ICE out of conference games ranking

[Wilmatucky]

I have graded the OOC games for each team in the ICE based on a 2 factors. Difficulty obviously pulls the most weight. The next factor that I am taking into consideration for the grade given is "Coolness". IF you scheduled a rival or otherwise "cool game" you will get a few bonus points from me.

Braidwood - The Comets are continuing their lackluster out of conference scheduling this year with two new opponents. The season opens at home against 2A El-Paso Gridley. EPG did qualify for the playoffs last year, however let's dive into that a little bit deeper. EPG finished with a 6-4 record and most people would consider that an "average" season. Not only did EPG fail to beat a team with a winning record, they only played 3 games (2 teams) against an opponent who finished the season above .500. This was also against mostly all 2A schools. I do think that this is a decent test for the Comets. If they win at least they can have chance of being somewhat competent this season, however if they lose it will be a long season. Next up RC travels north to Harvard. This is an opponent who has not won a game since 2021. That's all there is to say about that.
Overall Grade - D..... Should start season 2-0.

Coal City - Love that the Coalers are still playing Morris to open the season. I have heard this is the last year for the game though.....Could anyone in the know verify that? Anyway, great rivalry against a tough team AND it opens the season, what more could you ask for in a game. After going on the road week 1 CC will travel again to Canton. This is a very bad team. They have been the last several years. Should be no challenge for the Coalers.
Overall Grade - B........Get big points for playing Morris, however would have liked to see them get someone a little more challenging than Canton. I am predicting 1-1 going into the ICE games

Herscher - Home week one against Palos Chicago Christian, then on the road week 2, however the road game is only to nearby Bishop Mac. I really like this set of games. Both schools are private schools, so you never know what kind of athletes could come in any given year. Both teams were average last year, with PCC making the playoffs and Mac missing them barely. They are in the same conference and while it's not the toughest top to bottom, it does have a few heavy punchers and middle of the road teams that can beat you any given day. I do not know exactly what Herscher is this year, I feel as though they will be toward the bottom of the ICE, if they could win these two games that would be huge to give them confidence in the ICE. Wins here could mean playoffs for the Tigers.
Overall Grade - B.......Cool they are playing rival B-Mac, both games are tough (for them), but still possibly winnable. I'll bet against them until proven otherwise 0-2 it is.

Lisle - Away at Harvard then Seneca travels to Benedictine week 2. I won't keep beating the Harvard horse into the ground. Seneca should be a tough game. Not sure if they stay hot like they were the last two years or not, but their underclassmen had to get some time last year and are probably into the program again like the early 00s. Lisle also surprised me last year by being pretty awful. I usually held them in higher regards.
Overall Grade - C ........one cupcake and one game that I personally think is way above their punching weight. Only thing that they get any points for is the revived I-8 matchup with Seneca. 1-1 after 2 weeks

Manteno - Home against Sandwich, then travel to Plano. Very cool that they are playing two old I-8 opponents. Sandwich surprised last year and Plano is usually middle of the road. Manteno has the ability to beat these teams, it hasn't happened recently for the Panthers.
Overall Grade - B........good mix of tough but winnable games. Cool factor there. Sadly I don't think the Panthers have it. 0-2

Peotone - Home against Chicago Noble then on the road to Marengo. I have never seen a Chicago school not named Phillips or Simeon and been scared. Marengo is below average as of late and should be a win for a similarly matched Blue Devil team.
Overall Grade - C......not challenging, but not complete pushover. No cool factor. 2-0 to start the season

Streator - Away against Decatur Eisenhower and then home against Ottawa. I will admit I do now know much about Streator. I supposed Ottawa is a rival, and from the looks of it neither game is going to be a guaranteed loss. Not a guaranteed win either. Streator can score 70 or give 70 up.
Overall Grade - B.......I guess both are winnable, both probably losable too. I'll still say Streator is 0-2 or maybe if lucky 1-1 after these two games

Wilmington- Defending state champs Open with Chicago Hope coming to see the Harleys, then go to Sandwich for the first time in awhile. Chicago Hope is a tough 1A private, who knows what they bring to the table. Sandwich was a 4A quarters team who used to have some decent games with Wilmington way back when. I think the difficulty is here, as well as the cool factor.
Overall Grade - A .......Not just a homer grade so spare me. Two tough games both with coolness. Hope was picked by some to win state in 1A last year, so playing down a class. Then playing a pretty damn good team up 2 classes. This is the first year I am really happy with Wilmington's OOC games. Previously they didn't do too good of a job, but now they are. Oh, and 2-0 to start the year on the way to 9-0!

I will be doing a conference preview soon in the coming weeks. Discuss and contribute below if you're a small school guy

 

[doctor_d]

I also like Wilmo schedule, but it’s not as challenging as last year’s.
The Hope game could be interesting. Unfortunately I think I’ll be out of town. Hopefully I can catch it on YouTube if that’s the case.

As for the rest…

Streator and Ottawa are definitely rivals. I think I remember reading that they’ve played each other for about 100 years.
(Edit: they have… https://www.shawlocal.com/friday-ni...streator-football-history-10-years-at-a-time/)

2023

Ottawa scored on its first five possessions on the way to a 41-0 triumph over Streator at King Field in the 102nd all-time meeting.

Coal City should be their typical solid self, but scheduling Morris was a bit too much of a reach. I also heard that series is over, but I’m just a dumb ass casual fan so idk what the hell I’m talking about.

Herscher vs Mac is a really good one for rivalries.

R-C I think scheduled appropriately. After that once a generation class went through a couple years ago, they just wanna try to stack a few wins and sneak into the playoffs.

 

[rocketnation]

Streator at Decatur Eisenhower (Ike) should be an interesting, possibly high scoring Week 1 game.

Ike was 1-8 last year and only held one opponent to less than 46 points. They are a 5A school that plays 4A-6A teams. Ike was really young last year and has struggled with low program numbers. Streator is a 4A school playing mostly 3A-4A teams. They were 2-7 last year but had a couple of close losses, where Ike was running clocked in most games. Streator is probably the favorite, but this is a home game for Ike and realistically their best chance for a win until Week 8.

 

[doctor_d]

Streator at Decatur Eisenhower (Ike) should be an interesting, possibly high scoring Week 1 game.

Ike was 1-8 last year and only held one opponent to less than 46 points. They are a 5A school that plays 4A-6A teams. Ike was really young last year and has struggled with low program numbers. Streator is a 4A school playing mostly 3A-4A teams. They were 2-7 last year but had a couple of close losses, where Ike was running clocked in most games. Streator is probably the favorite, but this is a home game for Ike and realistically their best chance for a win until Week 8.

Streator has always been a bit of an enigma. When they dropped into their current conference I thought they’d have success, but that hasn’t been the case. They typically have a couple really talented kids but never enough to get over the hump. For example, a couple years ago they opened with a 52-0 win over (an admittedly bad) 5A East Peoria team, but then proceeded to win only once more playing against much smaller schools.
They had coach Tutt, who I thought could turn them around, but he left and is now at Plano.

 

[nardo69]

I have graded the OOC games for each team in the ICE based on a 2 factors. Difficulty obviously pulls the most weight. The next factor that I am taking into consideration for the grade given is "Coolness". IF you scheduled a rival or otherwise "cool game" you will get a few bonus points from me.

Braidwood - The Comets are continuing their lackluster out of conference scheduling this year with two new opponents. The season opens at home against 2A El-Paso Gridley. EPG did qualify for the playoffs last year, however let's dive into that a little bit deeper. EPG finished with a 6-4 record and most people would consider that an "average" season. Not only did EPG fail to beat a team with a winning record, they only played 3 games (2 teams) against an opponent who finished the season above .500. This was also against mostly all 2A schools. I do think that this is a decent test for the Comets. If they win at least they can have chance of being somewhat competent this season, however if they lose it will be a long season. Next up RC travels north to Harvard. This is an opponent who has not won a game since 2021. That's all there is to say about that.
Overall Grade - D..... Should start season 2-0.

Coal City - Love that the Coalers are still playing Morris to open the season. I have heard this is the last year for the game though.....Could anyone in the know verify that? Anyway, great rivalry against a tough team AND it opens the season, what more could you ask for in a game. After going on the road week 1 CC will travel again to Canton. This is a very bad team. They have been the last several years. Should be no challenge for the Coalers.
Overall Grade - B........Get big points for playing Morris, however would have liked to see them get someone a little more challenging than Canton. I am predicting 1-1 going into the ICE games

Herscher - Home week one against Palos Chicago Christian, then on the road week 2, however the road game is only to nearby Bishop Mac. I really like this set of games. Both schools are private schools, so you never know what kind of athletes could come in any given year. Both teams were average last year, with PCC making the playoffs and Mac missing them barely. They are in the same conference and while it's not the toughest top to bottom, it does have a few heavy punchers and middle of the road teams that can beat you any given day. I do not know exactly what Herscher is this year, I feel as though they will be toward the bottom of the ICE, if they could win these two games that would be huge to give them confidence in the ICE. Wins here could mean playoffs for the Tigers.
Overall Grade - B.......Cool they are playing rival B-Mac, both games are tough (for them), but still possibly winnable. I'll bet against them until proven otherwise 0-2 it is.

Lisle - Away at Harvard then Seneca travels to Benedictine week 2. I won't keep beating the Harvard horse into the ground. Seneca should be a tough game. Not sure if they stay hot like they were the last two years or not, but their underclassmen had to get some time last year and are probably into the program again like the early 00s. Lisle also surprised me last year by being pretty awful. I usually held them in higher regards.
Overall Grade - C ........one cupcake and one game that I personally think is way above their punching weight. Only thing that they get any points for is the revived I-8 matchup with Seneca. 1-1 after 2 weeks

Manteno - Home against Sandwich, then travel to Plano. Very cool that they are playing two old I-8 opponents. Sandwich surprised last year and Plano is usually middle of the road. Manteno has the ability to beat these teams, it hasn't happened recently for the Panthers.
Overall Grade - B........good mix of tough but winnable games. Cool factor there. Sadly I don't think the Panthers have it. 0-2

Peotone - Home against Chicago Noble then on the road to Marengo. I have never seen a Chicago school not named Phillips or Simeon and been scared. Marengo is below average as of late and should be a win for a similarly matched Blue Devil team.
Overall Grade - C......not challenging, but not complete pushover. No cool factor. 2-0 to start the season

Streator - Away against Decatur Eisenhower and then home against Ottawa. I will admit I do now know much about Streator. I supposed Ottawa is a rival, and from the looks of it neither game is going to be a guaranteed loss. Not a guaranteed win either. Streator can score 70 or give 70 up.
Overall Grade - B.......I guess both are winnable, both probably losable too. I'll still say Streator is 0-2 or maybe if lucky 1-1 after these two games

Wilmington- Defending state champs Open with Chicago Hope coming to see the Harleys, then go to Sandwich for the first time in awhile. Chicago Hope is a tough 1A private, who knows what they bring to the table. Sandwich was a 4A quarters team who used to have some decent games with Wilmington way back when. I think the difficulty is here, as well as the cool factor.
Overall Grade - A .......Not just a homer grade so spare me. Two tough games both with coolness. Hope was picked by some to win state in 1A last year, so playing down a class. Then playing a pretty damn good team up 2 classes. This is the first year I am really happy with Wilmington's OOC games. Previously they didn't do too good of a job, but now they are. Oh, and 2-0 to start the year on the way to 9-0!

I will be doing a conference preview soon in the coming weeks. Discuss and contribute below if you're a small school guy

You are correct this is the last year for the Morris v.s Coal City game. But I am hearing rumblings next year it maybe Morris v.s Wilmington.

 

[Wilmatucky]

You are correct this is the last year for the Morris v.s Coal City game. But I am hearing rumblings next year it maybe Morris v.s Wilmington.

Love to see it. Wonder who the other OOC game will be for Wilmo then.

 

[McEvergreen]

Very unimpressed with the non conf teams scheduled.... outside of Morris and probably Seneca. But then again, the ICE is not a very good conference, so nobody waltzes through the first two weeks except for Wilmington who is loaded on defense. I agree with Wilmatucky, it's another 9-0 for Reents. Wouldn't be surprised if at least two teams are 0-2 going into conference play.

 

[skinsfootball]

Coal City dropping Morris is not a good look for the Coaler football program. The fact that Morris is a potential 4a playoff opponent (smallest 5a the last 2 years) and your conference rival (Wilmington) may be willing to schedule them does not bode well for the Coalers. Not sure how you spin that narrative as a coach if the Coalers were to match up with Morris come playoff time.

 

[4Afan]

Coal City dropping Morris is not a good look for the Coaler football program. The fact that Morris is a potential 4a playoff opponent (smallest 5a the last 2 years) and your conference rival (Wilmington) may be willing to schedule them does not bode well for the Coalers. Not sure how you spin that narrative as a coach if the Coalers were to match up with Morris come playoff time.

How do you know it was Coal City that dropped Morris and not the other way around? Morris may be looking for a more challenging opponent. I also don't see any benefit in them scheduling Wilmo.

 

[skinsfootball]

Coal City dropped Morris. I have some insight on that and I would not put that out there if it was not accurate information. Also, I agree with your stance on the Wilmington game.

 

[doctor_d]

Scheduling Wilmo would be a bit of a lose-lose for Morris imho.
They have a greater chance of actually losing to Wilmo than CC, and I’m not sure how much benefit would come from a 5A team playing vs that style.

But it would be an interesting matchup from a Wilmo perspective for sure.

 

[IceConGuy]

I do not see a spot on the schedule where Wilmington actually gets tested. 9-0. If they don't wind down the clock every play, they may running clock the vast majority of the teams they play. Then its hope to go 2a and avoid Byron.

The teams I am interested to see is Manteno and Streator. Manteno got to 4-3 but Wilmington and CC were too much to ask for. They have a lot returning on offense I think. If the defense steps up, they could be a hard out with that passing attack. Streator has always had athletes. Can a new coach finally get them going in the right direction. I could see anywhere from 2-0 for both or 0-2. The OOC games may not be sexy. They will tell a lot on the overall standing of the conference.

 

[McEvergreen]

Things are lining up well for the Cats in 2024. That young O-line will get plenty of winning reps prior to the playoffs. Landing in 2A has been a real blessing the past 3 years and there's a very good chance that's where they'll be. Another deep run for Reents in November.