WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:04.599 Schwiker, Gnison Krizak Rundio Bradley sponsors for Friday Night Drive. I'm Mike Krizak. 2 00:00:04.759 --> 00:00:07.599 If you've been injured, we are ready to take on the insurance company 3 00:00:07.639 --> 00:00:10.839 and get you to the end zone. We've recovered hundreds of millions of dollars 4 00:00:10.919 --> 00:00:22.199 for our clients. Visit g A N A SSI N dot com. What's 5 00:00:22.280 --> 00:00:26.120 up everyone, Welcome back to the Friday Night Drive podcast. I am Kyle 6 00:00:26.199 --> 00:00:31.120 Neighbors and we have made it to the bittersweet final weekend of the high school 7 00:00:31.160 --> 00:00:36.280 football season. State championships are just a little more, well, no, 8 00:00:36.359 --> 00:00:39.520 not a little more. It is now forty eight hours less than forty eight 9 00:00:39.560 --> 00:00:43.399 hours away. Here it is Wednesday morning, November twenty second. Suits, 10 00:00:43.439 --> 00:00:46.840 how you do it? That's too bad? Getting ready for you know what? 11 00:00:46.880 --> 00:00:50.280 I expect to be a pretty exciting state finals weekend. Yeah, it 12 00:00:51.320 --> 00:00:54.600 is looking like a good slate of games down in Normal will be there for 13 00:00:54.640 --> 00:00:58.880 the first time in a long time, Illinois State University hosting the state championship 14 00:00:58.960 --> 00:01:03.200 game after being at Champagne and Northern Illinois for the last decade plus and Champagne 15 00:01:03.200 --> 00:01:07.599 for a long time before that. Suits, What are you expecting this weekend 16 00:01:07.599 --> 00:01:12.159 in normal in terms of atmosphere, just how things they're gonna go. You 17 00:01:12.200 --> 00:01:15.439 know, it will be interesting to find all those answers out. You know, 18 00:01:15.560 --> 00:01:19.200 got kind of a little bit of a sneak preview back in Week one 19 00:01:19.840 --> 00:01:23.040 when I went to see Et Saint Louis and Mount Carmel play. Obviously, 20 00:01:23.280 --> 00:01:27.599 you know, expecting bigger crowds, but there was a pretty good crowd in 21 00:01:27.760 --> 00:01:33.480 that Week one matchup between those two powerhouses, and you know, it felt 22 00:01:33.519 --> 00:01:37.159 cozy. It felt like if the you know, the stands were filled on 23 00:01:37.200 --> 00:01:40.319 both sides, you could get a lot of a noise and energy in that 24 00:01:40.400 --> 00:01:44.120 place. And I'm interested to see if that comes to fruition. We've talked 25 00:01:44.159 --> 00:01:48.120 about this a lot before, you know, for you know all that you 26 00:01:48.159 --> 00:01:51.359 know that Champagne brought to the table. One thing that they could never get 27 00:01:51.400 --> 00:01:56.680 past was the fact that you really couldn't create an environment where it felt like, 28 00:01:56.760 --> 00:02:00.040 you know, there are lots of fans in the place, and it 29 00:02:01.439 --> 00:02:06.040 there wasn't a lot of electricity you know that you would hope to have for 30 00:02:06.120 --> 00:02:08.719 a state final. You know, I love the facility, but it's just 31 00:02:09.159 --> 00:02:15.719 for this particular event. I think we might have found the sweet spot here. 32 00:02:15.960 --> 00:02:20.280 It's interesting to see if we have Zach checking in with us this morning 33 00:02:20.319 --> 00:02:22.639 live. He says, Hey, Stephen Kyle, I just wanted to wish 34 00:02:22.719 --> 00:02:24.879 you guys a happy Thanksgiving, save travels, and a wonderful week and of 35 00:02:24.879 --> 00:02:28.319 football ahead of us. Thank you for all your hard work this year. 36 00:02:28.360 --> 00:02:31.680 Thanks Zach. Everyone. If you're watching live with us this morning on Facebook 37 00:02:31.719 --> 00:02:35.240 or YouTube, please do jump into the comments. We'd love to hear from 38 00:02:35.240 --> 00:02:38.520 you. Answer your questions here. Of course, follow us on Twitter or 39 00:02:38.599 --> 00:02:44.080 at Kyle Neighbors at the SEUs. You can find us of our Friday Night 40 00:02:44.159 --> 00:02:47.400 Drive account at ben Drive. Also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and 41 00:02:47.560 --> 00:02:53.719 TikTok as well. Give this video a thumbs up. Subscribe to our YouTube 42 00:02:53.759 --> 00:02:58.680 channel. We're live with you guys throughout this season now SEUs, we got 43 00:02:58.719 --> 00:03:00.879 Michael Dwojack going to be joining us here who covers the Catholic League and the 44 00:03:01.000 --> 00:03:05.520 suburban Catholic Confidence for us in a little bit. But we're gonna start and 45 00:03:05.520 --> 00:03:07.639 work our way up from one A all the way up to Class A A 46 00:03:08.159 --> 00:03:10.800 H and then that one Class one A title game. Here we get a 47 00:03:10.800 --> 00:03:15.319 rematch between Lena Winslow and Camp Points Central. What are your first thoughts when 48 00:03:15.360 --> 00:03:20.199 we got this matchup again. You know, when we got the master up 49 00:03:20.240 --> 00:03:23.840 again, you immediately kind of went back to last year's game and thought about 50 00:03:23.879 --> 00:03:29.360 what the differences were between the two teams and how that might a just heading 51 00:03:29.360 --> 00:03:32.240 into this game. You know, I just and I really don't have a 52 00:03:32.240 --> 00:03:37.479 lot of statistical justification for this, but my gut feelings is that we're gonna 53 00:03:37.479 --> 00:03:43.479 get a different game this time. I just think that Camp Point Central will 54 00:03:43.599 --> 00:03:46.800 we'll give it a little bit better of a swing. It never seemed it 55 00:03:46.960 --> 00:03:50.479 able to find their putting in that last year's game if you went back and 56 00:03:50.520 --> 00:03:53.439 looked at it, and I did earlier this week, weren't able to sustain 57 00:03:53.719 --> 00:04:00.080 a drive of basically longer than three minutes of game time the fourth quarter. 58 00:04:00.599 --> 00:04:05.879 And you know that's not everything, but against Lena, you have to be 59 00:04:05.960 --> 00:04:10.240 able to keep football for a little while. I mean, you got to 60 00:04:10.319 --> 00:04:15.000 keep it away from home a little bit, sustain some drives and kind of, 61 00:04:15.039 --> 00:04:17.680 you know, maybe try to get them out of what they're most comfortable 62 00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:21.839 doing. And Camp was never able to do that last year. But for 63 00:04:21.920 --> 00:04:27.319 some reason, I think this team has a little bit different juice to it. 64 00:04:27.439 --> 00:04:31.480 That is, Camp Point Central has been extremely impressive getting out of the 65 00:04:31.600 --> 00:04:36.639 box in the postseason. Has jumped out to substantial leagues in pretty much every 66 00:04:36.639 --> 00:04:40.639 one of their games. And I'm talking about like a first half lead. 67 00:04:40.879 --> 00:04:45.319 I'm talking about like the first five minutes. So I think if they could 68 00:04:45.560 --> 00:04:48.800 establish themselves early on in the game, get themselves comfortable, I think we 69 00:04:48.879 --> 00:04:54.560 might have a better game on our hands here. Darn check it in this 70 00:04:54.639 --> 00:04:57.839 Morning says the only way you can beat in a winslow is with the pass 71 00:04:57.879 --> 00:05:00.600 and a good defense to stop the run. Rocker Luther and expose them in 72 00:05:00.639 --> 00:05:03.240 their playoff game, and Chicago Hope exposed them even more. I was looking 73 00:05:03.279 --> 00:05:08.959 through Camp Point Central statistics. A really run heavy team got two running backs 74 00:05:09.240 --> 00:05:12.399 at about or two guys with should say running back, two guys at about 75 00:05:12.399 --> 00:05:15.959 a thousand yards each. Most of their touchdowns there the starting quarterback there, 76 00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:17.720 I don't have the name in front of me, so I don't want to 77 00:05:17.720 --> 00:05:20.319 get it wrong, but only about less than fifty past at ten I wanted 78 00:05:20.360 --> 00:05:24.720 to say it was seven touchdowns, so they're not a past heavy team. 79 00:05:24.759 --> 00:05:27.600 But do you think Campoint Central can maybe go to the air a little bit 80 00:05:27.600 --> 00:05:33.120 more after what you saw Chicago hope do to try in and chain that script 81 00:05:33.160 --> 00:05:36.680 from last year? You know, I think when you get to this situation, 82 00:05:36.759 --> 00:05:41.480 yeah, I understand what's being said here, but you have to be 83 00:05:41.519 --> 00:05:46.439 careful to not try to deviate too much from what you actually are. Yeah. 84 00:05:46.519 --> 00:05:51.120 Maybe they maybe they maybe I might sprinkle a little bit more in and 85 00:05:51.199 --> 00:05:55.279 you know, try to try to utilize that maybe a little more than they 86 00:05:55.319 --> 00:05:58.680 have. But like I said, you have to be really careful to go, 87 00:05:58.720 --> 00:06:00.240 well, wait a minute, these guys are susceptible to the past. 88 00:06:00.839 --> 00:06:04.040 We've only we've thrown less than fifty passes all year, But we think we 89 00:06:04.079 --> 00:06:11.680 can yeah yeah, particularly yeah, particularly a small school level like where one 90 00:06:11.720 --> 00:06:14.879 a tow A. You don't have huge drops like these kids probably haven't practiced 91 00:06:15.040 --> 00:06:18.319 like the passing game much all season long. We're now we're fourteen weeks into 92 00:06:18.360 --> 00:06:23.120 the regular season here. These kids have been going since early August. All 93 00:06:23.160 --> 00:06:27.519 the seven seven on seven would probably last time if Camp Point In Central participated 94 00:06:27.560 --> 00:06:30.519 in any of those over the summer, like they really focused on a passing 95 00:06:30.560 --> 00:06:34.800 game so while yeah, there's a possibility to take a few shots, I 96 00:06:34.800 --> 00:06:39.160 wouldn't think that they're gonna have to. I wouldn't expect there to be a 97 00:06:39.199 --> 00:06:42.279 lot of passing in this game, Suits, and you were saying, yeah, 98 00:06:42.360 --> 00:06:45.399 I wouldn't either, you know. Like I said, I think the 99 00:06:45.560 --> 00:06:47.319 Camp Point Central's focus is going to be. Hey, like we didn't put 100 00:06:47.360 --> 00:06:53.759 our best foot forward last year. Let's let's concentrate on what we need to 101 00:06:53.800 --> 00:06:58.959 do to execute what we do instead of trying to, you know, fit 102 00:06:59.040 --> 00:07:02.839 that proverbials square peg into the round hole just to try to, you know, 103 00:07:03.040 --> 00:07:08.399 exploit what Lenham might not be good at. Do what you do well, 104 00:07:08.560 --> 00:07:11.439 and if that's not good enough, it's not good enough. But you 105 00:07:11.439 --> 00:07:15.279 know, trying to alter in a grandiose way for you know, one football 106 00:07:15.319 --> 00:07:21.040 game doesn't ever seem to work out very well. Bears Bears Insider Podcast checking 107 00:07:21.040 --> 00:07:24.519 in here, Rick, This is Happy Thanksgiving, Kyle. See you Tuesday 108 00:07:24.519 --> 00:07:28.800 morning for another Bears catastrophic loss. Be well, Suis. I'll tell you 109 00:07:28.839 --> 00:07:32.279 what I did a fist pup. I completely forgot that the Bears didn't play 110 00:07:32.319 --> 00:07:38.839 until Monday night this week. And while I love State football, I think 111 00:07:38.839 --> 00:07:41.920 both of us full agree, like you are absolutely getting dead, Like we're 112 00:07:41.920 --> 00:07:45.079 both dead on Sunday, so not having to worry about a Bears game. 113 00:07:45.160 --> 00:07:47.360 I yes, so yes, Rick, we will be back with you on 114 00:07:47.399 --> 00:07:51.920 Tuesday morning and talk about Bears losing to Minnesota. I'm taking this off track 115 00:07:51.959 --> 00:07:55.839 a little bit right here, but has there ever been a team where the 116 00:07:55.959 --> 00:08:01.759 worst winning percentage that has more national profile games where they're the only option to 117 00:08:01.800 --> 00:08:05.920 watch football? I mean, it seems like the Bears are on a Thursday 118 00:08:05.000 --> 00:08:09.439 night or a Monday night or Sunday night like half of the season, and 119 00:08:09.480 --> 00:08:13.079 it's incredible considering the quality of the product. I just it blows my mind. 120 00:08:13.079 --> 00:08:16.680 Who made that? Well, you know it is a good sitcom, 121 00:08:16.720 --> 00:08:20.040 So you got that going for you? I guess yeah, I suppose. 122 00:08:22.360 --> 00:08:24.399 All right, let's go to two way. We've got Wilmington and Athens here 123 00:08:24.480 --> 00:08:30.759 and Seuss. I don't really know how to say this other than the fact 124 00:08:30.759 --> 00:08:33.000 that I come into this game thinking Wilmington. When you look at the competitive 125 00:08:33.039 --> 00:08:41.240 results results, Wilmington handles morea forsythe handily Morrows Foresyde beat Athens earlier this season. 126 00:08:41.240 --> 00:08:43.559 Wilmington just playing really well, right, now I have the Wildcats are 127 00:08:43.559 --> 00:08:48.200 a fairly substantial favorite in this game. I don't think that's off base, 128 00:08:48.240 --> 00:08:52.120 but I think you have to be really, really careful to look at that 129 00:08:52.679 --> 00:08:58.879 Wilmington MOREA of Forestide game and say Wilmington's five touchdowns better than morea of Wareside. 130 00:09:00.399 --> 00:09:03.559 I think that really Wilmington won that game, and they deserve to win 131 00:09:03.600 --> 00:09:07.840 that game. And I think if they played multiple times, Wilmington would probably 132 00:09:07.879 --> 00:09:13.720 win more often than not. But I think that's a classic example of a 133 00:09:13.759 --> 00:09:16.679 snowball game. And what I what I mean by what I say there is, 134 00:09:18.120 --> 00:09:20.759 you know, one mistake snowballed into another mistake, and then it snowballed 135 00:09:20.759 --> 00:09:26.440 into another mistake, and then all of a sudden, Moroa is in complete 136 00:09:26.519 --> 00:09:30.519 chase mode, where Wilmington has a pretty good idea of what they're going to 137 00:09:30.559 --> 00:09:33.759 be doing pretty much all the time. So that that football game did not 138 00:09:33.799 --> 00:09:37.039 materialize in the way that I thought it would. I was a little bit 139 00:09:37.080 --> 00:09:39.799 more confident that I know you were, and I'm not trying to you know, 140 00:09:41.480 --> 00:09:45.000 score points here that no un on me I deserve. Yeah, that 141 00:09:45.360 --> 00:09:48.600 Wilmington would win that football game. I did think they would win it coming 142 00:09:48.600 --> 00:09:52.480 in, but I did not expect them to win in the fashion that they 143 00:09:52.480 --> 00:09:56.440 did. I expected Wilmington to struggle a lot more in the secondary against Moroa 144 00:09:56.480 --> 00:10:00.879 than they did. They stepped up big, they answered the bell, you 145 00:10:00.919 --> 00:10:03.440 know. But for this game, I think it really comes down to execution. 146 00:10:03.639 --> 00:10:09.559 They both like to do similar things. I do think Wilmington is the 147 00:10:09.639 --> 00:10:13.639 favorite in this game, but I'm not convinced it's going to be a runaway. 148 00:10:13.720 --> 00:10:18.080 Like I seem to think a lot of people do. Athan's can do 149 00:10:18.120 --> 00:10:24.000 some things a lot of I will say. The rushing numbers are impressive. 150 00:10:24.799 --> 00:10:28.519 They really are. And like I said, I think I think they kind 151 00:10:28.559 --> 00:10:33.200 of mirror each other in a lot of ways. And you know, like 152 00:10:33.279 --> 00:10:35.759 Wilmington, if they get a little bit of momentum, you know, like 153 00:10:35.799 --> 00:10:39.759 I said, I don't think Wilmington is gonna run away and hide here. 154 00:10:39.120 --> 00:10:43.799 I do think they're the favorite to win the football game. I think it's 155 00:10:43.879 --> 00:10:48.000 just gonna be what you kind of expect from two way based running football teams. 156 00:10:50.399 --> 00:10:52.159 And you know, if Athens plays well, Wilmington makes some mistakes, 157 00:10:52.200 --> 00:10:56.000 we might have a football game. All right, Let's go ahead and move 158 00:10:56.039 --> 00:11:01.360 on to Class three A Byron versus Mount Carmel, downstate Mount Carmel obviously in 159 00:11:01.440 --> 00:11:07.559 this matchup here, soons you know, offhand here, I'm trying to think 160 00:11:11.200 --> 00:11:16.000 odds on favorite for highest scoring game of the weekend. Yeah, I think 161 00:11:16.039 --> 00:11:22.039 so. I think this is one of those situations where Mount Carnival comes in. 162 00:11:22.080 --> 00:11:24.759 It's a substantial underdog in the game, I think, but the only 163 00:11:24.799 --> 00:11:31.960 way that Mount Carnival can win it is to get it into a shootout mode 164 00:11:31.440 --> 00:11:37.080 and and hope that they can just trade scores. So that's going to create 165 00:11:37.120 --> 00:11:43.240 an environment where both these teams can clearly score points. So it's gonna be 166 00:11:43.320 --> 00:11:46.200 up tempo, it's gonna be the teams are going to go up to the 167 00:11:46.240 --> 00:11:48.320 line, you know, thinking that they can score it on pretty much any 168 00:11:48.320 --> 00:11:52.759 play if they run from scrimmage. So that's going to create an environment where 169 00:11:52.759 --> 00:11:56.440 I think we're gonna see a lot of points scored in this one. But 170 00:11:56.480 --> 00:12:00.720 I also think it's a situation where if Byron kind of gets control of that 171 00:12:00.799 --> 00:12:05.039 scoreboard, it might get ugly too. This is like, yea, we 172 00:12:05.080 --> 00:12:09.039 know, we know exactly what Byron's gonna do in this game, right, 173 00:12:09.279 --> 00:12:11.600 Like, yeah, we know what the Tigers are going to look like. 174 00:12:11.639 --> 00:12:13.240 What's so fascinating to me is Mount Carla On the other side, I mean, 175 00:12:13.240 --> 00:12:18.000 you got over three thousand yards of rushing offense at a three A school. 176 00:12:18.039 --> 00:12:20.320 But the other thing when I say at three A school is because you 177 00:12:20.320 --> 00:12:24.559 have a starting quarterback who also attempted well, I think two hundred and four 178 00:12:24.879 --> 00:12:28.080 I think, if I got it right here, two hundred and four attempts 179 00:12:28.360 --> 00:12:33.840 in the season, seventeen hundred passing yard, fifteen touchdown. That's a really 180 00:12:33.879 --> 00:12:37.240 balanced offense at the three A level. Yeah, it is, and it's 181 00:12:37.279 --> 00:12:41.720 one of those situations where you kind of look at what system has done over 182 00:12:41.759 --> 00:12:46.600 the course of the year. He's the kind of guy that makes you really 183 00:12:46.720 --> 00:12:50.720 nervous, especially at the at the three A, you know, the smaller 184 00:12:50.720 --> 00:12:56.799 school level, because he'll make a lot of plays just out of nothing. 185 00:12:56.960 --> 00:13:01.240 You know, you can school, and you can scheme, and you can 186 00:13:01.279 --> 00:13:05.600 do all these things, but sometimes you've just got an athlete who you know, 187 00:13:05.480 --> 00:13:09.360 draws one up and the dirt and goes and that's kind of what we 188 00:13:09.440 --> 00:13:15.200 have here. He's capable of making some plays out of absolutely nothing. So 189 00:13:15.759 --> 00:13:18.679 that's something that Byron has to have to put a lot of attention on and 190 00:13:18.840 --> 00:13:24.159 make sure that they've got him accounted for, and that's easier said than done. 191 00:13:24.240 --> 00:13:28.039 So, you know, I think, like I said before, Byron's 192 00:13:28.039 --> 00:13:33.960 gonnat score cam Mount Carmel match that at the level Byron scores at, I'm 193 00:13:33.000 --> 00:13:39.679 not sure no Carnival's defense is going to give up points in this game. 194 00:13:39.360 --> 00:13:43.960 Byron has shown the propensity to not only score points but shut the opponent down 195 00:13:43.960 --> 00:13:48.559 as well. So I think we might get you know, I don't know 196 00:13:48.600 --> 00:13:52.000 we can have a consistent shootout over four quarters between these two teams, but 197 00:13:52.320 --> 00:13:56.159 Byron's not gonna relent. I'll say that much. Can't Mount Carmel matching. 198 00:13:56.759 --> 00:14:00.120 Yeah, that's that's what it comes down to it. We have a We 199 00:14:00.159 --> 00:14:03.000 had an early leader in the clubhouse for my favorite name of the weekend, 200 00:14:03.440 --> 00:14:09.879 Shade louder Milk. Yeah, I like that one, Shade louder Milk. 201 00:14:09.919 --> 00:14:15.080 All right, let's go ahead, let's keep moving on here. We're going 202 00:14:15.120 --> 00:14:18.759 along pretty quickly. Here, let's keep more popping along here. I'm pulling 203 00:14:18.840 --> 00:14:22.039 up four A. Here we've got Saint Lawrence versus Rochester. This is gonna 204 00:14:22.039 --> 00:14:26.399 be a fun one. Saint Lawrence. I'm gonna go ahead and bring Michael 205 00:14:26.480 --> 00:14:31.039 Dwojack in now, who covers the Chicago Catholic League and the eas Subourban Catholic 206 00:14:31.039 --> 00:14:33.879 Conference for Friday night drive. Michael, how you doing, man good? 207 00:14:33.919 --> 00:14:39.919 How are you guys? Wonderful? So Saint Lawrence, what can you tell 208 00:14:39.000 --> 00:14:45.039 us about you know what you're hearing for the Vikings in this matchup against Rockchester. 209 00:14:45.440 --> 00:14:46.639 Well, we all expected Saint Lawrence to be here, right, like 210 00:14:46.679 --> 00:14:50.559 we all had winning all these games and that kind of sad being Icy Catholic 211 00:14:50.559 --> 00:14:56.320 winning on a blocked extra point against Being Academy in the semi finals. I 212 00:14:56.320 --> 00:15:01.039 think this team is just you know, I talked to coach Nissan and starting 213 00:15:01.039 --> 00:15:03.039 at the season, he talked to you, you know they most coaches say 214 00:15:03.080 --> 00:15:07.039 say the same things. You know, I've watched these guys grow, you 215 00:15:07.039 --> 00:15:09.600 know, I've been with them for the last four years. Like he talked 216 00:15:09.600 --> 00:15:11.399 about how this senior group was his first, you know, recruiting class and 217 00:15:11.440 --> 00:15:13.879 that kind of stuff, and you know, you kind of take that with 218 00:15:13.919 --> 00:15:16.080 the grain of Soldier're like, well, every coach is going to be excited 219 00:15:16.080 --> 00:15:20.879 about their kids and that kind of stuff. But as the season has gone 220 00:15:20.919 --> 00:15:22.639 on, this team has just shown that they know how to win games. 221 00:15:22.639 --> 00:15:26.679 And I think that's really important because you got an all stay running back like 222 00:15:26.720 --> 00:15:31.120 Aaron Ball who can just you know, run the ball. You can figure 223 00:15:31.159 --> 00:15:33.519 out different ways to kind of score. And you've got a quarterback who can 224 00:15:33.840 --> 00:15:37.840 you know, if he can throw the pass, but he can also run, 225 00:15:37.879 --> 00:15:41.720 and he's running in key situations for Saint Lawrence all season long. And 226 00:15:41.000 --> 00:15:45.799 you've got a motivated group at this point. I mean, just hearing what 227 00:15:45.879 --> 00:15:48.600 Neison talked about, like the no one expected them to be here at this 228 00:15:48.720 --> 00:15:50.600 point. I think that's fair to say. And then I think they're just 229 00:15:50.679 --> 00:15:54.879 riding the momentum at this point and they aren't really going to change much as 230 00:15:54.919 --> 00:15:58.320 to you know, what they've done. They've found ways to beat Icy Catholic, 231 00:15:58.320 --> 00:16:00.840 whom many considered to be the favorite to win the state title. They'd 232 00:16:00.840 --> 00:16:04.879 be Leian Academy on a on a blocked extra kick in double overtime. This 233 00:16:06.000 --> 00:16:07.679 team has the experience, they know how to do it. Now is just 234 00:16:07.720 --> 00:16:12.639 about you know, doing it against an unfamiliar full La Rochester where you obviously 235 00:16:12.639 --> 00:16:15.879 can get tapeing that kind of stuff. But maybe you haven't seen that kind 236 00:16:15.960 --> 00:16:22.279 of style all season long. Yeah, sus, I mean this Saint Lawrence 237 00:16:22.360 --> 00:16:29.440 team. You know, they faced Sween Saint Francis, they had a loss 238 00:16:29.440 --> 00:16:32.639 there, they got to win over Providence, they had to win over Bennett, 239 00:16:32.720 --> 00:16:36.440 they lost to Saint Rita. It's not like they haven't faced quality teams. 240 00:16:36.799 --> 00:16:38.480 I don't think it's stretched to say, though, that this is gonna 241 00:16:38.480 --> 00:16:41.000 be the best team. This Rochester team is gonna be the best team they 242 00:16:41.080 --> 00:16:45.960 faced all year. Yeah. I don't think that's that's a stretch either, 243 00:16:45.159 --> 00:16:49.080 especially when you consider, you know that IC Catholic was limited a little bit 244 00:16:49.120 --> 00:16:53.799 in their personnel when Saint Lawrence won that game. So I think that would 245 00:16:53.840 --> 00:16:57.480 be that the team that I would compare the two. You know, when 246 00:16:57.480 --> 00:17:03.000 I've looked at Saint Lawrence over the Court of the Week Michael touchdown a little 247 00:17:03.000 --> 00:17:07.920 bit there. I think the biggest credit that they've they have to their ledger 248 00:17:08.000 --> 00:17:12.480 this year is that they've just figured out ways to win football games. They 249 00:17:12.480 --> 00:17:17.440 may not be all that pretty, I mean, but when I look back 250 00:17:17.480 --> 00:17:22.440 at like what they did in the regular season schedule other than Providence, the 251 00:17:22.480 --> 00:17:26.759 win over Providence before they got the playoffs. They had not beat a playoff 252 00:17:26.799 --> 00:17:32.759 bound team, So I didn't know where they were at really honestly heading into 253 00:17:32.759 --> 00:17:37.880 the postseason. Because while most teams you can play that CCL card and say 254 00:17:37.880 --> 00:17:44.920 this is the schedule that they played, Saint Lawrence didn't really benefit from that 255 00:17:45.000 --> 00:17:48.519 as much as many of the teams in the conference because they played some of 256 00:17:48.559 --> 00:17:52.880 the more struggling programs in the league as part of that schedule. So I 257 00:17:52.880 --> 00:17:56.319 didn't know where they were at heading into the postseason, to be completely honest 258 00:17:56.319 --> 00:18:02.079 with you. But it speaks to they you know, their determination, the 259 00:18:02.160 --> 00:18:04.839 way that they've won games here in the postseason, winning the double overtime game 260 00:18:04.839 --> 00:18:08.559 against Wheaton Academy, winning the game in the final minute against Icy Catholic. 261 00:18:08.920 --> 00:18:12.160 This is a team that believes they've they've got a way to figure it out, 262 00:18:12.519 --> 00:18:15.519 and they're gonna have to get creative here with Rochester because this is a 263 00:18:15.519 --> 00:18:18.799 pretty good team. Yeah, tell us a little bit about this Rochester team. 264 00:18:19.359 --> 00:18:22.960 Well, I think what what comes down to it, Like a lot 265 00:18:22.960 --> 00:18:26.000 of people think about Rochester, they think about that high powered offense. They 266 00:18:26.000 --> 00:18:29.480 think about the team that is just gonna ZiT down the field by throwing the 267 00:18:29.480 --> 00:18:32.200 football, running the football, doing whatever they have to do, and scoring 268 00:18:32.240 --> 00:18:34.799 a bunch of points. That is definitely true about this team. But I 269 00:18:34.799 --> 00:18:41.319 think the difference for Rochester as opposed to other years that they've come down here 270 00:18:41.359 --> 00:18:45.240 with teams is this is a This might be one of the better defenses that 271 00:18:45.359 --> 00:18:49.359 Rochester has ever had. They you know, they've only allowed you know, 272 00:18:51.559 --> 00:18:56.680 more than two touchdowns to three opponents this year, and for all that Rochester 273 00:18:56.839 --> 00:19:00.960 is, that's pretty uncommon. You have a lot of scores that come out 274 00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:04.119 of Rochester where they won sixty three to twenty eight or you know, fifty 275 00:19:04.119 --> 00:19:07.559 two to twenty five, or they tend to give up you know, some 276 00:19:07.799 --> 00:19:11.920 points along the way as well. But this defense hasn't letting it happen. 277 00:19:11.400 --> 00:19:18.400 And then another little wrinkle to Rochester. They just heading into the playoffs, 278 00:19:18.400 --> 00:19:22.160 they got Parker Gillespie back on the offensive side of the football. Gillespie missed 279 00:19:22.200 --> 00:19:26.160 the first seven games of the season with a knee injury, and I had 280 00:19:26.200 --> 00:19:33.000 a friend say that Gillespie had even available to them, could have literally lined 281 00:19:33.079 --> 00:19:37.920 up almost anywhere on Rochester's offense and it would be surprising to see him run 282 00:19:37.960 --> 00:19:42.240 the ball throw the ball, catch the ball in this championship game. And 283 00:19:44.440 --> 00:19:48.559 you know, a couple of people have actually dropped the Hank Baby comparison on 284 00:19:48.160 --> 00:19:52.839 him. I mean, that's that's pretty pretty lofty expectations. Yeah, maybe 285 00:19:52.920 --> 00:19:56.839 not to the maybe not to the same quite level, but the same type 286 00:19:56.839 --> 00:20:02.599 of mold of players that he can do a lot of different things is really 287 00:20:02.680 --> 00:20:06.680 dangerous in a lot of ways. So that's kind of another wrinkle to this 288 00:20:06.720 --> 00:20:11.119 team. You know, the combination of the defense and getting Parker Gillespie back 289 00:20:11.039 --> 00:20:15.279 makes this Rochester team really really scary. We're in a potential opponent heading into 290 00:20:15.279 --> 00:20:21.279 this final game. This is State Representative Steve Reich, and I'm happy to 291 00:20:21.319 --> 00:20:25.720 sponsor this year's Friday Night Drive. There'll be plenty of time for politics down 292 00:20:25.759 --> 00:20:29.440 the road, but for now, let's enjoy some high school football. Whichever 293 00:20:29.519 --> 00:20:34.960 school you follow, give him your support. All right, guys, make 294 00:20:36.000 --> 00:20:37.640 sure everyone who is watching us live today, if you can do us a 295 00:20:37.640 --> 00:20:41.240 favor, give us a thumbs up, subscribe to the channel. We appreciate 296 00:20:41.279 --> 00:20:44.400 that. Of course, stick to Friday Nightdrive dot com all week long. 297 00:20:44.480 --> 00:20:48.680 We got a ton of preview content coming up there throughout the word that's going 298 00:20:48.759 --> 00:20:51.440 up throughout the week. We already have one A and two way breakdown from 299 00:20:51.440 --> 00:20:53.440 the SEUs up there. Three A and four A will be coming up rest 300 00:20:53.480 --> 00:20:56.400 of the day, and then five A through eight A dropping during the day 301 00:20:56.480 --> 00:21:00.640 Darren Thanksgiving and on Friday as well, of course, we'll have full coverage 302 00:21:00.640 --> 00:21:03.680 from the state finals. We've got six guys going down on Friday. We 303 00:21:03.759 --> 00:21:07.599 got eight guys down there. On Saturday, a lot of coverage coming your 304 00:21:07.599 --> 00:21:11.119 way from the state championships. And on five A or on Saturday more, 305 00:21:11.160 --> 00:21:15.880 we'll start with a very very intriguing matchup in Classify A between Joliet Catholic and 306 00:21:15.960 --> 00:21:19.960 Nazareth Michael, what are you hearing about this one? I'm really curious to 307 00:21:19.960 --> 00:21:22.640 see, you know, what is NAS gonna do this? Like I feel 308 00:21:22.640 --> 00:21:26.599 like we've you know, always done the superlative about them, you know, 309 00:21:26.599 --> 00:21:30.119 two and four last season winning a state championship. But are they really going 310 00:21:30.200 --> 00:21:32.079 to go z and for it, you know, to start the year and 311 00:21:32.119 --> 00:21:36.279 win the state championship? And I mean, at this point, you just 312 00:21:36.319 --> 00:21:37.680 have to be confident, don't you If you're Nas, like you just have 313 00:21:38.000 --> 00:21:42.759 a great passing game. Logan Malichick is playing probably one of the better playoff 314 00:21:42.960 --> 00:21:48.000 performances in the entire state. You just being able to throw the ball everywhere, 315 00:21:48.400 --> 00:21:52.440 making key plays. It's not like NAS hasn't been in anyone you know 316 00:21:52.680 --> 00:21:55.319 good, you know, in the playoffs. Obviously winning against Career Rich to 317 00:21:55.400 --> 00:21:59.240 start the season. You take down Carmel, you take down Weens Saint Francis, 318 00:21:59.240 --> 00:22:00.839 and you hold on to the at I mean, they just have all 319 00:22:00.880 --> 00:22:04.160 the confidence right now of just you know, being able to do whatever they 320 00:22:04.160 --> 00:22:08.680 want offensively pretty much. And now you've got a defense that has shown that 321 00:22:08.720 --> 00:22:11.680 they can, you know, make key plays to stop you know, high 322 00:22:11.920 --> 00:22:15.839 powered opponents. You you were able to stop the triple option against Prairie Ridge, 323 00:22:17.000 --> 00:22:19.480 You're able to stop an elite quarterback in Saint Francis, and obviously all 324 00:22:19.519 --> 00:22:22.640 the talent that Carmel has. So I mean, if you're NAS, you 325 00:22:22.680 --> 00:22:26.720 have to feel great right now. Obviously, you if you're a coach, 326 00:22:26.759 --> 00:22:29.559 you're probably doing the one to know mindset and you're doing all the you know, 327 00:22:29.599 --> 00:22:33.839 the cliches, but it's deep down you're probably feeling great because you just 328 00:22:33.880 --> 00:22:37.440 are on a on a tear right now that you just need to finish that 329 00:22:37.519 --> 00:22:40.880 up Saturday morning, and you are just gonna make the You're gonna make history 330 00:22:40.880 --> 00:22:44.319 there. And then on the other side, as soon as you got a 331 00:22:44.400 --> 00:22:48.240 Juliet Catholic team that's playing extremely well here in the postseason wins against Peoria, 332 00:22:48.440 --> 00:22:53.319 Triad, Morris, Providence, those first three in real blowout fashion. Still 333 00:22:53.319 --> 00:22:56.079 going back to that Morris game, and I know Morris had some injuries coming 334 00:22:56.119 --> 00:23:00.079 into that game, but still very impressive. The way JCA is playing right 335 00:23:00.079 --> 00:23:03.400 now, sus this put up all comes down to it or this all adds 336 00:23:03.440 --> 00:23:08.039 up to a really fun matchup on Saturday morning. Yeah, it should. 337 00:23:08.440 --> 00:23:12.079 And I mean even when you look at the Providence game that that score is 338 00:23:12.119 --> 00:23:17.720 not really kind of indicative of how easily juliett Catholic kind of controlled that game. 339 00:23:18.720 --> 00:23:22.920 You know, Profdence scored first, but after that it was pretty much 340 00:23:22.000 --> 00:23:26.000 JCA all the way into you know, late into the ballgame when Providence put 341 00:23:26.039 --> 00:23:29.640 a few more points on the board to make it appear closer than it was. 342 00:23:30.680 --> 00:23:33.680 This has been a different football team since we started the playoffs. I 343 00:23:33.759 --> 00:23:37.839 know I personally was kind of questioning whether what was going to happen with them 344 00:23:38.319 --> 00:23:42.720 after let's be honest, I thought it was kind of a lethargic performance from 345 00:23:42.799 --> 00:23:48.400 Juliet Catholic in Week nine against Saint Ignatius. They didn't really put their best 346 00:23:48.400 --> 00:23:52.119 foot forward, so I didn't know where this team was, and they answered 347 00:23:52.200 --> 00:23:56.119 that with authority. It's kind of been an old school Julia Catholic type of 348 00:23:56.960 --> 00:24:02.680 playoff run. You know, let's lean on the running game and our defense 349 00:24:02.720 --> 00:24:04.759 to try to do what we can do. But they can also sprinkle in 350 00:24:04.799 --> 00:24:08.880 a little bit of that passing game with Adrian Washington, who's probably one of 351 00:24:08.880 --> 00:24:14.960 the more productive wide receivers the Hilltoppers have had, and you know, I 352 00:24:15.000 --> 00:24:18.039 can safely say maybe a decade or two, I mean, really is capable 353 00:24:18.039 --> 00:24:22.079 of stretching the field and making some plays. I can't think of the last 354 00:24:22.119 --> 00:24:26.680 time Julia Katholic had a receiver with the statistics that he's had. So, 355 00:24:27.920 --> 00:24:30.440 you know, Joli Kathlic gets a lot of love for, you know, 356 00:24:30.519 --> 00:24:36.079 defensive lineman Dylan Johnson. But I think the interesting thing about Julia Katholic's defense 357 00:24:36.160 --> 00:24:41.319 is while Johnson's drawing a lot of attention, drawing some double teams and allowing 358 00:24:41.440 --> 00:24:45.279 the other Jola Catholic players to kind of step up and make a play. 359 00:24:45.799 --> 00:24:49.200 They have a lot of guys on that defense that are willing and capable of 360 00:24:49.240 --> 00:24:55.559 making those plays. I can't even I could make you a list of names, 361 00:24:55.680 --> 00:24:59.440 and you know, six or seven guys that could potentially step out of 362 00:24:59.480 --> 00:25:03.000 the shadows and make big plays. That's the thing that I think is kind 363 00:25:03.000 --> 00:25:07.400 of the undercurrent of the Joli Catholic departs. Dylan's great, but these other 364 00:25:07.400 --> 00:25:11.480 guys are really getting the job done too. You go back starting here and 365 00:25:11.799 --> 00:25:15.279 go back to one A quickly you go Lina Winslow than Wilmington, two A 366 00:25:15.480 --> 00:25:18.480 Byron, and three A Rochester in four A. So far, I feel 367 00:25:18.519 --> 00:25:23.039 like we've had at least moderate too, you know, fairly substantial favorites in 368 00:25:23.079 --> 00:25:26.039 each class. This is the first one, guys, where I'm having a 369 00:25:26.079 --> 00:25:30.440 real tough time picking this. Are you guys on the same page or do 370 00:25:30.480 --> 00:25:33.119 you guys have a better feel for it than I do? Yeah, I 371 00:25:33.119 --> 00:25:37.160 don't really know what I feel like. This game and maybe the Loyola Lincoln 372 00:25:37.200 --> 00:25:41.920 Way East game are probably the tougher games to choose, just based on you 373 00:25:41.960 --> 00:25:44.839 know, I feel like NASA has kind of shown you the entire year that 374 00:25:44.960 --> 00:25:45.599 you know, you can kind of them on if you want to, but 375 00:25:45.640 --> 00:25:48.599 they're going to find a way to win a game. And Joy Kathleck is 376 00:25:48.640 --> 00:25:52.240 at a different level right now. They're just playing at a different you know. 377 00:25:52.480 --> 00:25:55.200 And I saw them earlier in the season against sant Ariita. I thought 378 00:25:55.200 --> 00:25:56.440 they played well against sant Erita, but I thought it was kind of like, 379 00:25:56.480 --> 00:26:00.440 well, maybe this is like, you know, a quote unquote year 380 00:26:00.480 --> 00:26:03.079 for them, they make the semi finals or the quarterfinals or whatever. But 381 00:26:03.240 --> 00:26:07.319 they've obviously taken it to a different level right now, and I'm really curious 382 00:26:07.359 --> 00:26:11.480 to see, you know, can Juliet Tamplick stop Logan Malichick. I feel 383 00:26:11.480 --> 00:26:14.480 like that's a huge matchup that you got to figure out. Can you know, 384 00:26:14.559 --> 00:26:18.079 can that pass defense really stop him from making big plays, you know, 385 00:26:18.200 --> 00:26:19.240 both in the air and on the ground, like he can run the 386 00:26:19.279 --> 00:26:22.119 ball too, and really you know, take advantage of those opportunities. So 387 00:26:23.279 --> 00:26:26.200 yeah, I think that's a very close matchup. If I had to choose, 388 00:26:26.240 --> 00:26:30.200 I'd probably go Nas because you just got to ride the hot hand at 389 00:26:30.200 --> 00:26:33.000 this point and go for the history books. But I don't know, it's 390 00:26:33.000 --> 00:26:34.160 probably down to a point or two for me if I was, you know, 391 00:26:34.200 --> 00:26:38.000 setting the spread or anything like that, sus I want to every time, 392 00:26:38.039 --> 00:26:41.839 I want to say I'm taking JCA in this game. I picked your 393 00:26:41.839 --> 00:26:45.240 logan Malichuck dropping a dime into the back right corner of the end zone against 394 00:26:45.240 --> 00:26:48.079 Prairie Ridge in the first round, and I go, am I really gonna 395 00:26:48.440 --> 00:26:52.079 am I gonna pick against that? It's really tough right now for this one. 396 00:26:52.440 --> 00:26:56.759 Yeah, I mean I I have made my pick, and of course, 397 00:26:56.240 --> 00:27:00.160 if you're an Athro fan, you gotta like it because I've been long 398 00:27:00.200 --> 00:27:04.920 about Nazareth multiple weeks this season, and I picked Joey Cat Now, unlike 399 00:27:04.960 --> 00:27:08.039 in many times, you know, during the regular season, I usually just 400 00:27:08.039 --> 00:27:12.519 put the pick down. For the finals, I put a score and I 401 00:27:12.519 --> 00:27:15.440 did the old cop out when you can't really make a decision. I picked 402 00:27:15.480 --> 00:27:19.720 it as a one point decision in favor of Joel a Catholic, because that's 403 00:27:19.759 --> 00:27:23.240 genuinely what I feel like it is. It's I mean, it could really 404 00:27:23.359 --> 00:27:27.720 kind of come down to that. But you know, like I'm not really 405 00:27:27.799 --> 00:27:33.519 joking when I say I've been wrong about Nazareth all along, you know, 406 00:27:33.680 --> 00:27:37.680 and maybe it's it's me trying to you know, backtrack on the fact that 407 00:27:37.720 --> 00:27:42.039 when we started the season I had Nazareth as a top five team, and 408 00:27:42.160 --> 00:27:45.759 even after seeing them in Week one, I was like, I still think 409 00:27:45.759 --> 00:27:48.400 there's a lot of talent there. I think they can and then when they 410 00:27:48.480 --> 00:27:51.160 dropped oh and four, I started to, you know, doubt whether or 411 00:27:51.200 --> 00:27:53.720 not I was seeing what I thought I you know, what I thought they 412 00:27:53.720 --> 00:28:00.000 could be. You know there it's They're such a perplexing story. They're obviously 413 00:28:00.480 --> 00:28:07.200 very, very talented, but you still can't ignore the fact that they've lost 414 00:28:07.240 --> 00:28:11.799 five games this season. Regardless of the fact that you know that it's com 415 00:28:11.839 --> 00:28:15.240 against quality opponents, it's still lost five games that happened somehow. So we've 416 00:28:15.279 --> 00:28:21.480 been a different team now, playing a lot better. But this I'll be 417 00:28:21.559 --> 00:28:25.799 disappointed if this is not a great football game. And usually I don't I 418 00:28:26.720 --> 00:28:30.440 don't go that far with one, but boy, it certainly looks intriguing just 419 00:28:30.519 --> 00:28:33.759 looking at it on paper and with all the knowledge that we have about these 420 00:28:33.759 --> 00:28:37.079 teams. This morning, Class six, say we get a match up with 421 00:28:37.200 --> 00:28:41.720 Kerry Grove and East Saint Louis. This is a rematch of twenty twenty one 422 00:28:41.000 --> 00:28:45.200 East Saint Louis obviously back in the title game, lost to Carry Grove in 423 00:28:45.240 --> 00:28:51.039 an absolutely epic title game back in twenty twenty one, what many considered to 424 00:28:51.079 --> 00:28:55.119 be the best state championship game that's ever been played. It's certainly in the 425 00:28:55.160 --> 00:29:00.759 conversation, then, last year East Saint Louis really pounds per Ridge, another 426 00:29:00.799 --> 00:29:03.839 team from the Fox Valley Conference that runs a triple option. They poleing the 427 00:29:03.880 --> 00:29:07.519 Prairie Ridge in that game run away for the state championship. What do you 428 00:29:07.599 --> 00:29:11.440 think, du It's like this is a different Et Saint Louis team than it 429 00:29:11.559 --> 00:29:14.599 was a year ago. Obviously on the offensive line as a big difference, 430 00:29:14.759 --> 00:29:18.720 lost that entire starting unit. Different on the defensive side too. They do 431 00:29:18.799 --> 00:29:22.920 have a few names back, but you're gonna have a lot of kids that 432 00:29:22.960 --> 00:29:27.200 are not that have are seeing the triple option for the first time. Yeah, 433 00:29:27.240 --> 00:29:33.480 it's I have had a hard time kind of getting my finger on exactly 434 00:29:33.519 --> 00:29:37.599 where East Saint Louis is on a week to week basis. Some weeks they 435 00:29:37.599 --> 00:29:44.079 look like they are capable of, you know, beating anyone that you line 436 00:29:44.160 --> 00:29:48.039 up across from them, and then other times it almost feels like they're kind 437 00:29:48.039 --> 00:29:52.839 of toying with the opposition for fun. You know, I don't really know. 438 00:29:52.319 --> 00:29:56.759 I know they're exceptionally talented and like you said, some different faces in 439 00:29:56.799 --> 00:30:03.359 different places, but still when push comes to shove, they have players with 440 00:30:03.519 --> 00:30:07.599 experience in big time games against quality opponents. I don't think that's a really 441 00:30:07.599 --> 00:30:11.359 big factor that I guess the thing that is most interesting to me heading into 442 00:30:11.359 --> 00:30:17.720 this game is I'd like to be in the in the uh I guess the 443 00:30:17.720 --> 00:30:22.039 war room or the lab to see what Brad Seberg is cooking up here. 444 00:30:22.480 --> 00:30:26.799 I just felt like in that matchup two years ago, there were a lot 445 00:30:26.880 --> 00:30:30.759 of little things that if you weren't like keyed in on them, that Carrie 446 00:30:30.799 --> 00:30:37.200 Grove did so well and just you know, did the did the little thing 447 00:30:37.200 --> 00:30:41.400 that I always hear like football coaches talk about in games where they pulled off 448 00:30:41.480 --> 00:30:45.240 what a you know, what is most perceived to be a giant upset. 449 00:30:45.440 --> 00:30:51.200 Sometimes you win those games in centimeters rather than yards. And it felt like 450 00:30:51.359 --> 00:30:56.279 Carrie Grove did every little thing that they could do to give themselves an opportunity 451 00:30:56.319 --> 00:31:00.400 to win that football game, executed. Did it well? Can they replicate 452 00:31:00.440 --> 00:31:07.240 it? I don't know, but I'm just interested to see what wrinkles Carrie 453 00:31:07.279 --> 00:31:11.319 Girl brings to the table to try to combat the skill sets that obviously East 454 00:31:11.319 --> 00:31:15.319 Saint Louis has in their bag. Yes, like I said, some different 455 00:31:15.400 --> 00:31:19.440 names on East Saint Louis compared to a year ago, or especially two years 456 00:31:19.480 --> 00:31:22.680 ago. And I went up to try and pull up the eh the stature 457 00:31:22.680 --> 00:31:26.559 of East St. Louis from the IHSA website and got a dead link. 458 00:31:26.079 --> 00:31:32.200 Yeah, you're shaking your right now. Yeah. So for let's for people 459 00:31:32.240 --> 00:31:34.279 in you know, Northern Illinois that haven't paid as much attention to East Saint 460 00:31:34.359 --> 00:31:37.279 Louis this year. Can you compare them the last couple of years. What's 461 00:31:37.279 --> 00:31:42.240 what's similar, what's different? Well, I think that the constant is the 462 00:31:42.319 --> 00:31:49.039 quarterback Pops Battle. He's the kind of kid that has seen his game develop 463 00:31:49.240 --> 00:31:56.119 obviously, he has has always had kind of weapons on the outside that he 464 00:31:56.200 --> 00:32:00.799 can go to and stretch the field with. Jesse Watson is kind of the 465 00:32:00.880 --> 00:32:05.920 leading receiver of that group this year. But like always, if you put 466 00:32:05.960 --> 00:32:09.640 too much attention on Watson, there's a number of other guys out there that 467 00:32:09.720 --> 00:32:15.440 can make big explosive plays too. I think the interesting thing about this This 468 00:32:15.519 --> 00:32:22.000 East St. Louis offense is tay Ryan Martin is the leading rusher for this 469 00:32:22.119 --> 00:32:28.480 team, but he's not the listed starter and sometimes he will go long stretches 470 00:32:28.759 --> 00:32:34.240 without playing in games, and I'm not sure what the reason is for that, 471 00:32:34.799 --> 00:32:37.920 to be honest with you. Sometimes they deploy him, you know, 472 00:32:37.720 --> 00:32:43.240 you know, one series on, one series off, or maybe he doesn't 473 00:32:43.279 --> 00:32:45.799 play in the first quarter. It was the same thing that happened in the 474 00:32:45.799 --> 00:32:50.559 Mount Carnival game. He didn't pop up in that game until fairly deep into 475 00:32:50.559 --> 00:32:55.720 the context. So I don't really know what that is right now and why 476 00:32:55.759 --> 00:33:00.799 that's the case. It was also another reason why hoping to get a look 477 00:33:00.839 --> 00:33:02.599 at their stats because I wanted to see how it broke down this year in 478 00:33:02.680 --> 00:33:06.759 terms of carries. But obviously wasn't there, so I don't know for sure. 479 00:33:07.079 --> 00:33:13.519 But they they can score on a nine, but they can also hit 480 00:33:13.599 --> 00:33:17.160 pockets where you can make life difficult for them because they want to go, 481 00:33:17.160 --> 00:33:21.079 go, go, go go. So if you if you have a team 482 00:33:21.079 --> 00:33:23.240 that kind of maybe stops a couple of plays in a row. They're a 483 00:33:23.319 --> 00:33:28.680 very rhythm based team. When they're in rhythm, they're awesome When they when 484 00:33:28.720 --> 00:33:31.039 they kind of fall out of that rhythm, they can get a little a 485 00:33:31.079 --> 00:33:37.640 little sluggish and loggie on it. So I think the biggest key for East 486 00:33:37.640 --> 00:33:44.119 Saint Louis in this game very very talented defense. Can they stick to those 487 00:33:44.200 --> 00:33:49.079 keys. Will it be the things that they struggled with two years ago against 488 00:33:49.160 --> 00:33:53.759 Kerry Grove, or will it be a dominating performance where they seem to have 489 00:33:53.799 --> 00:33:59.359 figured out most of the nuances of that offense as they did in beating preer 490 00:33:59.400 --> 00:34:04.880 Ridge last year. Which one of those shows up different personnel in a lot 491 00:34:04.880 --> 00:34:08.719 of positions, but also you know some guys that know what they're doing, 492 00:34:08.800 --> 00:34:15.159 that have a lot of experience in it too, So you know, you 493 00:34:15.159 --> 00:34:19.360 can get an effort all over the spectrum from East Saint Louis, and it's 494 00:34:19.599 --> 00:34:23.039 sometimes it's kind of hard to predict which one of those teams is going to 495 00:34:23.079 --> 00:34:28.880 show up. Yeah, And the one thing I will say, we spent 496 00:34:28.960 --> 00:34:30.719 a lot of time there kind of dissecting East Saint Louis, and I think 497 00:34:30.719 --> 00:34:34.760 that's more so because we know what we're going to get out of Harry Grove. 498 00:34:34.800 --> 00:34:37.239 We know the triple option. They're playing tremendously well on defense right now, 499 00:34:37.239 --> 00:34:43.920 And honestly, they are executing their triple option offense about as well as 500 00:34:43.960 --> 00:34:46.519 I've seen them do it, you know, either them or Prairie Ridge when 501 00:34:46.880 --> 00:34:52.480 each of these team have made it to a state championship game. This is 502 00:34:52.480 --> 00:34:55.800 about as well as I've seen it executed. So they're going to be on 503 00:34:55.840 --> 00:35:00.239 top of their game against East Saint Louis. It's gonna be a fun one. 504 00:35:00.239 --> 00:35:01.920 But let's go ahead and move on. Class seven A. Mount Carmel 505 00:35:02.159 --> 00:35:07.239 Downers Grove North, Michael, you saw Mount Carmel on Saturday in that state 506 00:35:07.280 --> 00:35:12.280 similar state semi final against Batavia. Uh, you know, all three of 507 00:35:12.360 --> 00:35:15.599 us expected the Caravan to win. I don't think any of us would have 508 00:35:15.639 --> 00:35:19.599 predicted that margin. No, that was just a Mount Carlos playing at a 509 00:35:19.599 --> 00:35:22.039 different level. Even the Batavia coach said that he's never you know, they've 510 00:35:22.039 --> 00:35:24.639 pled a lot of teams around Illinois and they just haven't seen a team like 511 00:35:24.719 --> 00:35:30.000 that. They're just, you know, talented at every level. They're just 512 00:35:30.039 --> 00:35:31.800 talented at every position, and they just know how to win big games. 513 00:35:31.800 --> 00:35:36.280 At this point. I mean, Darien Deprix is doing ridiculous stuff like scoring 514 00:35:36.280 --> 00:35:40.320 four touchdowns in the first fourteen minutes, he's breaking like three tackles and somehow 515 00:35:40.320 --> 00:35:44.840 turning what was supposed to be like a two yard you know loss into like 516 00:35:44.960 --> 00:35:49.199 a what was it seventy four yard game? Like he's just a multi talented 517 00:35:49.199 --> 00:35:52.360 player. You got Jack Elliott has stepped into the quarterback position and he just 518 00:35:52.400 --> 00:35:57.199 looks even better than Blady Dolling did last year. And that defense is just 519 00:35:57.239 --> 00:36:00.440 so smothering and you know, they're always around you, they're always making plays. 520 00:36:02.440 --> 00:36:06.280 Maybe bad thing you can say about the defenses. They kind of created 521 00:36:06.280 --> 00:36:10.079 some late penalties and that allowed Batavia to drive last week and some you know, 522 00:36:10.119 --> 00:36:13.880 some late hits that probably you know, Jordan Lynch was not happy about 523 00:36:13.880 --> 00:36:15.960 it and is definitely you know, working on right now. But this Mount 524 00:36:15.960 --> 00:36:20.079 Carmel team is playing at a different level. They talked about that Loyola loss, 525 00:36:20.079 --> 00:36:22.559 how it motivated them, how that you know, they felt like they 526 00:36:22.559 --> 00:36:24.199 could have win that game, and now they're on a mission to go out 527 00:36:24.239 --> 00:36:27.920 and just show the rest of the state that, you know, they are 528 00:36:28.159 --> 00:36:30.800 one of the best teams in the state. They get a match up against 529 00:36:30.840 --> 00:36:35.760 Downards Grove North. Downards Grove North playing very well this postseason, so there's 530 00:36:35.800 --> 00:36:40.360 no battle performance at a high level. But this is a tough, tough 531 00:36:40.400 --> 00:36:45.000 matchup here. You know. I guess the one thing that I can say 532 00:36:45.039 --> 00:36:51.920 for downers Grove North going into this game is they can still enter this contest 533 00:36:52.000 --> 00:36:57.480 with a lot of confidence. They've played good teams, beat good teams along 534 00:36:57.599 --> 00:37:04.360 this playoff route, a particularly dominant performance last week in the semifinals and beating 535 00:37:05.480 --> 00:37:10.320 the top seed in the bracket normal community and getting there. A little wrinkled 536 00:37:10.320 --> 00:37:14.199 to this, and I know weather had a lot to do with this. 537 00:37:15.400 --> 00:37:19.239 Last year these two teams met in the second round of the playoffs. It 538 00:37:19.360 --> 00:37:22.199 was a twenty four to six win for Mount Carmel. The downers Grove North 539 00:37:22.320 --> 00:37:25.719 was in that game. Now, granted, like I like, and it's 540 00:37:25.760 --> 00:37:30.239 important to point out weather was a big factor that weekend. It was one 541 00:37:30.239 --> 00:37:37.880 of it was. It was pretty bad that week. But you know four, 542 00:37:37.920 --> 00:37:40.960 downers Grove North, they're not They're not immune to this. They know 543 00:37:42.079 --> 00:37:45.400 they're heading into this game as a giant underdog, but they have to feel 544 00:37:45.639 --> 00:37:52.119 good about the way they're playing heading into it, and if they can come 545 00:37:52.119 --> 00:37:55.719 out and do some positive things early in the game, you never know, 546 00:37:57.039 --> 00:38:01.559 I mean, put some wind under their sails and try to make something happen. 547 00:38:02.079 --> 00:38:07.880 All that being said, Big Mountain decline no doubt about it, because 548 00:38:07.960 --> 00:38:13.000 I mean, I don't know. I can't remember the last time I felt 549 00:38:13.000 --> 00:38:15.920 like a team was playing as well in the postseason as I believe Mount Cardinal 550 00:38:16.000 --> 00:38:21.000 is playing right now there. And you know the coaching staff for Donald's Grove 551 00:38:21.079 --> 00:38:25.320 North is preaching this well. I actually I shouldn't say that. There's two 552 00:38:25.440 --> 00:38:29.039 tax as a coach. I feel like you could you could take here. 553 00:38:29.239 --> 00:38:32.559 You could take the worthy underdog role no one believes in us, or you 554 00:38:32.559 --> 00:38:36.440 could take it as Yeah, Mount Cardmell's a heavy favorite. If we go 555 00:38:36.519 --> 00:38:38.960 out there and play scared, we're gonna lose. So let's just go out. 556 00:38:39.079 --> 00:38:42.840 We're playing in a state title game. No one expected us to be 557 00:38:43.000 --> 00:38:46.239 here. Let's go out and just rip it. I wonder what approach they're 558 00:38:46.280 --> 00:38:50.320 taking here, because I think I would take the ladder there right, like, 559 00:38:50.480 --> 00:38:53.679 just let's pull everything out of the bag. If I'm the coaching staff, 560 00:38:53.760 --> 00:38:59.760 let's draw up anything we can and let's just go out and have fun, 561 00:39:00.079 --> 00:39:04.519 and you know, see if we can catch lightening the bottle and knock 562 00:39:04.599 --> 00:39:08.559 the caravan off bounced early in this game. Yeah, I mean there's a 563 00:39:08.559 --> 00:39:14.440 lot of different ways that they could go with this, and like it's you 564 00:39:14.480 --> 00:39:19.960 know, being in the situation like this, playing a team like Mount Carmel, 565 00:39:21.079 --> 00:39:28.079 there's not a lot of wrong answers here because the expectation level is you're 566 00:39:28.119 --> 00:39:30.559 gonna have to do something spectacular to win the football game to begin with, 567 00:39:30.800 --> 00:39:37.719 so you can maybe take a few more risks than you would ordinarily, but 568 00:39:37.519 --> 00:39:44.000 you know, had in hand, Mount Carmel is really a machine right now. 569 00:39:44.039 --> 00:39:49.400 And it's like, I look back at the way they're doing things and 570 00:39:49.519 --> 00:39:52.800 that what they did to Batavia really kind of floored me a little bit, 571 00:39:52.840 --> 00:39:55.039 to be completely honest with you, not that I didn't think that Mount Carmel 572 00:39:55.159 --> 00:39:59.159 was gonna win that game, but I certainly thought it was going to be 573 00:39:59.440 --> 00:40:02.880 significant more competitive, you know, because I look back to the way that 574 00:40:04.400 --> 00:40:07.199 you know, Batavia played with Lincoln Way East back early in the season, 575 00:40:07.840 --> 00:40:13.440 and the fact that Batavia was playing pretty dark well heading into that game, 576 00:40:14.360 --> 00:40:19.119 and to see what Mount Carmel did to them in that situation just was really 577 00:40:19.840 --> 00:40:22.760 not that I was not that I'm surprised that Mount Carmel is a really, 578 00:40:22.800 --> 00:40:28.159 really good football team, but it was eye opening at what level we're talking 579 00:40:28.199 --> 00:40:30.199 about here, and that's that's where it really comes down to for me. 580 00:40:31.239 --> 00:40:35.159 Uncle, You got anything else on this one? No, I mean the 581 00:40:35.199 --> 00:40:37.079 only thing I could say from downers Grove North is maybe look at the Loyola 582 00:40:37.119 --> 00:40:39.519 tape. I mean, look at what Loyola did. Obviously, I know 583 00:40:39.599 --> 00:40:45.639 that's a Loyola obviously has different players and downers Grove North has obviously if we 584 00:40:45.719 --> 00:40:49.079 got the size and that kind of stuff, but Loyola really did is the 585 00:40:49.119 --> 00:40:52.280 only team maybe eastt Louis did pretty well do in Week one, but Loyala 586 00:40:52.360 --> 00:40:55.480 is the only team that really has given Mount Carmel any sort of struggle this 587 00:40:55.599 --> 00:41:00.400 year. And they did a really good job of just moving the ball down 588 00:41:00.400 --> 00:41:02.039 the field, and the way they were able to do it was pretty much, 589 00:41:02.239 --> 00:41:07.159 you know, not letting Mount Carmel score on key, you know, 590 00:41:07.360 --> 00:41:10.840 third and fourth downs in their own territory. And whether you whether that's you 591 00:41:10.840 --> 00:41:14.519 know, boxing up the middle and not letting Darry in the pre getting a 592 00:41:14.519 --> 00:41:17.119 couple of yards here or there, or whether it's you know, making sure 593 00:41:17.159 --> 00:41:20.480 that you're not letting Darry in the pre catch the ball and you know, 594 00:41:21.079 --> 00:41:22.920 kind of zoning in on him. I mean, I think if you're a 595 00:41:22.960 --> 00:41:25.119 coach, they've probably done this at this point. But you look at the 596 00:41:25.119 --> 00:41:29.519 Loyola tape and you just see, you know, defensively, you can stop 597 00:41:29.599 --> 00:41:34.199 Mount Carmel if you you know, all the right play obviously, and you 598 00:41:34.239 --> 00:41:37.320 also just look at, you know, taking Darie in the pre out of 599 00:41:37.320 --> 00:41:39.039 this game. They got Jack Elliott. He can run the ball pretty well 600 00:41:39.079 --> 00:41:44.920 as well. But if you take away the pre you take away a really 601 00:41:44.960 --> 00:41:47.800 big component of the Mount Carmel offense. All right, guys, one game 602 00:41:47.840 --> 00:41:52.840 to get to here before we sign off, and that is the Class A 603 00:41:52.880 --> 00:41:58.880 State championship game between Lincoln Way East and Loyola. We talked earlier about about 604 00:41:58.880 --> 00:42:01.239 our favorite game for highest scoring game of the week. I think this is 605 00:42:01.320 --> 00:42:06.400 probably the easiest pick for lowest scoring game of the week, going in into 606 00:42:06.400 --> 00:42:09.599 it at least lowest total, I should say, sus well, I can't 607 00:42:09.599 --> 00:42:15.880 see anyway that this this one turns into a high scoring back and forth to 608 00:42:15.960 --> 00:42:19.719 bear it just it would go against the grain of both of these two teams 609 00:42:19.800 --> 00:42:23.079 and their hallmarks. You know, I've seen Lincoln Way East quite a few 610 00:42:23.119 --> 00:42:29.880 times over the last couple of weeks at least in pieces, and Lincolna East 611 00:42:29.920 --> 00:42:34.559 has had some really really good defensive units in the past, and they've they've 612 00:42:34.599 --> 00:42:39.840 been very difficult to move the football against. The ease that this team seems 613 00:42:39.880 --> 00:42:45.039 to play defense with right now against teams that usually come in with a pretty 614 00:42:45.079 --> 00:42:52.360 high offensive pedigree is really really, I guess, eye opening more so than 615 00:42:52.360 --> 00:42:57.480 anything else. It's a very very good defense. And for somebody to hang 616 00:42:57.519 --> 00:43:00.039 a bunch of points on that, I don't, I just don't. I 617 00:43:00.159 --> 00:43:04.960 don't see it. I just I mean, you'd have to You'd have to 618 00:43:05.000 --> 00:43:08.519 line up some really really incredible offensive players all in the same place just to 619 00:43:08.920 --> 00:43:14.000 be able to do that, because this is a great defense at all three 620 00:43:14.119 --> 00:43:20.159 levels, particularly on the defensive line, which doesn't blitz a lot, but 621 00:43:20.360 --> 00:43:24.320 seems to find itself in opponents backfields on every single play. It's I mean, 622 00:43:25.159 --> 00:43:29.760 I kind of sometimes I kind of want to ask, like, you 623 00:43:29.760 --> 00:43:31.239 know, one of their defensive linemen if they want to, you know, 624 00:43:31.280 --> 00:43:36.280 put a chair back there. I mean, they're so comfortable in the opposing 625 00:43:36.320 --> 00:43:42.119 teams backfields, so it's a really really great defense. The offense is a 626 00:43:42.159 --> 00:43:45.639 little bit more lunch bucket. We're going to do what we have to do 627 00:43:46.239 --> 00:43:52.480 to get past you. But they've even shown signs of doing a little bit 628 00:43:52.559 --> 00:43:57.360 more now over the last couple of weeks. So I think Lego Waste isn't 629 00:43:57.360 --> 00:44:01.119 a really good place for this game, is it? Is it good enough 630 00:44:01.119 --> 00:44:06.079 place to beat Loyola? I don't know. I'll be completely honest with you. 631 00:44:06.159 --> 00:44:07.920 I don't know, Michael, what are you What are you hearing on 632 00:44:07.920 --> 00:44:10.199 the other side of here? What are you hearing from the Ramblers? I 633 00:44:10.199 --> 00:44:14.880 mean, Loyola probably had it's I wouldn't say it's worst win of the season, 634 00:44:14.880 --> 00:44:16.679 but I mean they were down fourteen to three against York like that. 635 00:44:16.840 --> 00:44:21.320 That was the first time, I mean, we've talked about this Loyola defense 636 00:44:21.360 --> 00:44:23.639 how elite it's been all season, obviously comparing it with Lincoln Wize for the 637 00:44:23.639 --> 00:44:27.400 whole year, But that was the first time this defense looked like, oh 638 00:44:27.440 --> 00:44:30.960 wait, someone is actually able to do something against this defense. Falling behind 639 00:44:30.039 --> 00:44:34.960 fourteen to three, So I mean, I'm really interested to see how that 640 00:44:35.039 --> 00:44:37.159 defense responds. I mean, you've seen a couple of times this season where 641 00:44:38.000 --> 00:44:42.239 you've gotten mixed reviews. I mean you've had you know, the defense kind 642 00:44:42.239 --> 00:44:45.239 of have a slow start and then they regroup and the course they do what 643 00:44:45.320 --> 00:44:47.280 Loyola does, take away the run and then strangle you there and then take 644 00:44:47.320 --> 00:44:52.960 away the pass. But you've also had moments like Mount Carmel where they started 645 00:44:52.960 --> 00:44:57.159 the game with four or three big stops to start the game. So I'm 646 00:44:57.159 --> 00:45:00.719 really curious to see how this defense defense come out, because if it plays 647 00:45:00.760 --> 00:45:05.480 the way it did against Mount Carmel, I don't think Lincoln Way East will 648 00:45:05.480 --> 00:45:07.239 do a good job of moving the ball down the field. But I think, 649 00:45:07.360 --> 00:45:10.400 you know, if it plays the way it did against York or against 650 00:45:10.480 --> 00:45:15.400 you know, Saint Rita earlier in the year, Lincoln Waste would need to 651 00:45:15.400 --> 00:45:19.159 take advantage of that pretty early and take advantage of that and then offensively, 652 00:45:19.199 --> 00:45:21.760 I mean that all comes down to Ryan Fitzgerald. I mean, he's just 653 00:45:22.000 --> 00:45:24.920 the quarter he's stepped in for Jake Sturney. I think he's you know, 654 00:45:25.039 --> 00:45:28.880 Jake Sturney was a really good player and is doing a lot of great stuff 655 00:45:28.880 --> 00:45:31.519 at Colcate right now as a freshman. But I think Ryan Fitzgerald is playing 656 00:45:31.519 --> 00:45:36.280 at a higher level than even Sturney was playing at. He's making the right 657 00:45:36.320 --> 00:45:38.480 calls, he's making great pass he's he's not afraid to run the ball, 658 00:45:39.159 --> 00:45:45.199 and he's showing a lot of confidence this entire season where Loyal might struggle offensively. 659 00:45:45.280 --> 00:45:47.920 Drew McPherson, they're starting running back, is dealing with a little bit 660 00:45:47.960 --> 00:45:52.840 of an injury. So obviously we won't know anything about that until you know, 661 00:45:52.920 --> 00:45:55.639 game time. No one's gonna give us any updates or anything like that, 662 00:45:55.719 --> 00:45:59.679 but you know, is he able to Is he able to play because 663 00:45:59.679 --> 00:46:02.119 he's not only you know, their top rusher, but he's a really big, 664 00:46:02.159 --> 00:46:05.480 you know, receiver for them as well, being able to kind of 665 00:46:05.480 --> 00:46:08.440 come out from the back. So, you know, New York game was 666 00:46:08.519 --> 00:46:13.159 really interesting just to see, you know, Loyol in a position that they've 667 00:46:13.199 --> 00:46:16.039 never really been in this entire season. But you also saw Loyola kind of 668 00:46:16.079 --> 00:46:20.639 regroup in a way that they'll need to do if they want to compete with 669 00:46:20.920 --> 00:46:24.199 Lincoln. Ways to Sarty, yeah, the Loyola score or the score against 670 00:46:24.320 --> 00:46:28.599 York gave me a little bit of pause, but I'm still taking the Ramblers 671 00:46:28.639 --> 00:46:31.119 to win this game. I do think it's gonna be really low scoring. 672 00:46:31.199 --> 00:46:36.320 In one of those where if you know one team, if one team has 673 00:46:36.320 --> 00:46:37.599 a put break, just one big play for a touchdown, it could be 674 00:46:37.639 --> 00:46:40.960 the difference in this game. But I'm taking the Ramblers suits, how about 675 00:46:42.000 --> 00:46:46.280 you. I'm also taking Loyola once again. It was another one of those 676 00:46:46.320 --> 00:46:51.960 situations where I was picking scores for this game, and the first first time 677 00:46:51.960 --> 00:46:54.199 that I put a score down, I think I put ten to seven, 678 00:46:54.239 --> 00:46:58.760 and that I changed my mind, and I joke, I jokingly put it 679 00:46:58.840 --> 00:47:05.800 forward to before finally settling on settling on what I thought it would be. 680 00:47:05.880 --> 00:47:10.159 But I, like you said, I think this game may hinge on one 681 00:47:10.320 --> 00:47:16.719 team breaking a big play here, and then it might actually become a special 682 00:47:16.719 --> 00:47:21.320 teams battle it has before. I mean, this game has come down to 683 00:47:22.199 --> 00:47:27.559 field goal differences in the past. They have a lot of history against one 684 00:47:27.599 --> 00:47:31.320 another, and none of those games has either of the two teams been able 685 00:47:31.320 --> 00:47:37.760 to clearly separate themselves from the other. There's really no way that you could 686 00:47:37.760 --> 00:47:43.159 really make a strong case for this game being anything other than a low scoring 687 00:47:43.239 --> 00:47:46.679 defensive struggle based on what's happened in the past. Michael, you taking the 688 00:47:46.719 --> 00:47:51.440 Ramblers as well. Yeah, I had a fourteen to thirteen score because I 689 00:47:51.480 --> 00:47:52.880 just wasn't able to choose, so I just went loyal of fourteen to third 690 00:47:52.880 --> 00:47:55.960 team. But if it does come down to special teams, it'll be really 691 00:47:57.039 --> 00:48:00.599 interesting. Obviously, Loyola has an all state kicker and Mikey bake Or he 692 00:48:00.679 --> 00:48:04.000 can you know, make it pretty far and has done a really good job 693 00:48:04.039 --> 00:48:07.199 as a wide receiver as well. But I just think based on what we've 694 00:48:07.199 --> 00:48:10.280 seen from Loyola, they've know, they've found ways to win. They beat 695 00:48:10.320 --> 00:48:15.199 they held down to beat Mount Carmel in Week nine obviously to win the CCLS 696 00:48:15.280 --> 00:48:20.280 CC Blue. They found a way to come back deal with some adversity against 697 00:48:20.400 --> 00:48:22.519 York, and I think they find a way against Lincoln way He's I think 698 00:48:22.519 --> 00:48:27.360 that offense has been pretty prolific this season, and even when the defense maybe 699 00:48:27.400 --> 00:48:30.840 hasn't played as well as it has all year, you know, I think 700 00:48:30.840 --> 00:48:34.519 the offense has found ways to make plays. And I know Lincoln way He's 701 00:48:34.599 --> 00:48:37.559 defense is probably the best, if not the second best defense they'll see all 702 00:48:37.559 --> 00:48:43.079 season. But this offense has me confident that they'll find a way to make 703 00:48:43.119 --> 00:48:46.000 a player two in order to get over the hill here. Make sure you 704 00:48:46.079 --> 00:48:51.880 follow Michael on x at m DWO Jack ninety four. Also follow him on 705 00:48:51.960 --> 00:48:55.400 Instagram and threads. He'll be with us down in normal all weekend for coverge 706 00:48:55.400 --> 00:48:58.360 of the State finals. We got to get out of here, though, 707 00:48:58.599 --> 00:49:01.039 sus Can you give us some final thoughts headed into the weekend? You know, 708 00:49:01.079 --> 00:49:05.119 when we look at this weekend coming in, I think the one thing 709 00:49:05.159 --> 00:49:08.000 that's really striking to me is that it kind of feels like we're running it 710 00:49:08.039 --> 00:49:13.679 back from previous state championship weekends. Here, twelve of the sixteen teams have 711 00:49:13.760 --> 00:49:17.760 been at least in at least one state championship game since twenty nineteen. So 712 00:49:17.840 --> 00:49:22.000 think about that for a minute. Like, usually you've got a little bit 713 00:49:22.000 --> 00:49:25.079 of turnover here, but there's really a lot of teams that you're accustomed to 714 00:49:25.079 --> 00:49:30.239 seeing in these state championship games, and with that comes the experience of having 715 00:49:30.280 --> 00:49:35.119 gone through this before. It's not the same kids, but it's the same 716 00:49:35.199 --> 00:49:39.400 coaching stats, it's the same programs, so they know how to deal with 717 00:49:39.440 --> 00:49:44.239 the situation that comes with the state championship game. So I expect a lot 718 00:49:44.280 --> 00:49:47.039 of good football game games this year. There's obviously going to be some nerves 719 00:49:47.400 --> 00:49:51.760 that teams have to work out to be playing in state championship games. But 720 00:49:51.920 --> 00:49:53.599 like I said, there's a lot of teams that have been there, done 721 00:49:53.639 --> 00:49:58.400 that before, So I think they're going to come out here with purpose, 722 00:49:58.559 --> 00:50:00.280 and I think we're going to get off a lot of good football games. 723 00:50:00.639 --> 00:50:05.000 I think, particularly on Saturday, I think we could be on tap for 724 00:50:05.079 --> 00:50:08.039 a lot of fun. Sounds like a great reason to stick to Friday Night 725 00:50:08.159 --> 00:50:12.000 Drive dot Com all week and long. We're gonna have a ton of coverage 726 00:50:12.039 --> 00:50:15.119 from the state or the State Final down in normal for now that we're gonna 727 00:50:15.119 --> 00:50:17.360 go ahead and sign off well, Thank Michael Giojack for joining us this morning. 728 00:50:17.360 --> 00:50:21.119 Here. Of course, once again, he covers the Chicago Catholic Conference 729 00:50:21.119 --> 00:50:23.000 at East Suburban Catholic Conference for Friday Night Drive dot Com. You can find 730 00:50:23.039 --> 00:50:28.519 all of his content there again. Follow us on Twitter at fn Drive, 731 00:50:28.599 --> 00:50:30.440 on Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram as well. Go to Friday Night Drive 732 00:50:30.519 --> 00:50:35.280 all weekend. We'll be back with you guys early next week here on YouTube 733 00:50:35.280 --> 00:50:37.760 to break down the state championship games. Everyone have a great week and enjoy 734 00:50:37.840 --> 00:50:43.800 the State Final. We'll talk to you guys next week. Schwiker, Ganison, 735 00:50:43.880 --> 00:50:46.599 Krizak, Rundio Bradley sponsors to Friday Night Drive. I'm Mike Krizak. 736 00:50:46.639 --> 00:50:50.559 If you've been injured, we are ready to take on the insurance company and 737 00:50:50.639 --> 00:50:52.840 get you to the end zone. We've recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for 738 00:50:52.880 --> 00:50:58.000 our clients. Visit the G A N A, S, S I M dot com