West Suburban Silver Week 5

[kitty_bintingot]

GOW: York @ HC---How HC plays York will give some grounds to infer how competitive HC and OPRF will be against GW. Those match ups determine the outcome of the WSS. For these reasons I give it GOW status.

York has improved demonstrably under Fitz, and having seen some tape I agree with Hetlet's post game remark that they are a "scrappy" group. But given my take of HC this year and what I saw from York, I see HC's oline getting movement upfront, averaging 4ish yds/carry and connecting on a few pass plays downfield. Edit: *Look for the younger Skokna to continue to produce. Hoping they also give the other junior RB some love as he churned out 4 TDs in last week's JV game and deserves some carries.* I also think the HC defense is for real and forces a couple key turnovers. HC 21 York 6

DGN @ GW: GW made me eat my words on last week's post as they looked crisp on offense and the defense gave up less than 100yds rushing on 25ish or so carries. There are no worries in Glen Ellyn. GW rolls thru DGN and reaches its best level of football as they approach the big ones against HC and OP. GW 42 DGN 0

PW @ OPRF: OP keeps fine tuning the offense trying to get soph Jaden McGill ready for DGN, York and GW. OPRF 49 PW 0

Leyden @ LT: LT continues to struggle. Leyden 14 LT 9

What's the board thinking on York @ HC? Anyone thinking York will put up more points against HC?

 

[Dual-triple_threat]

While York seems to be a program on the rise, injuries are definitely going to set them back. Without key players, I just can't see York hanging with HC. I think this game gets away from York in a hurry. GBW showed some weaknesses in the York defense, and I think HC will take advantage. A 100% healthy York vs a 100% healthy HC would still be a HC win, imo, just too many solid athletes across the board on offense and defense for HC.

Fitz will find a way to put a few points on the board, but not enough to make it close.

I still feel like HC is going to surprise people and make a run in the playoffs, although with Skokna out I'm a little less confident.
HC 35-York 17

OPRF rolls this week...nothing to see here.
OPRF 42-PW-0

GBW is really clicking on all cylinders, way too much for DGN to handle.
GBW 45-DGN 7

LT is up for this cross divisional game and gets their second win!! I think they have had time to adjust and the younger players are coming around.
LT 21-Leyden 14

 

[Irish LB]

LT is up for this cross divisional game and gets their first win!! I think they have had time to adjust and the younger players are coming around.
LT 21-Leyden 14

LT beat Proviso West last week, although they needed overtime lol.

 

[Dual-triple_threat]

LT beat Proviso West last week, although they needed overtime lol.

You are right... my mistake. Fixed it Lol.

 

[kitty_bintingot]

Fitz will find a way to put a few points on the board, but not enough to make it close.

Thanks for the contribution, very welcomed and appreciated. I'm also curious to see how Fitz tries to scheme offensively versus HC. I was impressed with the way he called last week's game and wouldn't be too surprised if York ends up getting more points on the board. Completing 29 passes against GW is impressive (plus there were a handful of badly dropped balls). I'm just high on this HC defensive backfield for now.

 

[Voodoo Tatum 21]

HC is too much for a Dukes team with multiple players at the MASH hospital being treated by Major Frank Burns, Hawkeye, and gang.

GBW - ugly You guys need to add 5 teams to the Gold and Silver to really shake things up and make for a lot more interesting games.

OPRF - ugly See comments from GBW game.

LT - but I don’t feel good about this pick at all.

 

[Dual-triple_threat]

I'm also curious to see how Fitz tries to scheme offensively versus HC.

Me too, I personally don't see many holes in HC defense, unless you have a QB named Thorne.

 

[kitty_bintingot]

You guys need to add 5 teams to the Gold and Silver to really shake things up and make for a lot more interesting games

I think you might be on to something....I was at pains not to include a blurb on the Hinsdale South-Willobrook game this week. That one might be said to really be the GOW if we considered both WSS and WSG.

 

[Voodoo Tatum 21]

I think you might be on to something....I was at pains not to include a blurb on the Hinsdale South-Willobrook game this week. That one might be said to really be the GOW if we considered both WSS and WSG.

I think the valleys would fit nicely over in the Gold! But in all seriousness - that Willowbrook team is the real deal. They are going to be fun to watch in the playoffs.

 

[kitty_bintingot]

Me too, I personally don't see many holes in HC defense, unless you have a QB named Thorne.

Yeah exactly. Top 8A school/QB takes em for 34, but then you have a 14pt outing against a top 6A school, a shutout versus an 8A playoff team, and then 6 pts against below average DGN (would have been a shutout but HC offense fumbled on its own 20 after HC D had just forced a turnover after a long drive). But this York offense may very well be a better offense than OPRF, especially given Fitz calling plays. It'll be a great test to see how good the D really is.

 

[chuck998]

Thanks for getting this thread started. I have a different perspective on both HC and OPRF. So here are my predictions, fwiw:
York over HC by 3
OPRF over PW by a lot
Lyden over LT, but not by much (would like to see LT bust out of the funk they are in)
GW over DGN by many, many points.
And, I agree that this week will give everyone a good idea about HC. York still has the horses to get the job done, and HC's offense is suspect. I know many have talked in other threads about the defensive battle between OPRF and HC, which left the impression that both of their defenses were really good. That may be the case, but a different view is, that neither defense was really tested, and both offenses are in damage control given many injuries, and that the kids playing just don't have the experience they need to compete each week. I'm trying to be nice here, so let's just leave it at that. I am open to being proved incorrect every week! Go Hitters!

 

[Dual-triple_threat]

Top 8A school/QB takes em for 34

That's another really good point..with York QB1 gone, the threat to scramble and run is gone, and the deep ball threat is less. HC athletes on the def side will be able to load up on the run, and really come after QB2, he is definitely a capable QB, but getting his first start vs a really good def. could be too much.

We will definitely see what York is made of, I hope for a good game. Also hope both teams can avoid any more injuries.

 

[kitty_bintingot]

Weekend recap: HC 35 York 13: York is no pushover of a team, and the scores of their previous two games might suggest otherwise. In this respect I agree with @Gene K. that it would have been nice to have seen them do better. The game was very, very chippy with a high level of intensity every play, lots of hard hitting. Look out for York's LG #66 as he's a junior and brings out the whooping stick on every play (I think he will also contend at heavyweight this year on the mat). The rest of the line play is above-average/solid as well, but man #66 stands out. Next year their O-line will be really good. York also has two hybrid hack-back/TEs that are big athletic boys (#11--6'1ish 210lbs and #40--6'3ish 190-200lbs) who will pull with #66 on power runs that were giving HC a hard time. Fitz has some nicely designed plays to get the ball to those two guys in space on PAs as well. In general I got the sense that Fitz calls plays really well and kept the defense guessing. Both RBs are talented. The thing about this one was that, like any game against a quality 8A playoff team, you're gonna have to move the ball thru the air at some point. But the HC DBs played lights out. York went 5-13 for 75 yards and 4 ints. If York is gonna get a W against Willobrook or OPRF and qualify for the playoffs, that cannot happen. Both QBs played for York, both HBs and RBs as well, plus everyone on O-line. So not sure if they were down anybody offensively. Next week versus Willobrook is a must win. Will be exciting.

HC offensively has synched up well over the last two games. I think the head coach needed some time to figure out what to do without Skokna. QB has settled in over the last couple weeks with his WRs and threw for 5 TDs. York defensive front struggled against HC oline and there must have been some bad breakdowns of coverage cause on a couple TD passes there was no one around. But again I've been hearing of the injury bug over there. One of the HC WRs is a home-run threat downfield while the others are smaller but don't drop passes and can shake and bake for some YAC. Line play and run game has produced consistently so far, but HC has started to draw more on their talented junior class for production. Younger Skokna had 10 carries compared to the 22 that the senior workhorse had; and interestingly a junior started at center all game over a senior who started every game last year and this year and is seriously battle tested (has played against St. Xavier, Stevie, LA, GW). That kind of baffled me, but the junior played great, so what do i know?

GW 35 DGN 14: Thought I was gonna see a running clock but the boys from Downers Grove always put up a fight. Maybe Hetlet took his foot off the gas when it was 35-0 Q3. I don't know. At any rate, GW, like HC, get a week to fine tune before they face off for what could potentially be the WSS championship game.

OPRF 41 PW 12: Another week of fine-tuning for OP, but when does week after week of fine-tuning become more of a detriment than an opportunity for improvement? We might get a rough outline of an answer to that question come week 7-8 when they see York and GW back to back.

Leyden 31 LT 3: I don't know what to say. I know it must be difficult going thru such a tough season @Guido Sarducci but any insight would be much appreciated.

Big one next week is York versus Willobrook.

 

[chuck998]

I watched a bit of the York/HC game, and a lot of the DGN/GW game. Gonna assume that York is down due to injuries, but also still assuming they have a shot at the playoffs. HC has adjusted well to their injury problems, and their next challenge will arrive in 2 week vs GW. For 2 weeks in a row, GW has started substituting in the game earlier than in years past (I think). DGN did a good job in Q1 with their passing game, but GW made adjustment by Q2 and put up 21 in that Qtr. The first 5 min of the 3rd Qtr was totally dominated by GW, putting up 14 and making it look easy in the process. That's when the second string came in, and DGN got an opportunity to get some game practice in on both sides of the ball. I think GW needs a few more games before they are hitting on all cylinders and are playoff ready. As for LT, their kids need to hunker down and use this season as a learning experience. For next week, York must win to have a shot at playing in week 10.

 

[kitty_bintingot]

For 2 weeks in a row, GW has started substituting in the game earlier than in years past

Ahhh, great detail to know. Thanks.

 

[capnbillhitters]

My read was that GW wanted that running clock bad when they were up 35-0 and had 1st & Goal running Cox down inside the 3. DGN showed some serious heart by keeping GW out of the end zone and thereby avoiding the the running clock. Would have loved seeing four runs to finish that drive but GW threw on 3rd & 4th from inside the 3. They used to smash that run into DGN so those throws seemed to speak to the respect GW for the DGN dline