ICE Week 7

[Wilmatucky]

Manteno went out and got it last week like I predicted. Pretty ho-hum for the rest of the games last week.

This week only has one game of note per usual. Same old story here in the ICE.

Manteno (6-0) @ Reed-Custer (0-6) - Easy enough to pick. RC gonna continue to be bad and the 'Teno is hot right now. Manteno with a lot and RC with nothing or close to it. Manteno 45 RC 7

Lisle (0-6) @ Herscher (3-3) - Years ago this would have been a decent ICE mid-tier matchup. Not so much anymore. Lisle stays winless. Herscher 28 Lisle 7

Streator (2-4) @ Peotone (3-3) - Ya, Streator has a few wins. However the teams they have beaten have a combined 0 wins. Peotone has to be beat up after their last 3 weeks, but they rebound here and finish the last triple of the year with 3 wins to hope to gain momentum into the playoffs. Tone 35 Streator 14

Coal City (5-1) @ Wilmington (6-0) - GOTW! Round 1 of the conference championship weeks. CC has been hot, but their competition has not been the most stout (not saying that Wilmington's has been either). The Cats should be primed up and grinding out the run game. I like WIlmington in a controlling win. Fire up the Harleys boys. Wilmo 35 CC 19

ICE Power Rankings

1. Wilmington
2. CC
3. Manteno
4. Peotone
5. Herscher
6. Streator
7. RC
8. Lisle

 

[IceConGuy]

Manteno gets the clock. Hopefully RC decides it is better to go out swinging than laying down this last third. Manteno isn't the team that can happen against.

Herscher 27-13. Both teams on some lean times, but Herscher has notched the wins already.

Peotone. 35-7 Unless they are beat to a pulp and sleepwalk through this, Peotone controls the clock and wins.

Wilmington 21 -7. I think the Coalers fight hard and its close early. 7-7 half or early third. Wilmo seems to find a way to get a backbreaking long run in big games. Happens here. I just want a good old fashioned I-8 fist fight. Tired of these one sided games. Cant pick against the cats until someone shows me I should.

 

[McEvergreen]

Manteno BIG over RC
Herscher BIG over Lisle
Peotone EASILY over Streator
GOTW I can hear the Harley's already ....... and unfortunately, so can the Coalers CATS 31 CC 10

 

[doctor_d]

Manteno 48-7 over R-C
Herscher 35-6 over Lisle
Peotone 48-13 over Streator

…

Wilmington 28-14 over Coaler

 

[Wilmatucky]

I think the CC-Manteno game in week 9 will be the closest of the 3 big games coming up. I also has a small thought that Wilmo-Manteno could end up being the conference championship.

 

[McEvergreen]

Injuries could play a role in the CC/Manteno game. Gotta remember, they both play Wilmington before they play each other. IMO, Manteno will not beat CC at even strength.

 

[SouthofI80FootballFan]

Manteno vs Reed-Custer - the Panthers proves themselves to be a top tier team with a big win over Peotone. RC is not a very good team. A good tune up game for Mantenk before two very tough weeks. Manteno 56 RC 6

Lisle vs Herscher - we all know where Lisle is and they should be able to compete with the Tigers who were pounded by Wilmington last week. Herscher 22 Lisle 18

Streator vs. Peotone - the Devil's got through the toughest 3 game stretch in the conference and should come out and defeat Streator pretty easily. But I've heard Streator is improving week to week so it might be closer than some think. Peotone 34 Streator 23

Coal City vs. Wilmington - game 1 of 3 to determine Conference Champion. Wilmington seems to be playing well on both sides and has yet to find an opponent who can keep it close. The Coalers played Morris tough, but how good is Morris? This will be a classic slobber knocker of a game. Wilmington 35 Coal City 20

 

[circletrack32]

Manteno vs Reed-Custer - the Panthers proves themselves to be a top tier team with a big win over Peotone. RC is not a very good team. A good tune up game for Mantenk before two very tough weeks. Manteno 56 RC 6

Lisle vs Herscher - we all know where Lisle is and they should be able to compete with the Tigers who were pounded by Wilmington last week. Herscher 22 Lisle 18

Streator vs. Peotone - the Devil's got through the toughest 3 game stretch in the conference and should come out and defeat Streator pretty easily. But I've heard Streator is improving week to week so it might be closer than some think. Peotone 34 Streator 23

Coal City vs. Wilmington - game 1 of 3 to determine Conference Champion. Wilmington seems to be playing well on both sides and has yet to find an opponent who can keep it close. The Coalers played Morris tough, but how good is Morris? This will be a classic slobber knocker of a game. Wilmington 35 Coal City 20

Don’t want to Hijack your guys thread but you bring up a conversation my nelhew, my son and myself had on Monday.
Hypothetically Do you think Wilmo would beat Morris? My nephew said yes every time they played and my son said morris by a running clock every time and I said Morris 9 out of 10 by about 2 td.

Thoughts on that hypothetical matchup if y’all want.

To answer your question and no disrespect to any team or anyone, “how good is Morris” IMO and probably most people on here better than any team in the ICE.
Is CC gonna beat Wilmo Probably not.

 

[4Afan]

Don’t want to Hijack your guys thread but you bring up a conversation my nelhew, my son and myself had on Monday.
Hypothetically Do you think Wilmo would beat Morris? My nephew said yes every time they played and my son said morris by a running clock every time and I said Morris 9 out of 10 by about 2 td.

Thoughts on that hypothetical matchup if y’all want.

To answer your question and no disrespect to any team or anyone, “how good is Morris” IMO and probably most people on here better than any team in the ICE.
Is CC gonna beat Wilmo Probably not.

No and I don't think it would ever be particularly close. Wilmington has a massive edge in coaching but that's about it. Morris would just be too big on the lines. I can't see Wilmo being able to creat many holes to run through and if they get down by 2 or more scores and have to resort to throwing the ball it would get ugly.

 

[CCfan]

The passing attack that I saw week 1, I'd give the nod to Morris. Haven't seen the Cats as yet so I can't really say.

 

[doctor_d]

I think Wilmo is fairly similar to Rochelle.

Wilmo’s defense would tend to keep them in the game. I think they could do okay if they played this year.

Overall, Wilmo could pull it off every once in a while, but Morris would definitely win most of the time, like 8 or 9 out of 10 over the years.

 

[McEvergreen]

I doubt this game will ever take place, but IF it did, it wouldn't be a running clock. Morris would probably win more times than not, but the Jeff Reents Cats would give them all they can handle.

 

[Coalertown44]

An average Morris team wins the ICE every year. CCs best team in a long time beat them but besides that it was pretty one sided. Won't miss them on the schedule for next season

 

[doctor_d]

I doubt this game will ever take place, but IF it did, it wouldn't be a running clock. Morris would probably win more times than not, but the Jeff Reents Cats would give them all they can handle.

I’d be very surprised if this game ever took place also.
1. As long as Reents is still there, I don’t know if he wants to play against his Alma mater
2. It would be a huge jump up in size for Wilmo, and not necessary in my opinion
3. There is zero benefit for Morris to ever schedule a game against a 2A school

 

[Coalertown44]

I’d be very surprised if this game ever took place also.
1. As long as Reents is still there, I don’t know if he wants to play against his Alma mater
2. It would be a huge jump up in size for Wilmo, and not necessary in my opinion
3. There is zero benefit for Morris to ever schedule a game against a 2A school

I could see a possible one time matchup but you are right. If you are Morris why schedule this game. A loss would be very very bad for the coach and the program

 

[SouthofI80FootballFan]

To answer your question and no disrespect to any team or anyone, “how good is Morris” IMO and probably most people on here better than any team in the ICE.
Is CC gonna beat Wilmo Probably not.

I'm asking because I honestly don't know about Morris. Seeing the Coalers hang with them, as they usually do, then losing to a usually good Rochelle team, I am curious what you experts think.

Obviously Morris would and should do well if in the ICE. They are almost twice the size as many of the schools and probably have 3x the number of football players. Other than Coal City, I don't see a beneficial matchup for a program like Morris and any of the other ICE schools.

 

[doctor_d]

I'm asking because I honestly don't know about Morris. Seeing the Coalers hang with them, as they usually do, then losing to a usually good Rochelle team, I am curious what you experts think.

Obviously Morris would and should do well if in the ICE. They are almost twice the size as many of the schools and probably have 3x the number of football players. Other than Coal City, I don't see a beneficial matchup for a program like Morris and any of the other ICE schools.

Morris has generally handled CC pretty easily over the duration of their series.
CC has a very good semifinal team a few years back that beat them.
As stated before, Morris would win the ICE most years, probably pretty comfortably. Every once in a while CC or Wilmo could possibly rise up and beat them. That really good Reed-Custer team from a few years ago probably would have given Morris a good game.

 

[McEvergreen]

I don't think Morris is your typical Morris this year. Two losses so far and they finish with Sycamore and what looks like a solid team from Michigan. Who knows though. They could get hot and make a run. Rochelle holding them to 15 points really surprised me.

 

[Wilmatucky]

I have said this in the past. And I said the same thing to my friends in Minooka. Since it's hypothetical, it's impossible to say for certain, however, I think that Wilmington's best teams ever, could beat the worst teams ever from Morris or Minooka. If they happened to ever play would that be the case? Who knows?

It would probably also take a little luck and favorable calls. However, it wouldn't be like saying Wilmington is going to play ESTL or MC or one of the state powers. I'm not delusional and understand that their JV would crush our varsity.

 

[SiuCubFan8]

I don't think Morris is your typical Morris this year. Two losses so far and they finish with Sycamore and what looks like a solid team from Michigan. Who knows though. They could get hot and make a run. Rochelle holding them to 15 points really surprised me.

I think many didn't give Rochelle the credit they deserve coming into this year. Wasn't surprised in the least what happened in that Morris game. Rochelle played SF very tough last year in rd1, even though the score was 45 -15, they returned most of their team.

 

[4Afan]

I think many didn't give Rochelle the credit they deserve coming into this year. Wasn't surprised in the least what happened in that Morris game. Rochelle played SF very tough last year in rd1, even though the score was 45 -15, they returned most of their team.

Morris is down this year. Thankfully they should get their 5th win tonight, but then Sycamore will beat the snot out of them next week and I really don't know much about the team from Michigan. Max Preps has them ranked #26 in Michigan with their only loss being to the #6 ranked team, but I really don't know anything about the quality of play up there. Calpreps has it 35-31 in favor of Byron Center, MI.

I also love comments about when a team loses by 30 but still played tough.

 

[doctor_d]

Wilmington 21, Coal City 14

Coalers came out pretty hot. They stymied Wilmo's offense the entire first quarter and scored on a 41 yard WR screen on their second possession.
Wilmo eventually got going and by the end of the game they were getting their 5-6 yards a pop.
45 and 32 are both very good players for CC.

 

[doctor_d]

Finals

Wilmo 21, Coal City 14
Manteno 27, Reed-Custer 19
Herscher 28, Lisle 7
Peotone 52, Streator 14

Manteno looking ahead? Apparently R-C had the ball on the 5 yard line with a chance to score and potentially tie the game, but didn't get it done. I definitely didn't see that game as being remotely close.

 

[McEvergreen]

Coalers came out pretty hot. They stymied Wilmo's offense the entire first quarter and scored on a 41 yard WR screen on their second possession.
Wilmo eventually got going and by the end of the game they were getting their 5-6 yards a pop.

Did you notice the Cats offensive game plan? Very interesting. First half, they ran Slot Double Wing with splits and CC stuffed them. Second half they went back to Tight Double Wing with no splits and moved the ball methodically down the field. I think Wilmington had the ball the first 9-10 minutes of the 3rd quarter. My key takeaways from the game:

1. Penalties. I can't remember the last time Wilmington had so many penalties. 4 false starts alone.
2. Defense. Solid as usual and kept them in the game the first half while the offense sputtered.
3. Coaching. Quit overthinking things and just do what you do best.
4. Coal City has a nice team. They are going to be a tough out in the 4A playoffs.

 

[doctor_d]

Did you notice the Cats offensive game plan? Very interesting. First half, they ran Slot Double Wing with splits and CC stuffed them. Second half they went back to Tight Double Wing with no splits and moved the ball methodically down the field. I think Wilmington had the ball the first 9-10 minutes of the 3rd quarter. My key takeaways from the game:

1. Penalties. I can't remember the last time Wilmington had so many penalties. 4 false starts alone.
2. Defense. Solid as usual and kept them in the game the first half while the offense sputtered.
3. Coaching. Quit overthinking things and just do what you do best.
4. Coal City has a nice team. They are going to be a tough out in the 4A playoffs.

Yeah they went super tight and looked like they mostly changed the blocking scheme a little bit on offense.

Coal City was far and away the best team they’ve played so far, and Wilmo needed to be challenged.

I knew about #45 going in to the game but #32 was a heck of a player also.

In regard to pre-snap penalties, that seemed like the most they've had. I don't have the numbers. Not sure if it just "seems" that way because of the magnitude of the game, or if they actually had the most last night. Coalers were blitzing a lot and causing a bit of havoc in the first half.

The lone pass Wilmo threw was a big one, as they were behind the chains, but threw a nicely executed screen pass for a 20 yard gain.

 

[SouthofI80FootballFan]

CC and Wilmington was exactly what that game seems to be most years. Both teams know each other very well a d there is a ton of respect towards both programs, coaches, and their players.

What happened to Manteno? That game was about 40 points closer than I thought.
Herscher still has a shot of they can pull an upset. I don't see that happening.

Peotone finally snapped their losing streak and should win out but the 3 losses will likely result in a very tough 2nd round draw, 3A North will be loaded.

Lisle, RC, and Streator should start airing up the basketball and rolling out the wrestling mats.

 

[IceConGuy]

I'll say this, CC is a bunch of tough dudes. Most conference schools seem to be beat before kickoff. Even when they are solid. CC came to fight. Did the journal have a Manteno round up? how that game was close is confusing. Well maybe not. These are high school kids.

 

[Coalertown44]

Did you notice the Cats offensive game plan? Very interesting. First half, they ran Slot Double Wing with splits and CC stuffed them. Second half they went back to Tight Double Wing with no splits and moved the ball methodically down the field. I think Wilmington had the ball the first 9-10 minutes of the 3rd quarter. My key takeaways from the game:

1. Penalties. I can't remember the last time Wilmington had so many penalties. 4 false starts alone.
2. Defense. Solid as usual and kept them in the game the first half while the offense sputtered.
3. Coaching. Quit overthinking things and just do what you do best.
4. Coal City has a nice team. They are going to be a tough out in the 4A playoffs.

The Cats have have been moving early for 25 years on offense 😂😂. It was a good, hard hitting game. Good luck to both teams in the playoffs

 

[Wilmatucky]

CC-Wilmo delivered as promised. I wish more conference teams could challenge them. I forgot what seeing a good game was like.