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Speaker 5: Hello everybody, and welcome to the Friday Night Drive Championship
Speaker 5: Game preview podcasts. I'm Josh Welby here with Steve Sustie
Speaker 5: and Michael Dweljack, and we're a day away from Thanksgiving,
Speaker 5: which must mean it's time to talk to football. So
Speaker 5: I say in the forecast it's going to be hi
Speaker 5: of the twenties this weekend in Bloomington normal area. So
Speaker 5: it's great football weather.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 5: How are you guys doing as we look ahead to
Speaker 5: Friday and saras looking.
Speaker 4: Forward to it. I think it's going to be interesting
Speaker 4: weekend of games. I'm not sure how a few of
Speaker 4: them are going to play out, and some of the
Speaker 4: other ones, I guess we're just gonna have to wait
Speaker 4: and see. But it's always pretty intriguing because usually you
Speaker 4: get a lot of these matchups that you're not going
Speaker 4: to see in the regular season. So and there are
Speaker 4: quite a few of them that have created that. And
Speaker 4: there are some really elite talents across the board, I mean,
Speaker 4: even into some of the smaller classifications. I'm not really
Speaker 4: accustomed to seeing two Power five D one prospects in
Speaker 4: the one A game, but that's what we're getting. So
Speaker 4: you know, it's I think there's a lot of really
Speaker 4: interesting individual talents over the course of the eight games
Speaker 4: that will have the opportunity to see.
Speaker 5: No doubt about that, guys. And Susan. He brought it out,
Speaker 5: so I'll bring it out. You know. We'll start with
Speaker 5: one A and worker way up to the top eight
Speaker 5: A and Susan, I tell you what, it's not every year.
Speaker 5: I mean, I think you get some good teams in
Speaker 5: one A every year, but I'm not sure if there
Speaker 5: is the sizzle with this one A game that there
Speaker 5: is in this particular game with bellvel Aldhoff and Lena Winslow. Obviously,
Speaker 5: Alena Winslow has been quite the regular here. I think
Speaker 5: this is what they're fifth championship game in a row,
Speaker 5: nineteen twenty one, twenty two, twenty three they won three
Speaker 5: and more. They lost last year to Camp Points Central
Speaker 5: and then Aldhoff, a team that I think you and
Speaker 5: I and probably Michael two have been kind of following
Speaker 5: all years, sort of like we can't wait to see
Speaker 5: this team live, you know, with the likes of Deer
Speaker 5: Hill and things like that. You know, what do you
Speaker 5: make about this matchup? Just a lot of excitement for
Speaker 5: this one.
Speaker 4: I think, yeah, it's just really interesting because you kind
Speaker 4: of get into these games when in one A and
Speaker 4: like you mentioned, with Lena Winslow's track record, it's kind
Speaker 4: of a situation where you're like, they're not the favorite,
Speaker 4: and like, I mean, I don't necessarily think that ALTAF
Speaker 4: is the you know, huge favorite in this game, but
Speaker 4: even the conversation that you're having entering a one A
Speaker 4: final where it seems like Lena Winslow has been in
Speaker 4: this final so many times over the last decade and
Speaker 4: they're not. They're not the odds on favorite. Here's that's
Speaker 4: pretty surprising. In a lot of ways. And that's too
Speaker 4: all TOFs credit because there's just, like you mentioned, there's
Speaker 4: just talent on this football team that you don't typically
Speaker 4: see at the one A level. You know, you look
Speaker 4: at the air Hills statistics. The Oregon recruit. He had
Speaker 4: a ninety I believe in ninety eight yard touchdown run
Speaker 4: in the semi finals, ran for almost four hundred yards.
Speaker 4: It seems like that was happening a lot over the
Speaker 4: stretch of the postseason. Maybe not four hundred yards, but
Speaker 4: a disgustingly high number. He's averaging almost eighteen yards to carry.
Speaker 4: Think about that for a minute. I mean, that's just insane.
Speaker 4: So there are just things about this team and I
Speaker 4: haven't seen them as much on tape as I would
Speaker 4: have liked to. I did get I did look a
Speaker 4: lot at them in Week nine when they're playing a
Speaker 4: six to a playoff team in Caitlin. They didn't have
Speaker 4: Hill in that game. But this is just this is
Speaker 4: not your prototypical class one A football team. But on
Speaker 4: the other side, you've got a Lina Winslow team that
Speaker 4: runs an offense that sometimes gives people a little bit
Speaker 4: of trouble, and I guarantee there's not a single person
Speaker 4: over on that Lina Winslow sideline. It doesn't think that
Speaker 4: they they can't win this football game against All TOV
Speaker 4: and that usually makes for an interesting matchup.
Speaker 5: And you mentioned deer Hill averaging, you know, eighteen yards
Speaker 5: to carriers, So I looked at your ear story in
Speaker 5: a one A game and and Lina Winslow has their
Speaker 5: own running back Alec I think it's last probably noun sleasting.
Speaker 5: He's averaging fourteen yards to carry it, So crazy stuff.
Speaker 5: And you mentioned a few times on this podcast that
Speaker 5: Lena Winslow maybe during the regular season there wasn't that
Speaker 5: quite the dominance that we've seen in the past, but
Speaker 5: they've really turned it on in the playoffs.
Speaker 4: Yeah, they've got a nice one to two punch in
Speaker 4: the backfield and that you know, the way Lina Winslow
Speaker 4: runs their offense, you know, it almost comes down to
Speaker 4: a guessing game because if you're not if you're not
Speaker 4: on the right guy, the other guy's gonna burn you.
Speaker 4: So it becomes kind of this chess match in regards
Speaker 4: to trying to stop because they run things so well,
Speaker 4: they run their systems so well, they have such a
Speaker 4: great understanding of what they need to do to be successful.
Speaker 4: So you know that I think this is a game
Speaker 4: that could potentially be a high scoring shootout because it
Speaker 4: looks like both teams have the potential to do that
Speaker 4: if things align.
Speaker 5: And you know, similar to last week Loyola, you don't
Speaker 5: like picking against them in a playoff game, but you
Speaker 5: do come out you do like all off in this game. Though,
Speaker 5: if I'm not mistaken, yeah I do.
Speaker 4: But I'm not Like there's a lot of games this
Speaker 4: weekend where I feel like I'm pretty confident in the
Speaker 4: team that I'm picking. It is not the case in
Speaker 4: one A. I am not very confident that I am
Speaker 4: right in that situation. It's it's little more than a
Speaker 4: coin foot game to me on paper.
Speaker 5: So a couple, you know, real powerhouse programs in one
Speaker 5: A and the one A Championship two it's a little
Speaker 5: bit different. I mean moreau Forsyth. They're a team that
Speaker 5: you've seen quite a bit, had stayed over the years,
Speaker 5: at the very least getting the semifinals. They've had that
Speaker 5: run of getting this semi finals. Chicago Christian Man, They're
Speaker 5: another story altogether. They've really I thought they were going
Speaker 5: to be good this year. I did not think they're
Speaker 5: going to be playing on Thanksgiving weekend.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it would have been hard to look at, you know,
Speaker 4: what Chicago Christian has done in the past, and then
Speaker 4: even knowing that it looked like they were going to
Speaker 4: have a pretty good team this year, making that leap.
Speaker 4: I mean I mentioned it a little bit on Monday's
Speaker 4: podcast in regards to Chicago Christian. They've won four playoff
Speaker 4: games this year, getting to the finals. In school history.
Speaker 4: Prior to this year, they'd won six. So we're talking
Speaker 4: about a program that just simply is in rarefied air
Speaker 4: for it getting to the final. So you just really
Speaker 4: don't have a track record to know how they respond.
Speaker 4: But they're a fascinating team. You kind of look at
Speaker 4: what they've done all year long and how they've done it.
Speaker 4: It's a very senior dominated football team. I believe there
Speaker 4: are eight players that start on both sides of the ball,
Speaker 4: and I know that happens sometimes at the small school level,
Speaker 4: but maybe not quite to that level. I mean, it's
Speaker 4: about as close to ironman football as you're gonna get.
Speaker 4: I mean, they have multiple players that literally do not
Speaker 4: leave the field offense, defront special teams. They are on
Speaker 4: for every single play, and in some ways I think
Speaker 4: that's pretty cool, But in some ways it gives me
Speaker 4: a little bit of pause for how they might deal
Speaker 4: with a morea forsythe team that really likes to crank
Speaker 4: up the tempo, high octane, take as many snaps as
Speaker 4: they can get off, and in that sense, that might
Speaker 4: be a problem for Chicago Christian with so many guys
Speaker 4: that they rely on to be out there so much.
Speaker 5: And you mentioned some of the you know, high end
Speaker 5: division one town in a one A game, I mean
Speaker 5: the same thing in two A with with Merrell Foresty.
Speaker 5: They have Grant Smith. He's a tight end linebacker. Believe
Speaker 5: going to u of I, it's got I think, I
Speaker 5: think eighteen touchdowns this year, you know, so obviously he's
Speaker 5: going to be a guy that keep an eye on.
Speaker 5: And like you said, Merrie forest that team that really
Speaker 5: plays an up tempo style, well.
Speaker 4: He's another one of those two way guys too. He's
Speaker 4: got eighteen touchdowns. He's also got one hundred hundred plus
Speaker 4: tackles on the defensive side of the ball, so he's
Speaker 4: probably gonna be everywhere from aural forsythe You're going to
Speaker 4: hear that name called a lot on both sides of
Speaker 4: the football, but he's by far not the only weapon
Speaker 4: that this team has. They they really like to air
Speaker 4: it out, but they can run the football and run
Speaker 4: it effectively. So, uh, just it's a very it's a
Speaker 4: high powered team, and you would kind of expect that.
Speaker 4: This is their tenth finals since two thousand and six,
Speaker 4: so they know how to get there. They haven't maybe
Speaker 4: had the success level in the actual title game that
Speaker 4: they wanted to, but but it's a very pedigreed program
Speaker 4: that understands what it wants to do.
Speaker 5: Kind of makes them you know, I think Chicago Chrishi,
Speaker 5: if they would have finished it off and win a
Speaker 5: state championship, my god, that would be a that'd be
Speaker 5: that'd be one of the better stories of the weekend.
Speaker 5: But man, with with their with Murraah forsite, their experience,
Speaker 5: their talent level, you know, it's kind of hard to
Speaker 5: go against them in this game. Yeah it is.
Speaker 4: You know, it's just like all the things that we
Speaker 4: talked about, like building up to this point. You know,
Speaker 4: I morele Force I think is the favorite here, you know,
Speaker 4: the the underdog story in me is pulling for Chicago
Speaker 4: Christian a little bit to finish the job. But you know,
Speaker 4: I think it will be intriguing to see how it
Speaker 4: plays out. I think more is a very is a
Speaker 4: favored team here. But you know, it would not surprise
Speaker 4: me if Chicago Christian comes in there, you know, devil
Speaker 4: make care attitude and and and put it out there
Speaker 4: all on the line and see what happens, because they
Speaker 4: do have some really they have some really talented players
Speaker 4: in their own right. We didn't we didn't really go
Speaker 4: into them specifically, but there are some guys on that
Speaker 4: team that can break some plays and make some things happen.
Speaker 5: The three a matchup as Mantini playing Monticello. Mantini is
Speaker 5: a program that I mean, guys, you know, last decade,
Speaker 5: Mantini was like every year they are at State either
Speaker 5: winning it or more often than not winning it or
Speaker 5: or taking second. But it's been a little bit of
Speaker 5: a while, you know, Michael and they got in that
Speaker 5: c C L E SEC and and just to grind
Speaker 5: of that conference. And you know, I mean, I think
Speaker 5: you know, in Roman numbers a little bit down, and
Speaker 5: you know, they lost a few players that were with
Speaker 5: the program. But you know, they really came back in
Speaker 5: a big way last year to get to the semifinals
Speaker 5: and then there they took the next step this year
Speaker 5: and Michael, they do it with a very experienced defense.
Speaker 5: I taught to Nicki Costaldo defensive tackle. He's one of
Speaker 5: those guys they have. I think they have ten guys
Speaker 5: that were starters or played a lot of sophomores, and
Speaker 5: and you know that experience has really shown, it.
Speaker 3: Really has, and you know, kind of looking at you know,
Speaker 3: we get these team team info and stats and all
Speaker 3: the kind of stuff that you don't really get throughout
Speaker 3: the season, and when you look at it, I mean,
Speaker 3: Montini has only given up thirteen points in the first
Speaker 3: quarter throughout the entire season. And that's huge, right, just
Speaker 3: being able to kind of limit your opponents from what
Speaker 3: they want to do at the beginning. I know those
Speaker 3: numbers are sometimes skewed based on who you're playing, but
Speaker 3: I mean that that alone just kind of says how
Speaker 3: much experience you have, just being able to start off
Speaker 3: from the beginning and limit your opponents from really building
Speaker 3: a lead or you know, building any sort of confidence.
Speaker 3: And you've seen that throughout the year where they've been
Speaker 3: able to get big stops, they were able to limit
Speaker 3: opponents from really getting damage. And you know that also
Speaker 3: comes from having an explosive offense to go along with
Speaker 3: an experienced defense. But yeah, I mean that defense is
Speaker 3: just really limited opponents for much of the season. And
Speaker 3: when they have broken this year, I mean it's come
Speaker 3: against some of the best teams in the state. Obviously,
Speaker 3: when they've competed in their c CLU CEC schedule.
Speaker 5: And then you know, on the offensive side, I mean
Speaker 5: there was a few games earned the year where they
Speaker 5: played in some low scoring games. I think Fenwick was
Speaker 5: a really low scoring loss where you know, the offense
Speaker 5: didn't quite you know, rise to the level that defense
Speaker 5: is at. But you know they made a few tweaks,
Speaker 5: you know, earn the year. I believe they're rotating quarterbacks.
Speaker 5: They went to the sophomore or Israel Abrams full time.
Speaker 5: He's got to offer from Iowa State. I believe, really talented,
Speaker 5: kind of dual threat kid good arm can run the ball.
Speaker 5: And then you know Arami Peterson. I mean he was
Speaker 5: their middle linebacker last year. They had a few injuries
Speaker 5: at running back and now he's taken over and Mike.
Speaker 5: You know, Sus he talked about him as a as
Speaker 5: a battering ram type running back. He has every bit
Speaker 5: a battering ram running back. He is, as he has
Speaker 5: a load, he is very difficult to bring down.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you just kind of get that feel, even though
Speaker 4: you look at the stats and they haven't you know,
Speaker 4: they haven't overworked him by any sense of the imagination
Speaker 4: in terms of carries or things like that. But if
Speaker 4: Montini gets into a grind it out type of football
Speaker 4: game where they need to put together a twelve play
Speaker 4: fourteen play drive to kind of keep the opponent from
Speaker 4: carrying the ball or taking you know, taking you know,
Speaker 4: control of the game tempo wise, that's an asset that
Speaker 4: they definitely have. They have a guy that they can
Speaker 4: just say, Okay, we're gonna grind six minutes off this
Speaker 4: clock and see what happens. They can just work the
Speaker 4: ball to him and usually that works for their advantage.
Speaker 5: You know. On the other side of Monticello, you know,
Speaker 5: there is a little familiarity there. It has been that
Speaker 5: long Sinceider in the state championship game and then Sus
Speaker 5: They've had a few games along the way that it's
Speaker 5: kind of like you know, to say it's destiny is
Speaker 5: Darling's type of thing, but it is a little bit
Speaker 5: like that. I mean, they had a close quarterfinal game,
Speaker 5: they had that kind of crazy finish against the Lonely Unity,
Speaker 5: and they got a really good offensive player. Actually he's
Speaker 5: a two way player like Young. I think he's a
Speaker 5: baseball recruit for Illinois. Something crazy. He's accounted like four
Speaker 5: thousand yards of offense and over forty touchdowns.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and that's one of those things where I think
Speaker 4: it's going to be interesting to see what factor the
Speaker 4: weather plays this weekend because Monosall is kind of a
Speaker 4: free wheeling offensive team and they need to be able
Speaker 4: to do all the things that are in their offense,
Speaker 4: especially against this Montini defense that has not cracked against
Speaker 4: a lot of quality opponents. So Montini needs to have
Speaker 4: all the tools that it's disposed. It will really make
Speaker 4: a run at Montini. It'll be interesting to see if
Speaker 4: the weather has maybe an impact on whether or not
Speaker 4: they're able to access every page in their playbook because
Speaker 4: over time, if you watch the Monacello program, you know,
Speaker 4: under Kuley Welter, it's a creative program. They do creative things.
Speaker 4: I'm sure they're going to have some things in their
Speaker 4: bag that they're going to roll out specifically for this
Speaker 4: week in an attempt to, you know, maybe maybe pull
Speaker 4: a rabbit out of their hat in certain situations. But
Speaker 4: will the will the surrounding conditions allow those things to happen.
Speaker 4: That's going to be interesting to watch.
Speaker 5: And and you know, with respect mount of Cell, they
Speaker 5: might need a little bit of a rabbit out their head.
Speaker 5: I mean, Montini, I think after they that that Byron
Speaker 5: game was kind of like, all right, whoever comes out
Speaker 5: of that is going to be the prohibitive favorite to
Speaker 5: win three A. And I think that still bears out
Speaker 5: when you're talking about an experienced defense, a good running game,
Speaker 5: a talented quarterback, albeit a young quarterback. So we'll see
Speaker 5: how he does, you know, circumstances. But you know, it's
Speaker 5: hard to go against Mantini in this game.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's tough. I mean, it really does look like
Speaker 4: like you said that, that Montini Byron game was kind
Speaker 4: of the kind of the prelude to the actual state
Speaker 4: championship game. That's been the situation that it's kind of
Speaker 4: been for the last two years, with Byron winning last
Speaker 4: year's game and then rolling over every everyone else along
Speaker 4: the way. So you know, I think Montini is a
Speaker 4: clear favorite in this game, and I'm interested to see
Speaker 4: how mont Solo tries to attack this defense because I think,
Speaker 4: regardless of class, I think this is a really really
Speaker 4: good defensive unit and it's shown throughout their very difficult schedule.
Speaker 5: The four A Championship game, which is Friday night at
Speaker 5: seven o'clock, give or take, interesting game. Two teams that
Speaker 5: I don't know that being the year Suis or Michael,
Speaker 5: we would have said, all right, you know I got
Speaker 5: to Paul Prep against Mount Zion in the four A
Speaker 5: Championship game. I think we could have probably won a
Speaker 5: few bets with that one with respect to those programs.
Speaker 5: But you know, Michael'll start with de Paul Prepp. You know,
Speaker 5: why are they here?
Speaker 6: What?
Speaker 5: Like what what has put them in position to do this?
Speaker 5: Because you know, it's been a long time since well,
Speaker 5: not that school, the previous iteration of it, Gordon Tech,
Speaker 5: has been in a championship game.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it just kind of feels like they're on a heater.
Speaker 3: If we're sticking with like gambling terms and that kind
Speaker 3: of stuff, it just feels like this group, you know,
Speaker 3: they were able to eke out a twenty six to
Speaker 3: four team win over Saint Lawrence in the quarterfinals. They
Speaker 3: continue their momentum in the semi finals to get Okayst.
Speaker 3: Coles City twenty one to fourteen. I think this is
Speaker 3: an experience group for which is funny to say for
Speaker 3: a group that obviously, you know, is back in the
Speaker 3: playoffs for the first time since twenty fifteen and won
Speaker 3: its first playoff game since you know, two thousand and
Speaker 3: five when it was Gordon Tech, Right, So you know
Speaker 3: this team hasn't been here too often, but it seems
Speaker 3: like it's got experience and doesn't really buckle under pressure.
Speaker 3: You've got a pretty dominant running it run at rusher
Speaker 3: and you know, Nick Martinez, he's really stable. He really
Speaker 3: gives them a bunch of you know, chunkyards. You're there.
Speaker 3: You've got a really stout defense where you know, yes,
Speaker 3: there are some talented players that can maybe lead you,
Speaker 3: but it does feel like it's a whole effort as
Speaker 3: opposed to one guy. And you've got a dual thread
Speaker 3: quarterback who can you know, scramble, who can pick up yards?
Speaker 3: Who can you know sometimes maybe he doesn't make the
Speaker 3: right throw er, you know, takes a sack, but you've
Speaker 3: got a quarterback that can kind of keep you alive.
Speaker 3: And that is the common theme here in playoffs, right.
Speaker 3: You talked about Abram Fermontini. Juji Rodriguez kind of does
Speaker 3: the same thing for DePaul where he just keeps plays
Speaker 3: the lives and finds players open. Then maybe when the
Speaker 3: play would have been done four or five seconds ago,
Speaker 3: he's able to kind of keep it alive. So that
Speaker 3: kind of makes him a dynamic offense that kind of
Speaker 3: makes it, you know, fairly difficult to stop.
Speaker 5: On the other side. Sus Mountain Zion, I mean, you know,
Speaker 5: I think they're three and three at one point this year,
Speaker 5: so probably wondered if they were gonna, you know, even
Speaker 5: get to the playoffs at that point, and then you know,
Speaker 5: getting this far. I don't think we necessarily expected them
Speaker 5: to win, you know, their last week's game, but but
Speaker 5: you know, they got a lot of big time talent
Speaker 5: on their team as well. When you're talking about high
Speaker 5: Division one recruit caliber players.
Speaker 4: Well, this was a team that at the beginning of
Speaker 4: the season I was pretty high on, to be completely
Speaker 4: honest with you, because of the things that they have
Speaker 4: that you just mentioned. I mean tight end J. C.
Speaker 4: Anderson is a junior who's been recruited by every major
Speaker 4: collegiate program nation.
Speaker 6: You know.
Speaker 4: Wide receiver Brandon Trimble is kind of I think I
Speaker 4: referred to him early in the earlier in the week
Speaker 4: as the Swiss Army Knife of the Mountain Zion offense.
Speaker 4: He pretty much does whatever they need him to do
Speaker 4: at any time. He's a u of I recruit. These
Speaker 4: guys can really do it, and it was really confusing
Speaker 4: to me early in the season why they were having
Speaker 4: so much trouble, you know, you know, kind of getting
Speaker 4: some momentum going. I found out through the grapevine that
Speaker 4: there were some health issues. They had some some key
Speaker 4: guys that were hurt. It appears now that they're should
Speaker 4: they're putting their best foot forward and they're playing their
Speaker 4: best football at the right time. So, I mean, knowing
Speaker 4: all those things in concert, I can see how they
Speaker 4: got here. Not knowing those things six to eight weeks ago,
Speaker 4: I would be I would have been surprised that they
Speaker 4: were here based on their early season results. But Michael
Speaker 4: mentioned to Paul prep on a heater, I think some
Speaker 4: of the same can be said about Monzion.
Speaker 3: Still, this is.
Speaker 5: A matchup that Number one, I don't know these teams
Speaker 5: as well as some of the other teams in state.
Speaker 5: And I also liked this matchup because I don't know
Speaker 5: what's gonna happen. I could, I could, I could see
Speaker 5: either of these teams coming out on top. And I
Speaker 5: don't know if I could say that about some games
Speaker 5: this weekend.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'd agree. I think this is definitely one of
Speaker 4: them that creates one of those matchups that I talked
Speaker 4: about at the beginning of the of the podcast. Here
Speaker 4: it creates a pairing of two teams that we would
Speaker 4: never have like said, hey, this is this is a
Speaker 4: game that we're going to get at this point in
Speaker 4: the season, because, like you said, if you would have
Speaker 4: said at the beginning of the year, are our for
Speaker 4: a finalist or De Paul Prep and Mountain Layon, I
Speaker 4: would have I would have given you one of these.
Speaker 4: I mean it would have been like, I don't know
Speaker 4: what you're what you're talking about here. I maybe would
Speaker 4: have bought into Mount Zion a little bit to Paul.
Speaker 4: I mean, let's look at their track record just to
Speaker 4: be honest. They haven't been in the playoffs since twenty fifteen,
Speaker 4: so that would have been a large leap to have
Speaker 4: to make. So this is a this is a really
Speaker 4: intriguing story on both sides. I'll say that.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I would have been like de Paul Prepp. Are
Speaker 5: we talking basketball here? We're talking football. I I know
Speaker 5: they got a really good basketball program. I did not
Speaker 5: know so much about football, but you know, great stuff.
Speaker 5: Looking forward to it on Friday Saturday. If there's one theme,
Speaker 5: I think is rematches. There's some programs with a lot
Speaker 5: of familiarity in recent years. And I'll start with that
Speaker 5: five A game Nazareth Joey at Katholic. You know, they
Speaker 5: obviously faced each other last year in a game that
Speaker 5: the final score really is not indicative of the kind
Speaker 5: of game that was. That was that was a close
Speaker 5: game for a good part of the game. JC actually
Speaker 5: led it half. And then this year interesting game is
Speaker 5: a low scoring game, sixteen to thirteen. I think NAS won.
Speaker 5: And I'll tell you what, Michael, if Joey a Katholic
Speaker 5: can get it to be a sixteen to thirteen game
Speaker 5: on Saturday, I think they'll take that.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I mean I covered that game and it was for
Speaker 3: a while there. I mean, it was just a rock fight.
Speaker 3: I mean it was just pretty much you know, who
Speaker 3: was going to, you know, run the ball really well,
Speaker 3: who was going to pick up five or six yards
Speaker 3: and that kind of stuff. And the difference in the
Speaker 3: game were two explosive throws from Logan now Chuck, and
Speaker 3: they were able to pick up the win there and
Speaker 3: kind of hold on at the end to kind of
Speaker 3: turn away a late joya Catholic push. But you know,
Speaker 3: obviously these teams are different than they were, and whenever
Speaker 3: they met, I think it was like Week five. So
Speaker 3: these are two different teams the same way that they're
Speaker 3: different teams from last year's team. But I am curious
Speaker 3: to know just kind of how much familiarity plays into
Speaker 3: this thing. Obviously this team, these two teams saw each
Speaker 3: other last year's championship, they saw each other in Week five.
Speaker 3: The talent is a little different, but it's fairly the same.
Speaker 3: I mean, you know, Joia Kathick is going to run
Speaker 3: the ball. They've had a great offensive and defensive line.
Speaker 3: Nazaretha has explosive, skilled players who can make plays, right.
Speaker 3: So I'm really interested to see how much do you
Speaker 3: take from that Week five game plan and do you
Speaker 3: apply it to this and do you how do you
Speaker 3: kind of take away you know, Trenton Walker from making
Speaker 3: an explosive catch? How do you get to Logan Malchuck?
Speaker 3: Because not many programs have done a good job of
Speaker 3: trying to get them. How much is you know, Joey
Speaker 3: Catholic looking at the Mount Carmel tape with the understanding
Speaker 3: that obviously we don't have Mount Carmel, But what can
Speaker 3: we do with to kind of eliminate that? And I
Speaker 3: think the obvious thing is take away the passing lanes,
Speaker 3: force Nanzareth to run and if you can stop them
Speaker 3: from running, and I think Julian Katholck can make this
Speaker 3: a really competitive Hey football fans, listen up.
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Speaker 6: Hi from State Representative Steve Reich, and I'm here to
Speaker 6: wish everybody a happy Thanksgiving. Let's make it a happy
Speaker 6: Thanksgiving for our neighbors as well. My office is conducting
Speaker 6: a food drive for local food pantries here in McHenry
Speaker 6: County at ten seventy two Lake Avenue. If you're out
Speaker 6: and about, drop some non perishable food items off in
Speaker 6: my office.
Speaker 2: And we'll see that they get delivered.
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Speaker 3: The game Sous.
Speaker 5: It's interesting mixes styles Joy at Catholic, you know from
Speaker 5: everything I'm reading about. You know, huge offensive line running
Speaker 5: to football. You know Nazareth getting into the outside with
Speaker 5: multiple receivers. You saw it last week. You were at
Speaker 5: the game against Saint Francis. Saint Francis had difficulty containing
Speaker 5: the big play. Joy at Katholic had difficulty containing the
Speaker 5: big play in last year's championship game. I remember James
Speaker 5: Penley had a huge game for Nazareth last year. And honestly,
Speaker 5: James Penley, he's like their second or third best receive,
Speaker 5: second or third best He's like their second or third
Speaker 5: leading receiver on this team. I mean, there have so
Speaker 5: many weapons. Trenton Walker, as Michael alluded to, has emerged
Speaker 5: as a really big time threat for Nazareth as well.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 4: I think the thing that's most intriguing to me about
Speaker 4: how this game will play out is I think Joliet
Speaker 4: Catholic's defense has been playing really really well since that
Speaker 4: initial meeting between the two schools. Not that they didn't
Speaker 4: in holding they already hauld Nazareth to the fewest points
Speaker 4: that they had up they'd scored all season. But since then,
Speaker 4: I feel like Julia Catholic's defense has been really really good.
Speaker 4: And I don't know if that's a product of great
Speaker 4: improvement or the product of the fact that maybe their
Speaker 4: bracket was not very strong, because I think that it
Speaker 4: might be a combination of the two, because that defense,
Speaker 4: especially in the playoffs, has played incredibly well. Not only
Speaker 4: are they not allowing points, They've only allowed twenty points
Speaker 4: through four playoff games. They're not allowing yardage. I mean
Speaker 4: they are sending teams off at an incredible rate of
Speaker 4: three and out, three and out, three and out, get
Speaker 4: the ball, run the other way.
Speaker 3: To score.
Speaker 4: I mean, it's that's just what they've been doing for
Speaker 4: the better part of six weeks right now. That's just
Speaker 4: what they've been doing on defense, on the defensive side
Speaker 4: of the ball. Is that a product of schedule? Is
Speaker 4: that a product of actual attainable performance level going up?
Speaker 4: I don't know the answer to that. We're gonna find
Speaker 4: out on Saturday morning.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean, so I don't like picking against the
Speaker 5: joy yit Catholic program. But that being said, I don't know, Susan.
Speaker 5: It's hard for me to imagine these Nazareth seniors not
Speaker 5: going out on top, and just the way they're playing
Speaker 5: right now in the playoffs leads me to believe that
Speaker 5: they're the favor going on Saturday.
Speaker 4: I'm inclined to agree with you. I do think, for
Speaker 4: a frame of reference, I think this has the potential
Speaker 4: to be the most intriguing game of all eight in
Speaker 4: just the way that I think it may play out.
Speaker 5: Six eight game. East Saint Louis is not playing Kerry Grove,
Speaker 5: and they're pretty happy about that. But Geneva's pretty good
Speaker 5: as well. You know, suits first of all, at East
Speaker 5: Saint Louis, what do you make about this team. I mean,
Speaker 5: they're a team that you know, it's sort of like
Speaker 5: we hear about them like in a sort of a
Speaker 5: mythical ora a sense throughout the year, and then once
Speaker 5: or twice a year we get to see them live
Speaker 5: and we love to do that.
Speaker 4: Well, Michael and I saw him back in Week one,
Speaker 4: and I know we both walked away very impressed with
Speaker 4: what we saw. And that was just Week one, and
Speaker 4: all this team has done since then is get better.
Speaker 4: And that's that's pretty alarming when you start to think
Speaker 4: about how good they looked in Week one and they
Speaker 4: keep getting better. They have absolutely demolished everyone in the playoffs.
Speaker 4: At this point, in my heart of hearts, I was
Speaker 4: kind of hoping for another Carry Grove matchup, just because
Speaker 4: I wanted to see if they could do it again
Speaker 4: against this team, because boy, especially defensively, East Saint Louis
Speaker 4: just looks incredible. They're so fast to the ball. They
Speaker 4: don't seem to be they look a little undersized, but
Speaker 4: it does not convert over to the field. That's one
Speaker 4: of the things that I think I've noticed about them.
Speaker 4: I Mean, Loyola had a huge offensive line and that
Speaker 4: did not detain East Saint Louis from doing pretty much
Speaker 4: whatever they wanted to do defensively in that game. So
Speaker 4: this is a really, really good football team. They're a
Speaker 4: little bit different offensively than what you're used to. It
Speaker 4: is not a we're looking for the quick sixty eighty
Speaker 4: yard touchdown pass hitter. They will kind of dink and
Speaker 4: dunk you down the field and take you apart that way.
Speaker 4: They have an army of running backs that they use.
Speaker 4: It's it's not exactly the prototypical East Saint Louis team,
Speaker 4: but I think it's one of the more intriguing ones
Speaker 4: that we've had the opportunity to watch.
Speaker 5: And you mentioned their defense too. I mean to me,
Speaker 5: that is the you know, sort of the interesting power
Speaker 5: on power matchup for this game is East St. Louis defense.
Speaker 5: Sounds so good. Geneva's offense has just been fantastic all year.
Speaker 5: Tony Jahino has just been a revelation for them as
Speaker 5: a quarterback. In a first year start, He's thrown forty
Speaker 5: six forty seven touchdowns four thousand yards. Talon Taylor, the
Speaker 5: Georgia recruit, you know, one of the best receivers and
Speaker 5: well probably the best receiver in the state, and then
Speaker 5: they have a lot of other guys. You know, can
Speaker 5: Geneva put up points against this East Saint Louis team
Speaker 5: because they're probably gonna have to to give themselves a
Speaker 5: chance to win this game or be competitive.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I don't think this is gonna be a ten
Speaker 4: to seven football game. That that I'm pretty sure of.
Speaker 4: So that's one of those things where I feel like
Speaker 4: you're right. I think they're gonna have to figure out
Speaker 4: a way to get some points on the board, and
Speaker 4: they might they might get used to like having to
Speaker 4: do that in a different way than they're used to.
Speaker 4: And when I say that, you know they're not gonna
Speaker 4: have a lot of time for downfield plays to develop.
Speaker 4: They're gonna have to get the ball in the hands
Speaker 4: of their playmakers quickly. And East Saint Louis, on the
Speaker 4: other side, has a very talented secondary that closes up
Speaker 4: windows really really fast. So the decision making is gonna
Speaker 4: be have to be quick and assertive and put in
Speaker 4: the right place because if mistakes are made in those areas,
Speaker 4: East St. Louis will make you pay.
Speaker 5: So I've been wrong this year to pick against Geneva
Speaker 5: on a few occasions, namely Batavia and that Carry Grove game.
Speaker 5: But man, it's it's hard to pick. Again, it's East St.
Speaker 5: Louis in this game, just with what they bring to
Speaker 5: the table. Yeah, I can't, Michael, Yeah, I think like.
Speaker 3: If I know, obviously I don't cover either one of
Speaker 3: these teams, but I think the thing that makes that
Speaker 3: East lewis so special. And I was thinking about this, like,
Speaker 3: would today's Loyola team beat East St. Louis And I
Speaker 3: still feel like no, just based on you know, their
Speaker 3: offense is explosive, but that defense is just so physical
Speaker 3: and they're able to get to you so quickly. They
Speaker 3: put on a strong had the athleticism on that defensive
Speaker 3: line was insane for week one and it's just so
Speaker 3: hard to protect.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 3: Loyola obviously was still trying to figure out its offensive line,
Speaker 3: but listen like that, that that defensive front is so
Speaker 3: physical and so quick where you don't really have too
Speaker 3: much time to make decisions offensively, and by the time
Speaker 3: they get to you, they're gonna lay a hit on you,
Speaker 3: fully legal, but they're gonna make you feel that they're
Speaker 3: there so for how much you know, you know, everyone
Speaker 3: loves this offense. I mean, I love this defense. This
Speaker 3: defense was, you know, one of the better defenses I've
Speaker 3: seen the entire season and it was only Week one.
Speaker 5: Yeah, there's definitely there's definitely guys that are just really
Speaker 5: really enjoyable to watch on this defense just from what
Speaker 5: they're able to do.
Speaker 4: The linebacker KeAndre McClendon is just an absolute peace. And
Speaker 4: then you know, you look look around that roster and
Speaker 4: the guy that I think is just kind of their
Speaker 4: kind of their spark plug and just get stuff done.
Speaker 4: Almo Almo Gilliam Junior is a kid that literally it
Speaker 4: felt like in that Loyal agame he was in on
Speaker 4: every freaking play. I mean that that's just I mean,
Speaker 4: those two guys from the linebacker position are just flying
Speaker 4: all over the place and you might be able to
Speaker 4: contain one of them, but good luck trying to keep
Speaker 4: both of them away. I mean, that's that's just the
Speaker 4: reality of the situation.
Speaker 5: No doubt you guys were fortunate enough to see that
Speaker 5: team in Week one. I'm really looking forward to seeing
Speaker 5: them this weekend against an even at six a game,
Speaker 5: seven a game again, and a lot of later there
Speaker 5: Mount Carmel playing Batavia. This is a fourth year in
Speaker 5: a row. These two programs have met. Mount Carmel's of
Speaker 5: course won the first three meetings, and Michael Mount Carmel.
Speaker 5: If there's a team peaking at the right time, they
Speaker 5: look at the part. I mean they you saw them
Speaker 5: against Saint Rita and they really kind of took it
Speaker 5: to Sant Rita.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, I think the biggest thing is and
Speaker 3: this will go into our next two classes what we're
Speaker 3: talking about here, but a healthy quarterback is really important
Speaker 3: to your team's success, right, and that's kind of what
Speaker 3: you've seen with Jack Elliott. I mean, he's back to
Speaker 3: being one hundred or probably not one hundred percent. No
Speaker 3: one's one hundred percent at this point. But he's he's explosive,
Speaker 3: he's healthy, he's able to run the ball, and he
Speaker 3: has a good relationship with with his wide receivers. That's
Speaker 3: not to say that he didn't have one at the
Speaker 3: beginning of the year, but all three of his top
Speaker 3: receivers were new to the team. You had Cooper liam
Speaker 3: who came over from Eko Valley a senior. You have
Speaker 3: Quinn In Parreles sophomore, and then you had Marshawn Thornton
Speaker 3: who came in as a freshman toward the end of
Speaker 3: the year, and all three of those threats are just explosive.
Speaker 3: You're able to run the ball, he's able to connect
Speaker 3: with a lot of them. Obviously, Jordan Lynch is gonna
Speaker 3: scheme up a good offense. But I've covered a bunch of,
Speaker 3: you know, Mount Carmel games this year, and every opposing
Speaker 3: coach says that Jack Elliott is the best player in
Speaker 3: the state. He's dynamic, he can throw the ball perfectly,
Speaker 3: he can run the ball, he knows how to run
Speaker 3: that offense. He's a perfect quarterback for Jordan Lynch. And yeah,
Speaker 3: I mean Batavia. I'm sure you know. Obviously they'd had
Speaker 3: their rivalry in the last couple of years. They went
Speaker 3: to Mount Carmel, brought the one town, one team banner
Speaker 3: and that started a whole thing. But this is not
Speaker 3: an offense that I would want to face if I
Speaker 3: was any team right now.
Speaker 5: No doubt about that. And Susan on the other side,
Speaker 5: you know, Batavia is a team that you know, going
Speaker 5: all the way back to Week one, I saw them
Speaker 5: at Glenbard West, the game they actually won, and I
Speaker 5: really wondered if they were a team, a Batavia team
Speaker 5: that was capable of making a run like that. No
Speaker 5: disrespect to the Patavia program of the utmost respect, but
Speaker 5: I really wonder if they had a team that can
Speaker 5: make this far because they leaned so heavily on Nathan Whitwell,
Speaker 5: they're running back in their defense. But man, they have
Speaker 5: found magic in the playoffs with the rotating quarterbacks, specifically
Speaker 5: the sophomore Michael vanner lewit Garran. You were there for
Speaker 5: that second round game where they pulled the rabbit out
Speaker 5: of their hat at Lincoln Way West, and then they
Speaker 5: went down to another Lincoln away school last weekend and
Speaker 5: Michael vander Luigharran led I think like an eighty five
Speaker 5: yard drive in the last couple of minutes with a
Speaker 5: touchdown Isaiah Brown. They've really found something in the playoffs,
Speaker 5: and they've made them a more dangerous team the fact
Speaker 5: that they don't just lean so heavily on Nathan Willow
Speaker 5: even though he's their main guy.
Speaker 4: You know, they've just I've talked about this a lot
Speaker 4: kind of during this playoff run. They've done a really
Speaker 4: excellent job of recognizing what it's going to take and
Speaker 4: what sort of game plan is going to be to
Speaker 4: their best advantage through this playoff run. You know, you
Speaker 4: go back a round two. They had a disaster of
Speaker 4: a first half, went in and they downplayed it. But
Speaker 4: whatever they whatever they adjusted at halftime, all of it worked.
Speaker 4: It was I mean, it might have been one of
Speaker 4: the more closest to perfect halfs on both sides of
Speaker 4: foot of the football. I think I've ever seen a
Speaker 4: team play both on offense and defense. Everything they did
Speaker 4: worked in that second half to win the game over
Speaker 4: Lincoln Way West. It was and they and they needed it
Speaker 4: all because they didn't actually win that game until the
Speaker 4: final minute. So and then you go to the next round.
Speaker 4: They figured out that hey we got to go to
Speaker 4: school here. They gave the ball to Well a whole
Speaker 4: bunch of times and they and they beat Downers Grove North.
Speaker 4: Then they switch gears again in the semi finals. It's
Speaker 4: just a team that has done a remarkable job of
Speaker 4: morphing into the best version of themselves for the situation
Speaker 4: that they have at hand. So I don't know if
Speaker 4: they're going to be able to do that again here
Speaker 4: because as we mentioned prior, this is an awfully big
Speaker 4: beast that they have to deal with here in Mount
Speaker 4: Carmel and their track record, to be honest against Mount Carmel,
Speaker 4: the last four seasons they've ended their postseason. Batavia's ended
Speaker 4: the postseason runs at the hands of a Mount Carmel
Speaker 4: and the last three have not gone very well for Batavia.
Speaker 4: So a large bridge has to be cleared and circling
Speaker 4: back to Mount Carmel for a moment. This is a
Speaker 4: little bit off topic, and Michael, maybe you can speak
Speaker 4: to this. I saw some videos this week from the
Speaker 4: one of the freshmen that you meant you mentioned Thornton
Speaker 4: and another freshman that they have on the defensive line.
Speaker 4: What exactly are they feeding the fourteen and fifteen year
Speaker 4: olds in Mount Carmel? My goodness, especially Caleb Tucker. Oh
Speaker 4: my gosh. I couldn't even believe that that particular individual
Speaker 4: was a freshman in high school.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, I mean there's a reason why they
Speaker 3: call him the bone crusher. That's his nickname as a freshman.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I mean, I only got a chance to see him
Speaker 3: last week because he was obviously on the freshman team
Speaker 3: throughout the year, but he joined the squad after and
Speaker 3: I mean you could tell he's three. I mean, he's
Speaker 3: three hundred and thirty pounds six four, but he glides.
Speaker 3: I saw Jordan Lynch talk about this in the teleconference,
Speaker 3: but like he doesn't he carries in well as well
Speaker 3: as you can't hold three hundred and thirty pounds for
Speaker 3: a freshman. So I mean, yeah, I don't know what
Speaker 3: you're supposed to do when you got that. And then
Speaker 3: Brandon Jones, a junior who's going to USC, That's just
Speaker 3: a tough matchup you got defensively, just trying to stop
Speaker 3: those huge, versatile bodies that they have.
Speaker 5: So guys, for me, the key from this this game
Speaker 5: is is is camp Batavia, especially the outset, can they
Speaker 5: just slow Mount Carmel's offense down. Because a couple of
Speaker 5: years ago, the twenty twenty one game that was a
Speaker 5: game at Mount Carmel, they came down to the wire
Speaker 5: sort of a controversial finish. The last two years have
Speaker 5: not been they have not been close games, particularly last year,
Speaker 5: and I think I think the big part is that
Speaker 5: they have just not been able to slow down Mount
Speaker 5: Carmel's up tempo playmakers on offense. They just they just
Speaker 5: have not been able to do it. Candy this time,
Speaker 5: I don't know if they can.
Speaker 3: I mean, I think the biggest thing is going to
Speaker 3: be can you stop Jack Elliott? Right? I mean that's
Speaker 3: just going to like can you take that that? I mean,
Speaker 3: Loyola was able to do it by taking away his
Speaker 3: passing lanes, and he said, like he's talked about how
Speaker 3: that Loyola game really helped the offense click and figure
Speaker 3: things out here for the playoffs. Like I feel like
Speaker 3: I get that quote every single year, But you know
Speaker 3: that this if you can stop Jack Elliott or do
Speaker 3: anything to have stopped him from running take away passing ways,
Speaker 3: that's the only way you're going to stop this offense.
Speaker 3: Because you know, as far as Jack Elliott goes, that's
Speaker 3: as far as this offense is going to go. And
Speaker 3: if he's going to run past you, if he's gonna
Speaker 3: throw a seventy yard bomb down like down the field.
Speaker 3: I don't think that there's really much of a competition here.
Speaker 5: The a to a final.
Speaker 3: Uh.
Speaker 5: You know, another game between teams that have seens are
Speaker 5: quite a bit in the playoffs in recent years, Loyola
Speaker 5: playing York. Loyola course a two time defending state champion.
Speaker 5: They've beaten York in the last two semifinals. Now they
Speaker 5: play each other in the final and Michael, you know,
Speaker 5: Loyola again, like some of these other programs like Mount Carmel,
Speaker 5: there's times where like all you know, just how good
Speaker 5: are they are they gonna be able to be up
Speaker 5: to what they've been in the past. Man, they have
Speaker 5: answered all questions late in the year. Obviously, that Lincoln
Speaker 5: Way East game was huge for them.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, I think the biggest thing is, like
Speaker 3: we talked about with Mount Carmelo and Jack Elliott, you
Speaker 3: see how good Loyola is. What the healthy Ryan Fitzgerald, right, Like,
Speaker 3: obviously in Week one against East Saint Louis, that team
Speaker 3: was still trying to figure things out. New offensive line,
Speaker 3: obviously the defensive line. Obviously EA. St. Lewis is a
Speaker 3: great team. Those are all factors in that game. And
Speaker 3: then then lost to Saint Francis in Week three. You know,
Speaker 3: Ryan fitzheal didn't play and he's been kind of limited
Speaker 3: throughout the year with the hamstring injury. Kind of showed
Speaker 3: that he was kind of healthy. And then Mount Carmel
Speaker 3: game where they blew out Mount Carmel, and in the playoffs,
Speaker 3: you've just seen how versatile and important he's been where
Speaker 3: you know, against Lincoln East, you know, obviously Loyol's defense
Speaker 3: did really well, but it also was because Loyola just
Speaker 3: drove down the field and took away time and took
Speaker 3: away possessions where Jonas Williams didn't have the time to
Speaker 3: make the plays right because he wasn't on the field.
Speaker 3: So I think that's the biggest thing where you've got
Speaker 3: a threat in Ryan Fitzgerald when he's finally healthy, that
Speaker 3: he'll throw you a bomb. He'll throw you a ten
Speaker 3: yard pass to pick up a first down, but he's
Speaker 3: also going to barrel into your best linebacker and pick
Speaker 3: up a first down. He's not afraid to run. And
Speaker 3: you see just how different in goodness offense is with
Speaker 3: Ryan Fitzgerald being as close as healthy as you could
Speaker 3: be heading at the championship weekend.
Speaker 5: So there's some offenses this weekend that kind of go
Speaker 5: through the running back, go the receiver or whatever. These
Speaker 5: two teams, clearly it all starts with the quarterbacks. I mean,
Speaker 5: Ryan Fitzgerald running the football, throwing the football, doing whatever
Speaker 5: he does. And my gods, Bruno Masso, if there's a
Speaker 5: kid that's had a better playoffs than that young man.
Speaker 5: I mean, he has just turned earned it on. I think,
Speaker 5: you know, run for over about one hundred and fifty
Speaker 5: yards every week, making huge throws whenever they need them.
Speaker 5: He has just really I mean, he's been one of
Speaker 5: the best stories of the playoffs. He's been great.
Speaker 4: Yeah, he really has. And you and I have talked
Speaker 4: about this a lot during York's playoff run in regards
Speaker 4: to maybe underestimating what they were capable of and whether
Speaker 4: or not I mean this run was even possible because
Speaker 4: I think both of us were kind of aligned with,
Speaker 4: you know, maybe they'll win a game or two here,
Speaker 4: but thought that the road eventually, one of these teams
Speaker 4: was going to get them, and in reality that just
Speaker 4: simply has not happened. And a lot of that has
Speaker 4: to do with his play, the fact that he just
Speaker 4: continues to make play after play after play in the
Speaker 4: sense that you know, if there was a team that
Speaker 4: was going to challenge them, you felt like he had
Speaker 4: another he had another loop on his belt, another trick
Speaker 4: that he could pull out of there and get it
Speaker 4: done for them. Because he's just really been great, especially
Speaker 4: in the postseason. Numbers bear that out. I mean, you
Speaker 4: saw the kind of playmaker that he is. Even even
Speaker 4: though it was a tech a negative play, the way
Speaker 4: that they rounded out that semi final game is I mean,
Speaker 4: he was able to use what the tools that he
Speaker 4: has in his belt to just run the rest of
Speaker 4: that clock out so they didn't have to worry about punting,
Speaker 4: you know, a bad snap or any of those other things.
Speaker 4: Took that safety. It was a smart play, ended up
Speaker 4: finishing out the game, and it completely alleviated any risk
Speaker 4: that they might have had of releasing that ball back
Speaker 4: to Apriville Central.
Speaker 5: And he also had another play in earlier in the
Speaker 5: fourth quarter where I mean they were up by three
Speaker 5: or one, it was only a one or two and
Speaker 5: he made it was a fourth down play or third
Speaker 5: down and long, and he just made a long throw
Speaker 5: off of one foot.
Speaker 3: Just on a dime.
Speaker 5: He's not a guy that's gonna make a lot of
Speaker 5: throws for them, but it seems like when they need
Speaker 5: him to make the throws, make throws, he does. And
Speaker 5: obviously that's the same way for Ryan Fitzgerald. To me, guys,
Speaker 5: one of the big things is, you know, it's hard
Speaker 5: for Loyola to get their offense off the football field.
Speaker 5: Lincoln We East really struggled to that to do that
Speaker 5: for me, for York to have a chance, you know,
Speaker 5: can they get Loyol's offense off the field and can
Speaker 5: they stay on the field.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's definitely going to be a situation where, you know,
Speaker 4: I think York needs to try to stay on the field.
Speaker 4: After witnessing what I witnessed the Lincoln Way East game
Speaker 4: last week, you know, keeping Loyola off the field is
Speaker 4: a much bigger challenge moving forward into this game. I mean,
Speaker 4: I was I didn't. I wish I would have. I
Speaker 4: didn't track time of possession in the second half of
Speaker 4: that game, but I'm sure the gap was astonishingly wide.
Speaker 4: I mean, Loyola opened the second half with a monster drive,
Speaker 4: a four team play drive. They had another drive right
Speaker 4: out after that that closed out the third quarter that
Speaker 4: I was actually shocked was ended by an interception that
Speaker 4: Ryan Fitzgerald for because I seriously, I don't think he
Speaker 4: made a single bad decision other than that pass over
Speaker 4: the entire second half. He always seemed to make the
Speaker 4: best choice. Whatever the choice is we're available to him.
Speaker 4: He picked the best one other than that one pass.
Speaker 4: So I mean, keeping him from being able to engineer
Speaker 4: drives like that is the biggest challenge you work faces
Speaker 4: in my opinion.
Speaker 5: Yeah, either way, we're gonna see history.
Speaker 3: Guy.
Speaker 5: I mean, York has never won a state championship. They've
Speaker 5: never been in the state final. Loyle, on the other hand,
Speaker 5: they win three eight eight titles in a row. Pretty impressive.
Speaker 5: Whatever you want to say about Loyal, pretty impressive.
Speaker 3: They can do that especially, and I would say just
Speaker 3: basically the exactly last team to do it was Main
Speaker 3: South and look late two thousands and that you don't
Speaker 3: see that too often anymore.
Speaker 5: You don't gonna be a lot of fun guys. We're
Speaker 5: gonna be there all weekend. Everybody catch up on Friday
Speaker 5: Night Drive. We've got a lot of stuff, you know,
Speaker 5: features previous, what have you ahead of that. And then
Speaker 5: Michael Susan and I will both be here, both there
Speaker 5: both days this weekend for Michael dwall Jack and Steve Susie.
Speaker 5: I'm Josh Welge. Everyone have a great Wednesday and a
Speaker 5: great Thanksgiving.
Speaker 3: Do you ever wonder where the profits go when you
Speaker 3: shop at a big BUCKO? Hi, this is Patty from
Speaker 3: Oliver's Corner Market. When you shop at Oliver's, you can
Speaker 3: rest assured that the profits stay local, supporting other local
Speaker 3: businesses and charities.
Speaker 5: Find us at the corner Britton, Bradshaw and Dixon