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Speaker 2: This is State Representative Steve Reich. Since twenty sixteen. It's
Speaker 2: been my privilege to represent the sixty third district in
Speaker 2: the Illinois House. I'd like to continue representing you, and
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Speaker 3: By citizens to elect Stephen Reich.
Speaker 4: Hello everybody, and welcome to the Friday Night Drive Western
Speaker 4: Suburbs podcast. I'm Josh Welge here with Joe Bennett's. It's
Speaker 4: Tuesday afternoon as we tape this. Joe, how you doing?
Speaker 3: I'm JK. Well, I'm finally, you know, coming down from
Speaker 3: all the hectic games that happened this weekend in Round two.
Speaker 3: So you know, I'm a little bit calmed down after
Speaker 3: what happened.
Speaker 4: Definitely a hectic weekend. I mean I knew that I
Speaker 4: was talking to Steve Suicide, like I knew that after
Speaker 4: Round one all the blowouts set up so many good
Speaker 4: second round games. That there's a good chance that we
Speaker 4: were going to get a lot of excitement, and it
Speaker 4: really didn't disappoint. I mean Saturday afternoon in particular, it
Speaker 4: seemed like every game, or a lot of games at least,
Speaker 4: were down to the wire. So a lot of fun
Speaker 4: sets up another good weekend with quarterfinals that we'll get into.
Speaker 4: But want to first review some of the games from
Speaker 4: last weekend, If you don't mind, I think I'll start
Speaker 4: with the game that I was at on Saturday, Montini
Speaker 4: hosting Byron. It was a rematch of last year's three
Speaker 4: A semifinal. You know, I think a lot of people
Speaker 4: think that there's a chance that it could be, you know,
Speaker 4: maybe the game that decides a three A championship, although
Speaker 4: there's some other really good teams out there, and it
Speaker 4: really didn't. It did not disappoint at all. It was
Speaker 4: a game that was, you know, scoreless at halftime, you know,
Speaker 4: and then it came down to the wire. Montini twice
Speaker 4: took took a lead in the second half. They led
Speaker 4: fourteen to seven with they scored a touchdown with just
Speaker 4: under two minutes left, and then Byron just you know,
Speaker 4: they did a two minute drill the way Byron. Only
Speaker 4: Byron can do it. Twelve plays, a lot of runs,
Speaker 4: a couple passes mixed in, but just methodical yet hurry
Speaker 4: up the type offense, and they score with ten ten
Speaker 4: seconds left to get down one. They go for two
Speaker 4: and Montini is able to I mean I was, I
Speaker 4: videoed it. I was in an end zone and and
Speaker 4: Byron's running back got hit just shy the goal line.
Speaker 4: Then he tried to like stretch out, and I mean,
Speaker 4: my god, that that that ball. That kid's arms are
Speaker 4: just a touch longer. Maybe that football was inflated, you know,
Speaker 4: just a little bit more that that ball breaks the plane.
Speaker 4: But it didn't. But Montini comes away with with a
Speaker 4: thrilling fourteen to thirteen win. Just a lot of excitement
Speaker 4: on their side. And you know, it's funny. A few
Speaker 4: few things that I earned that I learned after the game.
Speaker 4: You know, I talked to Montini's linebacker Jackson Lane. I'm like,
Speaker 4: how did you know what play and who they're going
Speaker 4: to go with? Because I mean Byron with that wing tea,
Speaker 4: you know, they run it so well and you don't
Speaker 4: always know who's going to get the ball where they're going,
Speaker 4: and and he said, you know, during the time out
Speaker 4: the Buyron coaches, we're talking to one particular running back
Speaker 4: just a little bit more and and he's like, you know,
Speaker 4: I'm still reading my keys, but I was kind of
Speaker 4: thinking that he was the one that was going to
Speaker 4: get the ball. And sure enough, it was that Byron
Speaker 4: running back that got the ball. Brandon Ole and Jackson
Speaker 4: Lane was able to stop and just short and a
Speaker 4: great play U there. And then you know, talking to
Speaker 4: the Mantini coach, Mike becausey afterward, you know, we me
Speaker 4: and another report asked him, you know, how long did
Speaker 4: you you know, you know, kind of we're just talking
Speaker 4: about the anticipation and the preparation for this game, and
Speaker 4: and he said, you know, I did something that I've
Speaker 4: never done in a very I mean, Mike cous has
Speaker 4: been coaching a long time, and he said, I did
Speaker 4: something that that I really hate to do. And he's like,
Speaker 4: I looked ahead. He's like, we started to prepare for
Speaker 4: Byron the week before, and he said, it really paying
Speaker 4: me to do it. He's like, but I think it
Speaker 4: really paid off because their defense played a tremendous gaming
Speaker 4: iron is a team that had scored five hundred and
Speaker 4: eleven points coming in and they were shut out going
Speaker 4: out the fourth quarter. Great performance by the Montini defense,
Speaker 4: but just a great game overall, great sportsmanship on both sides.
Speaker 4: I mean, the guys afterwards, you know, talking on both sides,
Speaker 4: and just a lot of respect between those two programs.
Speaker 3: Yeah, definitely, And you know you kind of mentioned it.
Speaker 3: It was a matchup of the state semifinal game last year,
Speaker 3: and you know you mentioned it lived up to the
Speaker 3: hype and obviously, you know that game could have gone
Speaker 3: a completely different way based off of that two point conversion.
Speaker 3: So the awareness that the linebackers had to you know,
Speaker 3: stop the running pack. As short as a kid, I
Speaker 3: saw so many videos of that of you know, the
Speaker 3: stop and just the ball being like water two inches
Speaker 3: away from breaking the plane. You know, the awareness for
Speaker 3: them to get that stop at such a crucial moment.
Speaker 3: I mean, a huge win for Montini, and you know,
Speaker 3: it's a great way to you know, get the last
Speaker 3: laugh after what happened last year. To them.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, they they you know, they they've been
Speaker 4: looking for it. They were looking forward to that game
Speaker 4: all year long, and you know, obviously they get the win.
Speaker 4: But I mean immediately to their credit. Afterwards, they're like,
Speaker 4: you know, it's one win, it's a very big win.
Speaker 4: He's like, but we we have three more games that
Speaker 4: we want to play this year, and they're very intent
Speaker 4: on getting back and winning another state title. And you
Speaker 4: know it's benefit years from Antini. But you know, we'll
Speaker 4: see that's obviously a big hurdle for them clearing a
Speaker 4: big win for them. Another game, another game that came
Speaker 4: down to the wire, A very different kind of game.
Speaker 4: I want to talk to that that Batavia comfort behind
Speaker 4: win over Lincoln Way West. I mean that that was
Speaker 4: a game that Steve Sussie last week he picked Lincoln
Speaker 4: Way West and I remember on the podcast I do
Speaker 4: with him, I kind of called him out. I'm like, wow,
Speaker 4: you really like Lincoln Way West. And then they were
Speaker 4: up twenty one and nothing, and I remember saying another port.
Speaker 4: I'm like, you know, maybe Susie was onto something. But man,
Speaker 4: what a great, you know, come from behind win from Batavia,
Speaker 4: you know, directed by sophomore quarterback Michael Vander that I
Speaker 4: I don't believe was on the varsity until week seven,
Speaker 4: but making some big plays. I think there's a big
Speaker 4: play by Isaiah Brown as well. I mean, you know,
Speaker 4: what do you think about that one?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I actually talked to Dennis Puron kind of about it.
Speaker 3: I've been talking to him about it because in the
Speaker 3: their first playoff game against Collinsville, you know, Michael Vander
Speaker 3: got included on the offense alongside Bodie Anderson, and you know,
Speaker 3: I was like, is this gonna be a you know,
Speaker 3: something that we see throughout the entire playoffs? So it's like, hey,
Speaker 3: it's whatever, you know helps us win. And it turns
Speaker 3: out in that game, Michael Vander ended up being, you know,
Speaker 3: one of the main reasons why they won, if not
Speaker 3: the only reason that they won. But you know, he's
Speaker 3: just kind of or I also talked to him about,
Speaker 3: you know, when did he start working with the senior team,
Speaker 3: When did or with the varsity team, When did he
Speaker 3: start getting in that stuff? And apparently this has been
Speaker 3: you know, in practice since six or seven weeks ago. Like,
Speaker 3: you know, the big thing for them is they wanted
Speaker 3: to make sure that they had a quality backup behind
Speaker 3: Body Anderson just in case something happened. And in week
Speaker 3: nine against glen Bard North, you know, he kind of
Speaker 3: got his opportunity to you know, show what he can
Speaker 3: do in a live game against or against glen Bard North.
Speaker 3: And apparently what they saw they really liked because they
Speaker 3: kept them on the squad. And you know, it's just
Speaker 3: kind of worked in their favor and it's become, you know,
Speaker 3: a right timing thing where you know, Michael Vanders performing
Speaker 3: at his best body Anderson provides another aspect to the
Speaker 3: quarterback game. You mentioned Isaiah Brown, that fake punt that
Speaker 3: he did for the seventy one yard touchdown. I mean,
Speaker 3: things were just working in their favor. And after, you know,
Speaker 3: being down twenty one to nothing heading into that second quarter,
Speaker 3: they realized they needed to make a change, so they
Speaker 3: leaned to the sophomore quarterback who went on to throw
Speaker 3: for two hundred and sixty yards in three touchdowns of
Speaker 3: the game, including the game winner to Brett Bergran, who
Speaker 3: was the surprise last year for Batavia. And you know,
Speaker 3: it's just another uh, it's just another time, you know,
Speaker 3: over these past three years where Batavia has thrown somebody
Speaker 3: into a position on offense and it's worked in their favor.
Speaker 4: So it was interesting too. I mean, Steve Susie was
Speaker 4: there and and apparently so so Batavia they wear the
Speaker 4: name plates on the back of their their uniforms and
Speaker 4: uh and and and uh and Michael Vander wears number five,
Speaker 4: but Patavia also has a defensive player number five.
Speaker 3: Mal number number eight is the number he shares. Yeah,
Speaker 3: he shares the number with Malachite Smith because I remember
Speaker 3: he made his first appearance in a game against South
Speaker 3: Elgin in week two in the blowout, and you know,
Speaker 3: I was kind of on the sideline. I still didn't
Speaker 3: really know, you know, all the Batavia or Batavia players
Speaker 3: that well, so you know, everybody was looking. He's like, wait,
Speaker 3: who the heck is that? And I saw, like I said,
Speaker 3: is that Malachi Smith? It was not Malachi Smith, a.
Speaker 4: Very big defensive mind.
Speaker 3: Yeah, he looks completely different.
Speaker 4: But so he's got the number eight, but there's no
Speaker 4: name plate right at least not to this point. It
Speaker 4: will be after he leads him to come from mine
Speaker 4: to win last.
Speaker 3: Week, so we'll see.
Speaker 4: Yeah, So, really exciting win for Batavia, Another really exciting
Speaker 4: win for a Decaine Conference team. Geneva beating Burlington Central again.
Speaker 4: Special teams was a big part of that game. You know,
Speaker 4: that was a game that I mean, you and I
Speaker 4: were probably filing. I was following on Twitter, and you know,
Speaker 4: back and forth, back and forth game. I think it
Speaker 4: was twenty twenty one or something. Burlington was winning. But
Speaker 4: then talent Taylor was a huge ninety six yard kickoff
Speaker 4: return for a touchdown. And then if I'm not mistaken,
Speaker 4: I think they they went for an on site kick,
Speaker 4: they recovered it, they were able to score, and then
Speaker 4: they kind of went from there and of course another
Speaker 4: huge game for Tony Jahano, their quarterback.
Speaker 3: Yeah, definitely. I mean, Tonyahino you know, kind of showed
Speaker 3: how good he can be on the long ball more
Speaker 3: than anything. I believe all three of his touchdown passes
Speaker 3: to three different receivers to Taylor for the good Webner
Speaker 3: and bet at Conky. I mean all three of them
Speaker 3: were for over forty yards if I remember correctly, they
Speaker 3: went a long way. But yeah, no, I mean it
Speaker 3: was just, you know, it seemed like that, you know,
Speaker 3: them Taylor and then the on site kick recovery just
Speaker 3: kind of swung the pendulum or the pendulum in their
Speaker 3: favor because after that, you know, they got the lead
Speaker 3: with Michael Romroro, who had a fantastic game and I
Speaker 3: think he had one hundred and fifty rushing yards and
Speaker 3: two touchdowns. He got into the end zone, gave him
Speaker 3: the lead, and that was something that they didn't they
Speaker 3: never gave up. So but I think the big thing is,
Speaker 3: you know, it showed just how good Geneva's special teams
Speaker 3: has been this year more than anything. I mean, you know,
Speaker 3: earlier in the year, we talked about Bena Conky having
Speaker 3: two return touchdowns earlier in the year obviously because they
Speaker 3: didn't want to kick it to talent Taylor. And then
Speaker 3: you know, one of the few times that they have
Speaker 3: kicked it to talent Taylor, he scored two kickoff return
Speaker 3: touchdowns as well, not ONLLY last week, but against St.
Speaker 3: Charles East as well. They've had multiple recoveries of kickoffs,
Speaker 3: you know, either on side or when teams messed up
Speaker 3: on you know, just the regular kickoffs, and you know,
Speaker 3: it's really worked in their favor for them. So, you know,
Speaker 3: it's just another aspect of their game where they where
Speaker 3: they've excelled this season, and it's part it's one of
Speaker 3: the main reasons why they're at the point that they're
Speaker 3: at right now.
Speaker 4: Yeah. Yeah, really good win for them. Obviously, a great
Speaker 4: year for Browns in central and really you know, gave
Speaker 4: Gieva a good, good, good push at least for you know,
Speaker 4: two to two and a half quarters. So congratulations to
Speaker 4: them on a great year game that ye were right
Speaker 4: on Friday or Saudi afternoon as well. Saint Charles North,
Speaker 4: you know, another great year for them. But man, they
Speaker 4: just ran into a bus.
Speaker 3: It seems like, Yeah, it seemed like a game where
Speaker 3: you know, everybody was, you know, really excited to see.
Speaker 3: Everybody was expecting it to be, you know, a high
Speaker 3: scoring game. You said, for sure points were going to
Speaker 3: be scoring that game, and that was definitely the case
Speaker 3: for Mount Carbell.
Speaker 4: One side, right, Yeah, yeah, it wasn't that.
Speaker 3: It wasn't that much of the case for Saint Charles Norm.
Speaker 3: I mean after the first drive of the game, you know,
Speaker 3: Saint Charles North got a great stop in their own
Speaker 3: or in their own territory on fourth down, and then
Speaker 3: they went down the field sixty yards, scored a touchdown,
Speaker 3: got the two point conversion, went up eight nothing and
Speaker 3: I was just like, man, this is gonna be a
Speaker 3: back and forth game. I can't wait for this.
Speaker 2: And then.
Speaker 3: Mount Carmel just rushed all over them. I think They
Speaker 3: finished way over three hundred and forty rushing yards in
Speaker 3: the game. Daniel Taylor, their tight end turned running back,
Speaker 3: at one hundred and twenty five rushing yards on eight carries.
Speaker 3: He looked absolutely unstoppable on every asset. Jack Elliott finally
Speaker 3: uses lakes again. He had six sixty rushing yards and
Speaker 3: two touchdowns. But I think the big thing about Mount
Speaker 3: Carmel is that they showed that they can't they can
Speaker 3: use more than just the flashy plays. I mean, they
Speaker 3: their first scoring drive took thirteen plays and six minutes
Speaker 3: off the clock, and you know, it showed that they
Speaker 3: can they can grind it out, they can grind out
Speaker 3: on offence and you know, waste time of the clock,
Speaker 3: especially in those like later stages of the game. So
Speaker 3: I think it showed the versatility of Mount Carmel this season,
Speaker 3: even though you know, they may not look as strong
Speaker 3: as they have in the past, there's still the same
Speaker 3: Mount Carmel that we've seen, you know, over the past
Speaker 3: couple of years. And you know, once again, Saint Charles
Speaker 3: North had a great year, but Mount Carmel was just
Speaker 3: pretty much unstoppable. Besides that first drive.
Speaker 4: Yeah, no, it sounds like big points all year long
Speaker 4: on Mount Carmel and continue to do so. So yeah,
Speaker 4: good win for them. You know, a couple of themes
Speaker 4: from last week and I saw is you know some
Speaker 4: of the in the Western suburbs, some of the Catholic
Speaker 4: League teams with good wins. Montini I mentioned, you know,
Speaker 4: Nazareth kind of rolled over Woodstock North, Saint Francis is
Speaker 4: able to get a good win over prayer Ridge and
Speaker 4: also the West Suburban Silver I mean they go they
Speaker 4: go three and oh last weekend with with Downers Grow
Speaker 4: North getting a close win over Fenwick, York getting a
Speaker 4: really impressive winover are previously unbeat team a sweg last
Speaker 4: night and a Lion's Township just rolled over Downers Go South.
Speaker 4: You know, I'll start with that Downers Go North game.
Speaker 4: That's the game that, to be honest with you, was
Speaker 4: a little bit closer than I expected that Downerds Go
Speaker 4: North would be able to put a few more points
Speaker 4: on the board than they did. But the game came
Speaker 4: down to a game when you field goal day and
Speaker 4: they win thirteen to ten, So a really tough, you know,
Speaker 4: low scoring win for them. And then York a game
Speaker 4: that I was out on Friday night. Man, their quarterback
Speaker 4: Bruno Masso really impressive. I mean he's a kid that
Speaker 4: he's three time state qualifier, qualifying to four x one
Speaker 4: runs a four point four three forty not the biggest
Speaker 4: get in the world, but man, when when the plays
Speaker 4: break down, he could just take off and he can fly.
Speaker 4: I mean he ran for three touchdowns one hundred and
Speaker 4: seventy seven yards. They actually had three different running backs
Speaker 4: that went over one hundred yards, which that's pretty impressive
Speaker 4: against a good defense like Oswego to do something like that. So,
Speaker 4: you know, York a program that they've been to the
Speaker 4: semifinals last two years, they have a couple of losses
Speaker 4: during the regular season, so it's kind of starting to
Speaker 4: maybe wonder if you know, maybe they could get it
Speaker 4: going in the playoffs. They've answered the bell. I mean,
Speaker 4: they got a they get they really were, had a
Speaker 4: very good win over Edwardsville in round one, and then
Speaker 4: they're able to get another good win over Oswego last week.
Speaker 4: So you know, feeling really good about York. Uh and
Speaker 4: then of course Lions Township. The story of that game,
Speaker 4: Travis stam My goodness, uh, kid, thing's going to Illinois State.
Speaker 4: I believe he had like three touchdown catches, three interceptions,
Speaker 4: a pick six. I mean, the kid just does everything
Speaker 4: for that team. Hey, football fans, listen up. I'm top
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Speaker 3: Yeah, definitely, And I mean, you know, I'm sure prior
Speaker 3: to the or prior to when the week started, I'm
Speaker 3: sure both of us probably wouldn't have guessed that Downardscrope
Speaker 3: North would have scored the least amount of points of
Speaker 3: those three teams in this Week two match or in
Speaker 3: this round two matchup. But I mean, you know, there
Speaker 3: were a couple of you know, all three of those games.
Speaker 3: That's a pretty big storyline. But I think the biggest
Speaker 3: one was kind of is kind of York because obviously
Speaker 3: you mentioned their two losses earlier in the season, and
Speaker 3: both of them have come against you know, Downalds Grove
Speaker 3: North and Lions so and both of them have proven, hey,
Speaker 3: we're pretty good teams. But you know, York space back
Speaker 3: to back teams who have had, you know, pretty stifling defense.
Speaker 3: Because obviously you have Edwardsville, who had one of the
Speaker 3: best you know, defensive kids in the States, and then
Speaker 3: you've also had Oswego, who you know, was really known
Speaker 3: for their defense throughout the season. But I think the
Speaker 3: big downfall for Oswego was not having Carson Coony out there,
Speaker 3: you know, playing alongside them, and I think they missed
Speaker 3: them dearly. As you know, York was kind of running
Speaker 3: all over them. But you know, not to take away
Speaker 3: from York, they have played extremely well throughout these playoffs
Speaker 3: and they've shown that that Suburb that or that battle
Speaker 3: for that West Suburban Conference title was really good this year.
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, yeah no, but yeah no, aswee going now,
Speaker 4: Evan Carson Cooney was notable. I mean I even asked
Speaker 4: your coach Don Galsmino afterwards just about their success running
Speaker 4: the football and immediately he went to a swig of
Speaker 4: being without Carson Cooney as being huge for them. But
Speaker 4: that being said, that's not to take anything from away
Speaker 4: from York. I mean, you have three one hundred yard rushers.
Speaker 4: You know, you're you're doing something good. Let's put it
Speaker 4: that way. Regardless of who's playing or who's not playing,
Speaker 4: you're doing something good. So, you know, a great win
Speaker 4: for York, a great weekend for the West Suburban Silver.
Speaker 4: What sets up another very good weekend of football got
Speaker 4: to start with that Downers going North Batavia game. I Mean,
Speaker 4: that's a game that ever since the brackets came out,
Speaker 4: I've kind of like looked at him like, yeah, that's
Speaker 4: one that I kind of like, And I tell you what,
Speaker 4: Batavia's going to be feeling a little bit. You know,
Speaker 4: they're kind of feeling a little bit good about themselves
Speaker 4: right now, Like, Hey, you know, we we saw the
Speaker 4: end of our season right in front of us, being
Speaker 4: down twenty one to nothing, and we came from behind
Speaker 4: and we showed a few things and maybe we didn't
Speaker 4: do during the season, you know, like you know, some
Speaker 4: big passing plays and things like that. They're gonna be
Speaker 4: feeling pretty good. About that, and then again the game,
Speaker 4: they get the game at home too, which is not
Speaker 4: a small thing given away. Batavia comes out for their
Speaker 4: their team.
Speaker 3: Yeah, definitely. I mean, you know, obviously, you know, the
Speaker 3: big storyline is talking about that dual threat between Body
Speaker 3: Anderson and Michael Vander. I mean, obviously, you know both
Speaker 3: of them are probably going to be playing in that game,
Speaker 3: and they're probably going to be you know, it's going
Speaker 3: to be a battle of who's going to be at
Speaker 3: their best during that game. I mean, you know, when
Speaker 3: I talk to tennispr he said, hey, sometimes play or
Speaker 3: it's high school football. Some players have good games, some
Speaker 3: players have bad games, and you know that pendulum can
Speaker 3: swing either way anytime throughout the game. And so you
Speaker 3: know it's really going to be who's going to have
Speaker 3: the better game. If both of them are on that game,
Speaker 3: that makes it even better for Batavia. But if they aren't,
Speaker 3: you know, you've got you've got options behind that, and
Speaker 3: you know it's going to be a really interesting game.
Speaker 3: I'm really interested to see how Downer Scrip North kind
Speaker 3: of prepares for not just Body Anderson, but also Michael
Speaker 3: Vander as well. And you know, on the other side,
Speaker 3: you know, they've got a face off against the Batavia defense,
Speaker 3: and you know, they didn't start out as well as
Speaker 3: you know they have in the past. They only gave
Speaker 3: up fifty yards total to Lincoln Way West to end
Speaker 3: that or to end or in that entire second half.
Speaker 3: So that was part of the main reason that they
Speaker 3: also were able to come back against Lincoln Way West.
Speaker 3: And you know, they proved time and time to get
Speaker 3: how good of the defense they are this year and
Speaker 3: against the team like downs grow up North, who's got
Speaker 3: of course obviously Owen Lance, you know, leading the way.
Speaker 3: It's gonna be really interesting to see how these two
Speaker 3: teams match up. And you know, a game that could
Speaker 3: very easily be you know in the semifinals.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's semi final quality game right there, Downers with
Speaker 4: North and Batavia and Downa's going North. Mean I again,
Speaker 4: I like, you know, Batavia they have they right, they
Speaker 4: bring some momentum in this game. But really why that
Speaker 4: down I mean, Owen Lance is one of the better
Speaker 4: quarters in the state short listed quarterbacks. They can run
Speaker 4: the ball well, they're a great defense. They they there's
Speaker 4: just not a lot of weaknesses of any weaknesses on
Speaker 4: that team. I mean, they're only loss that was a
Speaker 4: game that they they led Lions quite handily and own Lands,
Speaker 4: who got hurt in the second quarter didn't play the
Speaker 4: rest of the game. Not to take anything away from Lions,
Speaker 4: but it shows you how good the Diamonds Go North is.
Speaker 4: That's their one loss is when their best player didn't
Speaker 4: play for half the game. So you know what we'll see.
Speaker 4: It's it's a matchup, it's a great matchup. It's one
Speaker 4: of the best matches for the weekend. Again, it's a semifinal,
Speaker 4: maybe a championship game, quality tape game, and it's in
Speaker 4: a quarterfinal.
Speaker 3: At the same time. You've said this a couple of
Speaker 3: times this year, so I'll go ahead and quote you
Speaker 3: on this. You've you've said it, don't bet against Batavia.
Speaker 3: You have said that multiple times this year, So it
Speaker 3: could go either way.
Speaker 4: No, definitely, a couple other games that I like this
Speaker 4: weekend kind of interesting, like you know, Catholic League teams
Speaker 4: going out west. You know, Nazareth is going to be
Speaker 4: playing at Rochelle quietly a very good Rochelle team that
Speaker 4: that just Rochelle is. You know, they beat Marmia pretty
Speaker 4: handily and then they stepped up just a little bit
Speaker 4: to another Catholic League to Bennett, and now they're stepping
Speaker 4: up a lot of it. They played Nazareth this week
Speaker 4: and then on the other side, Saint Francis playing an
Speaker 4: unbeaten Sycamore team. Man, those are some fun matches between
Speaker 4: Catholic League against interstate A conference.
Speaker 3: Yeah, exacuitely. I mean, you know, we'll start off with
Speaker 3: that or with that Saint Francis Sycamore game. You know. St.
Speaker 3: Francis is obviously on a bit of a hot streak
Speaker 3: right now. They've scored more than twenty points in all
Speaker 3: but one of their games, and that was in their
Speaker 3: loss against Saint Rita. And on the opposite side, Sickmore
Speaker 3: has him led up more than twenty points this entire year,
Speaker 3: besides their Week one win against the cal where they
Speaker 3: led up twenty eight points. So you know, it's a
Speaker 3: battle of two extremes in the quarter final rounds and
Speaker 3: it's gonna be really interesting to see which extreme ends
Speaker 3: up on top of this time around. And you know,
Speaker 3: it's gonna be really interesting to see. And then on
Speaker 3: the other side, Rochelle and Nazareth. Obviously, Nazareth has been
Speaker 3: really good all season, you know, bringing Palmer or not
Speaker 3: Bretty Palmer, that's Saint Francis. I forget Peter Malichuk, right, Yeah, Okay,
Speaker 3: there we go. That shows how much knowledge I have still,
Speaker 3: but you know, he's been balling out all season long
Speaker 3: for Nazareth. And meanwhile, Rochelle's I believe, the only team
Speaker 3: in the entire playoffs to have beaten two CCL e
Speaker 3: SEC teams. It's in the playoffs. So you know, both
Speaker 3: of them are on you know, hot speaks once again,
Speaker 3: and you know it's going to be a battle between
Speaker 3: which offense is best because I'm pretty sure Rochelle has
Speaker 3: a really potent rushing attack. You know, I think they
Speaker 3: have multiple rushers that have over I want to say,
Speaker 3: over six seven hundred yards this year. So you know,
Speaker 3: it's going to be really interesting to see, you know,
Speaker 3: which offensive scheme comes out on top.
Speaker 4: Yeah. That Nazareth Rochelle game is definitely a clash of styles.
Speaker 4: I mean, Rochelle with that wing te offense that they run,
Speaker 4: you know, running the football very effectively. Nazareth, not that
Speaker 4: they can't run the football, but boy they can really
Speaker 4: they can really put the ball in the air. With
Speaker 4: Logan Malchick throwing just all kinds of receivers. So, you know,
Speaker 4: I'm Rochelle has had a great year, but they I'm
Speaker 4: gonna say they probably haven't seen a team like Nazareth
Speaker 4: at what they can do. On the same token, I mean,
Speaker 4: Sycamore has had a great year, but I'm curious to
Speaker 4: see how they do against Saint Francis because Sycamore has
Speaker 4: really not been tested in the first and rounds of
Speaker 4: the playoffs. They've played some, you know, not great teams
Speaker 4: the first couple of rounds, so instant to see how
Speaker 4: they do now that the that the level of play
Speaker 4: you know, steps up considerably, how they handle Saint Francis.
Speaker 3: Yeah, definitely. They rode to you know, the quarterfinals has
Speaker 3: been relatively easy to this point, but you know, when
Speaker 3: you're the number one seed, when you're the number one seed,
Speaker 3: you can expect it to be at least a little
Speaker 3: bit easy to get to this point. But it's going
Speaker 3: to be a big test and it's really going to
Speaker 3: show how good this Sycamore team is and if they
Speaker 3: have what it takes to get as far as you know,
Speaker 3: the semi finals or even the state final. In the end.
Speaker 4: Yeah, so most of the games are being played on Saturday,
Speaker 4: but there's a couple of really good games on Friday
Speaker 4: to Warren is going to be playing at York and
Speaker 4: then a game that I'm going to be at in
Speaker 4: Apriville Central is at Lions Township. A couple of really
Speaker 4: good tests for West Suburban Silver teams. You know, I'll
Speaker 4: start with that that Lions Township game. I mean, Lions
Speaker 4: has just answered all comers all year with their defense,
Speaker 4: with Travis stam receiving, Danny Carroll the running back. April Central,
Speaker 4: you know, just quietly kept chugging along during the season.
Speaker 4: They have a tremendous defense. Their only loss was the
Speaker 4: Lincoln we East, which you know, no shame on that, so, uh,
Speaker 4: you know, just kind of curious to see how this
Speaker 4: game is going to transpire. I think it's a game
Speaker 4: that has a chance to be a good, low scoring,
Speaker 4: defensive type game. I know April Central's got a really
Speaker 4: good defense. I know Lions Township does as well, so
Speaker 4: you know, that's that's gonna be a fun one. And
Speaker 4: then on the other side, I mean, you're coming off
Speaker 4: of that game where they had three one hundred yard
Speaker 4: rushers they got to be bringing a ton of conference
Speaker 4: in that game. But on the other side, Warren, they
Speaker 4: got the running back. Aaron Stewart is a really great
Speaker 4: elite wrestler. It seems like every week Aaron Stewart's like, yeah,
Speaker 4: you know, three hundred yards, four hundred yards, two hundred
Speaker 4: and seventy nine yards. So that, yeah, that that That's
Speaker 4: another one that I'm kind of keeping my eye on.
Speaker 4: Gonna be an interesting game, a game that could go
Speaker 4: both ways, both of those.
Speaker 3: Yeah, definitely, And you know, all start with the Naperville
Speaker 3: Central Lions game as well. I mean, you know Naperville Central,
Speaker 3: you talked about how good the defense was. I mean,
Speaker 3: you know, they really limited Johnny O'Brien against Friend last
Speaker 3: week and you know, held them to only I believe,
Speaker 3: twenty eight points in that game in that thirty one
Speaker 3: twenty eight victory. And they're gonna face another, you know,
Speaker 3: challenge on defense this time around as well. So you know,
Speaker 3: I'm really interested to see how both of these teams,
Speaker 3: you know, match up in a game of you know,
Speaker 3: pretty much to two pretty elite teams heading into the quarterfinals.
Speaker 3: And then obviously you've got York and Warren again as well.
Speaker 3: You know, we talked about York and we've talked about
Speaker 3: how Hoteon their offense was, you know, throughout these posts
Speaker 3: or throughout this postseason. But Warren's gonna provide, you know,
Speaker 3: a good challenge that they limited Barrington last or last
Speaker 3: week in their win, and you know, a couple of
Speaker 3: people were talking about how, you know, Barrington may be
Speaker 3: a sleeper pick to be a state champion this year,
Speaker 3: and you know, Warren all that and was like, we're
Speaker 3: gonna throw those in the trash. So, you know, it's
Speaker 3: gonna be really interesting to see if they can do
Speaker 3: this again against really another really potent offense in York,
Speaker 3: and it's gonna be a good matchup.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, before you get out of here, I
Speaker 4: want to talk about that Geneva Lake Forest game, Geneva
Speaker 4: making the law drive north to Lake Forest, Geneva feeling
Speaker 4: good about themselves lake Forest. Some of you saw they
Speaker 4: beat Liberty Vale last week, a game that came down
Speaker 4: to a ninety eight yard drive in the last couple
Speaker 4: of minutes. Beating Liberty Vale. That's a pretty good rivalry
Speaker 4: up there between those two programs. You know, what do
Speaker 4: you make about that one. I mean, Geneva obviously wants
Speaker 4: to keep it rolling.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it's gonna be really interesting. I mean, obviously,
Speaker 3: you know, lake Forest is kind of on top of
Speaker 3: the world after taking down Libertyville, who's one of their,
Speaker 3: you know rivals in the North Suburban Conference, which has
Speaker 3: also been a really good conference throughout this entire year postseason.
Speaker 3: But I think one one change that the Scouts made
Speaker 3: in their last game against Liberty Bill they moved their
Speaker 3: or two of their top offensive stars and wide receiver
Speaker 3: Charlie Marquee and running back Bartie Hippel. They moved them
Speaker 3: on to defense for the first time this is entire season. Yeah,
Speaker 3: and Charlie Marquee had a pick six in that game,
Speaker 3: he had two interceptions, and you know, it seemed to
Speaker 3: work to the or to their advantage, and I wouldn't
Speaker 3: be surprised if they do it again against this Gadeva team.
Speaker 3: I mean, obviously, you've got talent Taylor to look forward to,
Speaker 3: and if you match him up against you know, the
Speaker 3: top wide receiver who also played cornerback, you know, talent
Speaker 3: Taylor is also shown he's played cornerback this year, so
Speaker 3: I wouldn't be surprised if there's an entire game where
Speaker 3: talent Taylor is basically off against Charlie Marquee and it's
Speaker 3: going to be a battle between who could get the advantage.
Speaker 3: So you know, it's gonna be really interesting to see
Speaker 3: how these two teams match up. Obviously, Lake Forest is,
Speaker 3: you know, on a high, Gaeva is also on a high,
Speaker 3: and it's going to be a matchup of you know
Speaker 3: who onted more at the end.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it should should be fun. I'm again, I don't
Speaker 4: know too much about Lake four US other than that
Speaker 4: ninety eight yard drive, and I like you did say
Speaker 4: there was a couple of their offensive players that played
Speaker 4: defense which I found interesting and obviously stepped up and
Speaker 4: played really well on then. But Geneva's got to be
Speaker 4: feeling good about them stives too. You know, the other
Speaker 4: game this week, Monty going to Princeton. That's a rematch
Speaker 4: of a quarterfinal from last year. Montini beat them a
Speaker 4: couple of touchdowns last year. You know, they're going on
Speaker 4: the road, not easy, but again, they kind of bring
Speaker 4: in a nice head of steam going into that game
Speaker 4: after being a byron last week. So you know, we'll
Speaker 4: see how that transpires. A lot of good football, a
Speaker 4: lot of good stuff coming on Friday Night Drive. We'll
Speaker 4: be covering Friday games, Saturday games have previews going on.
Speaker 4: Should be a really fun weekend. Any party thoughts before
Speaker 4: we get out of here.
Speaker 3: It should be fun to watch and I know I
Speaker 3: definitely will be watching the entire weekend.
Speaker 4: No doubt for Joe Bennett's is Josh Walgi. Everybody have
Speaker 4: a good Tuesday afternoon. Do you ever wonder where the
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