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ICE Notes...

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PanthersWildcats86

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Oct 12, 2017
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Huge week one surprise in the ICE...

Reed Custer 33, Manteno 8...Huh? Comets apparently watched some CC & Wilmo tape against the Panthers and basically jammed the ball down their throats...19 rushing first downs...Elliott Cassem rushed for 167 yards on 27 carries, 2 TD for the Comets, McPherson 76 rushing & a TD...Borkenhagen 17-30-144 yards, TD, 2 Int, 27 rushing yards to lead Manteno.

Peotone 22, Herscher 13...Balmer 15 carries, 73 yards rushing to lead Blue Devils; Moe 48 yards rushing. Cody Lundsford led Tigers 14 carries, 91 yards, rush TD, 50 yd TD reception; Holm 8-16 passing, one TD

Wilmington 35, Lisle 24....Wildcats led 35-0 going into the 4th...10 Cats had carries, Hanson leader 4 carries, 39 yards. Passing TD for Cats on short screen pass...All Lisle points in last 6:36, including a scoop & score fumble return.

Coal City 48, Streator 0...Asa Cooper 4 carries, 70 yards, 3 TD rushing, 16 yard reception, 97 yard TD kickoff return....Gass 7-47-TD rushing, Gockman 56 yard TD punt return, Crater 2 yd TD run.

What have we learned? Coalers reload, Cats consistent. Peotone gritty. Streator first game with new coach is ugggly. Herscher has some promise. Lisle could be bad. Manteno reconstructing. But RC actually shows promise, could go 2-0 at Lisle next week.
 
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Herscher is still young, rely on a lot of juniors and soph.. should be a playoff team this fall
 
Wilmatucky said:
How many players didn't play for Manteno? I know you said the Illinois bound lineman left early right?
Click to expand...

Gesky the left tackle is starting spring practice in Champaign with the Illini. Clearly, he's going to redshirt since the Illini have had four multi-year starter senior linemen choose to return next fall because of Covid. His brother is playing at Olivet this spring...Clearly two of the best linemen in Panther history...

Trepanier, the leading returning receiver (740 yards receiving in '19) who started as a soph, has a baseball ride to Bradley as a lefty pitcher and has opted out.

Panthers only have 7 seniors this spring...

Borkenhagen leading the Panthers in rushing with 27 yards as the QB is troubling...Just smashing Wuerster into the line last year wasn't pretty, but usually effective. I don't think Borkenhagen can be QB and the primary runner like Zimbelman (Aurora U's Gagliardi Finalist QB last year) was a few years ago. A return to the 5 wide is not good for the Panthers...
 
For anyone interested, the number of bodies on the six ICE & Kankakee area schools:
Per Daily Journal Football Preview:

Coal City: 15 seniors, 20 juniors
Herscher: 7, 12, 5
Manteno: 7, 15, 5
Peotone: 11, 12, 10
RC: 13, 14, 14
Wilmo: 21, 16

McNamara: 9*, 18, 6, 1

Kankakee: 13, 9, 15, 3

Bradley: 20, 20, 2

Clifton Central: 11, 4, 11, 13
Dwight: 12, 11, 6, 5
Iroquois West: 8, 12, 8
Momence: 6, 12, 8, 14
Watseka: 16, 8, 9, 2

Milford (8 man): 6, 9, 11
 
Didn't think Streator could be worse than last year but I was wrong. Too bad Cooper from CC doesnt have a whole season to show off his skills. Best athlete in the ICE
 
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3/26 Scores:

Wilmington 24, Herscher 6...Wildcats Friddle 14-111 rushing 2 TD, Franzen 17-102 rushing. Tigers did little after scoring on their first possession; Holm 6-13-47, TD passing. .

Peotone 49, Streator 13. Weglarz 113 passing, 2 TD; Balmer 2 rushing TD

Coal City 27, Manteno 0. 304 rushing yards for Coalers. Cooper 130 rushing & 2 TD, Harvey 96 rushing & 2 TD...Borkenhagen 11-27-107, int, 38 rushing yards; Worobey 36 rushing. Coalers scored their first possession, last possession of half, and first two possessions of 2nd half.

Thursday - Lisle 20, Reed Custer 0... Lions Quinones 14 carries, 84 yards, Campbell79 yards rushing, TD. Comets Cassem 44 yards rushing, McPherson 73 rushing, 15 passing.

Wild game in the area...Clifton Central 62, Seneca 38. Seneca has a freshman QB, who led the Irish in the wild first half shootout - 33-30 at half. Lemenager 18-21-292-4 TD, 57 & TD rushing; Burrow 4 carries, 97 yards 2 TD rushing, 7 - 162 yds 2 TD receiving; Perry 5 - 71- 2 TD receiving; Shoven 52 rec yds, rush TD.

McNamata 34-12 over Riverside-Brookfield. Injuries to the Irish's backfield resulted in frosh Phillips running wild, 23-214-3TD...
 
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Anybody hear a rumble this morning?...

Week 3 preview:

Wilmington @ Reed-Custer: Here's something you don't hear often...Comet fans talking smack to the Wildcats, I hear the "Bring on Wilmo" chants. Some might think that getting shut out by Lisle would have settled down the Comet fans, but...this one might get ugly. Wilmo running clock...

Lisle @ Coal City...Lions stabilized the ship against RC. Coalers have yet to be scored on. Somehow, I just don't foresee the Lions offense - dormant for three quarters against Wilmo week one - suddenly breaking out against the Coalers D. Coalers another shutout, or maybe a late Lion score against the backups.

Herscher @ Streator....two winless clubs, but not going the same direction. Bulldogs were just abused by CC & Peotone, while the Tigers gave a nice fight against Peotone and Wilmo. Tigers gonna roar...steal the Bulldogs dinner and lunch money.

Rumble, Rumble, Rumble...

Manteno @ Peotone...Rumble....Rumble...Rumble...The Rumble on Route 50. Arch-enemies. Cousins suiting up against each other. Throw the records out, this game is a war...Oh, enough hype. The Panthers are definitely missing their best lineman and receiver after being dominated by RC and CC. Devils just keep pounding the ball down teams throats. Normal fan says, Devils in a blowout. This Panther alum says, time for a win, this isn't the first time the Devils are big favorites....Now how to sneak in to the game...
 
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Week 3 summary:

Wilmo 26, RC 21...Basically all Cats for 3 quarters. Then for the second time in 3 games they gave up 3 fourth quarter TD's to make it interesting.

CC over Lisle...Lions scored...Asa Cooper is a monster...

Herscher crushes Streator...Tiger offense comes alive...

Peotone shuts out Manteno...Panther offense seems to lack the big play...

The wheat will be separated from the chaff this week...Wilmo-CC perhaps for the title, Streator-Manteno to escape the basement...3 win Peotone (opponents 1-8) vs. 1-2 Lisle (opponents 7-2)... intriguing 1-2 RC @ 1-2 Herscher...
 
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Obviously it's a goofy year and hard to get any gauge, but I see RC finishing 2-3. How will they (fans, coaches, administration) feel about that? This is year 3 with the new coach. I doubt anyone gets canned after a mess of a covid season, but what will the expectations be going into year 4? How many years will he stay around with a 2-7 record? Streator and a cupcake out of conference game can be guranteed wins each year but what will they consider true success?
 
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Coalertown44 said:
I think they are already planning the next two years State Championship parades through town. LOL
Click to expand...
They are at least thinking a title game appearance lol.....in all seriousness though a few of the people I am friendly with from RC are basing these thoughts off an undefeated freshman season from this years sophmores (at least I think it was something like that). Lower level success can be a trend in the right direction, but there are many more factors at play once you lace up on a Friday night!
 
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Week 4 preview....

Oops, Peotone @ Lisle...Did you hear a thud last night? It was likely the Devils coming back to earth hard...Lions took a big chunk outta the Devils last night...24-0 I believe...

Streator @ Manteno...The Bulldogs are bad. The Panthers can't score (more interceptions than points). The Panther offense seems to be missing Trepanier, the Bradley bound pitcher / No. 1 receiver, more than Gesky, the Illini lineman. Panthers seem to move the ball decently between the 20's, and then stall. Trepanier was a big strike threat - and the offense seems to be chugging 10+ play drives down the field rather than big chunks...The Panther defense, however, should be able to stop the Bulldogs, and the porous Streator D might the the Panthers' medicine. Panthers chain the Bulldogs to the basement floor...

RC @ Herscher...RC beat Manteno, Herscher beat Streator...Tigers caged by the Wildcats after their first possession, while RC escaped the cage the big 4th quarter against the Wildcats...Interesting matchup. Both offenses can score - or be shut down; the defenses are up & down. Sorry Comet fans, I'm thinking that the more balanced Tiger offense will score more...

And for the ICE Championship:

CC @ Wilmington...Coalers have been dominant. Wildcats have been controlling in 3 of 4 quarters each game so far. If the Cats have a flat first quarter, the Coalers might just bulldoze them and bury them in the mine.. Or this could be a fantastic war...Cooper carries the Coalers past the Cats...
 
Oh my...oh my...oh my...a wild night in the ICE.

Manteno 54, Streator 0...Nine hours ago I said the Panthers can't score...and the porous Streator D might be the medicine. Oh my was I right. Huge night for the Panthers. Borkenhagen on the read option just tore the Bulldogs apart...Scored their first 4 possessions, 28-0 early second quarter, then scored on a long pass with less than 30 seconds left in half - 80ish yard drive was less than a minute for 34-0 at half. Second half kickoff was dropped by Panthers, picked up and returned 70 yards to the 12. Scored 2 plays later for running clock. Bulldogs might not have gotten 100 yards total offense...

Herscher 21, RC 15...Tigers win on a late 4th quarter 4th down TD pass tipped into the air in the end zone by a Comet DB instead of knocking it down. Comets had taken the lead on a TD pass & 2 point conversion to go up 15-14...

Wilmington 24, Coal City 21...The Wildcats stun the Coalers with a 4th quarter reversal of fortunes. Two of their first 3 games, the Cats gave up 3 fourth quarter TDs after amassing comfortable leads. Tonight, the Cats scored first, but the Coalers went up 14-7 on Asa Cooper's back...a 70+ yard TD run for the first score, the second a 90 yard run the first play after the Wildcats fumbled in the red zone. The Coalers went up in the third 21-7 on a 66 yard Cooper TD run. The Cats came roaring back the 4th quarter with two TDs sandwiching a 44 yard field goal, taking the lead with just under 5 minutes left. Wildcats win the ICE - barring a collapse next week against the Devils...
 
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I got to see my first live football Friday. i watched the first half of the Streator - Manteno game on the internet, listening to CC & Wilmo on the Wilmo broadcast. Said, screw it, i'm going to go watch the second half. Drove thru the south parking lot, ticket gate unmanned, no security - which is normal at half. Went to the north parking lot - Streator fans already leaving. Parked 3 spots from the gate, gate wide open, ticket booth locked up, not a Manteno person on that side of the field, maybe 30 Streator fans left...Would have to try to violate social distancing on the visitor's side.

Things I did not pick up on the internet...

Streator's QB has a great arm. Sadly, no one can catch. At least two potential long td passes bounced off of receivers' hands 2 steps behind DBs...

Streator has a female on the roster - and not as a kicker. She played right defensive end most of the 4th quarter. I might not have noticed but for Streator's coach yelling at his boys to be more fired up like her...
 
FCHS2019 said:
Who is everyone playing in weeks 1 and 2 this fall??
Click to expand...
According to 8to18 we are Wilmo has Marengo and Johnsburg. I'm excited about these matchups. We played Marengo once about 25 years ago and lost to them in the playoffs. Not sure if there are any regular season matchups with either of these two. I know there isn't post 1999ish. Both teams have made the playoffs somewhat consistently for the last 10 years or so. I like seeing quality opponents in non-con matchups.

What about the rest of the conference?
 
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Wilmatucky said:
According to 8to18 we are Wilmo has Marengo and Johnsburg. I'm excited about these matchups. We played Marengo once about 25 years ago and lost to them in the playoffs. Not sure if there are any regular season matchups with either of these two. I know there isn't pre 1999ish. Both teams have made the playoffs somewhat consistently for the last 10 years or so. I like seeing quality opponents in non-con matchups.

What about the rest of the conference?
Click to expand...

Going into this year I heard Herscher added a CPS school after Watseka backed out fairly late and then week 2 was going to be Rochelle.. so I am guessing thats what we will see this fall as well..
 
Coalertown44 said:
AS of now still Morris and Mac
Click to expand...
Great non-con games! Would love for Wilmington to play either of them. Only problem is I think it could hurt a team that is having a slightly down year. IE CC loses to both of them then Wilmo next year.....6-3 is a tough playoff spot. Now in 2019 it worked in CC's favor......
 
Wilmatucky said:
Great non-con games! Would love for Wilmington to play either of them. Only problem is I think it could hurt a team that is having a slightly down year. IE CC loses to both of them then Wilmo next year.....6-3 is a tough playoff spot. Now in 2019 it worked in CC's favor......
Click to expand...
Coal City and Manteno, playing in what has become more of a 3A conference than a 4A one, needs to step up play better competition the first two weeks.. The 3A schools can play a cupcake and still be fine for the 3A field because the conference will prepare them, see 2018 Herscher making semifinals as an example..
 
Wilmatucky said:
Great non-con games! Would love for Wilmington to play either of them. Only problem is I think it could hurt a team that is having a slightly down year. IE CC loses to both of them then Wilmo next year.....6-3 is a tough playoff spot. Now in 2019 it worked in CC's favor......
Click to expand...
Yes this might be the start of a rough season for the Coalers. Can't go 0-3 thats for sure
 
Manteno opens at Evergreen Park, then hosts Plano. Reasonable opponents.

Evergreen Park, enrollment 840, the runt of the South Suburban Red - the only school under 1600 students in that conference. 5A Playoffs in '18 (7-5) and "19 (5-5). Of course, Wilmington was questioned for scheduling the Mustangs in '19 as being a soft opponent - the Wildcats shut them out 32-0, being the biggest loss of the season for the Mustangs prior to the playoffs.

Obviously, Plano is a well known former conference opponent.

Slight down grade from the former two years opponents, Canton ('16 4A semis) and Morris ('17 4A runner up)....

Wilmatucky said:
Great non-con games! Would love for Wilmington to play either of them. Only problem is I think it could hurt a team that is having a slightly down year. IE CC loses to both of them then Wilmo next year.....6-3 is a tough playoff spot. Now in 2019 it worked in CC's favor......
Click to expand...
2015 Wilmo is coming off the state title, undefeated and looking for a piece of McNamara in the quarters. They forgot that they had to beat Byron to get there...Sometimes you have to play somebody just to get past the playoff jitters / overconfidence depending on the opponent. And the Cats haven't beaten Byron since then (or IC)... Remember, the Cat's enrollment for the fall is 413, way closer to 2A than 4A...
 
PanthersWildcats86 said:
Evergreen Park, enrollment 840, the runt of the South Suburban Red - the only school under 1600 students in that conference. 5A Playoffs in '18 (7-5) and "19 (5-5). Of course, Wilmington was questioned for scheduling the Mustangs in '19 as being a soft opponent - the Wildcats shut them out 32-0, being the biggest loss of the season for the Mustangs prior to the playoffs.
Click to expand...
5-4 playoff teams don't move the needle for me. A team in a really down conference could be 5-4 and beat no one really. Hell, I think the year Wilmo played Corliss first round they had 2 forfeits in their 5 wins. That was easily the worst team I have ever seen. And they were a playoff team.......
 
Coalertown44 said:
Yes this might be the start of a rough season for the Coalers. Can't go 0-3 thats for sure
Click to expand...
I think it's a tricky science. You want to be "battle tested" through difficult regular season games, but even a tough 6-3 team will still have a fairly difficult first round game and one could assume their 2nd round game would be tough as well. With the way the playoff pairings are decided there is really no benefit in having an overly tough schedule so I do feel that alot of teams just take their cupcake wins and call it a year.

Take RC next year. They have to know deep down they aren't making a deep playoff run. If their coach has them anywhere close to the level their fans think they should be at playoffs should be attainable. Beat your two cupcakes, beat Streator, then surely two more teams in the lower half are winnable. 5-4 in the playoffs and they think it's the greatest thing in 15 years. Are they really a good team though?
 
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Wilmatucky said:
I think it's a tricky science. You want to be "battle tested" through difficult regular season games, but even a tough 6-3 team will still have a fairly difficult first round game and one could assume their 2nd round game would be tough as well. With the way the playoff pairings are decided there is really no benefit in having an overly tough schedule so I do feel that alot of teams just take their cupcake wins and call it a year.

Take RC next year. They have to know deep down they aren't making a deep playoff run. If their coach has them anywhere close to the level their fans think they should be at playoffs should be attainable. Beat your two cupcakes, beat Streator, then surely two more teams in the lower half are winnable. 5-4 in the playoffs and they think it's the greatest thing in 15 years. Are they really a good team though?
Click to expand...
CC has made some strides this Spring with their younger classes and our coaches do a great job getting kids better every year so I don't think it will be a horrible next few years. I still see playoff teams but we have gotten spoiled the last few years. Just a rough way to start a season. Morris is loaded and will be 5A contender and Mac has had a great Spring and are young. And Wilmo is Wilmo. Need to get a win or two in those first three games

RC has some really talented skill position kids that are Sophs. And I do like their coach. Thing is they need to lose that losing culture over there. Plus they need to find lineman who can grind it out. I think they will be an ICE contender and a playoff team, but nit much more than that
 
Wilmatucky said:
5-4 playoff teams don't move the needle for me. A team in a really down conference could be 5-4 and beat no one really. Hell, I think the year Wilmo played Corliss first round they had 2 forfeits in their 5 wins. That was easily the worst team I have ever seen. And they were a playoff team.......
Click to expand...

Then again Herscher made the semi's as a 5-4 team in 2019. so they can be competitive.
 
Wilmatucky said:
Just looked.....Drew CPS school first round. Most other 9-0 teams would have won first round. Not bashing them. JMO
Click to expand...
But they also would have had a very good chance at beating the 3 and 4 seed as well, and were as good as all but 2 or 3 3A teams that year.. wasn't a very good 3A field that year
 
FCHS2019 said:
But they also would have had a very good chance at beating the 3 and 4 seed as well, and were as good as all but 2 or 3 3A teams that year.. wasn't a very good 3A field that year
Click to expand...
Agreed. I think 3A as a whole has been down for awhile. A while back I thought 4A was down. Like a roller coaster, It goes up and down.
 
Week 5 preview...

Wilmington @ Peotone...Cats coming off a huge win over the Coalers, while the Devils crashed in the Lions den. Devil win results in a likely 3 way tie for title. But I understand the Devils got a bit beat up on the turf...Cats stealo the Devils' trident and stab them with it...

Reed-Custer @ Coal City...Both had late comeback losses last week. Poor Comets are about to receive the wrath of the pride wounded Coalers...And RC mauled Herscher in baseball yesterday, so I wonder how many Comets are already in baseball mode? Coalers bury the pickaxe solidly in the Comets core...

Lisle v. Streator...Lions steal the hapless Bulldogs dinner...lock the basement door.

Manteno @ Herscher...Manteno found its offense last week. Herscher squeaked past the Comets late. Tigers already playing baseball games...are their heads still ready to tackle? I'm thinking a potentially high scoring game...Manteno in a slight upset...
 
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Interesting bit in the Daily Journal this week...Coal City's Daniel Jezik, 2X state wrestling champion, who went to Oklahoma State on a wrestling scholarship, has entered the transfer portal and is looking to play football. He has visited Arkansas Tech and North Central...He led 4A with over 2200 yards rushing in 2019, helping the Coalers make the semis...
 
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PanthersWildcats86 said:
Interesting bit in the Daily Journal this week...Coal City's Daniel Jezik, 2X state wrestling champion, who went to Oklahoma State on a wrestling scholarship, has entered the transfer portal and is looking to play football. He has visited Arkansas Tech and North Central...He led 4A with over 2200 yards rushing in 2019, helping the Coalers make the semis...
Click to expand...
He's going to North Central
 
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Cardinals are becoming a great program. Hopefully Daniel gets to play on a National Championship team while he's there.
 
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Month away from the season starting. Anyone catch the dates of Braidwoods State Championship parade the next two years? Lot of chatter on how dominant they are going to be for a program that hasn't had a winning record in years. I know they will be good but you have to learn how to walk before you run
 
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