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Schwiker, Cannison, Krizak Rndio Bradley
sponsors for Friday Night Drive. I'm Mike

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Krizak. If you've been injured,
we are ready to take on the insurance

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A, N A, S, S

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I M dot com. What's up
everyone, and welcome back into the Friday

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Night Drive Podcast. I am Kyle
Neighbors along with my co host Steve Susie.

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It is unbelievably week nine. Here. It is Thursday, October nineteenth.

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We were recording this about eleven am
on Thursday, and we got a

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full, incredible slate a high school
football head suits one of my favorite weeks

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of the entire calendar each year.
This slate does not give us any There's

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a lot of good games, essentially, is what I'm trying to say here,

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isn't there? Yeah? I mean
you look at it just from the

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top of the pile. Obviously there's
the grand fan of the regular season that

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we're waiting for on Saturday between Mount
Carmel and Loyola. But the interesting thing

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about this week is that there are
so many teams that have already clinched playoff

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first basically meaning they've got six wins
or more at this point, that are

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playing another team they're in the same
situation. In Week nine. There's a

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ton of six and two against six
and two, games six and two,

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seven and ones, pairs of seven
and ones and eight no playing a six

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and two. They're all over the
board. There's like forty of those games

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this week, which which will obviously
lead to a lot of jostling on those

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seed boards based on the results of
those games coming in because those teams are

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already in the playoffs, but they
have a lot to play for. Some

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of them are fighting to try to
get a home game, some of them

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are trying to fight to get a
top five seed. I mean, there's

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just a lot of intrigue in those
games, and the results that come out

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of them are gonna bear a lot
of weight on how the brackets look On

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Saturday Night. You can follow sous
on Twitter at the SEUs. You can

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follow myself on Twitter at Kyle Neighbors. You can find all of Friday Night

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Dry content at Friday Night Drive dot
com. Follow us on Twitter at fn

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Drive. Also find us on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. Suits will

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have a live updates throughout the weekend
for his project Playoff Projections, which right

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now you can find. Heading into
week nine, his updated playoff projection at

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Friday Night Drive dot Com will also
have live with Friday Night Drive from eight

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to eleven PM. Jake Barlson and
the Seuss hosting that I'll be popping in

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from time to time, will be
breaking down everything that how it relates to

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the playoff field throughout Week nine.
And one of those games, as Sus

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mentioned, it's gonna be one of
the last games to come in on Saturday

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afternoon, Loyola versus Mount Carmel,
but it's gonna have an impact on the

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way this field shapes up. But
first off, before we get into that

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talk about the playoff field, we're
gonna start like we usually do by bringing

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in Michael Duojack, who covers the
Chicago Catholic League and East Suburban Catholic Conference

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for Friday Night Drive dot Com.
Michael, how you doing man? Good?

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Are you guys doing wonderful? I'm
probably tell by the tone of my

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vote I'm excited for football this week. And how about you yeah, I'm

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really excited. What do we have, like an hour to talk about Mount

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Carmel, Loyola and nas in Saint
Francis and all these other great matchups coming

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up this weekend? Where did you
want to start with Mount Carmel Looyal or

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do you want to finish with it? Why don't we finish with it?

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Because we've got a lot to impact
there. I feel like, all right,

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let's start with where are you going
on Friday night? I'm going to

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Saint Rita, Brother Rice. Saint
Rita has made the playoffs, they earned

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their you know bid there, but
Brother Rice needing to win that game right

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now. They need to pick up
the number five, I think too.

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So I'm not sure Brother Rice would
have enough playoff points with four wins or

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anything like that, but Brother Rice, Brother Rice is leading that list.

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If they do end up at four
and five, they're they're number one out

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of all potential options for a four
and five team. So if we need

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four and five's, if Brother Rice
is four and five, they'd be the

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first team pulled. Yeah, but
I'm sure the Crusaders you know, want

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to win that game. But it's
been a it's been kind of a crazy

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season. You know, they Brother
Rice started so well at ten and seven,

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and then you know, injuries have
just kind of played this team the

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entire year. They lost their start
linebacker, Christian Pierce, who has offers

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from Ohio State, Michigan, Illinois, Texas. They lost two defensive line

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starters throughout the season, and a
lot of their secondary is young. So

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that defense, you know, is
a really you know, kind of patchwork

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defense at this point. And the
offense is you know, is good running

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the ball passing wise. Their top
threat wide receiver has gone as well.

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So it hasn't been exactly the season
Brother Rice expected at the beginning of the

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year. But now the Crusaders,
you know, they gotta play Saint Rito

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southside rival Blue Arrival as well,
so it should be a really fun game

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just to watch, you know,
see with Brother Rice can get into the

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game and see, you know,
if Saint Rita is going to you know,

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play all the way out and you
know, try to get a higher

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seed with with a win. Two. Montini started the year five and zero

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and has now lost three straight games. They sit at five and three.

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The Broncos do they head to six
and two. Saint loriis this week.

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What are you expecting out of that
matchup? I'm really curious to see.

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You know, Saint Lawrence has kind
of impressed me throughout the year. I

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think, you know, playing Saint
Rita last week, they you kind of

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got the you know result you kind
of expected with you know, them playing

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a blue opponent like Saint Rita.
But Saint Lawrence has been you know,

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really impressive this year. A lot
of their playmakers have really come together.

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And for Montini, you know,
I covered their loss to Brother Rice on

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Friday and talking with coach Mike Lukowski, he has strussed that they have not

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played a complete game yet. They
you know, and in their game against

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Brother Rice, they committed around I
think it was like seven penalties that really

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just you know, got in the
way of long drives. And you know,

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Montini has that big play potential.
They got Mari who can really run

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it. They they got a lot
of great players and good quarterback play as

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well, and the defense played pretty
well against Brother Rice. Is just you

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know, when the offense commits you
know a fall star penalty or you know

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just silly penalties that kind of stopped
drives or really stops them from playing.

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So I'm really curious to see,
you know, is Saint Lawrence able to

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regroup after a tough loss to Saint
Rita last week and cam Mantini finally put

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it together before heading into the playoffs. I know, obviously Montini is happy

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to make the playoffs, but I
don't think they really want to go into

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it with a four game losing streak. Yeah. While Montini is trying to

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break a losing streak, Nazareth is
on a four game winning streak now at

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four and four after an zero to
four start to the season. I think

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at this point it's pretty well known
that naz started two and four last year,

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came all the way back to win
the Class five A state title.

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Trying to take it a step further
this year after starting zero to four.

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But they get a really tough matchup
this week against Owed and Saint Francis tein

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that just knows how to win games. Michael, Yeah, Saint Francis has

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been really impressive over the past four
weeks. Just you know, ever since

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that Fenwick loss when they lost in
the field go in the last minute,

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they've just been motivated ever since.
In coach McMillan talked about how that field

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goal lost kind of turned their season
around. They have learned how to win

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in this league. They've learned how
what it takes to you know, put

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games together. So Saint Francis is
a really strong opponent, and Nazareth has

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finally kind of looked the way we
expected NAS to look. I think,

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you know, obviously that we've talked
a lot about this season about how,

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you know, tough their schedule has
been. You know, obviously, I

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don't think there's been a bad opponent
on that schedule, and they've been competitive

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in all their games except probably York
in Week number two. So I'm really

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curious to see, you know,
what NAS team comes together. They were

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able to be brother Rice a couple
of weeks ago. They've just been on

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a tear ride now and I'm just
really curious to see, you know,

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is this team finally able to put
it all together? And if they enter

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as a five and four team,
I I don't know if I'm you know,

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if I'm a top seed, I
don't want to play NAS because there's

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that's just gonna be a tough opponent
that is not a five and four team,

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that is probably a quarterfinal of not
a semi final matchup in the first

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round for that top seed. You
have Bennett and Providence matching up this week

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at four and four. You got
to Paul College Prep, which picked up

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a marquee win a multiple overtime win
last week. Get Fenwick to get to

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four and four. Uh, some
intriguing teams trying to crack that five win

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mark. Which other matchup are you
looking at around the or which other team

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are you focused on here in week
nine? I'm really curious, and you

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know, for De Paul, you
know they're they beat Fenwick in double overtime

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this past week just felt like a
huge program win. Probably a lot of

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them, a lot of the coaches
in the staff has said it's probably their

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biggest win since they turned into De
Paul Prep. Obviously Gordon before them,

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you know, one state championships and
that kind of stuff. So a lot

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of football history with Gordon Tech.
But De Paul has been kind of looking

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for, you know, trying to
figure out who they are as a program

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and trying to get that buy in, and that Fenwick win might be that

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buy in that coach Mike Purcell has
been looking for. So I'm really curious

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to see, you know, the
Paul Prep, they get De la Sale.

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De la Sal can't make the playoffs, but the Deal Seal has a

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lot of you know, great athletes, you know who can play collegiately.

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So I'm really curious to see what
happens in that matchup, whether you know,

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d La Sale is gonna you know, really give them a test,

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and whether De Paul can finally get
over the hump and make the playoffs for

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the first time since twenty thirteen.
And for Saint Viator in Providence, I

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mean it's or for uh yeah,
it's the entire Providence. It just it

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feels like to win and get in
for those teams. Providence has kind of

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been you know, up and down
after making the state championship game in four

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a last year, kind of struggled
to find consistency for much of the season.

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And Saint Vidor is kind of the
same way, where in the last

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you know, four games, they've
averaged fourteen points and given up an average

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of thirty five point three points per
game. Obviously they'll want to turn that

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around moving forward here as they we
enter week nine, and of course we

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come to the big one, Loyola
Mount Carmel one pm on Saturday. Is

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it one pm or one thirty one? Because of the sun no lights at

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Loyola. Yes, I think it
suits before they start from at one thirty

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and they got told like they have
to start no later than one You can't.

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It's actually in the bylaws. You
cannot start a Saturday game that has

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playoff implications of any kind after one
pm. Yeah, you're not allowed to.

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Yeah, So if you are going
out, by the way, if

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you're going out to that game on
Saturday afternoon, Loyol is also hosting another

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athletic event. Parking is going to
be tight out there with a lot going

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on. That's already gonna be a
big crowd for football, So make sure

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you get there early. Michael,
just give us a little bit of a

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breakdown on this one. What are
you expecting. I'll just start things up.

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People probably won't want to hear this
from me, But I have no

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idea what's going on. But what's
going to happen with this game? It

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could be an defensive you know,
it can be a defensive battle. It

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can be a shootout like it was
last year. I don't know what could

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happen. These are two you know, elite teams, that have just battled,

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you know, in week number nine
for the Blue Championship. Loyola won

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it in twenty twenty one, twenty
one to nineteen, and then Mount carl

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obviously won that thriller forty two to
thirty seven last year. Just some stats

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for you guys. Loyola holds the
overall advantage nine to eight in the past

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seventeen years, but ever since Jordan
Lynch took over, Mount Carmelo leads three

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to two. In those last five
games, the average margin of victory has

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been six point six points. The
two teams, you know, they know

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what it's like, they know what
it's like to compete against each other.

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And if I'm talking about a huge
matchup them looking forward to I'm very curious

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to see the matchup of Mount Carmelo's
offense, primarily Darien Deprie against Loyoli's defense.

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Loyola's defense has been elite this year. They only average, you know,

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giving up seven points per game,
and a lot of those points have

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come up in garbage time when the
backups have been getting in the second half.

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So this Loyola defense has been elite. But you know, Mount Carmelo's

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offense has been the elite as well. And last year, Darien DePree was

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really having a great game against Loyal. He got a lot of big runs

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before he got injured in that game, and obviously that took him out from

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the playoffs. But I'm very curious
to see how this Loyola defense, you

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know, they have great senior leadership
all the way up, starting with Joe

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Kelly as a defensive lineman. He's
been a really strong lineman who's created a

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lot of pressure on quarterbacks and running
backs this year. So I'm very curious

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to see how does Darien Depre,
you know, not only run against this

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defense, but he's a there have
been some games where he's had more receiving

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yards than rushing yards. He's like
a great pass catcher. He can do

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a lot with the ball once he
catches the ball. So I'm very curious

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to see how, you know,
Jordan Lynch and this Mountcarmol offense can go

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against the defense that has not really
had a slow game at all this year.

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Make sure you follow Michael on Twitter
at m dwo Jack ninety four.

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You can also find him on Instagram
and threads Michael. Before we get out

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here, I'm going to put you
on the spot. I know you said

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you don't know how this is gonna
play out, but I'm gonna make you

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pick a winner here. I you
know, I'm just gonna go last year

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with when I made my prediction,
I gave Loyola the toss up just because

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it was a Loyola. So obviously
Mount Carmel doesn't have a doesn't have trouble

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traveling up to Loyola and competing in
that environment like most teams do. I

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am on the record saying that I
think Mount Carmelo's going to win this game.

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I think it's actually going to be
a fourteen to thirteen win for Mount

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Carmel. I think the defense is
kind of shining this game. I know

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the weather might be a little sloppy
in the morning, but I think we'll

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be fine by the time the game
kicks off at one o'clock. But I

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just think these defenses are really good. I think both offenses have experience.

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But you know, I'm very curious
to see how does Ryan Fitzgerald do in

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this first, you know, big
time game like this. Jack Elliott obviously

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did it against eat St. Louis
in game number one for Mount Carmel.

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But I think it's a tight game. I think Mount Carmel pushes off,

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gets a late game interception or fourth
game stop, fourth downstop, and I

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think Mount Carmel wins this one fourteen
to thirteen. All right, well,

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thank you for joning us this morning, Michael. We'll be right back to

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talk to Joe Stevenson about everything happening
around mckenry County. This is State Representative

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Steve Reich, and I'm happy to
sponsor this year's Friday Night Drive. There'll

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be plenty of time for politics down
the road, but for now, let's

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00:13:50.279 --> 00:13:54.799
enjoy some high school football. Whichever
school you follow, give him your support.

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Welcome back into the Friday Night Dry
podcast. I am Kyle Neighbors,

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and now we welcome in Joe Stevenson, who covers McHenry County for the Northwest

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Herald in Friday Night Drive dot com. Joe, how you doing. I'm

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gonna borrow the line from Bill Walton
this week. If I were any better,

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there'd be a have to be an
investigation. I'm looking forward to basketball

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season. Get in some more Bill
Walton highlights. Those are some of the

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most bizarre, wonderful things you can
find. What I love is when they

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get Frank kelliendo doing Bill Walton.
Those are just hysterical. That guy's that

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guy's great. He is quite wonderful. But Joe, let's let's dive in

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here to week nine up in your
neck of the wood, and I want

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to start with Marion Central. We've
seen this team have to battle all year

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long to get itself into position week
nine here against Weedon Academy. It's a

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tough matchup. What kind of vibe
are you getting for the Hurricanes going into

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this one? Well, you know, I think Mary is capable of winning

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this game. I think it's a
possibility because you know, the Hurricanes can

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throw it all over the place with
with Cale mcfinea, Christian, Benton Kerr,

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Ryland Dolter, some of those other
receivers they have. Man, this

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is gonna be a tough one.
They're on the road and Wheaton Academy just

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beat a good Aurora Christian team last
week. I was at thirty to seven

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I think it was, and Aura
Christian beat the Hurricanes by twelve the week

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before. So it's gonna it's gonna
be a tough task for them. You

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know, I don't know what you
know SEUs has an idea on you know,

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possible four and five teams if if
Marian were to lose, and you

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know what if it still have a
chance to get in or not. I

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know, the Hurricanes are like one
of the top what four or five would

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they be? SEUs And actually,
actually they've slipped a little bit over the

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last couple of weeks. And I
don't know which of you I talked to

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about this, but I think the
biggest problem for Maryon Central Catholic and their

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point accumulation was earlier in the season, they played the Milwaukee Academy of Science

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and lost to them, but that
team actually has not played since Week seven,

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so they're not accumulating any points.
So they had kind of a weird

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schedule. And while they were getting
points from them because they kept winning early

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in the year, Now every time
Marion Central Catholic wins, they're getting three

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points from their conference opponents, and
if Richmond Burton wins, which they usually

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do, a fourth. So the
maximum number of points that they're going to

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get per week right now is four
if they win, and four a week

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is not keeping you at the top
of the list. You need more than

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that. So they've been slowly slipping
down. Now. I believe they're probably

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eleventh or twelfth on the list of
teams that would if they finished four and

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five, would get into the field. So that would be really unlikely to

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happen, to be honest. So
this pretty much means winning in for Marion.

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Yeah, and I still think Marion
would be a really tough out in

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two A if it can get there, because that's a that's a high powered

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offensive team, and I just provide
some real matchup problems with Benton KERR.

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Yeah, yeah, Bennenker. That's
why I wanted to mention here, Christian

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Bennenker. Watch now at two hundred
and ten career receptions, tied for eighth

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all the time with Cretemontigue wide receiver
Lakwan Treadwell. He's done af K for

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himself right well. And then listen
listen at Christian Bennenker's numbers this year.

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Just hilarious so far through eight weeks, seventy one reception, one and sixty

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two yards and eighteen touchdowns. He
put in out player some Calvin Johnson numbers

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in the high school level here.
I think he's had four two hundred yard

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games I'm pretty sure there's four games
where he's had two hundred yards receiving.

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When I saw one, yeah,
you saw one, and I saw the

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opener of Richmond Burton he had he
almost had two hundred yards at halftime of

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that game. Oh my yeah,
I forgot about that. Yeah, and

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three touchdowns and almost a fourth.
I think he caught one just and just

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had stepped out of bounds onlike the
last play of the half. So yeah,

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he's something else, you know,
and cheap. In mind, those

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career numbers include a freshman year that
was the COVID year, so they only

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played five games that year, and
he still had like thirty eight in that

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year. So yeah, just crazy
stuff. Heading over to the Fox Valley

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Conference, you got four teams into
the playoffs so far, with Perry Ridge,

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Huntley, Kerry Grove and Jacobs the
four teams we typically expect to see

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at the top of the FBC standings
battling behind them. He got two more

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teams that have a chance this week
to fight their way into the playoff field.

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That's Burlington Central and Crystal Lake Central. Burlington Central has a tough matchup

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against Huntley, while Crystal Lake Central
has a winnable game against Hampshire Joe.

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But they're going to be doing that
without starting quarterback Jason Penzen, who left

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the last week with an injury.
Yeah, Jason Pinza injured his shoulder early

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in the game against Prairie Ridge.
He actually stayed in and played a couple

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more series and threw a touchdown pass
to George Demopolis. He caught it over

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the middle and took it like eighty
seven yards. It was a long play.

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But after that throw, he came
to the sideline and told coach Derek

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Stangers as coach, I just can't
go. I can't do it anymore.

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He was hurting too bad. So
I'm pretty sure he's not going to play,

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and I don't know what his status
would be for next week if the

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Tigers are to win and get in. You know, Sophomore Abraham Quinn came

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in and really looked pretty good.
Made some nice plays, some nice throws,

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some good decisions, had a couple
of good runs for first downs,

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and he will have the whole week, you know, this week to practice

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with the first offense and so so
that will be to their advantage. They

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got some great receivers over there,
Uh, Hampshire is this is not a

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given Hampshire's two and six, but
this is a pretty good two and sixteam,

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and you got to deal with their
running back Cole Klaubakowski, who's just

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a real workhorse and real productive runner
over in the Kishwaukee River Conference in interstate

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A. Uh, we got Marengo
this week, had fought its way back

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to four and four. Here a
win over Sandwich last week that I'll be

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honest, they caught me a bit
by surprise, Joe. But now have

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a game against four and four Plano
me and that that one caught me by

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surprise as well. What a what
a great win for the Indians to make

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this week nine game. Really need
something now it's them and planoh both you

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know, both four and four.
So the winner winner gets to keep playing.

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The loser is going to have to
go home. But yeah, what

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a great story last week too.
Maringo Alton Bergbrider, the kid who was

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had the scary situation there against Johnsburg
in week four where he was on the

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field for like a half hour.
They helicoptered him to Lutheran General because of

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the neck injury and he recovered in
time to actually come I thought it was

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just kind of like the doctors,
you know, kind of holding the carrot

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out there. Hey, you know, maybe you can do this to keep

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00:21:29.079 --> 00:21:33.160
him from you know, keep his
hopes up and stuff. But it was

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real. He actually you know,
you know, young people can recover quickly.

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He recovered quickly, and he came
back had nine catches and a touchdown

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last week in that win. So
it was a great story. Yeah,

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one of the best storylines of the
season. I mean, that was absolutely

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awful when that when that story came
across, and it's great to see him

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00:21:52.640 --> 00:21:55.799
on the mend and back on the
football field. Yeah, yeah, it

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was all right, Joe, before
we let you go, you got anything

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00:21:59.039 --> 00:22:02.039
else you want to share with us? Last week, well we have well,

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00:22:02.119 --> 00:22:04.400
you know, and I get to
see Richmond, Burton and Rochew on

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Friday night, and I'm looking forward
to that because I think that's going to

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be a good game here. The
scheduling worked out nicely for the second year

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00:22:12.119 --> 00:22:17.839
in a row, the two teams
in the Blue division of the krc I

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00:22:17.960 --> 00:22:21.400
eight and it's coming down to that
and I think that's going to be a

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fun game. All right. Make
sure you follow Joe on Twitter. At

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00:22:25.359 --> 00:22:30.319
at nwh underscore Joe prepso and Joe
have a good Week nine. I will

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00:22:30.119 --> 00:22:33.599
all right, everyone, still,
we're gonna do one more commercial break than

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00:22:33.640 --> 00:22:37.359
stick with us, Susan, I'll
be brack to break down the Week nine

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00:22:37.480 --> 00:22:44.200
slate. This is State Representative Steve
Reich and I'm happy to sponsor this year's

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00:22:44.279 --> 00:22:48.000
Friday Night Drive. There will be
plenty of time for politics down the road,

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00:22:48.119 --> 00:22:51.799
but for now, let's enjoy some
high school football. Whichever school you

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00:22:51.960 --> 00:22:57.200
follow, give him your support.
All right, welcome back into the Friday

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00:22:57.240 --> 00:23:02.960
Night Drive podcast, and now we
get to breaking down Week nine with SEUs

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SEUs. We got, like I
said at the top, we got a

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really good slate of game. When
you when you strap in where you started,

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you know, for me, it's
all about, you know, factoring

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in what's gonna happen at the back
end of the playoff field, who's getting

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in who isn't, especially with a
lot of focus on whether or not we

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have the four and fives getting in. Because the reason that that's so important,

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I think in the grand scheme of
things is the list of teams that

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could get in at four and five
are some big names and because of the

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way that the playoff field is put
together, those four and five teams go

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00:23:40.160 --> 00:23:45.359
into the bracket last, so you
know, potentially you're talking about teams like

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Brother Rice and Nazareth and teams of
that nature. If they do end up

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being four and five teams that get
in, they're going to enter their respective

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00:23:52.400 --> 00:23:57.880
brackets. Is probably the last seed. So imagine opening up your playoff pairings

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as a top seed and discovering that
the sixteen seed or the thirty two seed

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is a Brother Rice or a Nazareth. Not exactly a great reward for getting

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00:24:07.799 --> 00:24:11.920
the top seed. So that's kind
of where I'm really focusing a lot of

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my energies. There are so many
intriguing, interesting stories in the groups of

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00:24:18.400 --> 00:24:21.759
teams right now that sit at four
and four that are trying to fight their

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00:24:21.799 --> 00:24:26.119
way in some schools, trying to
end some long playoff droughts, you know,

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some other teams trying to extend some
very long playoff runs. So for

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me, that's where it really comes
down to. There are you know,

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00:24:34.039 --> 00:24:38.839
fifty six teams that are on that
list that still have an opportunity to get

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to five victories. Some situations are
better than others, But what We've always

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learned in the history of this is
if you just look at that chart and

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say, oh, they're playing a
six and two team, they're probably not

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00:24:51.319 --> 00:24:55.720
going to win, that theory will
blow up in your face. Several times

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in Week nine. It always does. I feel like we're having a sense

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of deja vu from last year because
I think as we went into Week nine

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last year, you had four or
five teams of with four wins in the

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00:25:07.079 --> 00:25:11.759
playoff projection, we ended up with
just one because of upsets in Week nine.

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Just kind of get that feeling that
where you're going to have upstarts again

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this year, don't you always do? I mean, and that's kind of

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00:25:18.319 --> 00:25:21.559
what I tell people. It's like, when you do what I do with

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the playoff projections, you have to
kind of read it as you would read

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00:25:26.440 --> 00:25:30.240
it. You can't anticipate, you
know, four and four upsetting a six

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00:25:30.279 --> 00:25:33.480
and two or a seven and one, but you know it's going to happen.

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00:25:33.880 --> 00:25:37.960
It's going to happen. Pegging which
team that is is much more difficult.

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00:25:38.240 --> 00:25:41.759
But when I look at that list, I see a couple that I'm

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00:25:41.839 --> 00:25:44.440
like, you know, I really
think they can win that game, and

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00:25:44.480 --> 00:25:48.200
it's and that's maybe don't project them
to get into the field, but I

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00:25:48.240 --> 00:25:52.880
definitely have I guess a red alert
on those particular teams, keeping a close

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00:25:52.920 --> 00:25:56.680
eye on them to see if they
do what I think they're capable of.

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00:25:56.200 --> 00:26:02.400
When all the chips are on the
table. What what are some of the

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00:26:02.400 --> 00:26:06.680
most impactful games this week in terms
of like if so and so wins,

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00:26:06.839 --> 00:26:11.039
it would really mess with the projection. Well, I think the first one

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00:26:11.160 --> 00:26:15.400
that you look at is is Nazareth
and Wheat in Saint Francis, because,

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00:26:17.680 --> 00:26:21.960
like we talked about before, if
Nazareth doesn't win that game, they'll they'll

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00:26:21.960 --> 00:26:23.799
go in as a last seed.
But if they do win it and get

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to five victories, they have so
many playoff points that they actually move considerably

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00:26:30.400 --> 00:26:33.839
up the draw in five A to
almost the middle of the brackets. So

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00:26:33.480 --> 00:26:38.880
it's it's very interesting to kind of
look at those situations because you know,

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00:26:40.119 --> 00:26:45.279
if these teams that are sitting here
right now that you know are projected to,

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00:26:45.640 --> 00:26:48.559
you know, finish with five wins, and I look at the Catholic

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00:26:48.599 --> 00:26:53.759
League in a lot of these situations, will Fenwick beat Icy Catholic and get

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00:26:53.759 --> 00:26:57.480
themselves into the field. That changes
a lot of things because you know,

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00:26:57.599 --> 00:27:00.200
right now, I don't have Fenwick
win that game, but if they do

403
00:27:00.240 --> 00:27:04.200
win that game, they go into
the seven A field, and then we

404
00:27:04.240 --> 00:27:10.359
start talking about moving teams not only
in the seven A field, but almost

405
00:27:10.359 --> 00:27:14.839
across the entire field. Because Fenwick
is a bubble team between six and seven.

406
00:27:15.160 --> 00:27:18.039
Which side of the fence did they
land on? And then when they

407
00:27:18.119 --> 00:27:21.680
do, how does the field shift
does it go? Does it push out

408
00:27:21.680 --> 00:27:25.400
a small school and move all of
those teams that are kind of sitting on

409
00:27:25.440 --> 00:27:30.519
the bubble, or does it does
it push out a large school and basically

410
00:27:30.559 --> 00:27:33.880
make limited to no change. So
those are all variables that you know,

411
00:27:34.000 --> 00:27:37.920
will start to get really kind of
focused in on as we get through Friday

412
00:27:38.000 --> 00:27:41.759
night. But you know those are
two right there that really are are very

413
00:27:41.759 --> 00:27:48.039
interesting to me in regards to I'll
be watching them carefully to see the potential

414
00:27:48.200 --> 00:27:52.319
impact that if the if the game
goes differently than what I have it projected,

415
00:27:52.799 --> 00:27:57.200
how much of a I guess of
a sweeping wave across the entire field.

416
00:27:57.240 --> 00:28:02.759
That sounds extreme, but there are
certain teams that can really make a

417
00:28:02.799 --> 00:28:07.519
big move with an unexpected win this
week up or down the draw, are

418
00:28:07.680 --> 00:28:11.279
in the draw and not in the
draw. It's there are just so many

419
00:28:11.319 --> 00:28:15.480
variables right now. And the other
facet of all of this, when we

420
00:28:15.519 --> 00:28:18.319
start talking about moving teams in and
taking teams out, where do they come

421
00:28:18.359 --> 00:28:25.880
from? Because the bubbles still contain
some real power teams. You've got you

422
00:28:25.920 --> 00:28:29.359
know, Wilmington drifting between two and
three A. They've been bouncing back and

423
00:28:29.400 --> 00:28:32.880
forth. They've settled into three right
now, they might be back into Morris

424
00:28:33.000 --> 00:28:36.119
Is another one, four or five
A. You know which one? Which

425
00:28:36.160 --> 00:28:37.559
side of that fence are they going
to land down? Right now? It

426
00:28:37.599 --> 00:28:41.400
looks like five, But there are
enough variables out there to believe they could

427
00:28:41.400 --> 00:28:45.039
get moved back to four and I
that's a big deal. I have to

428
00:28:45.079 --> 00:28:48.519
assume in five A. If they
fall in five A, they have to

429
00:28:48.519 --> 00:28:51.039
be pretty close to that north south
dividing line, too, don't they.

430
00:28:51.359 --> 00:28:53.640
They always are. You know,
it's kind of the situation they are in

431
00:28:53.680 --> 00:28:57.519
both in four and five A.
I think that they're in the they're in

432
00:28:57.559 --> 00:29:03.640
the south bracket. But you know, it's funny because if they go to

433
00:29:03.759 --> 00:29:08.000
five and they're playing Sycamore this week, and I was talking to somebody about

434
00:29:08.039 --> 00:29:11.799
this, earlier this week. Morris
has so many playoff points, and the

435
00:29:11.839 --> 00:29:19.240
five A bracket lacks undefeated teams in
many of the brackets, so they will

436
00:29:19.279 --> 00:29:22.880
have they will actually it doesn't matter
if they win or lose, they'll be

437
00:29:22.960 --> 00:29:26.160
the if they end up in five
A, they'll be the one seed in

438
00:29:26.160 --> 00:29:30.960
the South bracket. So that's that's
how many points they have. So it's

439
00:29:30.119 --> 00:29:34.240
kind of an interesting thing. Some
of some of the undefeated teams are congregating

440
00:29:34.440 --> 00:29:41.119
in in certain classes and not leaving
a lot for the other classes. I

441
00:29:41.160 --> 00:29:45.200
think we're we may go into its
potential that we may go into the postseason

442
00:29:45.279 --> 00:29:49.640
in six A without a single undefeated
team. Kanka Kei is the only one

443
00:29:49.720 --> 00:29:53.559
left, and they have a what
I would classify as a difficult game against

444
00:29:53.599 --> 00:29:59.359
Cretemony this week, so there's no
guarantee that they will run the table undefeated.

445
00:29:59.440 --> 00:30:03.200
So we might have a single undefeated
team in the six A bracket when

446
00:30:03.200 --> 00:30:06.160
it's announced on Saturday night. If
you want to hear more about that more

447
00:30:06.200 --> 00:30:08.960
Sycamore matchup, you can listen to
the Illinois Valley edition of the Friday Night

448
00:30:10.039 --> 00:30:12.799
Drive podcast hosted by Eddie Carriffio and
JT penalty. That is live right now.

449
00:30:12.839 --> 00:30:18.000
You can get that anywhere you download
your podcast from suce. We also

450
00:30:18.079 --> 00:30:22.559
had Eddie. Eddie got a fan
mail I'm sure you saw it who was

451
00:30:22.640 --> 00:30:26.400
upset with our pick that we took
Morris over Sycamore, and I, while

452
00:30:26.440 --> 00:30:29.920
I think it's gonna be a competitive
game, I felt pretty strongly about our

453
00:30:29.960 --> 00:30:32.400
pick. This is a Morris team. You look over the course of the

454
00:30:32.400 --> 00:30:36.480
season, They've They've done everything you
can ask for or ask of them,

455
00:30:36.880 --> 00:30:40.000
including a big win over Richmond Burden, who they lost to last year.

456
00:30:40.319 --> 00:30:44.799
I think I think Morris wins this
game. You know, I have been

457
00:30:45.279 --> 00:30:49.039
slowly moving the pensulum towards Morris over
the entire season. Early in that year,

458
00:30:49.119 --> 00:30:55.400
I was I was with Sycamore and
you have to make a pick here.

459
00:30:55.480 --> 00:30:57.880
You can't say, oh, I
think this is I think this is

460
00:30:57.880 --> 00:31:02.279
close. I'm just gonna call it
a toss up and you have to put

461
00:31:02.279 --> 00:31:04.799
a name on the line, like
that's the way that this works. Sometimes

462
00:31:04.839 --> 00:31:07.839
I wish I could take the cop
out and say, you know, hey,

463
00:31:07.839 --> 00:31:10.920
I don't know, but I mean, you have to make a pick,

464
00:31:11.000 --> 00:31:12.519
and you know, I kind of
just kind of look back to markers

465
00:31:12.559 --> 00:31:18.119
on this game. It's like,
Okay, so you know Sycamore beat Caitlin

466
00:31:18.200 --> 00:31:22.519
by a point earlier in the season, right, Morris beat them by ten,

467
00:31:23.119 --> 00:31:26.960
and I mean it came down to
the last I mean it's just like

468
00:31:26.039 --> 00:31:29.680
I look at you know, compared
to I mean, I know they're not

469
00:31:29.839 --> 00:31:33.599
always you know, the best indicator
of things, but I just kind of

470
00:31:33.599 --> 00:31:37.960
look at comparative scores and both of
them have had their way with most of

471
00:31:37.000 --> 00:31:41.319
their opponents. But when they play
those quality opponents, I think Morris has

472
00:31:41.359 --> 00:31:45.359
just done a little bit better.
And it's at Morris. I mean that.

473
00:31:45.519 --> 00:31:49.319
I don't think homefield advantage is a
huge thing, but it's enough to

474
00:31:49.440 --> 00:31:53.839
where you have to what I what
appear to be on paper fairly evenly matched

475
00:31:53.880 --> 00:31:57.160
team. If I have to pick
one and I think they're that close,

476
00:31:57.440 --> 00:32:01.079
I'm going to lean towards the home
team the time. So that's that's just

477
00:32:01.160 --> 00:32:06.839
kind of my breakdown with it.
It's you know, I can easily see

478
00:32:07.160 --> 00:32:12.079
Sycamore winning this football game, but
the responsibility here is to pick what we

479
00:32:12.160 --> 00:32:14.680
think is going to happen, and
I think Morris is gonna win it too.

480
00:32:15.640 --> 00:32:19.480
Make sure you tune into live with
Friday Night Drive Live at Friday Night

481
00:32:19.599 --> 00:32:22.279
Drive dot com and on YouTube from
eight to eleven pm with hosts Jake Barlston

482
00:32:22.359 --> 00:32:25.599
Steve Sussie. I'll be popping in
as well, breaking down everything in week

483
00:32:25.680 --> 00:32:30.559
nine and keeping you updated with how
the playoff field looks. You can also

484
00:32:30.680 --> 00:32:36.240
with the IHSA. They're the bracket
reveal is from eight to nine pm.

485
00:32:36.759 --> 00:32:38.680
They are not doing their own pre
show this year, so you can actually

486
00:32:38.759 --> 00:32:43.880
join Sus and I from seventy eight
pm. We'll be live here on YouTube

487
00:32:43.960 --> 00:32:47.599
breaking down or given our predictions for
how we think this bracket, these brackets

488
00:32:47.640 --> 00:32:52.640
are gonna look sus before we sign
off, though, kind of just give

489
00:32:52.720 --> 00:32:55.960
us, you know, an overview
a little bit more, you know what.

490
00:32:58.720 --> 00:33:01.359
Yeah, we have these things that, you know, these indicators that

491
00:33:01.400 --> 00:33:07.480
we come into this this week with
that we're looking at and and you know,

492
00:33:07.559 --> 00:33:09.480
trying to figure out who, how
the back end of this field is

493
00:33:09.519 --> 00:33:14.039
going to be factored in. I
look at at the group of four and

494
00:33:14.119 --> 00:33:16.200
fours again and That's where I'm going
to be placing a lot of my focus.

495
00:33:16.680 --> 00:33:21.359
You know, twenty nine of those
teams are playing a team with a

496
00:33:21.359 --> 00:33:24.480
better record this week twenty seven are
playing a team with a worse record.

497
00:33:24.920 --> 00:33:29.519
So by doing that math, you
kind of got to figure out, well,

498
00:33:29.920 --> 00:33:32.519
how many spots do we have to
fill? You know, we're in

499
00:33:32.559 --> 00:33:37.680
the low thirties basically of teams that
we're going to have to get into the

500
00:33:37.680 --> 00:33:43.000
field that don't currently have five wins. You know, there's there's just a

501
00:33:43.039 --> 00:33:49.279
lot of machinations that go through there, So keeping an eye on those teams,

502
00:33:49.400 --> 00:33:54.839
making sure that the upsets that do
occur are not these giant, sweeping

503
00:33:54.880 --> 00:34:00.319
ones that are going to you know, change around who is in what feeld

504
00:34:00.839 --> 00:34:04.640
uh. And then there of course
the Saturday games that are are always going

505
00:34:04.720 --> 00:34:08.199
to have a little bit of play. There are definitely some that have an

506
00:34:08.280 --> 00:34:12.519
effect on who gets in and who
doesn't get in. And then there are

507
00:34:12.519 --> 00:34:15.920
the big ones, like we talked
about before, that Mount Carmel, you

508
00:34:15.960 --> 00:34:20.000
know, Loyola game. My projection
right now has Mount Carmel winning the game,

509
00:34:20.599 --> 00:34:25.519
obviously huge implications for how the seven
A and eight A brackets are factored

510
00:34:25.559 --> 00:34:30.159
if that game goes the other way. I mean, Loyola is currently sitting

511
00:34:30.280 --> 00:34:32.840
you know in my projection, you
know, down in the I believe the

512
00:34:32.880 --> 00:34:37.280
three seed hole. They would obviously
catapult to the one seed with the strong

513
00:34:37.360 --> 00:34:40.440
schedule that they play. If they
were to win it, Mount Carmel would

514
00:34:40.440 --> 00:34:45.159
tumble down in the seven A bracket
down a little bit. So, uh,

515
00:34:45.199 --> 00:34:49.079
just a lot of things, a
lot of pieces in this puzzle,

516
00:34:49.519 --> 00:34:52.719
and some of those pieces aren't going
to be put into place until three thirty

517
00:34:52.760 --> 00:34:55.920
four o'clock on Saturday. So a
lot of conversation, a lot of things

518
00:34:55.960 --> 00:35:02.320
to talk about as we head up
towards that. But but expecting an exciting

519
00:35:02.360 --> 00:35:07.559
Week nine because you never know what's
going to happen with some of these teams

520
00:35:07.559 --> 00:35:09.840
that realize that their football season is
over if they don't get a win.

521
00:35:10.239 --> 00:35:14.639
You know, those teams that are
in playoff mode and have been maybe for

522
00:35:14.679 --> 00:35:16.480
a couple of weeks. You never
know what they're going to do in Week

523
00:35:16.559 --> 00:35:22.559
nine, and you know, sometimes
that leads to some fascinating games. We

524
00:35:22.599 --> 00:35:24.320
really could spend all day talking about
these Week nine matchup, but we're going

525
00:35:24.400 --> 00:35:28.639
to sign off for now. Make
sure you stick with Friday Night Drive dot

526
00:35:28.639 --> 00:35:30.880
Com all week and long as we're
breaking down the playoff projection. We'll have

527
00:35:30.920 --> 00:35:35.679
our first round matchups up there as
soon as we can on Saturday evening for

528
00:35:35.760 --> 00:35:38.320
you and analysis coming over the weekend. For now, once again signing off,

529
00:35:38.320 --> 00:35:42.239
everyone enjoy week nine. Make sure
you join us for Live with Friday

530
00:35:42.320 --> 00:35:45.440
Night Drive from eight to eleven PM
on Friday Night. Everyone, have a

531
00:35:45.440 --> 00:35:50.199
good weekend. We'll talk to you
later. Schwiker, Cannison, Krizak,

532
00:35:50.239 --> 00:35:53.079
Rundio Bradley sponsors to Friday Night Drive. I Mike Krizak. If you've been

533
00:35:53.119 --> 00:35:57.079
injured, we are ready to take
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