What did we learn week 8!?!?!

[LakeCtyNewt]

And we are down to 1. One week to go. Been a fun ride to this point.

1 - That Mother Nature is unbeaten, untied, and untested.
2 -That the reported demise of HF has been greatly exaggerated - at least for this week.
3 - That Barrington putting a 50 burger in Palatine should require immediate attention.
4 - That a 4-5 team may make the playoffs and possibly win a game.
5 - That there is downstage chaos and we like it.
6 - That all is not sterling in Sterling.
7 - That it was the 1950s the last time Maine West was this good.
8 - That DePaul Prep is a nice story and could end with a playoff game.
9 - That the season should end with dynamite games and LA-MC, Morris-Sycamore and Naz-SF are what we hoped for.
10 - That I promise to let Catch 22 be catch 22 again and forever.

That’s all. Bring on week 9.

 

[Wassup13]

#9 I think this is also SHG vs Rochester weekend coming up.

 

[McEvergreen]

#11 That BYRON is on the verge of scoring 500+ pts this season while only giving up 38 and nobody seems to notice.

 

[MIKEFTB]

#11 That BYRON is on the verge of scoring 500+ pts this season while only giving up 38 and nobody seems to notice.

Numbers not seeing since the powerhouse days of the Carthage Blueboys when they'd regularly score 600+ a season although I believe Reed Custer scored over 600 last season

 

[MIKEFTB]

#12 That the East Aurora Tomcats who won their 5th game Friday should secure a 6th win this Friday vs Fenton and play in a week 10 game for the first time since 1982!

 

[cornerrat]

#9 I think this is also SHG vs Rochester weekend coming up.

All..... There will be a big crowd especially from the Rochester contingent but Leonard Bowl and everything it brought before, during, and after the event is gone. Done. Ratsy

 

[Secondo1]

That Joliet West has its most wins in a single year since the Class of ‘70!

 

[Swansa01]

#11 That BYRON is on the verge of scoring 500+ pts this season while only giving up 38 and nobody seems to notice.

Don't think they want you to know...they just want to run you over with out laying on the horn first.

 

[lookoutforliam]

And we are down to 1. One week to go. Been a fun ride to this point.

1 - That Mother Nature is unbeaten, untied, and untested.
2 -That the reported demise of HF has been greatly exaggerated - at least for this week.
3 - That Barrington putting a 50 burger in Palatine should require immediate attention.
4 - That a 4-5 team may make the playoffs and possibly win a game.
5 - That there is downstage chaos and we like it.
6 - That all is not sterling in Sterling.
7 - That it was the 1950s the last time Maine West was this good.
8 - That DePaul Prep is a nice story and could end with a playoff game.
9 - That the season should end with dynamite games and LA-MC, Morris-Sycamore and Naz-SF are what we hoped for.
10 - That I promise to let Catch 22 be catch 22 again and forever.

That’s all. Bring on week 9.

Excellent as always.

 

[johnndoe]

If H-F can get the ball in the hands of their most talented kids and keep the turnovers & major penalties down, all of what they did Friday in beating LW West, they could beat Lockport for win 5.

 

[William Foster]

Numbers not seeing since the powerhouse days of the Carthage Blueboys when they'd regularly score 600+ a season although I believe Reed Custer scored over 600 last season

Who doesn’t love a post featuring the words ‘powerhouse days’ and ‘Blueboys’!

 

[cornerrat]

Numbers not seeing since the powerhouse days of the Carthage Blueboys when they'd regularly score 600+ a season although I believe Reed Custer scored over 600 last season

All.... Your post peeked my interest so I checked the Ihsa record book for a top five list in scoring. One caveat the Blueboys did it the real way by ramming it down the throat of their opponents by the run. Not the spread and throw it everywhere. Anyway the list. Ratsy

1. Peoria 805 (16)
2. SHG 744 (13)
3. Rochester 728 (19)
4. IC 721 (16)
5. SHG 716 (14)

 

[RoaminCatholic]

All.... Your post peeked my interest so I checked the Ihsa record book for a top five list in scoring. One caveat the Blueboys did it the real way by ramming it down the throat of their opponents by the run. Not the spread and throw it everywhere. Anyway the list. Ratsy

1. Peoria 805 (16)
2. SHG 744 (13)
3. Rochester 728 (19)
4. IC 721 (16)
5. SHG 716 (14)

Jim Unruh was one of the grandfathers of the Wing-T in Illinois. I know the boys up north have a program they cherish (or hate) that famously ran/runs the Wing-T... but for small school football in Illinois, Unruh's teams from 1986 - 2010, both Blueboys and Chargers were the GOATs of Wing T football.

 

[McEvergreen]

That is quite the list 👍 805 points is insane!

 

[atrain97]

Jim Unruh was one of the grandfathers of the Wing-T in Illinois. I know the boys up north have a program they cherish (or hate) that famously ran/runs the Wing-T... but for small school football in Illinois, Unruh's teams from 1986 - 2010, both Blueboys and Chargers were the GOATs of Wing T football.

JIm's dad, Paul was on the staff at Augustana when I played there. Was truly a gentleman.

 

[MIKEFTB]

Jim Unruh was one of the grandfathers of the Wing-T in Illinois. I know the boys up north have a program they cherish (or hate) that famously ran/runs the Wing-T... but for small school football in Illinois, Unruh's teams from 1986 - 2010, both Blueboys and Chargers were the GOATs of Wing T football.

Awesome! I was just about to mention that and... Jim is the son of the late Paul Unruh who was the head Coach at West Chicago when they won the first 3A state title in '74 and I'm sure the wild cats ran the Wing-T as well.

 

[RoaminCatholic]

Awesome! I was just about to mention that and... Jim is the son of the late Paul Unruh who was the head Coach at West Chicago when they won the first 3A state title in '74 and I'm sure the wild cats ran the Wing-T as well.

That's cool! I didn't realize all that about Jim's father. Jim Unruh is nothing shy of a Legend in west central Illinois. The one memory of him as a QND alum I have was the QND/IW game in 2010. Unruh solidified his place as a true legend that day.

QND finally got a chance to play Illini West (formerly Carthage). We were excited to see the famous offense, but if I'm being honest I think we thought it was overrated. QND ranked #1 in 4A, IW ranked #1 in 3A. It's as big of a game as west central Illinois will ever see. An estimate 4000+ at Fuzz Berges field. I watched from atop a Chevy pickup of one of my buddies. Was the only way to see past the 5 or 6 deep around the field.

We had an all-state RB in Daniel Weiman and they had an all-stater and track star by the name of Ser Whitaker. It was folklore the stories we'd heard about Ser Whitaker leading up to this. He's a bullet. He's lightening in a bottle. He's untouchable. He's the fasted kid in pads on planet earth. And we believed them early on, we also believed the Wing-T was unstoppable. QND trailed 16-0 in the first half. Crawled it's way back, thanks to Weiman, and eventually took the lead with 1:20 or so to play. 20-16 QND... Then Ser the Blur let us know that he was all the hype and then some. He saw a hole open up and he hit it full stride. No one on earth was catching him on that play. IW 22, QND 20. Final. QND's spread formation draw on a 3rd and 9 with 1:20 to go caught IW off guard to take the lead. But the play Unruh designed to snatch the lead back was even more incredible. I still couldn't tell you what happened, but the hole that opened up was the size of Kansas and Ser wasn't missing it.

Unfortunately Unruh retired following that season, after yet another state title, so we never had a chance to play him again. We did get a few more cracks at Illini West against Lafferty and Lyle Klein at the beginning of his tenure. It clearly hasn't been the same since Unruh stepped away though. I don't think QND ever lost to them again.

Living up to the hype: The 2010 QND-Illini West showdown

By BLAKE TOPPMEYER

www.whig.com

Top 10 area sports stories in 2010: Unforgettable Illini West-Quincy Notre Dame football game tops the list

By MATT SCHUCKMAN

www.whig.com

 

[crusader_of_90]

I believe we learned Edwardsville had the most active players starting in the NFL last Sunday. ESL's Johnson was active and maybe others from the SW Conference.

 

[LakeCtyNewt]

I love the old school talk - Carthage. Let’s bring back Arcola and some of the others while we are at it.

 

[eagles2k3]

I love the old school talk - Carthage. Let’s bring back Arcola and some of the others while we are at it.

Mowequa Central A&M
Aledo
Milledgeville

All come to mind when thinking late 90s 1A schools.

 

[Wilmatucky]

Wilmington also fell victim to Ser Whitakar in 2009. Wilmington had a lead late in the game and Ser blew us up for a big play and took the lead. I wish I could remember more about the final minutes, but I was at The Wood for a little too long before and after the game. One of the best games I have seen and one of the coolest environments I have traveled to.

 

[Wilmatucky]

Mowequa Central A&M
Aledo
Milledgeville

All come to mind when thinking late 90s 1A schools.

What about the season Tuscola had with that one quarterback that went to, I think Michigan, or Iowa. That was a fun team to watch at state.

 

[doctor_d]

Wilmington also fell victim to Ser Whitakar in 2009. Wilmington had a lead late in the game and Ser blew us up for a big play and took the lead. I wish I could remember more about the final minutes, but I was at The Wood for a little too long before and after the game. One of the best games I have seen and one of the coolest environments I have traveled to.

For games that Wilmo didn’t win, this was the most entertaining/exciting. Either this one or the Driscoll game…

In short version, Wilmo got down 21-7 early, battled back to take a very late 35-28 lead.
With under a minute to play, IW was down 7 and had 4th and like 20 after a sack. IW QB was under heavy pressure, out of nowhere Whitaker appears, QB shovel pass thru defenders, Whitaker makes a couple moves and is gone. 65-70 yards.
IW kicker then doinked in the PAT off the left upright to tie the game.
In OT, Wilmo’s 2 PAT attempt to tie was unsuccessful. Hell of a game.

 

[forlouann]

What about the season Tuscola had with that one quarterback that went to, I think Michigan, or Iowa. That was a fun team to watch at state.

John Wienke was the Tuscola QB. He ended up going to Iowa. Backup QB most of his career, then switched to punter his senior year. Great QB for Tuscola. Played DE on defense too

 

[MIKEFTB]

That's cool! I didn't realize all that about Jim's father. Jim Unruh is nothing shy of a Legend in west central Illinois. The one memory of him as a QND alum I have was the QND/IW game in 2010. Unruh solidified his place as a true legend that day.

QND finally got a chance to play Illini West (formerly Carthage). We were excited to see the famous offense, but if I'm being honest I think we thought it was overrated. QND ranked #1 in 4A, IW ranked #1 in 3A. It's as big of a game as west central Illinois will ever see. An estimate 4000+ at Fuzz Berges field. I watched from atop a Chevy pickup of one of my buddies. Was the only way to see past the 5 or 6 deep around the field.

We had an all-state RB in Daniel Weiman and they had an all-stater and track star by the name of Ser Whitaker. It was folklore the stories we'd heard about Ser Whitaker leading up to this. He's a bullet. He's lightening in a bottle. He's untouchable. He's the fasted kid in pads on planet earth. And we believed them early on, we also believed the Wing-T was unstoppable. QND trailed 16-0 in the first half. Crawled it's way back, thanks to Weiman, and eventually took the lead with 1:20 or so to play. 20-16 QND... Then Ser the Blur let us know that he was all the hype and then some. He saw a hole open up and he hit it full stride. No one on earth was catching him on that play. IW 22, QND 20. Final. QND's spread formation draw on a 3rd and 9 with 1:20 to go caught IW off guard to take the lead. But the play Unruh designed to snatch the lead back was even more incredible. I still couldn't tell you what happened, but the hole that opened up was the size of Kansas and Ser wasn't missing it.

Unfortunately Unruh retired following that season, after yet another state title, so we never had a chance to play him again. We did get a few more cracks at Illini West against Lafferty and Lyle Klein at the beginning of his tenure. It clearly hasn't been the same since Unruh stepped away though. I don't think QND ever lost to them again.

Living up to the hype: The 2010 QND-Illini West showdown

By BLAKE TOPPMEYER

www.whig.com

Top 10 area sports stories in 2010: Unforgettable Illini West-Quincy Notre Dame football game tops the list

By MATT SCHUCKMAN

www.whig.com

Ah yes it always great to go back to those wonderful memories. I believe Jim has a brother that coached up here at Sandwich back in the late 90s although they were not a power they did run that offense and I saw them play at Lisle and they won handily and Paul was at the game and I got to talk with him for awhile about the formative years of the DuPage Valley Conference and how much more competitive it was after playing in the old Little 7 for so many years.. He saud ge new eventually the schools in the DVC would eventually outgrow West Chicago and if course that's exactly what happened.

I seem to remember Carthage having a huge rivalry with the Sciota LaHarpe Thunder and I belueve they beat them in a state championship game in the early 2000s.

 

[RoaminCatholic]

Ah yes it always great to go back to those wonderful memories. I believe Jim has a brother that coached up here at Sandwich back in the late 90s although they were not a power they did run that offense and I saw them play at Lisle and they won handily and Paul was at the game and I got to talk with him for awhile about the formative years of the DuPage Valley Conference and how much more competitive it was after playing in the old Little 7 for so many years.. He saud ge new eventually the schools in the DVC would eventually outgrow West Chicago and if course that's exactly what happened.

I seem to remember Carthage having a huge rivalry with the Sciota LaHarpe Thunder and I belueve they beat them in a state championship game in the early 2000s.

LaHarpe NW as I remember them being called. Sciota would have definitely been a part of that though. I believe Tim Lafferty was the coach... Him and Unruh had some slugfests. We always heard the news and read the papers about the LaHarpe/Carthage games.

Hancock County has always been known in our area for it's athletics. Whether it was Carthage and LaHarpe football... Dallas City, Nauvoo-Colusa, Carthage basketball... I could tell you some even better basketball stories about these tiny little towns near Quincy... They never held back when the Catholics from Quincy came to town.

 

[RoaminCatholic]

Wilmington also fell victim to Ser Whitakar in 2009. Wilmington had a lead late in the game and Ser blew us up for a big play and took the lead. I wish I could remember more about the final minutes, but I was at The Wood for a little too long before and after the game. One of the best games I have seen and one of the coolest environments I have traveled to.

The Wood Inn? Lord have mercy...

 

[LakeCtyNewt]

Don Kemp was a classic with Concord Triopia in the early days. Ron Ellett head coach of the Hampshire Whip Purs.

 

[Wilmatucky]

The Wood Inn? Lord have mercy...

I loved that place.....is it crappy?