CS 8 Predictions Week 5

[rocketnation]

5 Friday night contests for Week 5 in the CS 8.

Chatham (3-1) at U High (2-2)
Chatham held off MacArthur last week, while U High running clocked Southeast. At home, this is an opportunity for U High to show whether they can compete with a top tier conference opponent. In the spring season, they played with Chatham for a half before running out of gas. Chatham’s offense has been very consistent, scoring at least 35 points each game. They should get the win by a fairly comfortable margin. Chatham 46 U High 20

Eisenhower (0-4) at SHG (3-1)
SHG should have the reserves in by the 2nd quarter. Eisenhower to suffer its fourth straight running clock loss, but they’ve avoided the COVID forfeits so far that have kept 3 other CS 8 schools from playing. SHG 55 Eisenhower 6

Lanphier (0-4) at MacArthur (1-3)
Mac returned from 2 COVID forfeits last week to almost knock off Chatham on the road. Lanphier is hoping to return to the field this week after being off for 2 weeks. Lanphier has struggled so far this season and the two weeks off won’t help. Mac should win big. MacArthur 47 Lanphier 7

Jacksonville (2-2) at Southeast (2-2)
Jacksonville won by forfeit last week, while Southeast was out scored 43-0 in the first half by U High before getting 3 consolation scores in the second half. Jacksonville should win with a running clock. Jacksonville 45 Southeast 7

Springfield (3-1) at Rochester (3-1)
In their last two meetings, Springfield and Rochester have combined for 96 and 102 points. This week is an opportunity for both teams. For Springfield, this is a chance to recover from last weeks thumping by SHG and show that they should still be considered in the top 2-3 of the conference. Rashad Rochelle has given Rochester fits at times, and he has weapons at RB and WR. His OL must do a better job of protecting him than last week. For Rochester, this is a chance for the defense in particular to show more than they have through 4 games against a quality opponent. Rochester can either play a complete game and win fairly easily or lose intensity at times, play sloppy, and be in for a battle. Homecoming should be good to the Rockets. Rochester 59 Springfield 27

 

[rocketnation]

SJR Staff Predictions
Chatham 49 U High 14
SHG 62 Eisenhower 13
Jacksonville 52 Southeast 14
MacArthur 56 Lanphier 7
Rochester 52 Springfield 21

 

[rocketnation]

All Finals. The night of the running clock and a rough evening for the bottom teams in the conference. Closest margin of victory was 35 points.
Chatham 42 U High 7. Thought U High might score a little more at home.
SHG 56 Eisenhower 7. SHG another big win.
Jacksonville 55 Southeast 6. Southeast has struggled since their Week 1 win against Eisenhower.
MacArthur 46 Lanphier 0. A rough outing for Lanphier coming off of 2 COVID forfeits. Mac playing well. Apparently this game was halted in the 2nd half after a fairly serious injury to a Lanphier player.
Rochester 63 Springfield 20. Rochester’s best defensive effort of the year as they mostly held down Rashad Rochelle. Rochester had a more balanced offense tonight as well, not relying on Hank Beatty as much as some earlier contests. Springfield running clocked for the 2nd week in a row.

 

[cornerrat]

All.... I can't even remember (out under the tent in the Griffin woods at the start of quarter two) but 40 plus was scored in the first quarter by SHG. Most of it on play 1 or 2 of each drive. I have no idea what Eisenhower needs to do. Maybe 30 players on the team and no size. They will not win a game this year and went 0-9 in 2019. They did not field a team in the six game spring season.

Talk about MacArthur and Eisenhower creating one school school in Decatur continue. I will be surprised if this team plays a full regular season schedule this year. Ratsy

 

[net-se]

shg 49-0 at the end of q1.

dec ike vs dec mac next week. i'm not sure ike can field a full team.

 

[rocketnation]

shg 49-0 at the end of q1.

dec ike vs dec mac next week. i'm not sure ike can field a full team.

Is SHG playing freshman and JV games each week? I think Rochester had to schedule 3 or 4 non conference teams to get their freshman some games. It seems like SHG, Rochester, Chatham, and perhaps Jacksonville are the only teams really running a total frosh/JV/varsity program. This is a factor in the widening gap I see between the best and worst teams in the conference.

 

[rocketnation]

Observations after Week 5
After 5 weeks, The CS 8 can be broken into three distinct categories.

The Top 2
Rochester and SHG are both 4-1 and each has a strong chance to finish 8-1. Rochester looks to be in either 4A or 5A in the playoffs, while SHG is likely 4A but could possibly be 3A. Barring injuries or a bad playoff draw, both look like strong candidates to make a deep run, possibly ending in DeKalb. Both Leonard’s would prefer to be in a different classes for the playoffs and avoid a second game as happened in 2019.

The Middle 4
Chatham has been an impressive 4-1, with wins over MacArthur and Jacksonville and a 3 point loss to Springfield. Springfield and Jacksonville are both 3-2. Springfield got a road win at Chatham in Week 1 but has been running clocked the last two weeks by SHG and Rochester. Jacksonville has lost to Chatham but only by one score. MacArthur is 2-3 but 2 of the losses were COVID forfeits. Their only on the field loss was by 8 points at Chatham their first week back from COVID.

Springfield and Chatham should both get enough wins to qualify for 6A. Chatham is probably looking at a road game Week 1 of the playoffs against a team with either 7 or 8 wins. They do get Rochester and SHG at home in Weeks 7 and 9. An upset over one would help their playoff draw. Springfield could be in the same situation but has a chance for a Week 1 home game if they win out and are 7-2. Mac and Jacksonville both have a reasonable chance of making the 5A playoffs but are likely looking at 4-5 wins each. They play each other Week 9 at Jacksonville and both could be 4-4 heading into the game.

The Bottom 4
U High is playing better than Eisenhower, Lanphier, and Southeast, and they will likely end up with 3 wins. The other three teams are struggling to avoid being running clocked by halftime, and Eisenhower and Lanphier are also battling injuries and low numbers.