WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:04.719 Schwiker, Gannison Krazak Randio proudly sponsors to Friday Night Drive. I'm Mike Krizak. 2 00:00:04.759 --> 00:00:07.559 If you've been injured, we are ready to take on the insurance company 3 00:00:07.599 --> 00:00:10.839 and get you to the end zone. We've recovered hundreds of millions of dollars 4 00:00:10.919 --> 00:00:14.679 for our clients. Visit G A N A, S S I N dot 5 00:00:14.720 --> 00:00:25.239 com. What's up everyone, and welcome back to the Friday Night Drive Podcast. 6 00:00:25.320 --> 00:00:28.920 I am Kyle Neighbors along with my co host Steve Sussi. It is 7 00:00:29.079 --> 00:00:33.200 Thursday, October fifth, and we are here to get you ready for Week 8 00:00:33.240 --> 00:00:36.920 seven of the high school football season. We'll have Michael Duojack and Joe Stevenson 9 00:00:37.280 --> 00:00:39.840 on to preview everything as we usually do, but we want to start this 10 00:00:39.880 --> 00:00:45.200 week with a story that dropped at Friday Night Drive dot com on Tuesday, 11 00:00:45.759 --> 00:00:50.719 and that is the Main South. An update on the Main South investigation that 12 00:00:50.759 --> 00:00:54.280 Friday Night Drive had been working on since March. If you guys recall back 13 00:00:54.320 --> 00:01:02.240 in March IHSA, the IHSA released sanctions again against Maine South. They forfeited 14 00:01:03.000 --> 00:01:07.680 their win from the twenty twenty two season and were placed on probation for having 15 00:01:07.719 --> 00:01:15.480 ineligible players on their roster. Michael, you have spent since March digging through 16 00:01:15.799 --> 00:01:21.599 email, through Freedom of Information Act requests and multiple rounds of interviews with district 17 00:01:21.640 --> 00:01:27.200 officials the IHSA. And while the story we certainly were able to advance the 18 00:01:27.280 --> 00:01:32.959 story, one of the big things is we tried to make clear is frankly 19 00:01:33.079 --> 00:01:38.079 because of not getting cooperation, there's a lot that we just don't know. 20 00:01:38.159 --> 00:01:41.120 Still. Yeah, I think the biggest questions, I mean, obviously when 21 00:01:41.120 --> 00:01:44.359 you're a reporter of the biggest questions are you know, who one where run 22 00:01:44.400 --> 00:01:47.319 and high why and all that kind of stuff. And we don't really know 23 00:01:47.400 --> 00:01:51.000 who or what really happened in this, you know, in the story where 24 00:01:51.359 --> 00:01:55.599 you know, we know that you know, Maine South was sanctioned the whole 25 00:01:55.680 --> 00:01:59.120 year of wins and are on probation right now in this school year, but 26 00:01:59.640 --> 00:02:02.799 we don't really know who was involved based on contradictory information that we've got, 27 00:02:02.840 --> 00:02:07.640 we don't really know, you know, who knew what or anything like that. 28 00:02:07.840 --> 00:02:10.319 So there are a lot of questions, you know, still after this 29 00:02:10.479 --> 00:02:15.360 process, and I know that the school district, in the IHS they both 30 00:02:15.439 --> 00:02:19.560 kind of agreed that you know, personal information is important to keep up and 31 00:02:19.599 --> 00:02:21.680 I would agree with that. I don't think you should, you know, 32 00:02:21.719 --> 00:02:24.759 give up kids names or families names or anything like that. But even when 33 00:02:24.800 --> 00:02:29.919 it came time to like find cooperation of whether this was only a Main South 34 00:02:29.919 --> 00:02:35.080 football program, was this program in Maine West volleyball or like you know, 35 00:02:35.159 --> 00:02:38.599 Maine East, like, it was hard to even pinpoint that kind of stuff, 36 00:02:38.680 --> 00:02:40.240 let alone to know, you know, was this one kid on the 37 00:02:40.280 --> 00:02:45.080 main South football team or was it more than one kid? And I think 38 00:02:45.120 --> 00:02:47.479 that's kind of how this reporting process went, where you know, we found 39 00:02:47.520 --> 00:02:52.919 the information and the Freedom of Information Act and try to build off of the 40 00:02:52.960 --> 00:02:55.280 information that we had. But as we continue to you know, do multiple 41 00:02:55.360 --> 00:02:59.639 rounds of interviews, we tried to you know, figure out what was going 42 00:02:59.680 --> 00:03:01.560 on, there was just a lot of you know, we can't release that, 43 00:03:01.719 --> 00:03:07.879 we can't say that it's a confidential information. And I understand, you 44 00:03:07.879 --> 00:03:12.280 know, wanting to protect families and wanting to protect kids. It's obviously very 45 00:03:12.319 --> 00:03:15.479 important, but at the same time, as a public school district, in 46 00:03:15.479 --> 00:03:17.159 the public school I think people have a right to know, you know, 47 00:03:17.240 --> 00:03:21.719 what happened here and what is going on. And I don't think, you 48 00:03:21.759 --> 00:03:24.919 know, half a year later we truly know what really happened other than like 49 00:03:25.000 --> 00:03:30.439 some stuff that we recovered discovered along the way. Yeah. Well so Michael, 50 00:03:30.479 --> 00:03:32.840 let's first let's talk about what we do know. And now going back 51 00:03:32.879 --> 00:03:42.199 through everything that was discussed or through those emails, I think we you kind 52 00:03:42.199 --> 00:03:46.080 of alluded to it. There is we were I guess we can't say with 53 00:03:46.159 --> 00:03:51.680 one hundred percent surname, but what the district is saying, if this is 54 00:03:51.719 --> 00:03:59.080 a a district wide problem, right, we butt right up against Chicago, 55 00:04:00.080 --> 00:04:02.680 always going to be an issue. But what we were able to narrow down 56 00:04:03.039 --> 00:04:09.599 through everything that we found is we're looking at, you know, no other 57 00:04:09.680 --> 00:04:15.840 sports program within the main the main school district that includes Maine East and Maine 58 00:04:15.840 --> 00:04:20.199 West reported and had to forfeit any game because of ineligible players as far as 59 00:04:20.199 --> 00:04:25.279 we can tell, right, it is one football team, the main South 60 00:04:25.319 --> 00:04:30.360 football team is the only program that forfeited games, correct, Yeah, I 61 00:04:30.439 --> 00:04:33.839 mean when we asked the question, you know, whether other programs were involved 62 00:04:33.879 --> 00:04:36.680 with us, the response from the district was, you know, we would 63 00:04:36.759 --> 00:04:42.319 self report if there were you know, any problems or anything like that with 64 00:04:42.439 --> 00:04:46.240 other programs. And which is which is exactly what they did to the IHSA 65 00:04:46.360 --> 00:04:48.439 to begin with. When it came to the football team, they self reported, 66 00:04:49.439 --> 00:04:55.160 and then the ISSA released its statement, right but instead of you know, 67 00:04:55.720 --> 00:04:58.759 the natural follow up question is, you know, is that you know, 68 00:04:59.000 --> 00:05:01.600 so that's the only program, and then they just repeated with saying we 69 00:05:01.639 --> 00:05:04.519 would self report instead of saying, you know, yes, that's the only 70 00:05:04.560 --> 00:05:09.040 one. But then we were able to confirm with Craig Anderson, the IHSA 71 00:05:09.120 --> 00:05:14.680 board president at that you know, that they were the only ones to self 72 00:05:14.680 --> 00:05:17.000 report. So this is only a Main South you know, football issue. 73 00:05:17.240 --> 00:05:20.879 And during the reporting process, you you know, asked me to include this, 74 00:05:20.920 --> 00:05:24.360 and I thought this was interesting. You know, there there are six 75 00:05:24.439 --> 00:05:27.720 thousand, you know, one hundred and seventy kids among the three schools. 76 00:05:28.680 --> 00:05:31.560 Maine South offers twenty nine, you know, ishs a sanctioned sports. Main 77 00:05:31.639 --> 00:05:38.399 West offers twenty seven and Main East offers twenty five. So it's just interesting 78 00:05:38.480 --> 00:05:42.000 that, you know, you've got all these kids, you got all these 79 00:05:42.079 --> 00:05:46.360 kids allegedly from Chicago trying to get into your school district. But it doesn't 80 00:05:46.399 --> 00:05:48.600 seem like this is really an issue that's happening with other sports. It's not 81 00:05:48.639 --> 00:05:53.240 a boy soccer issue. It's not a you know, boys or girls volleyball 82 00:05:53.360 --> 00:06:00.120 or basketball issue. This seems to be a one particular school or happening in 83 00:06:00.160 --> 00:06:03.680 one particular program. So those are just interesting numbers to look at that out 84 00:06:03.720 --> 00:06:08.519 of all the school, out of all the students in the three high schools, 85 00:06:08.519 --> 00:06:11.439 out of all the sports, main cell football just happened to be the 86 00:06:11.480 --> 00:06:15.319 only one that had you know, x amount of kids who are involved in 87 00:06:15.360 --> 00:06:19.160 this you know incident. Yeah, and then you know, you look at 88 00:06:19.160 --> 00:06:25.199 other inconsistencies from the school district when asked about, well, how did you 89 00:06:25.240 --> 00:06:28.240 find out and it talks about they talk about it, well, we hired 90 00:06:28.480 --> 00:06:33.360 a residency investigator. But the kids that ultimately were suspended came from or the 91 00:06:33.720 --> 00:06:36.920 reason that we're reported not the kids suspended. I should clarify that they weren't 92 00:06:36.920 --> 00:06:44.759 suspended, but the the kids that were from outside the district were identified from 93 00:06:45.079 --> 00:06:48.319 a anonymous tip, correct, right, Yeah, that was the other thing 94 00:06:49.560 --> 00:06:53.839 trying to figure out, you know, get any sort of consistency for this 95 00:06:53.920 --> 00:06:58.639 story. But yeah, it turned out that the district you know, hired 96 00:06:58.680 --> 00:07:02.240 in residency and thatstigator in October twenty twenty two, who identified you know, 97 00:07:02.279 --> 00:07:08.399 football players for resident and residency investigations, but then the district said the students 98 00:07:08.399 --> 00:07:12.560 who ultimately were found to be non residents, however, came as a result 99 00:07:12.759 --> 00:07:15.439 of a you know, anonymous tips. So it's just, you know, 100 00:07:15.000 --> 00:07:19.920 finding that inconsistency throughout this story is kind of what the story ended up becoming, 101 00:07:19.959 --> 00:07:24.759 because you just find, you know, the inconsistencies of like did the 102 00:07:24.759 --> 00:07:28.040 coaching staff know? You find inconsistencies of how many you know, how did 103 00:07:28.040 --> 00:07:31.680 you discover these kids? It's just so much inconsistency where you know, the 104 00:07:31.720 --> 00:07:35.160 story at the beginning probably would have been like, you know, here we're 105 00:07:35.199 --> 00:07:39.319 looking at this, this is what the situation was, this is what happened, 106 00:07:39.360 --> 00:07:43.199 and then it turns into this story of like, well, no one 107 00:07:43.240 --> 00:07:46.319 knows exactly what happened, or no one wants to say exactly what happened and 108 00:07:46.360 --> 00:07:50.160 who knew And unlike the Nenaghborville Central story from a few years ago, where 109 00:07:50.360 --> 00:07:55.720 Nighberville Central launched a full investigation with an outside firm, where you know, 110 00:07:55.759 --> 00:07:59.199 we were able to look through all of that and kind of get a real 111 00:07:59.240 --> 00:08:01.000 good feel for what happened. There. We still the other part of it, 112 00:08:01.199 --> 00:08:05.959 We still don't exactly know who knew what, you know, looking through 113 00:08:05.959 --> 00:08:13.360 the main the district's response is that they're not aware of anyone being involved. 114 00:08:13.639 --> 00:08:15.680 But as you go, if you go to Friday Night Drive dot com, 115 00:08:15.720 --> 00:08:18.199 and I encourage you, it's a great story, but it's also it's a 116 00:08:18.240 --> 00:08:22.839 really informative story, and it's an important story. You know. The district 117 00:08:22.879 --> 00:08:28.040 said, well, we don't believe that anyone was involved, and then the 118 00:08:28.079 --> 00:08:31.120 IHSA executive director, Craig Anderson, and on the record interview with you, 119 00:08:31.919 --> 00:08:37.480 says that it's his belief, you know, it's his understanding, I should 120 00:08:37.480 --> 00:08:43.000 say, his understanding that there was at least some level of knowledge correct and 121 00:08:43.039 --> 00:08:45.720 then then kind of take it from there. What happened from there? Michael, 122 00:08:46.080 --> 00:08:48.360 Well, then you know, you hear to two things. You want 123 00:08:48.399 --> 00:08:52.000 to get clarification, obviously as a reporter, so I reached out to the 124 00:08:52.000 --> 00:08:54.200 district, and the district, you know, stuck with their you know, 125 00:08:54.320 --> 00:08:58.799 what they originally had said. And then I got a call from Craig Anderson 126 00:09:00.159 --> 00:09:03.840 saying that even though he recognized that we had an on the record conversation, 127 00:09:05.000 --> 00:09:09.399 the information that he gave me was based off of suspicions off and off the 128 00:09:09.440 --> 00:09:13.960 record conversation. So if that's hard to keep up with, I was kind 129 00:09:13.000 --> 00:09:16.759 of confused too at the time when I got the phone Calleges, trying to 130 00:09:16.759 --> 00:09:20.559 figure out, you know, what is going on over here, like what 131 00:09:20.919 --> 00:09:24.039 actually happened. But yeah, I mean even something like that, even the 132 00:09:24.039 --> 00:09:28.279 basic question of did coaches know what was going on, we don't have a 133 00:09:28.320 --> 00:09:33.440 clear answer to because of interactions like this, Like we just don't know whether 134 00:09:33.480 --> 00:09:37.440 the coaches did know because at first there's the district is saying this, and 135 00:09:37.559 --> 00:09:41.159 IHSA is Craig Anderson. In my first interview with him, he said, 136 00:09:41.480 --> 00:09:43.399 well, you know, we they got it rid of wins for an entire 137 00:09:43.480 --> 00:09:48.679 season and they put the program on probation for one year. That is a 138 00:09:48.720 --> 00:09:50.879 result of coaches knowing. But then all of a sudden, it's not a 139 00:09:50.879 --> 00:09:54.120 result of coaches knowing and is just using an ineligible player. So that's just 140 00:09:54.679 --> 00:09:58.000 that's just the layer of what this reporting process has kind of been like, 141 00:09:58.080 --> 00:10:03.759 where you you're just trying to find any sort of answers to basic questions and 142 00:10:03.039 --> 00:10:07.519 you're not really getting them, or you're getting the I don't know if excuse 143 00:10:07.600 --> 00:10:11.120 is the right word, but you're just getting the reasoning of, well, 144 00:10:11.159 --> 00:10:16.519 it's personal information. We don't want to divulge personal information where I feel like 145 00:10:16.600 --> 00:10:20.480 if you wanted to be honest with the public, you could find a way 146 00:10:20.519 --> 00:10:24.480 without saying x X did this, where you can just say two or three 147 00:10:24.559 --> 00:10:26.279 people did this, or two or four families were involved with us, or 148 00:10:28.039 --> 00:10:31.200 X amount of coaches new or anything like that. So I think, yeah, 149 00:10:31.559 --> 00:10:35.720 why we have so many questions there and everyone refuses to be honest about 150 00:10:35.720 --> 00:10:39.720 this story for some reason. Well, there's two layers. There's the you're 151 00:10:39.720 --> 00:10:46.240 dealing with young most of the time underage kids. That's so that part of 152 00:10:46.279 --> 00:10:50.440 it, and I understand that, and we're really careful in our reporting process, 153 00:10:50.519 --> 00:10:54.440 Like the goal of this is not to throw teenagers under the bus, 154 00:10:54.279 --> 00:10:58.559 So that's that's part of it. The other part of it is a personnel 155 00:10:58.080 --> 00:11:03.720 issue with the school. They have to worry about, well, any kind 156 00:11:03.759 --> 00:11:09.200 of liability when it comes to whatever they say about people that work for them. 157 00:11:09.240 --> 00:11:13.200 I understand that part of it. But there's got to be some middle 158 00:11:13.279 --> 00:11:16.039 ground, right in terms of if we this and sus I'd like to bring 159 00:11:16.080 --> 00:11:20.120 you in on the conversation at this point, because like, this isn't a 160 00:11:20.120 --> 00:11:26.879 new thing, it's just becoming a more it's it's becoming a more widespread issue, 161 00:11:26.279 --> 00:11:31.559 but it's also becoming a much more difficult thing to police because of I 162 00:11:31.600 --> 00:11:35.759 mean, it's just how society is right now, right, It's it's it's 163 00:11:35.799 --> 00:11:41.200 it's just it's much more difficult to police. Sus. I guess my question 164 00:11:41.320 --> 00:11:43.879 is just, you know, you've been around doing this a long time. 165 00:11:43.919 --> 00:11:46.879 You've seen these types of things come and go. You know, how do 166 00:11:46.960 --> 00:11:52.840 you feel having read Michael's piece about you know, where things stand with Main 167 00:11:52.919 --> 00:11:56.919 South. You know, my kind of my immediate reaction to this is that, 168 00:11:56.080 --> 00:12:01.679 you know, we have these conversations about things like this, and it 169 00:12:01.679 --> 00:12:07.639 almost seems like inevitably we get into the whole what aboutism argument with situations like 170 00:12:07.720 --> 00:12:13.399 this Main this has happened at Maine South, and then you know, tractors, 171 00:12:13.960 --> 00:12:18.360 people that are supporting Maine South and what they're doing, or you know 172 00:12:18.399 --> 00:12:20.759 what, you know, what the program has done in the past, or 173 00:12:20.799 --> 00:12:24.279 things like that. It all comes down to, oh, well, what 174 00:12:24.320 --> 00:12:28.039 about these guys. These guys are doing this too, These guys are doing 175 00:12:28.120 --> 00:12:33.519 that too, and it's more of a complicated situation to you know, whether 176 00:12:33.919 --> 00:12:41.080 schools are self reporting or anonymous tipsters or all these other things. It just 177 00:12:41.120 --> 00:12:46.919 feels like it's just this really slippery slope that you get into when you're talking 178 00:12:46.960 --> 00:12:50.200 about well, you know, who knew, who didn't know and all this 179 00:12:50.240 --> 00:12:56.000 other stuff, because everybody wants to get into that argument of okay, so 180 00:12:56.120 --> 00:13:00.440 yeah, Maine South is doing this, but what about that school that you 181 00:13:00.480 --> 00:13:05.639 know everybody knows that they're doing it. And now it also becomes a more 182 00:13:05.799 --> 00:13:15.080 layered and complicated issue because what's an infraction? Like can you know two people, 183 00:13:15.480 --> 00:13:22.399 you know, two parents of a kid at a showcase event talk about, 184 00:13:22.519 --> 00:13:24.960 hey, you know what school might what school my kid might attend? 185 00:13:26.000 --> 00:13:30.840 What are the positives? What are the negatives? I mean, what is 186 00:13:31.200 --> 00:13:35.200 there something wrong? Is there something inherently wrong with that? Can a coach 187 00:13:35.279 --> 00:13:41.159 that may be standing around say hey, you know, we've got this in 188 00:13:41.240 --> 00:13:46.039 our program and a lot of people will say no, that's not okay. 189 00:13:46.639 --> 00:13:50.840 But it's happening all over the place. So it's just there's so many roads 190 00:13:50.840 --> 00:13:58.759 that this can go down in regards to what is a legal contact issue and 191 00:13:58.799 --> 00:14:03.600 what isn't And now another layer to this is social media, Like you have 192 00:14:05.639 --> 00:14:13.480 you have kids working things out amongst themselves and in some cases parents working things 193 00:14:13.480 --> 00:14:18.559 out amongst themselves to talk about, Hey, you know what, what's the 194 00:14:18.600 --> 00:14:22.039 benefits of this program, what's the benefits of that program? And you can't 195 00:14:22.039 --> 00:14:26.159 stop people from having those conversations. And there's nothing, in my opinion, 196 00:14:26.200 --> 00:14:33.000 there's very little wrong with those conversations being had. So it's a really difficult 197 00:14:33.080 --> 00:14:39.159 thing to police. And if you have if you have people that are on 198 00:14:39.480 --> 00:14:43.440 opposite sides of the spectrum on what's legal and what isn't legal, then you 199 00:14:43.519 --> 00:14:48.000 really get into some hairy situations. I mean, I'm one of those people 200 00:14:48.080 --> 00:14:52.200 that reads the you know, the board minutes from the IHSA on a monthly 201 00:14:52.240 --> 00:14:56.240 basis, and if you get into the brass tacks to that, there are 202 00:14:56.320 --> 00:15:01.399 fifteen to twenty residency issues rule on in I S A minu. It's almost 203 00:15:01.399 --> 00:15:07.639 every every month in regards to is this uh illegal transfer? Is this not 204 00:15:07.759 --> 00:15:13.559 a llegal transfer? You know, residency issues. There are all these things 205 00:15:13.600 --> 00:15:18.720 that come into play at all levels, a lot of different programs and a 206 00:15:18.759 --> 00:15:24.480 lot of people. When you see this happening, and that when schools inevitably 207 00:15:24.480 --> 00:15:28.000 get punished, they're like a lot A lot of response is a lot of 208 00:15:28.000 --> 00:15:31.600 schools are doing this. Why are you singling out AX school. Well, 209 00:15:33.480 --> 00:15:37.240 the first thing about that is a lot of people don't realize is the IHSA 210 00:15:37.360 --> 00:15:41.480 does not have an army of people that are looking into these issues. It's 211 00:15:41.639 --> 00:15:48.039 just it's a very small group of people that generally work at the ISSA to 212 00:15:48.080 --> 00:15:50.919 begin with, and they've also got a lot of other things to go through 213 00:15:52.519 --> 00:15:58.279 on a you know, operational basis, So it's very reliant on honesty. 214 00:15:58.799 --> 00:16:03.320 So reporting, I mean, it's it's not like someone's calling down to the 215 00:16:03.360 --> 00:16:07.440 bat phone and saying, hey, there's you know, there's three kids out 216 00:16:07.440 --> 00:16:12.320 of district in X school, go look into it. That's not the way 217 00:16:12.320 --> 00:16:18.519 these things work. So it's really kind of based on schools being you know, 218 00:16:18.879 --> 00:16:23.720 upfront about what happens, and if they're not upfront, h and they 219 00:16:23.879 --> 00:16:27.240 you know, try to get themselves embroiled a little bit deeper in some of 220 00:16:27.279 --> 00:16:33.559 these situations. I'm of the opinion that the punishment should be pretty severe and 221 00:16:33.639 --> 00:16:40.120 you can argue till next you know, the next millennium whether or not this 222 00:16:40.399 --> 00:16:45.360 penalty was severe enough for this crime or this penalty you know what they did, 223 00:16:45.919 --> 00:16:48.960 but you know, I don't know if we can ever answer that because 224 00:16:49.120 --> 00:16:55.639 we don't actually know entirely what happened here. So I would like whatever happens 225 00:16:55.840 --> 00:17:00.279 to be a pretty severe deterrent to say, hey, this is what happens 226 00:17:00.320 --> 00:17:04.160 if you do this. I kind of in my heart of hearts, you 227 00:17:04.160 --> 00:17:07.880 know, if I knew all the details to it, which I don't. 228 00:17:07.279 --> 00:17:11.599 We got closer here, but I'm always of the opinion that if you get 229 00:17:11.640 --> 00:17:18.720 caught doing something like this with knowledge from the people involved, then the punishment 230 00:17:18.759 --> 00:17:23.640 should be pretty pretty strong, because I mean, the whole system is based 231 00:17:23.680 --> 00:17:29.599 on being honest and upfront because we just can't do anything otherwise. And I 232 00:17:29.680 --> 00:17:33.720 want to say that you make sure you go over to Friday Night Drive dot 233 00:17:33.759 --> 00:17:37.359 com and read the full story because Dave in Sarah, the head longtime head 234 00:17:37.359 --> 00:17:40.480 coach over at Main South, did meet with district officials and he was given 235 00:17:40.519 --> 00:17:44.680 three conditions to keep his job. Michael, you go through those in the 236 00:17:44.759 --> 00:17:48.880 story. And I want to wrap this up so we don't get too long 237 00:17:48.920 --> 00:17:51.359 on this topic. Make sure, like I said, go over and read 238 00:17:51.359 --> 00:17:56.000 the full story. You know, from our perspective, from Friday Night Drive 239 00:17:56.039 --> 00:18:00.759 perspective. The thing that's frustrating from you know, like I said, from 240 00:18:00.759 --> 00:18:08.240 our perspective is we're not trying to it's not looking to be like gatcha journalism, 241 00:18:08.319 --> 00:18:12.519 right, it's knowing that this is an issue that faces the high school 242 00:18:12.519 --> 00:18:18.640 football community and looking to be able to get this out into the open a 243 00:18:18.640 --> 00:18:21.119 little more, because like, that's what this stuff is like, it's it's 244 00:18:21.160 --> 00:18:26.599 now getting to the point where these are becoming more open and they're becoming bigger, 245 00:18:26.720 --> 00:18:30.279 you know, like Main's out with multiple kids, napro visut with multiple 246 00:18:30.319 --> 00:18:37.359 kids. Like it's to fix it, there has to be some level of 247 00:18:37.400 --> 00:18:44.640 accountability and transparency, and you're not seeing that. And that's what's frustrating at 248 00:18:44.640 --> 00:18:47.240 the end of the day, because yes, you kind of said there, 249 00:18:47.359 --> 00:18:52.319 it's it shouldn't be this code of silence. Well so and so is cheating, 250 00:18:52.400 --> 00:18:56.279 So it's okay, it's okay for us to do it and look the 251 00:18:56.279 --> 00:19:00.799 other way, knowing that there's kids that may not be within district. Well, 252 00:19:00.839 --> 00:19:07.319 the overwhelming initial response when this happened I felt was, eh, like 253 00:19:07.400 --> 00:19:11.680 I mean there was kind of a reaction to to what had happened, what 254 00:19:11.839 --> 00:19:18.119 the punishment was, and it just was kind of like that was it. 255 00:19:18.119 --> 00:19:22.720 It was like the reaction was, well, you know, they got caught. 256 00:19:22.079 --> 00:19:26.039 I mean, what does it really mean that they had to forfeit these 257 00:19:26.079 --> 00:19:30.599 games? Five years down the line, is anyone going to remember other than 258 00:19:30.960 --> 00:19:33.440 nerds like me that are looking in the record book that Mainstou's record that season 259 00:19:33.480 --> 00:19:38.519 was zero to twelve. No one's going to remember that, I mean ultimately. 260 00:19:40.400 --> 00:19:45.160 But then, I mean, what what would be a punishment that opens 261 00:19:45.160 --> 00:19:48.640 people's eyes like in regards to that. So I don't know the answer to 262 00:19:48.680 --> 00:19:52.640 that. So and what would be a fair punishment in the I mean, 263 00:19:52.720 --> 00:19:55.559 yeah, you could, you could put down sanctions that would be like, 264 00:19:55.640 --> 00:20:00.160 oh geez, like you could ban them from a playoff appearance for two years 265 00:20:00.240 --> 00:20:03.079 or whatever. I mean, I don't know that would I don't know if 266 00:20:03.079 --> 00:20:07.480 that Like, I'm not saying that That's what I'm advocating for or that's what 267 00:20:07.519 --> 00:20:11.319 the answer is. I'm just saying that, I don't know. The basic 268 00:20:11.400 --> 00:20:15.839 reaction to this was doesn't really mean anything. That wouldn't really be a big 269 00:20:15.880 --> 00:20:21.200 deterrent to someone else looking at what happened here and says, well, maybe 270 00:20:21.200 --> 00:20:23.359 we might have done something like this in the past. I don't think. 271 00:20:23.519 --> 00:20:27.720 I don't think what happened here is going to be like, oh geez, 272 00:20:27.759 --> 00:20:32.319 we can't we can't even dip our toe in that water. We don't want 273 00:20:32.559 --> 00:20:37.200 that to happen to us. Yeah, I feel like I also struggle with 274 00:20:37.400 --> 00:20:40.559 when it comes to penalties with this, where it's kind of like most of 275 00:20:40.599 --> 00:20:44.319 these things are you know, adults are doing like the kids, right, 276 00:20:44.359 --> 00:20:47.400 you know, I don't know if it's fair to blame kids, you know, 277 00:20:47.880 --> 00:20:51.279 three or you know, the next couple of sophomores or freshmen because they 278 00:20:51.279 --> 00:20:53.039 had nothing to do with Like, I don't know if it's those kids, 279 00:20:53.079 --> 00:20:56.559 because most of the time, like it's adults who are talking to adults trying 280 00:20:56.599 --> 00:20:59.799 to figure out, well, you know, how can we win this football 281 00:20:59.839 --> 00:21:03.839 game in high school and all that kind of stuff, like and that's like, 282 00:21:03.400 --> 00:21:06.519 what are we doing here? Like this is a kid's game. It's 283 00:21:06.519 --> 00:21:10.440 supposed to be the kid at the end of the day. Listen, we 284 00:21:10.519 --> 00:21:12.839 all love high school football and the competitiveness, but like, at the end 285 00:21:12.839 --> 00:21:15.240 of the day, it is high school football. Your number one job is 286 00:21:15.359 --> 00:21:22.839 not to win football games. And there are multiple resents that allowing these practices 287 00:21:23.319 --> 00:21:29.920 set a bad example for for the kids. And I feel like I'm turning 288 00:21:29.960 --> 00:21:33.079 into a Simpsons episode. Will someone please think of the children here? But 289 00:21:33.279 --> 00:21:37.559 you know, that's what the educational system is supposed to be about. And 290 00:21:38.640 --> 00:21:44.519 I have a problem when there's a lack of accountability at the end of the 291 00:21:44.599 --> 00:21:47.599 day when it comes to this. And I'm gonna leave it at that unless 292 00:21:47.599 --> 00:21:52.039 you guys have any other thoughts you want to add on there now, all 293 00:21:52.160 --> 00:21:56.160 right, so let's let's Michael, Let's let's talk about the Catholic League for 294 00:21:56.200 --> 00:21:57.759 a few minutes before we let you go and get Joe Stevenson on to talk 295 00:21:57.799 --> 00:22:03.079 about the Mckinnery County and Fox Valley Conference. We're now two thirds of the 296 00:22:03.079 --> 00:22:04.920 way through the regular season. We're heading into week seven here, this is 297 00:22:04.960 --> 00:22:11.240 a playoff push. What are you focused on this weekend? I am loving 298 00:22:11.400 --> 00:22:15.720 the CCL Blue c c L E SEC Orange crossover that we have this weekend. 299 00:22:17.319 --> 00:22:18.759 There are gonna be a lot of good games. I'm I'm going to 300 00:22:18.759 --> 00:22:22.920 be covering the Leo Ice Catholic game, which I'm very curious to see how 301 00:22:22.960 --> 00:22:26.519 that game goes. But you've got a lot of fun games this weekend. 302 00:22:26.519 --> 00:22:30.240 You've got Fenwick and Mount Carmel, you got Saint Rita taking on Saint Francis, 303 00:22:30.240 --> 00:22:34.880 and then you got Brother Rice and Nazareth. So that crossover, you 304 00:22:34.880 --> 00:22:37.720 know, I feel like most people will be like, well, the Blue 305 00:22:37.720 --> 00:22:41.240 and Green crossover is probably the best, But based on what we've seen so 306 00:22:41.359 --> 00:22:45.720 far this season, that Blue and Orange crossover that's going to take place over 307 00:22:45.839 --> 00:22:48.640 this weekend is really interesting and it's going to have a lot of fun matchups. 308 00:22:48.640 --> 00:22:52.720 I'm really curious to see whether any of those Orange teams are able to 309 00:22:53.640 --> 00:22:57.480 you know, pull off I guess, upset upset a Blue team and pick 310 00:22:57.559 --> 00:23:00.519 up a win this weekend. I'm gonna making narrow it down. What's your 311 00:23:00.559 --> 00:23:07.039 top matchup that you're looking forward to. I I am very curious to see 312 00:23:07.160 --> 00:23:14.319 what Loyola and Icy Catholic is this weekend, mostly because I know maybe Marisk 313 00:23:14.359 --> 00:23:17.880 you know, has some injuries and isn't playing too It's best ability this year, 314 00:23:17.920 --> 00:23:19.440 you know, at one and five, but you know, Icy Catholic 315 00:23:19.480 --> 00:23:22.880 was able to be bad team, and Icy Catholic has thirty three kids on 316 00:23:22.920 --> 00:23:26.599 its roster. Loyola has around one hundred, if not more. So I'm 317 00:23:26.720 --> 00:23:30.119 very curious to see. I was talking to Loyola coach Bo Deshuro this week 318 00:23:30.160 --> 00:23:33.759 and he was like, we're well aware that you know, they might have 319 00:23:33.799 --> 00:23:37.359 thirty three kids, but there's like kids are like power five kids, Like 320 00:23:37.359 --> 00:23:41.440 their skilled players are great, Their offensive and defensive line are really strong. 321 00:23:41.559 --> 00:23:45.400 So I'm very curious to see whether, you know, Icy Catholic can hang 322 00:23:45.480 --> 00:23:49.640 with Loyola. And I'm very curious to see whether Loyola's depth where their second 323 00:23:49.640 --> 00:23:53.200 and third string players you know, can come in and play like first stringers, 324 00:23:53.200 --> 00:23:56.519 where Icy Catholic is having to play both guys, you know, both 325 00:23:56.559 --> 00:24:00.960 ways. So I'm really curious to see how that mad goes and whether I 326 00:24:00.079 --> 00:24:03.640 see Catholic can break through and be one of the teams this year that actually 327 00:24:03.680 --> 00:24:07.119 puts up a lot of points on the defense for Loyal of that has been 328 00:24:07.160 --> 00:24:11.000 pretty elite this year. All right, Well, we're wrapping up our visit 329 00:24:11.000 --> 00:24:15.279 with Michael duo Jack, who covers the Chicago Catholic League for Friday Night Drive. 330 00:24:15.319 --> 00:24:18.559 You can follow him on Twitter at m duo Jack ninety four He's also 331 00:24:18.599 --> 00:24:26.519 on Instagram, Instagram and thread. Michael, what is you know the final 332 00:24:26.519 --> 00:24:30.039 third of the regular season here? I guess what's the biggest question you still 333 00:24:30.039 --> 00:24:33.559 have left that you're trying to figure out about, you know, maybe a 334 00:24:33.559 --> 00:24:37.920 particular team or player. The first part part of that question is I cannot 335 00:24:37.960 --> 00:24:41.279 wait for that loyal A Mount Carmel game. I just can't. I am 336 00:24:41.400 --> 00:24:45.440 very curious to see what happens there that once I saw the scores from the 337 00:24:45.480 --> 00:24:48.400 opening weekend, I was like, they need I am very curious to see 338 00:24:48.400 --> 00:24:52.039 what happens there. But just looking at it, I'm very curious to see, 339 00:24:52.440 --> 00:24:56.559 you know what, teams that you know, maybe haven't had this success 340 00:24:56.680 --> 00:25:00.240 recently, how are they able to kind of go into the final third here? 341 00:25:00.279 --> 00:25:03.480 Where you know, Saint Lawrence and Montini both come to mind, where 342 00:25:03.839 --> 00:25:07.319 you know now they are both playoff teams, But how are they able to 343 00:25:07.359 --> 00:25:08.359 do the last third of the season. Are they able to kind of get 344 00:25:08.400 --> 00:25:12.640 their seeds up as Juliet Kathlick and a Saint Ignacious? Are they able to 345 00:25:12.839 --> 00:25:18.480 you know, obviously pick up those last couple wins to qualify for the Postseason's 346 00:25:18.519 --> 00:25:22.319 brother Rice able to do that. So there are a lot of fun matchups 347 00:25:22.359 --> 00:25:26.319 as we're heading into the final stretch here of you know, this mega conference 348 00:25:26.400 --> 00:25:30.240 is insane and really, you know, you get your losses here pretty quickly. 349 00:25:30.279 --> 00:25:33.680 But I'm really curious to see whether, you know, are there any 350 00:25:33.720 --> 00:25:37.079 talented teams that you know, if they're in a different conference, they would 351 00:25:37.079 --> 00:25:41.079 have probably made the playoffs, but because they played in the CCL es CEC, 352 00:25:41.559 --> 00:25:44.160 they're probably not going to play at Number one is probably Nazareth. Is 353 00:25:44.240 --> 00:25:47.480 Nazareth is going to be able to pull this one off and up what they 354 00:25:47.480 --> 00:25:49.559 did last year. And you know, after I know and four started the 355 00:25:49.599 --> 00:25:53.720 season somehow make the playoffs here. All right, Well, thank you Michael 356 00:25:53.759 --> 00:25:56.279 for joining us this more and one more time. Everyone. You can follow 357 00:25:56.279 --> 00:26:00.920 Michael on Twitter at m Dwojack ninety four. We'll be right back after a 358 00:26:00.960 --> 00:26:04.160 quick commercial break. We're gonna have Joe Stevenson on to talk about the latest 359 00:26:04.160 --> 00:26:10.559 news out of McHenry County. This is State Representative Steve Reich, and I'm 360 00:26:10.559 --> 00:26:14.519 happy to sponsor this year's Friday Night Drive. There'll be plenty of time for 361 00:26:14.599 --> 00:26:18.400 politics down the road, but for now, let's enjoy some high school football, 362 00:26:18.759 --> 00:26:25.279 whichever school you follow, give him your support. Welcome back into the 363 00:26:25.279 --> 00:26:29.839 Friday Night Drive podcast and you can, of course make sure you subscribe but 364 00:26:29.960 --> 00:26:33.960 to our podcast. You can get it on Apple, iTunes, anywhere, 365 00:26:33.039 --> 00:26:37.200 Spotify, you get your podcasts nowadays. And we're we're gonna go ahead and 366 00:26:37.240 --> 00:26:41.559 bring in Joe Stevenson, who covers everything in McHenry County for Friday Night Drive. 367 00:26:41.960 --> 00:26:48.079 Joe, how's it going, sir? It's great, going great. 368 00:26:47.640 --> 00:26:49.400 You got to see a good one. You got to see a good one 369 00:26:49.440 --> 00:26:53.160 last Friday night between Mary and Central and Hope. Hope pulled out a twenty 370 00:26:53.240 --> 00:26:57.240 eight to twenty six win. Was What were your takeaways from that one? 371 00:26:57.359 --> 00:27:00.160 Well, yeah, it was a really good game, and uh and Hope 372 00:27:00.240 --> 00:27:04.920 is a very good one a football team, and and uh but I from 373 00:27:04.920 --> 00:27:10.279 Marion's Central's sake, I hope that that loss is not too costly. That's 374 00:27:10.480 --> 00:27:14.240 I felt like it was one. Uh And and like I say, Hope 375 00:27:14.319 --> 00:27:17.359 was very good. And I don't mean this is no disrespect at all the 376 00:27:17.400 --> 00:27:18.759 whole, but I think that's one that kind of got away from Mary and 377 00:27:18.839 --> 00:27:23.079 maryon definitely had some chances there to win that game. And you know, 378 00:27:23.119 --> 00:27:26.400 the Hurricanes have a lot of work to do here in the last three weeks 379 00:27:26.440 --> 00:27:32.079 to get two more victories and get into the two A playoffs, you know, 380 00:27:33.680 --> 00:27:36.759 And I say that, and you know, Marion still has a chance 381 00:27:37.440 --> 00:27:41.799 to win the conference too. If if Marion wins out, it would be 382 00:27:42.839 --> 00:27:47.960 five and one and and then share the conference title with Aurora Christian, which 383 00:27:47.960 --> 00:27:52.880 it plays Friday night. But yeah, Marion had had some chances. The 384 00:27:52.200 --> 00:27:56.359 one chance that I keep going thinking back to in the second quarter, third 385 00:27:56.400 --> 00:28:02.640 and goal on the three, snap goes over Cale mcphinney's head. He recovers 386 00:28:02.640 --> 00:28:07.680 it on the twenty five. It went all that all that way back and 387 00:28:07.680 --> 00:28:10.319 and I mean, gosh, you know, if you got two shots at 388 00:28:10.359 --> 00:28:14.960 the three, you figure you're gonna score, and and it's and it winds 389 00:28:15.079 --> 00:28:17.279 up as it's a two. They get nothing out of it, and then 390 00:28:17.279 --> 00:28:19.839 it winds up as a two point game. So you know, Marion had 391 00:28:19.880 --> 00:28:26.599 some chances, but it was a it was a really good game. Moving 392 00:28:26.640 --> 00:28:30.799 on, Morris and Richmond Burden met last week, and Morris really controlled it 393 00:28:30.839 --> 00:28:37.160 from the beginning to or SU's Joe, excuse me, were you surprised by 394 00:28:37.160 --> 00:28:41.480 the margin in that one a little bit. Yeah, you know, I 395 00:28:41.799 --> 00:28:47.559 kind of thought maybe Morris was a better team than the one I saw last 396 00:28:47.640 --> 00:28:52.680 year when Richmond kind of handed it to them, to them pretty well thirty 397 00:28:52.720 --> 00:28:56.000 one to seven, And yeah, this one kind of just looked like a 398 00:28:56.039 --> 00:29:00.440 reverse of that. All right, Joe, You've got a doubleheader this week. 399 00:29:00.759 --> 00:29:03.720 What you're looking at Friday and Saturday? I do. I think I 400 00:29:03.759 --> 00:29:07.720 got a couple of pretty good ones. I have Jacobs at Crystal Lake Central. 401 00:29:08.720 --> 00:29:14.200 Central's one four in a row and is looking pretty good right now. 402 00:29:14.240 --> 00:29:18.680 And then on Saturday a really fun game two five and one teams Huntley at 403 00:29:18.720 --> 00:29:22.480 Carry Grove. That's Carry Grove's homecoming. They always play on play that one 404 00:29:22.519 --> 00:29:26.720 on a Saturday. And so, yeah, I got a couple of good 405 00:29:26.720 --> 00:29:30.319 ones I think to look forward to. Chris Lake Central is the team that 406 00:29:30.359 --> 00:29:34.000 I was really looking at as being strong for the season, had that rough 407 00:29:34.039 --> 00:29:41.680 start with close losses to Huntley and Carry Grove, and then has won four 408 00:29:41.759 --> 00:29:47.559 in a row and actually has a ten quarter scoreless streak going into this game. 409 00:29:47.599 --> 00:29:51.880 But it gets a little tougher now because you know the competition the next 410 00:29:51.880 --> 00:29:55.720 couple of weeks for the Tigers is going to be really good with Jacobs and 411 00:29:55.920 --> 00:30:00.200 next week Prairie Ridge. Yeah, we're gonna find out the next couple week 412 00:30:00.279 --> 00:30:03.319 what exactly the Tigers are made of. Joe. Yeah, And that that 413 00:30:03.400 --> 00:30:07.680 offense has been has been playing really well on the defense, like I say, 414 00:30:07.759 --> 00:30:10.079 you know, ten quarters in a row without giving up a point is 415 00:30:10.440 --> 00:30:12.880 has been excellent, and so that they'll need to keep that up, you 416 00:30:12.880 --> 00:30:18.000 know Saturday, you know, both of those teams. What to me, 417 00:30:18.119 --> 00:30:22.400 when I look at the big picture on Saturday, what that game means is 418 00:30:22.160 --> 00:30:26.839 whoever wins that game still has a shot at at at a share of the 419 00:30:26.880 --> 00:30:33.240 title. I think because you know, if Crystal Lack Central were to to 420 00:30:33.400 --> 00:30:38.160 beat Prairie Ridge next week, you know, then whoever else has one loss 421 00:30:38.200 --> 00:30:42.319 could could still get a share of the title. And I you know, 422 00:30:42.319 --> 00:30:45.599 I think I think that that Central Prairie Ridge game should be a lot of 423 00:30:45.599 --> 00:30:52.279 fun next week. Prairi Ridge has played has played excellent on both sides. 424 00:30:52.720 --> 00:30:55.720 But you know, the thing about the thing that strikes me that game is 425 00:30:56.240 --> 00:31:00.880 the Wolves haven't seen a team that throws the ball as well as does all 426 00:31:00.960 --> 00:31:04.799 Right, make sure you followed Joe on Twitter at n w H underscore Joe 427 00:31:04.839 --> 00:31:07.440 Prepson. Of course, you can find all of joe work, all of 428 00:31:07.519 --> 00:31:12.519 Joe's work at Friday Night Drive dot com and at end of our Northwest Herald 429 00:31:12.559 --> 00:31:18.160 dot com. Joe, before we let you go, you're looking forward to 430 00:31:18.160 --> 00:31:22.000 some good fall weather. You're gonna rock the shorts this weekend. Still, 431 00:31:22.839 --> 00:31:26.839 the streak's gonna end tomorrow night. I'm afraid, I I it's I'm kind 432 00:31:26.839 --> 00:31:30.240 of sad, but you know I can't complain. You know, six weeks 433 00:31:30.240 --> 00:31:36.799 of the football season shorts. Uh, yeah, I won't complain about that. 434 00:31:36.960 --> 00:31:40.599 I think I might. I think it'll end Friday, but you know, 435 00:31:40.759 --> 00:31:45.319 Saturday, with the sun out, I might have to bust him back 436 00:31:45.359 --> 00:31:48.039 out. I'm sorry. All right, Well, thanks for jonah us Joe. 437 00:31:48.079 --> 00:31:51.480 Now everyone stick with us. We're gonna take a quick commercial break. 438 00:31:51.519 --> 00:31:53.640 We'll come back Susan and I to give you the best games to watch here 439 00:31:53.680 --> 00:32:00.400 this weekend. This is State Representative Steve Reich, and I'm happy to answer 440 00:32:00.440 --> 00:32:04.359 this year's Friday Night Drive. There'll be plenty of time for politics down the 441 00:32:04.440 --> 00:32:07.400 road, but for now, let's enjoy some high school football. Whichever school 442 00:32:07.440 --> 00:32:14.519 you follow. Give him your support. Welcome back to the Friday Night Drive 443 00:32:14.559 --> 00:32:19.680 podcast. Make sure you tune in on Friday evening for week seven of Live 444 00:32:19.720 --> 00:32:22.559 with Friday Night Drives. Steve Susie and Jake Barlson will be joining you from 445 00:32:22.599 --> 00:32:25.920 eight to eleven PM. Suso to be sticking with you after that for Live 446 00:32:25.920 --> 00:32:29.680 with Friday Night Drive After Dark, where he kind of starts taking his first 447 00:32:29.720 --> 00:32:34.079 look at the playoff picture and how the week is shaping up to impact that. 448 00:32:34.559 --> 00:32:39.799 Sus We got an interesting slate here last week was I mean, maybe 449 00:32:39.799 --> 00:32:45.519 the best slate of games we've had all year. I'd say this is a 450 00:32:45.559 --> 00:32:49.960 smaller, smaller grouping of what I would call elite games. But you know, 451 00:32:50.119 --> 00:32:52.720 these are the weeks that sometimes they start a little quiet, at least 452 00:32:52.759 --> 00:32:54.960 you expect them to be quiet, and then at the end of the night 453 00:32:55.000 --> 00:32:59.319 you're sitting there with your hair on fire. Well, I think one of 454 00:32:59.319 --> 00:33:01.440 the more interesting things that I kind of unearthed when I was looking at this 455 00:33:01.519 --> 00:33:07.319 week's games of schedules. You know, I agree there there aren't a lot 456 00:33:07.319 --> 00:33:09.559 of games that like you're setting off the alarm bells and going, boy, 457 00:33:09.599 --> 00:33:14.599 that's going to be you know, an eye Popper right there. But the 458 00:33:14.640 --> 00:33:17.279 one thing that really stood out to me is is right now, we've got 459 00:33:17.599 --> 00:33:22.240 two hundred and five teams in the state of Illinois that are above five hundred, 460 00:33:22.480 --> 00:33:28.240 eighty six of them this week are playing another team that is above five 461 00:33:28.359 --> 00:33:32.000 hundred. That's an extraordinarily high percentage. So while it doesn't look like, 462 00:33:32.799 --> 00:33:36.440 you know, we have a lot of we have no six and oh games 463 00:33:36.480 --> 00:33:38.359 against another six and oh. There's not a single one in the entire state 464 00:33:38.400 --> 00:33:42.640 this week, which is really unique. But what we do have is a 465 00:33:42.640 --> 00:33:46.319 lot of games that I think are going to separate a team from upper tier 466 00:33:46.799 --> 00:33:50.799 to kind of middle tier. You got a five and one and a four 467 00:33:50.839 --> 00:33:52.839 and two playing one another, a four and two and another four and two 468 00:33:52.839 --> 00:33:58.640 playing one another where the winner of that game kind of moves into the you 469 00:33:58.640 --> 00:34:01.799 know, the upper group, while the loser drops down into that middle group. 470 00:34:01.880 --> 00:34:06.039 And there are just a whole bunch of those types of games. They're 471 00:34:06.079 --> 00:34:08.840 not flashy, and they don't really look like you know that you know, 472 00:34:08.880 --> 00:34:13.519 they're gonna be games that cause a lot of theatrics and excitement, but what 473 00:34:13.559 --> 00:34:20.000 they do a lot of in this situation is really shape who's going to be 474 00:34:20.079 --> 00:34:23.400 in the playoff field in three weeks because some of those teams that lose those 475 00:34:23.480 --> 00:34:29.559 games are getting into real precarious situations, and then the ones that win it 476 00:34:29.960 --> 00:34:34.559 have either locked in a playoff spot or have come really really close to doing 477 00:34:34.599 --> 00:34:37.280 so. And that's, you know, we start to get a lot more 478 00:34:37.320 --> 00:34:43.039 clarity from a week like this than we would say when we've got twenty five 479 00:34:43.159 --> 00:34:46.039 really big, you know, big loud games and a whole bunch of games 480 00:34:46.039 --> 00:34:51.599 that you know, maybe don't mean all that much. So sometimes this this 481 00:34:51.719 --> 00:34:54.960 kind of week can be more defining than a week like we had last week. 482 00:34:55.800 --> 00:35:01.000 We already talk Huntley Kerry Grove that Saturday matin a with Joe Stevenson. 483 00:35:01.119 --> 00:35:05.119 So let's let's you know, the first game that popped out to me. 484 00:35:05.920 --> 00:35:09.159 I love when Wilmington and Cole City played later in the year, when these 485 00:35:09.199 --> 00:35:13.920 two teams really have kind of fine tuned what they are for that season, 486 00:35:14.400 --> 00:35:16.039 we get a match up here at five and one. They both lost their 487 00:35:16.079 --> 00:35:21.519 season openers, and I'll be kind of honest, so since then I I 488 00:35:21.719 --> 00:35:24.000 kind of forgot about them, And now here they sit here, sitting at 489 00:35:24.039 --> 00:35:27.320 five and one, and I'm like, oh man, that's a matchup I'd 490 00:35:27.320 --> 00:35:30.559 like to see this week. Yeah, you know, longtime rivals. It's 491 00:35:30.559 --> 00:35:35.599 one of those games that you know, anybody who's played in that series will 492 00:35:35.599 --> 00:35:38.960 still tell you about, you know, how their game went. They're probably 493 00:35:39.079 --> 00:35:44.559 still sore, they're still so yeah okay, twenty or thirty years ago that 494 00:35:44.679 --> 00:35:47.119 they tell you all the details and break it all down for you. It's 495 00:35:47.440 --> 00:35:52.280 it means a lot to both of those communities. They're not separated by very 496 00:35:52.320 --> 00:35:54.440 far on the map. You can get easily get from one to the other 497 00:35:54.480 --> 00:35:59.079 in about ten minutes. That's, you know, really what it comes down 498 00:35:59.159 --> 00:36:02.760 to. Both these community know each other really well. Both the programs have 499 00:36:02.800 --> 00:36:07.239 a lot of respect for one another, and they play the football game that 500 00:36:07.320 --> 00:36:09.719 way. It will be I would guestimate that this will be one of the 501 00:36:09.719 --> 00:36:15.559 faster games played in Week six. Neither one of the two teams are all 502 00:36:15.599 --> 00:36:19.880 that interested in moving the ball through the air stopping the clock. They will 503 00:36:19.920 --> 00:36:22.760 try to run it as much as they both can so you know, and 504 00:36:22.840 --> 00:36:28.239 both have really potent ground games. Close city with Landon Benson, Wilmington, 505 00:36:28.360 --> 00:36:34.920 Kyle Ferrell. I mean, they're very talented running football teams that play hard 506 00:36:35.000 --> 00:36:37.599 nosed defense on both sides. It's been that way. I mean, I 507 00:36:37.639 --> 00:36:42.920 did a little historical look up. Somebody was somebody was asking me about the 508 00:36:42.960 --> 00:36:46.599 series last night. The series started in nineteen seventy eight. They've pretty much 509 00:36:46.599 --> 00:36:52.519 played annually every year since, and you can count on one hand the amount 510 00:36:52.559 --> 00:36:58.400 of times that these games were high scoring, wide gap between the two of 511 00:36:58.440 --> 00:37:01.239 them. These games are what they are. It'll probably be a twenty one 512 00:37:01.280 --> 00:37:07.519 to fourteen game or something along those lines when the dust clears after Friday night. 513 00:37:07.000 --> 00:37:10.360 Yeah, absolutely agree. All right, so so let's go over. 514 00:37:10.679 --> 00:37:14.920 Let's talk to Saint Rita, which goes to Whedon Saint Francis. This week, 515 00:37:14.920 --> 00:37:19.039 we in Saint Francis would back to back come from behind wins. We 516 00:37:19.039 --> 00:37:23.719 weren't sure how the Spartane would handle the Catholic League. Coming off a nice 517 00:37:23.760 --> 00:37:28.559 win obviously last week against Icy Catholic. Do you think they're gonna they can 518 00:37:28.599 --> 00:37:31.480 do it again here against Saint Rita. You know you asked me this question 519 00:37:31.519 --> 00:37:35.400 a couple of weeks ago. I would have said, I don't like their 520 00:37:35.440 --> 00:37:39.119 odds, but they have certainly shown a propensity to hang in there in these 521 00:37:39.199 --> 00:37:45.119 games. When I looked at wheat in Saint Francis's schedule at the beginning of 522 00:37:45.199 --> 00:37:50.639 the year, I was like, man, that is probably simply put too 523 00:37:50.719 --> 00:37:53.639 tough on paper for them to get where they need to go. But they're 524 00:37:53.639 --> 00:37:59.559 in much better shape now. They've been highly competitive and pulled off wins in 525 00:37:59.599 --> 00:38:02.079 the last couple of weeks when on paper it looked like they might have trouble 526 00:38:02.119 --> 00:38:08.039 doing so. So I'm done discounting them and their possibilities. For them. 527 00:38:08.800 --> 00:38:13.159 I will give them. I think there's still the underdog in this game, 528 00:38:13.559 --> 00:38:16.559 but I will give them a puncher's chance to figure out a way to win 529 00:38:16.599 --> 00:38:20.800 this game. Because if you would have put me on the spot the last 530 00:38:20.840 --> 00:38:23.320 two weeks, I don't I would have picked against them in both of those 531 00:38:23.320 --> 00:38:29.159 games. So you know, they they really have shown a knack for figuring 532 00:38:29.199 --> 00:38:31.880 out how to get things done in the league. Credit to them. They 533 00:38:32.079 --> 00:38:37.039 they should be. They'll be all right either way. I think after this 534 00:38:37.199 --> 00:38:39.320 game, you know, if it doesn't go their way, I still think 535 00:38:39.360 --> 00:38:43.400 they're going to find their way to the playoffs, which I wasn't so sure 536 00:38:43.400 --> 00:38:47.400 of. You know, as recently as two or three weeks ago, you 537 00:38:47.440 --> 00:38:51.639 know, teams that we weren't sure would be in the playoffs that are way 538 00:38:52.320 --> 00:38:55.719 you know, exceeding expectations. Bradley Bourbone at Lincoln Way West, both of 539 00:38:55.760 --> 00:38:59.920 these teams at five and one, you know, I thought these were both 540 00:39:00.400 --> 00:39:01.800 that had a chance to maybe get to that five win mark and go, 541 00:39:01.960 --> 00:39:05.679 you know, five and four sneak into the back of the playoffs. But 542 00:39:05.760 --> 00:39:08.400 you're talking to team there now, you know, with the potential at the 543 00:39:08.440 --> 00:39:13.159 end of the day to be seven eight win teams. Yeah, it's it's 544 00:39:13.239 --> 00:39:16.320 really been interesting to see both of the past that these two teams have taken. 545 00:39:17.039 --> 00:39:21.679 You know, Bradley's loan losses to Lincoln Way East, I mean you 546 00:39:21.719 --> 00:39:25.000 can't you can't discredit him for that. Almost no one seems to find a 547 00:39:25.000 --> 00:39:29.400 way to get past Lincoln Way East in the regular season, and Bradley has 548 00:39:29.440 --> 00:39:34.239 done some really nice things against some of the upper echelon teams in this league. 549 00:39:34.360 --> 00:39:37.480 So they've set themselves up for an interesting game here with Lincoln Way West. 550 00:39:37.599 --> 00:39:43.000 That to be honest, back in Week three when they lost, they 551 00:39:43.039 --> 00:39:49.760 lost cole crafton They're expected starting quarterback for the remainder of the season. I 552 00:39:49.840 --> 00:39:52.000 didn't really know how they would respond to that, and it seems like, 553 00:39:52.280 --> 00:39:55.719 you know, I don't want to say they neat crafton because I'm sure they'd 554 00:39:55.800 --> 00:40:00.239 like to have him, but they have made a seamless transition to the backup 555 00:40:00.320 --> 00:40:05.840 Chase Helstitch and and he's done a really nice job of guiding this offense. 556 00:40:05.880 --> 00:40:09.039 They're playing really good defense. You know, if you would have told me 557 00:40:09.079 --> 00:40:14.000 Lincoln Way West would be five and one at this stage after what they've gone 558 00:40:14.079 --> 00:40:17.039 through, I would have looked at you funny. But they have really done 559 00:40:17.119 --> 00:40:23.440 a nice job of doing what they do and not getting kind of caught up 560 00:40:23.519 --> 00:40:28.559 and trying to, you know, match what the other team is throwing at 561 00:40:28.599 --> 00:40:32.039 them. You know, that win over Lincolnway Central early in the year a 562 00:40:32.079 --> 00:40:37.400 good indicator of this team being able to just kind of, you know, 563 00:40:37.199 --> 00:40:42.159 just plow forward and get the job done with whatever personnel that they have. 564 00:40:42.920 --> 00:40:45.800 They've done a really nice job this season. Definitely, if I had to 565 00:40:45.800 --> 00:40:47.679 make a list of teams that I have been really surprised by this year, 566 00:40:47.719 --> 00:40:52.960 Lincoln Way West would be on it. I want to hit the Glenbard West 567 00:40:53.039 --> 00:41:00.719 aw York game. This feels like to me, SEUs I've this is this 568 00:41:00.760 --> 00:41:04.079 is upset city coming in here. And I'm not I'm not exactly calling the 569 00:41:04.199 --> 00:41:07.159 upset, but I feel like this is a major trap game for York. 570 00:41:07.519 --> 00:41:12.000 York is coming off a big win over Donners Grove North. Uh to get 571 00:41:12.000 --> 00:41:15.000 to six and oh they have Lions next week, another tough matchup. Glenbard 572 00:41:15.079 --> 00:41:20.679 West getting healthier, has now won three straight here. Uh, they go 573 00:41:20.760 --> 00:41:24.400 to York. Listen, the Dukes are the favorite. I just I'm getting 574 00:41:24.400 --> 00:41:28.400 a vibe. You know, I can see that. I mean, this 575 00:41:28.519 --> 00:41:32.320 is definitely a complete role reversal from what we're used to in this series. 576 00:41:32.400 --> 00:41:37.119 It has been kind of uh, you know, it has been for years 577 00:41:37.159 --> 00:41:42.199 prior to last year, of course, where Glenbard West was the was the 578 00:41:42.239 --> 00:41:45.079 top dog, and York was trying to nip at their heels and maybe figure 579 00:41:45.119 --> 00:41:50.079 out a way to pick off a win in that series. They'd get close, 580 00:41:50.159 --> 00:41:53.440 they'd get denied. And now, you know, now the now things 581 00:41:53.480 --> 00:41:57.719 have changed. I mean, now York is York is in that position, 582 00:41:58.320 --> 00:42:02.000 and you know, it's funny to see some times how teams respond to you 583 00:42:02.039 --> 00:42:07.400 know, that situation. Now they're York is no longer the uh, you 584 00:42:07.440 --> 00:42:12.639 know, the little underdog trying to snap snap away at Glenbard West and get 585 00:42:12.920 --> 00:42:15.840 you know, get a little bit of respect. Now they're the team that 586 00:42:15.000 --> 00:42:21.199 is in that role. So I can see what you're saying. I would 587 00:42:21.199 --> 00:42:25.760 be surprised if Glenbard West won the game, but not not stunned, I'll 588 00:42:25.800 --> 00:42:29.519 put it that way. I wouldn't I wouldn't fall off my chair if that 589 00:42:29.679 --> 00:42:34.079 happened. But I still think York is the favorite here and and their body 590 00:42:34.119 --> 00:42:40.400 of work this year shows that they they are not too prone to taking their 591 00:42:40.440 --> 00:42:45.039 eye off the ball, if you will. They they've seem pretty laser focused 592 00:42:45.039 --> 00:42:50.519 when they've when they've run into these opponents that are of quality. Absolutely all 593 00:42:50.599 --> 00:42:53.159 right, zeus uh before we get out of here, uh, I want 594 00:42:53.159 --> 00:42:58.559 a little intel on this Kenwood versus Morgan Park match up here. An interesting 595 00:42:58.639 --> 00:43:02.440 intriguing game in Chicago Public League. Yeah, it's It's one of those games 596 00:43:02.440 --> 00:43:07.079 where you look at kind of the Public League schedule in general this year. 597 00:43:07.639 --> 00:43:12.679 I think these are the two most prominent teams in the Public League this season. 598 00:43:13.480 --> 00:43:19.360 Kenwood has a lot of that flashy division one type of talent that you 599 00:43:19.400 --> 00:43:23.800 know, draws a lot of attention, but there's always been questions about whether 600 00:43:23.840 --> 00:43:29.039 or not they can put it all together in games like this. Morgan Park 601 00:43:29.400 --> 00:43:34.639 over the last three to four years has become kind of that quiet assassin in 602 00:43:34.679 --> 00:43:37.599 the Public League. They they are going into games, you know, with 603 00:43:37.960 --> 00:43:43.719 people expect good things from them. But this is a really solid, deep 604 00:43:43.800 --> 00:43:49.000 football team led by Tyshawn Griffin. You know, he's going to Illinois. 605 00:43:47.760 --> 00:43:53.239 He's just kind of a utility knife does everything for the Mustangs. But it's 606 00:43:53.639 --> 00:43:58.480 it's a fun game in the sense that you know, these two programs are 607 00:43:58.480 --> 00:44:04.320 trying to prove that they're capable of doing damage outside of the Public League. 608 00:44:04.599 --> 00:44:07.599 Morgan Park gave Mount Carmel a pretty good game in the non conference schedule. 609 00:44:08.440 --> 00:44:13.519 Ken Woods scheduled up as well, didn't have any success in terms of the 610 00:44:13.559 --> 00:44:16.639 win column, lost pretty handily to Lincoln Way East. So both of these 611 00:44:16.639 --> 00:44:22.440 two teams are probably trying to focus on what happens a little bit farther down 612 00:44:22.480 --> 00:44:28.639 the line in the postseason. But definitely this is a battle for Chicago Public 613 00:44:28.719 --> 00:44:31.880 League supremacy this year. These are the two teams that I think are the 614 00:44:31.920 --> 00:44:37.599 best of the bunch for them. You can follow seuss on Twitter at the 615 00:44:37.639 --> 00:44:39.800 SEUs. You can find myself on Twitter at Kyle Neighbors. You can also 616 00:44:39.800 --> 00:44:43.719 find Friday Night Drive on there at f and Drive. Friday Night Drive is 617 00:44:43.760 --> 00:44:46.639 also on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok to search for Friday Night Drive. 618 00:44:46.719 --> 00:44:52.800 Also make sure you go to Friday Nightdrive dot com for seus's updated playoff projection, 619 00:44:52.920 --> 00:44:55.679 our power rankings, all of our content throughout the week. SEUs Before 620 00:44:55.719 --> 00:44:58.760 we get out of here, give us some final thoughts that we head into 621 00:44:58.760 --> 00:45:01.760 week seven. You know, Week seven, we were talking about it before. 622 00:45:02.159 --> 00:45:06.760 It just looks like a solid week, and I think we're gonna find 623 00:45:06.800 --> 00:45:13.960 out a lot of things about maybe the second tier of teams below the you 624 00:45:14.000 --> 00:45:16.039 know, the top twenty five teams that we seem to be talking about all 625 00:45:16.079 --> 00:45:21.000 the time. There might be an opportunity for some of those teams to pick 626 00:45:21.079 --> 00:45:24.320 up a statement winner to this weekend where you have, you know, a 627 00:45:24.360 --> 00:45:29.280 team that you're not really talking about that much kind of raises your eyebrow with 628 00:45:29.320 --> 00:45:30.800 one of the results. So there are a lot of games that give that 629 00:45:30.880 --> 00:45:35.280 opportunity, and I'm interested to see how it all shakes out. All right, 630 00:45:35.320 --> 00:45:37.400 everyone, make sure you tune in Friday Night from eight to eleven PM 631 00:45:37.480 --> 00:45:42.039 for Live with Lyve with Friday Night Drive, and then stick around to join 632 00:45:42.480 --> 00:45:45.400 Steve Susie afterward for Live with Friday Night Drive after dark. We're gonna get 633 00:45:45.400 --> 00:45:49.239 out of here though, everyone enjoy a good week in high school football. 634 00:45:49.239 --> 00:45:53.920 Will be back with you next week to wrap up Week seven. Schwiker Gannison, 635 00:45:53.960 --> 00:45:58.880 Krazak Rundio Bradley sponsors for Friday Night Drive. I Mike Krizak. If 636 00:45:58.880 --> 00:46:01.039 you've been injured, where read to take on the insurance company and get you 637 00:46:01.119 --> 00:46:05.559 to the end zone. We've recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for our clients. 638 00:46:05.800 --> 00:46:08.079 Visit G A N A S S I N dot com