Schweiker, Gannison, Krazak Rundio Proudley sponsors the Friday Night Drive. I'm Mike
Krazak. If you've been injured, we are ready to take on the insurance
company and get you to the end zone. We've recovered hundreds of millions of
dollars for our clients. Visit ga nassi n dot com. Welcome Friday Night
Drive Podcast Rural Edition. I'm Daily Chronicle Sports Editor Eddie Carriffio. I'm alongside
Seawan Media Regional sports editor Jtalt No penalty worked on penalty you could call me
Carafio for the rest of the podcast. I can you know, honestly,
you know that this happens to me all the time and people are like,
no, let's pronounced this, And it's like, why do you think I'm
a writer. I don't have to worry about how it's pronounced. I just
have to worry about how it's spelled. I see I would spell it here
and say I don't know how to spell it, but I probably would spell
it wrong given how this is on so far, So we'll just give that
and we'll jump right into it. This is if you haven't noticed the brand
spaking new podcast here on Friday Night Drive, joining the other Just Bang Up
podcasts that we do here. This one different from the others in that it
focuses on, as you might have guessed from the name of the rural areas
like Ottawa Street or La Sale down where JT is based out of, cal
Sickamore, Genoa Up where I'm based out of, and plus others such as
the Sock Valley. We hope to have our regular guests from the Salle and
Sock as the season goes on. But today it's just me and JT and
we talk about week one. Actually little sneak ahead of week two perhaps,
So JT, how was your Friday nights. I'm still catching up on sleep
from it. So if I yawned during the podcast, it's not because we're
boring, because we're not boring. No chance, I assume it'll be my
fault. It'll be But yeah, I had I Had Street or East Peoria,
which we'll talk about a little bit and end up being the highest scoring
game in the state. It had twenty four penalties combined between the two teams,
and uh I was there till about eleven oh five with an eleven fifteen
deadline, So good times. How about you were saying there was the most
penalties in the state too in a game you know it, right or not?
Don't you pronounce a penalty? The most penalties in the state. Uh?
Oh? I was the calp Sycamore obviously a big one up there.
Yeah, it was. It was good for a half going in, I
figured Sycamore would probably win. I wasn't too short what they were going to
look like the Spartans this year with all they graduated. I mean, obviously
coach Joe Ryan as that team very competitive year year in year out. They
are definitely in program territory at this point. But they had to Calb,
despite having a lot of new faces, has a lot of talent. So
it was just not really knowing what what Sycamore or to Calb was bringing to
the table. I thought, maybe, like and I even said it in
the press box, twenty fourteen something in that neighborhood for a Sycamore win fourteen
seven at halftime. So I'm literally nailing my prediction at that point. And
the second half happened. Yeah, And then the calv score very late in
the first half, two really quick scores, and that made. I think
Sycamore took that personally, and then I took that personally, and they just
absolutely clamped down in the second half defensively and answered a lot of questions about
what that team was going to look like defensively having lost all they did.
So that was always a great game. And regardless of the score there playing
at Husky Stadium, get jealous because the way conference formats are set up now,
so many arch rivals and regional rivals are right next to each other,
so that you don't get those week one blood baths arch rival you know,
heated rivalries. You have that one down this way. We have Street or
Ottawa which is just resumed after taking a break for seven eight years, and
that's week that's a week two one, and you just you just you know,
I can't imagine for you know, the Calvin Sycamore. I mean,
everyone's excited to start the season. But you know, if I'm being on
a Street or East pr I've been playing each other off and on for fifty
sixty years, but there's no rivalry there. There's no you know, these
kids don't know each other. It's it's just got to be a cool environment
to not only have all that excitement to start the season, but start the
season against you know, the team that you have to like look across at
a town signed border for. Yeah, obviously the there's always history one where
the other is always a long winning streak. Of course, these Sycamore it
just snapped the Calves along winning streak. But you know that's still on everybody's
minds. Apparently there was a cornerback for the cal that senior came out to
play because of the lost last year, played this year because he didn't was
didn't want to sit on the sideline. I didn't want to sit in the
stands while that was happening. So right, that's the sort of stuff that,
like you said that that's week one goodness right there? So yeah,
other week one goodness? What did you see down there? Going on?
All right? Broad question to get us roll in here? Who I was
gonna say, Well, if we're kind of looking around Lassau County, I
was going to mention that we had are close to Lassau County, we had
three teams down this way just pull off. I wouldn't say huge upsets are
esteemed Kylie Steve Susy Actually I think called two of these games, and one
of them when I got to my game, the person I was sharing a
booth in the press box at it Street or was like, you know what
idiot is picking your games? That had Seneca beating Wilmington. Well, Seneca
beat Wilmington, so way to go sus So that was obviously a big one.
They hadn't beat them since two thousand and one, although they'd had a
little break in the rivalry when they left conferences. But yeah, just because
just because you didn't full SIUs doesn't mean it's not an upset because that guy
knows everything. So I mean, exactly exactly when you got that many magnets,
I mean it's got to be attuning his neurons and his brain to uh,
to the future future football results. But yeah, he called uh.
Seneca Saint Bead beat Tuscola down in Illinois Wesleyan, which was a really nice
win for them. They have a transfer quarterback from Aurora, Christian Max Bray,
who say he threw for one hundred and fifty eight and ran for two
fifteen, So they're gonna be just fine speed. I'm sorry, I know
beats obviously been good the past few years, right, or is it longer
than that, I know, No, just just the past three four years
they've kind of that that COVID season right around there, they kind of rebuild
a coach, Jim Jim Eustace their head coach. Uh I mean, he's
a guy who knows his stuff. He has an awesome staff. I go
to their seven on seven with Ottawa every year and and I just enjoy two
awesome coaching staffs who know and just talking football in the middle of summer.
And and uh no, Saint Bede's been on a really nice run here lately.
And and you know when you got kids coming from Aurora Christian to your
school, well that's that's a good sign of where your program is. A
steam wise and then the other ones. You're going to pretend to know how
that works. That seems like it's more than thirty five miles. But you
know, whatever was supposed to be a right I have, I don't know
any of this stuff works. Transfer. Yeah, well, if you move,
you know, if you move, you're allowed to go kid. I
believe so. I believe so. And then and he also had local ties
with his family. So and then yet Flatting Cornell Woodlands our other big kind
of head turner. They beat U West Central, which was the defending eight
man champ, and let them all game. It wasn't flukish. So those
are three that just stood out to me as like, you know, wow,
did you have any up your way or any of you saw around that
were just kind of ones where you refresh the Twitter feed to make sure someone
didn't go, oops, I typed it backwards. Yeah, actually it wasn't.
It was when it came in. Actually, Tyan Reynolds sending in the
story is when I found out about it was Dixon beating still In Valley.
Not that Dixon is you know bad necessarily or having their playoff team every year.
You know they're finishing that six and three win on a good year,
they'll be in attention for the BNC. But but Stillman's just been you know,
well, I'm not the top of the BNC because obviously that's Byron.
Those Stillman did beat Byron last year and the team's ended up time for the
crown. But yeah, and then then Dixon gets a somewhat at Vincent twenty
and fourteen win over Stillman Valley. I believe that was at Stillman Valley to
start the year. So that was one that kind of caught my attention and
gets you thinking about all the possibilities out there now. And the BNC,
I mean obviously Byron Roles. So they're them and they're doing their thing,
but get you it seems like they they get got once in conference play,
you know, every year, it seems like, and then they just dominate
the postseason. So yeah, no, yeah, and like that Dixon won.
You know, that one's always interested to me because you know, conferences
change every three years and it's hard to keep tracked. You know, I
have a soft spot in my heart for the Dixons and the and the Princeton's
and the Sterlings of the world because they were in a conference. You know,
when I was a kid at Street or high school in gym class,
you know, playing ping pong, you know, you'd look up at the
wall and you know you saw the big hall red Devil and the and the
Sterling Golden Warrior and you know, up on the gym wall. And so
it's it's interesting to see how great Dixon has been since they got out of
the old NIB twelve. Do we have to censor out NIB twelve? Who
is that a bad word? We have along. So there was a pleap
there for that. Yeah, they had do you follow on Twitter? There's
an account like a NIB twelve minus zero and it's just a account about the
ni. They just posted one the other day. I don't think they posted
in years. And they just had one the other day and it has like,
you know, the lady walking with our grandma. Yeah, and it's
got the nip the old ladies like, oh, we used to be a
public school powerhouse. We had twelve schools. And he's like, okay,
let's get you to bed, grandma. Yeah, that was That was a
very good one. Obviously. It's yeah, rest in Peace twelve and I
I just would say NIB. I would said NIB because well, yeah,
I don't want to have to beat myself for saying I think a black.
You say NIB, I think of black Sabbath, Nativity and black. I
think, m I that's where my brain goes. Men in black. Yeah,
they got a brain one letter off, so kind of and we mentioned
one scores that kind of surprised us or turned our heads. You know,
a couple that are not surprising at all that I think would include our little
arc here of non suburban schools would be Princeton and Morris. Both just rolled
Princeton forty nothing over Monmouth Roseville and Morris forty three three over coal City.
And you know that's not a down Cole City team. Obviously, it's a
smaller community, smaller program than Morris, and they're testing themselves. But if
you're beating Coal City forty three to three, you can put up some points
because Coal Cities not a team that gives up points. So I'll be really
interested to see when h Morris hosts Joliette West next week and when Princeton hosts
Morrison. Could be kind of a fun one. Yeah, no, Morris,
I mean, obviously they've been top of the well. I was about
to say that I hate the still not defunct Interstate Hats. Anyway, the
sharing that they have with the KRC is they're about to share two teams with
the KRC stucking next year. But it's gonna be very interesting what happens to
the IA. But we could put a pin at that for some other time.
Well, actually there they left this year with the KRC Sandwich and plane
on. Oh it was for other sports sports other than football. I don't
know what the future holds for the that cross schedule sharing thing that they have.
I don't know if that's I believe it's dead from and it would make
sense for it officially with anybody yet. But I hear that that is done.
It's going to be interesting next year. It's probably gonna be grab it
out of a hat or something. But well, we'll see what ends up
happening with that. No, Morris is just obviously it has been at the
top of that conglomerate for you know, a few years out of them in
Sycamore and shared the last two titles. Scary to see them put up some
points. You know that's their outfence is always good, but you know they've
got that reputation as a defensive team and see them put up that level of
points, it's it's gonna make for some fun conference battles with obviously when they
face Sycamore, and should be really interesting with Kayalen put up some points to
it, so that should be a very very fun game. Yeah. I
edited Bilodinsky's story on Morris from Friday Night and I covered Morris a couple of
times last year, including the playoff game, and I thought a lot of
those kids were seniors. But it's the same name. So I they're they're,
they're they're gonna be awfully tough again this year. And I don't think
that surprises anybody. And what's the deal with Princeton as I go into my
full brick wall, what's the deal? They just have like a factory where
they make guys or they could put it in and get two hundred yards like
like, I'm sure you'll know the name right off hand, but and I
am can't find them my notes give but they have a dude then two hundred
yards after the graduated guy who's just so good there for years and they have
to just found someone else. And that's just well they you know what it's
uh, you know, it's one of those things. And I think you
could say it about Morris. I mean there's programs are on where you talk
about it's you know, you have great when you have a great program and
you put things in place like Ryan Pearson has there and you have a great
program and you have that success and you build that excitement in the community and
then you start getting the top tier athletes. You know, when those two
things come together, that's how you get runs like Princeton has been on,
Morris has been on. You know, Princeton, great chance they're gonna end
up being, you know, ranked number one in the state at some point
here. I believe they opened it number two. You know that when you
build the program, you're good. You build the floor up, you know,
you raise your floor where. Yeah, maybe we might miss the playoffs
and go four and five, but you know we're not gonna o nine seasons,
two and seventh season. So they built the floor first, and then
you start getting the great athletes coming in and all of a sudden, the
ceiling goes up, and that's when you see, you know, programs like
Princeton is now where you know nobody wants to play them. I think we'll
turn our attention north here in a second. But first got to pay the
bills. So we're gonna take a quick break and we'll come back and shoot
around the cal County a little bit. Schweiker Gannison, Krazak Rundio Proudley sponsors
to Friday Night Drive. I'm Mike Krazak. If you've been injured, we
are ready to take on the insurance company and get you to the end zone.
We've recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for our clients. Visit the GA
nassi n dot com and welcome back everybody to the Friday Night Drive Podcast Rural
Edition. I'm here with Eddie Carriffio. I'm JT. Penalty And you know,
we kind of take a took a look around kind of generally the area
and hit some of the schools that maybe aren't in our wheelhouses. But now
we're gonna go right into your soft underbelly and talk a little bit about the
cal County out what'd you see up there? Ready? It was? It
was an interesting week one, obviously there was. It was. It was
funny because there were some things I wanted to see and I would say,
like, what are all the pretentious people say about Chazz? It's like the
stereotype of it is the notes you didn't see, man, It's that's what
mattered, the notes you didn't play, you know, the sort of thing.
I think there was some very interesting. There were some questions and seeing
some things like, for instance, we talked Sycamore in that forty two seven
win over to calbat Husky Stadium. Sycamore has a new quarterback this year,
Burke Gaucher. He was already he's a junior. It's been heavily recruited Iowa,
Illinois, Northern Illinois. I think it's five or six do you one
offer? And it was a wide receiver last year for the first time playing
quarterback this year, So like moving someone who was that good at wide receiver
to quarterbacks. Obviously, Jarring has a lot of faith that they're a better
team with him there, obviously, So okay, what can he do a
quarterback? Well, he had two packs. He ran for like one hundred
and thirty five yards and he looked like just the stride on him, you'd
blink it. It was like one of those and obviously a big chunk of
that is to do with the Sycamore line just as good as they are,
but he'd blink it. He's like twelve yards down field, like one of
those like where you look at it and like you think, oh, what
was that three and then you look in they're moving, the chains gone.
So so, but how can you throw the ball And the answer to that
is good, maybe because he attended two passes. One of them was a
shovel pass, so it probably didn't even go to you know, especially at
the high school level, they tended. Yeah, so it was two yards
if they even had to count those as runs, even though technically it was,
you know, a forward pass that a professional statistician at college or NFL
would definitely have had as a call that up as a pass. So the
other pass was like this fifty five yard just a beautiful bomb right into the
bread basket at Tea Allahan in stride fifty five yards just just a virgeusly there
was a long time we ye throw and they were up. That was in
the second half. They were already up at the well. Yeah, you
know, you get you get ahead, and then it opens up those possibilities.
But the big thing is that you see he can cash in on them
for those games down the stretch when okay, we're in a tie game down
the stretch, we've got it, you know, defenses creeping in, you
know, can you hit those big plays and the other things you put it
on. I still call it film because everyone calls it film, even though
I'm even sure films, unless you're making up an Oppenheimer, I don't think
film exists. But you know, honestly, you get it on tape,
and that changes how their next four opponents are going to play them because play
is going to be in the back of their heads. That's one less step
a cornerback and creep in on a running play because they know that's in that
playbook, and which is exactly why he which is why uh he said he
called that pass there was because they saw the cornerback sneaking in coming in on
the exactly. So the next cornerbacks. Yeah, so the cornerbacks the next
three weeks and the safeties they'll take that step and they're like, oh crap,
I don't want to be I don't want to be the one on someone
else's recruitment video to be fall behind by three steps and fall down trying to
tackle them. So well, that's that's such so huge for a team to
show that balance, even if you don't need to use it most weeks,
as I'm sure Sickamore probably won't. Yeah, it's definitely there, but I
we'll see if this was just what they thought they could do against the calb
But for a team that's been balanced in a lot of attacks, it was
a lot more towards the run because they were successful. So exactly anything stand
out to you on the the calb side head coach Derek Schieman. There's an
old baseball player of mine in my baseball coach days. Yeah, I know
your boyd Derek. He No, he's not a really good job. I
mean, obviously, the Cows just did a tough situation be playing in THEER.
I mean, that's just it's tough. Your non conference schedule includes one
of over the last couple of years, one of the four best teams at
the very least mathematically technically anyway in the Class five Egg playing them every year.
So it's a tough schedule. That got the best of Barbs in his
first year, but obviously last year into the playoffs. So one of the
things I was most interested in seeing, and again I think this is one
of those incompletes, is their defense. And I think a lot of teams
are gonna suffer the fate at the hands of Sycamore that the Cow did,
possibly even worse. So the cam only has one starter back. That's the
thing about the Barbs is there if it all goes apart in the plan anyway,
just should be getting or better. To hear Boson like, even more
so than your average team. You know that well, we want to be
better every week, one percent better blah blah blah. Even more so.
And they have one starter back on defense, two starters back on offense,
so even more than that normal improve every week, there's an even higher ceiling
for them with that. So I was particularly interested in seeing the defense,
and for a half they did a really good job against Sickamore containing the run
what you would call and I'm sure it makes a coach of cringe a fend
I, but don't break defense. The only Sycamore scores came from turnovers drives.
I started on turnovers for the Caps, so that was another one of
those big incompletes I kind of wanted to get a feel of. But it's
like, Okay, I still don't have answers. But I don't think that
was as bad as it looks. You know, it definitely wasn't. Steven
said it after the game that he doesn't think they're thirty five points that are
that's signal more thirty five points better than that they were on that night.
But I think that that's definitely, like I said, probably accurate what he
said. Right, Well, it'll be interesting to see other season plays all
like you said, just for the CALB, you know, and second more
both both have you know, demanding schedules. You know, the CALB Conference
cheez. You know, it's you're you're trying to, you know, build
build something up into being a perennial playoff team and then you know, maybe
take that next up. I mean, the Calb's never had a problem having
great athletes, and now it's kind of you know, now it's it's okay,
can we get to that level of these other programs that we're playing and
get these great athletes into the point where we're in that conversation. Yeah,
interested to see if whatever I hate solution moving forward involves the CALB in some
manner. Yeah, because they all wanted to get away from the cal All
of a sudden, the CALB gets good and then NIP twelve blows up.
So that's kind of how it goes. It's well, I don't think Sycamore
was originally in the game plans for the Interstate eight. I think that was
kind of like they were at seven Or was that Kinlan No, it's both.
Actually, I think there were two other teams that ended up dropping out,
so Sycamore and Klin. Like you said, weren't originally I know Canlan
or I'm pretty sure Caitlin was the late team to the party. And I'm
pretty sure it happened earlier with Sycamore two. But they had had other plans.
I don't remember who, but they had had other teams and they needed
to scramble and find Sycamore, and then they needed to scramble and find Kanlin.
And yeah, if you look around at a map and and boy,
this is just right in exactly what this uh, this, this version of
the Friday Night Drive podcast is all about his name and a bunch of towns
that people are like, where the heck is that on a map? You
know? You know, Pontiac I think was one of the teams that I
don't know if they were ever offered it, but you know, maybe considered
for that spot, you know, right down Route twenty three from street.
You know, you got you have your Pontiac, which you know as a
history of a strong program most years. Uh, you know, you look
around, who are some of the other schools you're talking like you're talking,
they're not that much smaller. They're usually four ACE, so they'd be at
the smaller end of this conference. But I think they fit in exactly well.
That's and that's always the thing with the comfort when you're dealing with Sycamore
kneland kind of the rest of the conferences, like, uh, you know,
Ottawa was a big school and then they're trying to rebuild their football groum,
you know, and kind of you know, shifting down here, dumbout
out. You know, lasal Peru got a really nice win, uh Friday
night at United Township twenty four to fourteen. They're big thing with LP this
year, reading Kevin and Clone the sports that are over in LaSalle, reading
all his preseason content and everything is you know, LP has been a playoff
team last few years, and it's five and five, five and five,
five and five, five and five, and they're trying to take that next
up and they've kind of opened up their offense a bit. They're saying,
Okay, we're getting to the playoffs and we're not able to score with these
other teams. What can we do to get there? So, you know,
they had a new co Brendan Boudreau through for one and fifty nine and
ran for one hundred and three, and you might say one hundred and fifty
nine is not a lot. That's that's pretty good for you know, LP
uh and and a new offense. Yeah, for a team that haven't they
have been very run heavy in the past too, right, not only new
was a totally new offense changed things around one hundred eighty degrees. Yet,
No, that's pretty impressive. Yeah, not bad at all. They have
LP has Metamora in week two, so you know that's gonna be a tough
one. They you know, they have a tough schedule, and there's a
reason they end up every not every year, but they more often not end
up on that five and four four and five bubble is because you know,
they play some tough non conference. Anyone who's listening to this and knows how
that Interstate eight Kshwaukee River is made up is you know there's some big time
halves and there's some big time half not So you know, when you look
at that schedule, you don't want to say there's only this many winnable games,
but a lot of times for teams like LP Ottawa that we'll talk to
and we'll talk about a little bit. You know, when you look at
that schedule, you never know what's going to happen, but you know,
for those people who look at it and trying to project it out, a
lot of times there's a one or two games that it's like, these are
the ones that are going to decide, you know, these are ones that
are going to swing you. So United Township with one of those ones for
LP and and they got it, so have to have to feel good moving
forward. Yeah, I mean, obviously, like you said, it's depending
on just with the way this conference is struck, the way the conference structure
is in the state. Obviously, you know, it's designed to get your
five wins, and that's the goal is to get to the five. And
you know you pick out like you said, there's some and that was a
big one for United that that's halveshold thing, especially these days in the DBC,
trying to find where those five wins are going to come from. So
yeah, that's it's a common thing. Week twos, they're they're one of
those week two games down there and one of those on the five checklist for
somebody for you. You know, this is one of those ones where you
know, probably our biggest game down this way. It's the state's third oldest
rivalries Street or versus Ottawa. I mentioned it earlier about twenty three. Right,
they're meeting for one hundred and first time. They started in eighteen ninety
four, so they've been paying eight years off. They had eight years off
and it's still oh and they had they had much longer breaks before that too.
They they they you know, back in the day, would accuse each
other of running it up and we're not playing for a while, you know,
and then start playing again or so. So it's it's kind of always
been that sort of rivalry. Now it's the conference thing that kind of had
them not playing for a few years. But they're back and they're in Week
two every year, which is you know, really exciting for the kids down
here. And like you mentioned, you know, these are two teams that
you know, Ottawa was five and four. Last year in the regular season,
they beat Streeter Uh you know this year out was coming in a tougher
spot. Last year they beat Plano in the final seconds. This year they
lose a Plano in the final seconds. So, you know, Ottawa absolutely
needs this game with that conference schedule coming up. If they want to reasonably
think playoffs, they have to beat Streeter Streeters coming off of seventy four to
twenty nine win that. As I said, I'm still trying to recover sleep
from. But you know the story. There was Christian BENNINGU Streeters senior quarterback.
He's also their leading scorer in basketball. They're clean up hitter and shortstop
in baseball. He's just one of the best all around athletes you know that
you see at that five A you know, three A in other sports five
A and football level. He threw for two seventy nine and four touchdowns.
He ran for one hundred and seventy seven and four touchdowns, and yeah,
why not he ran back a seventy one yard pick six on like one of
maybe the four plays he played defensive leagues. It was an obvious passing down.
So anything he had a bit of a day. Yeah, you know
what he did kickoffs two. The team never did punt. Even though they
had a first quarter fourth and forty two. The team never punted, So
I don't know, he might punt two. They're on the road at Ottawa.
Maybe they convert the fourth and forty two or what they did not.
They did not, but you know they could have. It was a drop.
It was a drop. They probably could have. But you know the
kind of for Ottowan Street or both. This is gonna be one of those
games, great environment, you know, huge rivalry, you know, right
there on the confluence of the Fox and Illinois Rivers, and it's gonna be
it's gonna be a great game, and they both need it with what they
have coming up on the schedule, so so it'll be very interesting. Yeah,
definitely, this podcast definitely for people that know where that confluence is where
twenty three runs through. So yes, so up here. I'm interested.
For Genoa, I thought originally they got North Boone up at North Boone,
two long road trips to start to hear they were at Rockford Christian enrolled and
one Rocker Christian has some roster issues. I think last week you'd seen they
only have like fifteen players on their roster. So so the big win was
expected for GK. North Boone has been a fringe playoff team for a couple
of years. I thought this would be a little better measuring stick. They
lost the organ, so U six nothing and the just not a score you
see every day, although it is a little more common I think in the
BNC, but still, I know we had a lot of problems I had
in in Street or our game just with people holding onto the ball. It
was hot, it was humid, it was especially earlier in the game.
I mean, they couldn't get snaps in. They couldn't, you know.
And and some of that's week one jitters, week one sloppiness. You know,
you expect some of that, but it seemed like there was a little
more of it, and maybe that played into some of the And then here
I am saying, maybe that played into the low score after I covered,
you know, a game that finished seven four point nine. But you know,
I think you saw that pretty much around pretty much all over the place,
you know, just kind of some lower scoring games here and there,
and uh, you know, but six nothing, Yeah, you don't see
that much these days. Then the cal I think it's a big one for
them. One of those five we were talking about, this is this is
one of them, and they got as you're quite well aware, the Cowboys
hosting Plainfield South in a big non conference game. I'm sure Plainfield South this
is one that they need to get as well, if I'm not mistaken,
but I know this is if they if they're getting the five, this is
they've got to get these next two non conference games, and then that includes
this one. I believe, I don't have an up front of me right
now, but I'm very very certain to cab one at Plainfield South last year.
Yeah, I think you're right on that, And they know the other
one kind of down my way that I'm really interested in. Seneca is going
to visit Lyle this week. And Lyle looked pretty good. They took care
of Harvard. Harvard's you know, maybe not the strongest program, but that's
a bigger school. You know. I don't think they're twice the size of
of Lyle, but it's probably pretty close. So I think Lyle might might
be a decent test for Seneca. And you know, Seneca's coming off a
nine and oh season where they won that Vermilion Valley Football Alliance North Division.
I'm just going to keep saying pronouns. Yeah you have, but you know
they won that and uh but now they're coming in this new Chicago Land Prairie
and you know, they don't know you're playing. You got some five eight
teams in this conference, and you got some one eight teams in this conference.
So it's gonna be a big year of just everyone kind of feeling themselves
out and and seeing how do we stack up against against these other programs.
So Seneca Liles should be should be an interesting one to tell. Is Seneca
gonna be? You know, are they going to threaten to be a nine
and o team again have a home playoff game, you know, because they
haven't. They have their sight set on a pretty deep run this year.
And you know they run that power te offense that uh, you know,
just no one sees it all year, so usually they blow you off the
ball and beat you up before you know what's happening. So I'm very interested
to see how they deal with Lyle and how that game turns out. That's
a that's a week two when I got my eye on. I think that
Chicago Land Uh Conference is the reason why is the biggest poster child for why
they need to just go to districts at this point, And just that is
exhibit one through one hundred billion. First of all, that you have Seneca
playing in Chicagoian Conference. That's I don't want to put words in people's mouths
or thoughts in people's heads, but I don't think they see themselves down there
as as Chicago or Ottawa Marquette or Peru sain't be They're all in this conference.
Dwight as just this this uh out the necessity this conference being for.
When I first saw that put the proposed name Chicago Land Prairie, I always
thought of the fact that, you know, when I go on vacation,
and I'm sure this happens to you too. You know, you say you're
from Illinois or you're wearing a shirt that says something Illinois, and oh,
you're from Chicago. That's probably right by Chicago, isn't it. And then
no, we're about one hundred miles from Chicago where I live. But you
know, to them, that's all Chicago. And I feel like this conference's
name is like out a heck with it, it's all Chicago. Yeah exactly,
I'll say, like, you're fifty miles outside right there. It's it's
just not sometimes it's not even worth explaining. But yeah, so that that's
just Oh my lord, just do districts already? Come on, guys,
what are we thinking? You know, I have mixed feelings on that.
I I love the benefits of it and some of the conference things that could
that could tear it up. But you know, if you do districts.
You're gonna lose some of these, some of these you know, games you'll
make for example, you're decalb Sycamore or my Ottawa Street or they'll almost certainly
be in a district together, I would think, or pretty close to it,
depending on where class rankings cut off and and whatnot. But you know
some of those rivalries will be lost. You know that you won't just won't
get to play them because there won't be a whole form. Well, that's
why you do uh larger, That's why you don't do a full ten team
district. That's why you go eight and leave to still scheduled the first two
weeks with whoever you want. If you've got more than two rivals than you
know what, I don't know what to tell you, that's weird. And
they're not geographically the same size of you. Yeah, not in the districts
down a little bit. The problem with that is that then those games essentially
are meaningless. And I know they're not meaningless, and I hate that term
meaningless game, but you know, if they're not going to count towards the
playoffs, how long are you going to play your best players? Even if
it is the calib Sickamore Ottawa Streeter. You know, how long are you
going to risk your chances at the playoffs and the games that actually means something
for the postseason in what are essentially are becoming you know what NFL preseason games
are. You know, here's a couple of games to get tuned up for
the games that matter. And I don't know. I go back and forth
on it. I can tell you and I you know, we share the
same job description. I'm sick of every three weeks they can okay, I
can have a nice relaxing day. I don't have to go to work until
I go cover a baseball game at four thirty. Oops, someone's leaving a
conference again. I've got to make seven phone calls. And it feels like
it's you know, every third week we're doing that. So I definitely agree
that some sort of stability has to be granted, and districts is one of
the ways to do it. If you can find the right way to do
it where the schools are excited about it, the games would come meanless.
The games will not to be a meatball here, but games. It's it's
football, it's football, it's somebody, Yeah, it will hear if it's
not a rivalry game, let alone it being an Ottawa Streeter or at the
calp Sycamore, it would never be. Those games aren't meaningless. You only
get nine games guarantee. Now, I'm I'm actually a I'm one of Illinois
like four Los Angeles Chargers fans. But you know, you say that,
and then it's all fine until Mike Williams gets hurt in a meaningless Week seventeen
game. Oh no, everybody, and then everybody wants the coach's job.
So yeah, it's it's all fine until you know, someone gets hurt in
the you know, the quarterback gets hurt in at the calp Sycamore game,
that doesn't matter, and it's gone for the season. And then all of
a sudden, it's like, I guess, so maybe we need to rethink
this, you know. But but I I agree with you. I think
something has to be done. You when you've got Dwight playing Peru Saint Bede
in a Chicago Land Prairie game in Week eight or whatever, it is,
something's something, something's amiss. Absolutely, that's probably where we should end this
inaugural edition of The Friday Night Drive. Speaking of something amiss. This was
our podcast is something that we has put a pin in that for the name
shot down this time, I'll know we want this to be the name.
So that's week won in the books. We'll be back next week taking a
look at what we saw from week two and previewing week three. So forth.
J D Penalty. I'm Eddie Carafitte Caiffio. This is the firday Nerd
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