-Lena very young. Very few seniors. Gimme Althoff and the points all day.1A - Lena -3
2A - Maroa -1 but I Think this is really a coin flip
3A - Montini -13
4A - DePaul -9
5A - Naz -6
6A - ESL -18
7A - MC -12
8A - Loyola -13
I'll take the over. Althoff, Montini, Depaul, Naz, MC, LoyolaUnder/Over Private Champions: 4
Easy over. Number should be set at 5 and a half.Under/Over Private Champions: 4
One of the unusual things about this version of Lena-Winslow is how young they are. I know it's fairly common for smaller schools to play a fair amount of underclassmen, but L-W is very young. Only 3 senior starters on Offense, and 5 on Defense. Advantage Althoff there.It is interesting that there are only two unbeaten teams in the entire 16-team field. That is an unusually low number. Fortunately, those two teams play each other in what I think is the most interesting game of the slate. I will start my television viewing early.
I agree with others that the matchup seems favorable for Althoff. Their defense is strong against the run (which is a good trait to have against Lena-Winslow), but somewhat weaker against the pass (which Lena is unlikely to exploit). Lena's defense has shown some vulnerability this year, which is not a good trait to have against an incredibly explosive Althoff offense.
And yet, Lena-Winslow's championship pedigree is so strong I just can't rule them out.
In short, I don't know who will win this game.
I'm only interested in JCA-Naz. Naz has outcoached JCA the past few games. When JCA has been in a tight game and things aren't going well offensively the tendency is to continue to do what hasn't been working. Then, keep trying what hasn't been working. Naz has able to adapt their offense to what is being given to them by the JCA defense. I want JCA to win number 16 but I suspect that Naz will take over by the end of the 3rd Quarter. Naz by 10.