even comment on the Rochester game. Much like SHG this week, next week will probably be the Rockets' toughest postseason game thus far.

 

[Nit92]

I have a son who plays for Morris. Can you tell me a little on what to expect from Centralia?

 

[MalleusMaleficarum]

I have a son who plays for Morris. Can you tell me a little on what to expect from Centralia?

You guys have and have had a nice program up there. Don't know much at all about Centralia as far as what offense they employ, etc. They were competitive against Mascoutah and Collinsville (two teams who are still alive in the postseason) in a losing effort, and defeated Belleville Althoff, who is also still standing after Round 1. Overall though, your son's team had a much tougher schedule than them.

 

[Nit92]

Thanks for the information. I’m told the visitors section there is very small so I’ll get there early. I’d hate to come all that way for a loss!

 

[Formicidae13]

I have a son who plays for Morris. Can you tell me a little on what to expect from Centralia?

I’ve not seen a ton of Centralia this year, but they’ve looked disciplined. Very few missed tackles or other errors.
#2(Johnson) and #51(Brown) are probably their best players and play both sides of the ball. A lot of Orphans start on both sides of the ball.
Their offense is fairly simple with a heavy dose of screens and runs. Expect some quarterback designed runs as well.
Their win over Triad was nice(especially since I believe they play a similar style to Morris), but I still don’t think they can take Morris.

 

[Formicidae13]

Kankakee over Peoria?

Looking at it more, I think Peoria is the better team and the favorite(although still a close one). Thanks questioning me, I’d consider that good news for Highland.

 

[Sterling Warrior]

In the North my prediction is Boylan will be in the quarters either with Sycamore or Sterling.

 

[EdgyTim]

Can someone explain to me the running clock game between Mascoutah and Highland please? Was it that lopsided? Something else maybe?

 

[Formicidae13]

Can someone explain to me the running clock game between Mascoutah and Highland please? Was it that lopsided? Something else maybe?

I didn’t watch the game live, but Highland’s strength is in the trenches and Mascoutah is pretty weak there this year. Very tough to win that kind of matchup, even with all of the athletes Mascoutah has. That showed up big in the stats as Mascoutah had 144 yards of total offense.

It definitely wasn’t a fluke either, because Mascoutah lost by multiple possessions to Triad and Waterloo. Triad lost 35-0 to Highland and Waterloo faced a running clock at halftime.

 

[dcaudle68]

Can someone explain to me the running clock game between Mascoutah and Highland please? Was it that lopsided? Something else maybe?

Pretty simple, Highland is way better than any team down this way. Highland scores almost every time they have the ball and Mascoutah is a decent team but not on Highland's level. Highland had a running clock on them by the end of the 3rd qtr as they have everyone but 8A Edwardsville and Effingham which they led 28-7 before struggling. Highland dominates the LOS. I believe they got 2 nice lineman that transferred in to really make the line dominant.

 

[4hhsbulldogs]

Can someone explain to me the running clock game between Mascoutah and Highland please? Was it that lopsided? Something else maybe?

From what I saw and heard, Mascoutah had some chances and missed some open receivers early. I think Highland also scored every time touching the ball early. To me it seemed like when they got down 21-0 it just kinda took the wind out of their sails.

With that all being said I would expect a little more competition from Mascoutah this go around. Middleton (stud recruit committed to SIUC) looked like he was playing a little wildcat for Mascoutah last week against Marion. I don’t blame them either, you have to find a way to get the ball into your studs hands. It reminded me of when Matt Milton (‘09?) was a senior and they had to do that because of some less than average QB play.

 

[Swc1919]

Pretty simple, Highland is way better than any team down this way. Highland scores almost every time they have the ball and Mascoutah is a decent team but not on Highland's level. Highland had a running clock on them by the end of the 3rd qtr as they have everyone but 8A Edwardsville and Effingham which they led 28-7 before struggling. Highland dominates the LOS. I believe they got 2 nice lineman that transferred in to really make the line dominant.

Pretty simple, Highland is way better than any team down this way. Highland scores almost every time they have the ball and Mascoutah is a decent team but not on Highland's level. Highland had a running clock on them by the end of the 3rd qtr as they have everyone but 8A Edwardsville and Effingham which they led 28-7 before struggling. Highland dominates the LOS. I believe they got 2 nice lineman that transferred in to really make the line dominant.

not true at all are they a good team? Yes better then every other team absolutely not

 

[4hhsbulldogs]

I think dcaudle was talking relatively to schools Highland’s size in the 618. (MVC and South 7). I think they compete with both edwardsville and O’Fallon. East side probably takes them to the woodshed

 

[dcaudle68]

I think dcaudle was talking relatively to schools Highland’s size in the 618. (MVC and South 7). I think they compete with both edwardsville and O’Fallon. East side probably takes them to the woodshed

Yes I clearly did not mean they would dominate the ESTL, SHG and Rochester's of the world although I don't think of Rochester and SHG as "down here" as they are not 618 area codes.

 

[Alexander32]

Yes I clearly did not mean they would dominate the ESTL, SHG and Rochester's of the world although I don't think of Rochester and SHG as "down here" as they are not 618 area codes.

Ah ha! For the last few years I have wondered what the specific reference on this message board to 618 meant. I knew from context that it was a vague reference to southern Illinois schools, but didn't know the specific relevance of the numbers 618. Now I know. It is an area code. Clearly I am from the northern part of the state.

 

[4hhsbulldogs]

Ah ha! For the last few years I have wondered what the specific reference on this message board to 618 meant. I knew from context that it was a vague reference to southern Illinois schools, but didn't know the specific relevance of the numbers 618. Now I know. It is an area code. Clearly I am from the northern part of the state.

We have a lot of pride in the 618 and love cheering for one another come postseason time.

I’ll leave you with this gem.

 

[crusader_of_90]

Club Oasis!