Speaker 1: One. Pull over, buddy, and welcome to the Friday Night
Speaker 1: Drive West Suburban Podcast. This is Josh Welge. I'm here
Speaker 1: with Joel Bennett's and Joel. We made it through week one,
Speaker 1: a very exciting week one across Illinois, across the western suburbs.
Speaker 1: A lot of great football that we were able to see,
Speaker 1: that we're able to hear about, that we were able
Speaker 1: to read about, and hopefully the people out there were
Speaker 1: able to read about. Thank you for your support.
Speaker 2: Joel.
Speaker 1: How was it for you your first experience of Illinois
Speaker 1: high school football?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, what a wild week of high school
Speaker 2: football all around. You saw a lot of different games hactening,
Speaker 2: you know, you saw some with some explosive defensive or
Speaker 2: explosive offenses. You had defensive showdowns, and then you have
Speaker 2: games there decided within the final drive. I mean, absolutely
Speaker 2: insane first week of high school football here in Illinois.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it really was. It was really, really fun, and
Speaker 1: it's one of those that boy, you just wait forever.
Speaker 1: It's kind of like Christmas. You just can't wait for
Speaker 1: it to get here, and then it's finally there and
Speaker 1: it lives up to your expectations. So it was a
Speaker 1: great week, But the best part about it is we're
Speaker 1: just getting started as we tape here on Tuesday afternoon. Again,
Speaker 1: thank you everyone for joining us. You know, if you're
Speaker 1: just joining us, we have on Tuesday our Friday Night
Speaker 1: Drive updated power rankings just dropped this morning. Spoiler alert,
Speaker 1: there's a new number one, and there's a few teams
Speaker 1: that have joined the top twenty five that are from
Speaker 1: the Western suburbs. So take a look at that. You
Speaker 1: can look at Steve Susci's you know, kind of what
Speaker 1: we learned from week one. On Wednesdays, Steve will be
Speaker 1: dropping his next playoff projections. They'll be coming every week,
Speaker 1: so definitely take a look at that. We also have
Speaker 1: notebooks and features for pretty much every market in our
Speaker 1: on our show footprint, all the way from the Western
Speaker 1: Suburbs to the Mississippi Rivers, so so definitely check it out. Joel,
Speaker 1: Like we said, a lot of great games last weekend.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna started the game that I was at on
Speaker 1: Saturday and kind of work our way back. Batavia at
Speaker 1: Glenbard West. That's a matchup that it's funny. I wondered,
Speaker 1: I was kind of wondering, you know, had those programs
Speaker 1: ever played each other. Because they're two of the best
Speaker 1: programs in the western suburbs. You can maybe make a
Speaker 1: case that they are the two best programs in the
Speaker 1: western suburb And I talked to Glenbard West coach Taed Hetlett,
Speaker 1: and he said they've never played each other, at least
Speaker 1: as long as he and Dennis Piron, the Batavia coach,
Speaker 1: have been there. And between the two of them, we're
Speaker 1: talking about it combined about thirty years on the sidelines
Speaker 1: at those schools. So he's and coach he Lett said,
Speaker 1: you know, we always wanted to play each other before
Speaker 1: we were and the way he worded it as we
Speaker 1: get closer to retirement, and I don't think of those
Speaker 1: guys as anywhere near retirement. But anyway, it was good
Speaker 1: to see them get together and a good game. It
Speaker 1: was a game that Batavia they led the whole way.
Speaker 1: They felt like they were in control, but they never
Speaker 1: were able to really kind of put away Glenbard West
Speaker 1: until the final minutes. They finally come out with a
Speaker 1: thirty five to twenty eight win. And really the story
Speaker 1: for Batavia is, I mean, we talked about before they graduated,
Speaker 1: some significant pieces of their offense with Ryan bow their quarterback,
Speaker 1: you know, receiver. They just lost a lot of talent.
Speaker 1: Batavia has been a team offensively that in the past,
Speaker 1: they've really like to spread the wealth and different guys
Speaker 1: get the ball and kind of move it around in
Speaker 1: the pass and they run. And they were not that
Speaker 1: on last Saturday. They they were like, we're gonna give
Speaker 1: the ball to Nathan Whitwell over and over and over again.
Speaker 1: He had thirty five carries and I looked it up.
Speaker 1: I think he had seventy nine carries all of last year.
Speaker 1: So a very busy young man. But coach Pieran said that,
Speaker 1: you know he's a guy that he is, you know
Speaker 1: he's he's he's the most fit guy in the program,
Speaker 1: the most fit guy in the school. He runs track
Speaker 1: and they told him, they're like, Nathan, you're going to
Speaker 1: get the ball a lot.
Speaker 2: And he did.
Speaker 1: Thirty five carries is quite a bit. In the first half,
Speaker 1: he had twenty carries. They had only had four position
Speaker 1: players touched the ball in the first half, and that's
Speaker 1: including their quarterback Body Anderson, so they really rode Nathan
Speaker 1: Whitwell and he had three touchdowns. He had a fifty
Speaker 1: two yard touchdown right off the bat kind of showing
Speaker 1: that track speed right off the back, kind of beating
Speaker 1: guys down the left sideline. And then you know, finally
Speaker 1: at the end, Batavia's defense, you know, really rose to
Speaker 1: the challenge because Glenbard West, they pulled within a touchdown
Speaker 1: late in the third quarter, Glenbard West had two opportunities
Speaker 1: for a tying score. They got the ball twice on
Speaker 1: Batavia side of the field. Batavia's defense, you know, stood
Speaker 1: both times, turning away Glenbard West for a very good
Speaker 1: win on the Glenbard West side. Tay On Oriental, they're
Speaker 1: very fine senior running back. He had a couple of
Speaker 1: touchdowns rushing. He had an eighty seven yard punt return
Speaker 1: for a touchdown. But really key for Glenbard West. He
Speaker 1: actually got hurt the second to last drive. He was
Speaker 1: dropped for a sack. You know, they kind of threw
Speaker 1: him in a wildcat at quarterback, which they've before. He
Speaker 1: got her on the second last drive, and I talked
Speaker 1: him after the game. Sounded like he had a hand injury,
Speaker 1: hand injury possibly maybe a little bit of a break
Speaker 1: and he was going to the hospital. So that's something
Speaker 1: to keep an eye on. He's a very very important
Speaker 1: cog for what Glenbard West wants to do going forward.
Speaker 1: So obviously it was a great game and a very
Speaker 1: good win for Batavia. Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 2: I mean, obviously the big question was what was the
Speaker 2: offense going to look like without Ryan Bow? And obviously
Speaker 2: Nathan whitbow Day provides for the offense last year. I
Speaker 2: think he had nine touchdowns for them on the ground
Speaker 2: last year, and he was overshadowed by you know, Charles
Speaker 2: well Play, who was, you know, the mean star of
Speaker 2: that offense besides Ryan Bow. But I mean he perfectly
Speaker 2: showed what he was capable of doing during that first game,
Speaker 2: especially against a team like Glenbard West. I wouldn't be
Speaker 2: surprised if they continue to run it with Whitwell in
Speaker 2: the coming weeks, especially with Body Anderson still trying to
Speaker 2: get used to the system and being still you know,
Speaker 2: being used to the starting quarterback role. But I also
Speaker 2: wouldn't be surprised if they start to work Body Anderson
Speaker 2: in a little bit more into the action.
Speaker 1: Yeah, there's no doubt. I mean I think that they
Speaker 1: a lot of throws that Body Anderson threw was kind
Speaker 1: of like those wide receiver screens, short passes to Isaiah
Speaker 1: Brown and players like that. I think as the season
Speaker 1: goes on, you're going to see them open up a
Speaker 1: little bit more, a little bit more, and then by
Speaker 1: the end of the year, I mean, I think Nathan
Speaker 1: Willon's gonna be a huge part of what they do
Speaker 1: all year long. But I think by the end of
Speaker 1: the year are going to see a little bit more
Speaker 1: typical Batavia where they're opening up. They just do a
Speaker 1: really smart job of utilizing the talent at their disposal
Speaker 1: and how they utilize I've always liked the way they
Speaker 1: do that on the offensive side, not to take away
Speaker 1: from defense. They always have a great defense as well.
Speaker 1: So a very good win for Batavia. They're they're kind
Speaker 1: of neighboring rival, Geneva also open with a with a
Speaker 1: kind of a resounding win. They weren't obviously weren't challenged
Speaker 1: to the same level Batavia was. But you were there
Speaker 1: on Friday, what do you see from Geneva?
Speaker 2: And I saw the longest first quarter that I have
Speaker 2: ever seen. I think it took fifty five minutes for
Speaker 2: that first quarter to end. But rightfully so, I mean,
Speaker 2: there was so much that happened, and it was such
Speaker 2: little plays that happened, But Geneva only ran nine offensive
Speaker 2: plays with their first team and by the end of
Speaker 2: it they were on forty two nothing. I mean, it
Speaker 2: was pretty crazy to see overall. I mean, you know,
Speaker 2: big question was how is Tony Chikino gonna deal with
Speaker 2: the wide receivers and you know, getting thrust into that
Speaker 2: starting quarterback role, and he did it pretty seamlessly. I
Speaker 2: mean he was six for seven passing, He had one
Speaker 2: hundred and sixty four yards and four touchdowns. There wasn't
Speaker 2: a single drive that Geneva had in the first quarter
Speaker 2: that lasted longer than two plays. I mean, it was
Speaker 2: just pretty dominant from the start. And they're gonna be
Speaker 2: pretty fresh for this week as well, because they didn't
Speaker 2: play in an entire three quarters. It was and it
Speaker 2: was the second team playing the entire final three quarters
Speaker 2: against this lark And team. But for the quarter that
Speaker 2: I did see, it looked like he had perfect control
Speaker 2: of the offense. I mean he was slinging perfect balls
Speaker 2: to talent Taylor and Finnike and Webner both of them
Speaker 2: got all six of those receptions, and it looked like
Speaker 2: also Michael Romro, who is going to be the starting
Speaker 2: running back, also had some pretty solid runs as well,
Speaker 2: even if he did have two rushes. But it looked
Speaker 2: like that offense was just perfect cylinders throughout the entire time.
Speaker 2: And it's going to be very interesting to see as
Speaker 2: the season progresses, hopefully for more than a quarter.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's one of those games is good for different
Speaker 1: guys to get on the field. A lot of guys
Speaker 1: got the opportunity to see what they can do, and
Speaker 1: in some cases guys that have played before in Varsitiolo.
Speaker 1: In other cases, you know, guys getting their first far
Speaker 1: as the experience. So Geneva is gonna get really tested
Speaker 1: down the road once again into Kane Conference. But obviously
Speaker 1: a really good win for them. Starting the season. Game
Speaker 1: that I was at on Friday night, Oswego was hosting
Speaker 1: Equal Valley as we Go. Very impressive on both sides
Speaker 1: of the field. They come away with a thirty to
Speaker 1: thirty of seven win. They forced three turnovers, Their defense
Speaker 1: was dominant. Carson Cooney, coach's son going to Iowa, seen
Speaker 1: lear linebacker. He was all over the place, particularly in
Speaker 1: the second half. I think he had seven tackles and
Speaker 1: six tackles for loss and just all over the place,
Speaker 1: you know, pressuring the quarterback, dropping guys in the backfield.
Speaker 1: Jeremiah Kane, Northern Iowa recruit, he had an interception, he
Speaker 1: had a long cash that set up a touchdown, and
Speaker 1: then he finally, you know, caught a touchdown at the
Speaker 1: end of the game as well, and just to you know,
Speaker 1: a swe of really control the game. They even won
Speaker 1: the game thirty to seven with two touchdowns getting called
Speaker 1: back to give you an idea about, you know, how
Speaker 1: they're able to control the game, and they looked like
Speaker 1: a team that's very experienced. It has big hopes for
Speaker 1: this year because they are very experienced, and they do
Speaker 1: have big hopes for this year. They have their coach,
Speaker 1: Brian Cooney said they have sixteen starters back from last year.
Speaker 1: He said that typically he's more like ten eleven guys,
Speaker 1: but to have sixteen guys back. They have five guys
Speaker 1: that started when they were sophomores, or at least they're
Speaker 1: up on varsity as sophomores, including his son carsoncluding including
Speaker 1: including Jeremiah Kane. Their senior quarterback, Brett Conley, he's another
Speaker 1: returning starter. He looked like a guy that I mean
Speaker 1: he had he had his ups and downs last year,
Speaker 1: but he looked like a guy really in control of things.
Speaker 1: You know, he's kind of checking off plays that weren't there.
Speaker 1: Just really a good grasp and really good poise. And
Speaker 1: I actually talked about talked about that with him from
Speaker 1: my Kennell County Football notebook if you want to check
Speaker 1: it out, just his experience and and how comfortable he
Speaker 1: is in the offense. He has pretty much all the
Speaker 1: same skill position guys back from last year. So aswego,
Speaker 1: looked really good and they're going to be a team
Speaker 1: to watch in the Southwest Prairie Conference and the and
Speaker 1: in the Western Suburbs as a whole. So very good
Speaker 1: win for them. Another team that that had a nice win,
Speaker 1: you know last Friday, a team from the Dukene Conference
Speaker 1: that we're going to be talking about, Saint Charles North,
Speaker 1: I mean, similar to last year. That was just a
Speaker 1: wild kind of shootout game at Palatine and they come
Speaker 1: away with another win. If I'm not mistaken, I think
Speaker 1: Ethan plumb Ran orchestrated like a ninety nine yard drive
Speaker 1: late in the game. So that's a really nice win
Speaker 1: for St. Charles North. Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 2: I mean we kind of expected it from last year's
Speaker 2: game between these two teams. I mean it was a
Speaker 2: thirty seven to thirty fourth victory for St. Charles North
Speaker 2: and St. Charles North came back in that game and
Speaker 2: they had to do the exact same thing this time
Speaker 2: around too, this time in enemy territory. I think they
Speaker 2: entered halftime down twenty four to fourteen, and I mean
Speaker 2: you kind of mentioned it. There a ninety nine yard
Speaker 2: touchdown drive led by Ethan Plum with a pass to
Speaker 2: Keaton Rinky in the end up and then a two
Speaker 2: point conversion at the end of it. I believe it
Speaker 2: was to Brian Harms, the Marmion transfer, who got that
Speaker 2: two point conversion to officially give them to win. So
Speaker 2: overall of great game for St. Charles North, and I
Speaker 2: think Keaton Rinky, who caught that game winning touchdown, had
Speaker 2: three touch founs in that game, over one hundred receiving guards.
Speaker 2: He was one of those guys that coach palm Zach
Speaker 2: said was somethody to look out for. Obviously, he was
Speaker 2: injured last season, but with the large amount of senior
Speaker 2: wide receivers that they had, you know, kind of was
Speaker 2: going to be a little bit over a shadowed was
Speaker 2: my guess.
Speaker 1: But this year he.
Speaker 2: Has that full spotlight, that wide receiver number one spot
Speaker 2: and he made sure to make his presence noticed in
Speaker 2: that first game. So that connection between the two will
Speaker 2: definitely be something to look forward to as they go
Speaker 2: through this next non conference late and then eventually against
Speaker 2: Crete Monte and then into the Kaine Conference play.
Speaker 1: Yeah, good win for Saint Charles North. Good weekend for
Speaker 1: the Kanne Conference in general. They they want I believe
Speaker 1: seven and one in the conference. Uh seven win a
Speaker 1: non conference games, Saint Charles East with the only lost
Speaker 1: including in that glen Bar North that was winless last year.
Speaker 1: They got their first win right off the bat and
Speaker 1: Wheaton North similar to Saint Charles North, they wanted the end.
Speaker 1: They beat Providence on the last play of the game
Speaker 1: when a touchdow on a two point convert. Well, I
Speaker 1: know it is a touchdown. I'm not sure that two
Speaker 1: point conversion. I think I'm confusing that with Saint Charles North.
Speaker 1: But but Weed North gets a good win Glenbar North
Speaker 1: as well, So a very good weekend for the Duquane
Speaker 1: conference who we think is going to be very good
Speaker 1: and showed it the first week. Another conference that we
Speaker 1: all know is going to be very tough is the
Speaker 1: CCL e s CC the Catholic League. You know, Nazareth
Speaker 1: is a team that you know prominent there in our area.
Speaker 1: Nazareth comes away with a really exciting win over Kankakee
Speaker 1: that that was kind of a back and forth, came
Speaker 1: down to the end Logan mal Chicks through a touchdown
Speaker 1: I believe to Jake's sistone, so they beat those two.
Speaker 1: Teams have played some very entertaining games, some very different
Speaker 1: games the last few years. Yet last Friday's game was
Speaker 1: a shootout. Two years ago is a two to nothing finals,
Speaker 1: so we had a baseball scorer. There wasn't a baseball
Speaker 1: score Friday. But nonetheless, Nazareth comes away with a very
Speaker 1: good win and a team that we talked about last
Speaker 1: week on the podcast. They started zero to four last year.
Speaker 1: They start to two and four of the year before.
Speaker 1: They still wont stage, but nobody wants to get back
Speaker 1: in that situation where you're digging yourself back up. So
Speaker 1: a good start to the season for Nazareth. Nazareth there
Speaker 1: a game that we kind of pinpointed last week, Joel,
Speaker 1: between two conferences and two teams that are very close
Speaker 1: to it to each other that hadn't seen each other
Speaker 1: for a while was Glenbard East Willabrook. I'm not sure
Speaker 1: if you saw that that game was as wild to
Speaker 1: finish as any last Friday. Did you happen to see that?
Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly a couple of good bids about it. I mean,
Speaker 2: very similar to Saint Charles North. I mean it came
Speaker 2: down to the and Wheat North, for that matter, came
Speaker 2: down to the last sacon. He came down to the
Speaker 2: last drive. I mean that fifty seven yard returned from
Speaker 2: Monte cook Is set up that game winning pass for
Speaker 2: Michael from Michael Neat and Muhammad Musla with two seconds left.
Speaker 2: I mean, you can't get any better than that. I mean,
Speaker 2: come on, it's week one of high school football and
Speaker 2: you have a game winning drive, game winning touchdown, I mean,
Speaker 2: against two great teams. There's nothing better about it.
Speaker 1: If people had missed it, there are two touchdowns in
Speaker 1: the game in the last twenty one seconds. I mean
Speaker 1: beat that. Littlebrook scores to go ahead and their home
Speaker 1: fans are probably thinking, Wow, this is an amazing Week
Speaker 1: one win over glen Bard East, and twenty one seconds
Speaker 1: later if glen Bard East is celebrating, so you know,
Speaker 1: wild game. If that's the way the season is going
Speaker 1: to go for those those two teams would buckle up.
Speaker 1: But a really nice win for Glenbard East and a
Speaker 1: good win for the Upstate eight Conference being able to
Speaker 1: beat a Western Bourbon conference. So a very good one there.
Speaker 1: Heading before we kind of look ahead to Week two,
Speaker 1: there's a few more games that I wanted to kind
Speaker 1: of identify. Plano gets a nice seventeen to fourteen win
Speaker 1: over Ottawa that was the debut of their new head coach,
Speaker 1: Kyle Tutt. I don't know if we touched about it
Speaker 1: last week. Interesting summer a plan O. Kyle Tutt, who
Speaker 1: used to be the head coach at Streeter, he hired
Speaker 1: as an assistant in June, and then and then Rick Ponks,
Speaker 1: who is a plant head coach, He took an assistant
Speaker 1: job at Benedicta University and Kyle Tutt he became the
Speaker 1: head coach in mid July. I remembered I showed up
Speaker 1: at a seven on seven in Caitlin, and I went
Speaker 1: up to him, and I said, hey, coach, how long
Speaker 1: have you been You're pretty new right when he when
Speaker 1: were your head coach? He's like yesterday, So I'm thinking okay.
Speaker 1: But nonetheless they get a nice seventeen to fourteen win
Speaker 1: at Ottawan. Really the story there, and again I touched
Speaker 1: on on my Kennell County notebook. This week, Tim Young
Speaker 1: ran for one hundred and fifty yards in a seventy
Speaker 1: five yard touchdown. Tim Young was an offensive lineman before
Speaker 1: this year. His first three years of high school, he
Speaker 1: was at center for two years. He was a guard
Speaker 1: last year. But I asked him about I said, how
Speaker 1: did he get moved? Because normally you're thinking, you know,
Speaker 1: maybe the coach is like I had nobody or whatever.
Speaker 1: And he said, you know, I went up to the
Speaker 1: coaches and I said, I really think I'm a better
Speaker 1: fit for running back. He's a track guy, and he
Speaker 1: thought he's not that big. He's like one hundred, five
Speaker 1: hundred and ninety pounds. And the coaches came together and
Speaker 1: they said, all right, you know, let's see what you got.
Speaker 1: He apparently has a lot. I mean, either ran for
Speaker 1: one hundred and fifty yards and a touchdown. So a
Speaker 1: very good win for the Reapers, you know, as they
Speaker 1: as they get ready for the Kishwaukee River Conference schedule ahead, Joe,
Speaker 1: before we kind of take a quick break and look
Speaker 1: award to Week two. Any other teams or games that
Speaker 1: kind of stood out to you, Yeah, I got a
Speaker 1: couple that.
Speaker 2: I think. Caitlin was one of those teams that we
Speaker 2: would kind of keeping our eyes on, especially in that
Speaker 2: game against Washington. Of course, last year they lost that
Speaker 2: game in Michael Organson's first game at head coach. This
Speaker 2: year turned it around in Enemy Territory, got the twenty
Speaker 2: eight fourteenth victory on the road. I mean, great start
Speaker 2: for the King of the Knights in their second season
Speaker 2: under Michael Forguson, Yeah, it's a great way to start,
Speaker 2: especially with a new quarterback under center. Obviously before you
Speaker 2: started Troy or Carlson, it's no longer. There's a great
Speaker 2: way to start off in a new era. Another team
Speaker 2: I kind of wanted to touch on because I then
Speaker 2: we kind of mentioned it while they were the one
Speaker 2: loss in the De Kayne Conference, I mean St. Charles
Speaker 2: East kind of showed that their offense is pretty ppotent
Speaker 2: this year. They scored forty points in their loss against
Speaker 2: the team that went nine to two last year and
Speaker 2: made it to the second round of the playoffs in
Speaker 2: Lincoln Way Central. I think JT. Padron, the new starting quarterback,
Speaker 2: had over three hundred and fifty yards through the air
Speaker 2: and connected with hiko Jo Kai odd wide receiver who
Speaker 2: had one hundred and sixty nine yards and two touchdowns.
Speaker 2: So even though they got the loss, I mean, it
Speaker 2: shows how deep the Kinge Conference is gonna be this year,
Speaker 2: how deep the offense is gonna be, and it's gonna
Speaker 2: be really fun when it starts in ten days.
Speaker 1: No doubt. I saw that St. Charles Eas scoring, I'm thinking, well,
Speaker 1: too bad they lost, but wow, their offense is pretty good.
Speaker 1: I mean they're a team that once they started Dukane
Speaker 1: Conference play, you know, teams are gonna be like, yeah,
Speaker 1: we think maybe we can beat Saint Charles East, but man,
Speaker 1: they can really score, so we better, you know, come
Speaker 1: ready for them. So and then Caitlin you mentioned that,
Speaker 1: I mean they had they graduated Troy or Carlson, they
Speaker 1: graduated Eric Johnson is a really good receiver, and some
Speaker 1: other guys, and they had a really difficult what I
Speaker 1: thought was a very difficult start to the season before
Speaker 1: they even start intertate a conference play, which is going
Speaker 1: to be a bear when you're talking about playing Washington,
Speaker 1: and then they got with Conda this week, so that's
Speaker 1: a really that's a very good win for them right
Speaker 1: off the bat to kind of show that you know, hey,
Speaker 1: we're we're still pretty good. I mean, you might not
Speaker 1: know who we are, but you may not know some
Speaker 1: of these guys on our team, but but yeah, we're
Speaker 1: still pretty good. So a really good win for the Knights.
Speaker 2: Definitely. Yeah, it's a great way to start off this season,
Speaker 2: especially to go have that one and no mentality every week.
Speaker 2: So to get that first one out of the way
Speaker 2: is definitely important.
Speaker 1: All right, And when we come back, we'll look ahead
Speaker 1: the week two. Welcome back to the Friday night Drive
Speaker 1: West Suburban podcast. I mean Josh wellgame here with Joe
Speaker 1: Bennett's and Joel as we look at to week two.
Speaker 1: One of the matchups that kind of stands out interesting
Speaker 1: matchup between teams from different leagues and I don't think
Speaker 1: they played each other. Batavia hosting South Elgin. Patavia obviously
Speaker 1: coming off of a really good win over Glenbard West
Speaker 1: South Algin. They really had a tough one week one.
Speaker 1: Barrington really kind of knocked them around. But Barrington's a
Speaker 1: very quality team that's a Class eight A semi finalist
Speaker 1: from last year with a lot of kids coming back.
Speaker 1: But South Algian's program, it's maybe people don't really know,
Speaker 1: but they've had a lot of success on the last
Speaker 1: few years, so I'm sure they're going to be, you know,
Speaker 1: kind of preparing things and that's not a gimme for Batavia.
Speaker 2: We two, yeah, definitely, I mean, you know, kind of
Speaker 2: talking about it. Well, we kind of talked about, you know,
Speaker 2: conferences and how well they did last week. The upstay
Speaker 2: AE or Upstay eight. West did not exactly have the
Speaker 2: best start to the new conference split up. I mean,
Speaker 2: I think they went one in six in total last week.
Speaker 2: The only team that got to win that conference was
Speaker 2: West Arora. So not the best start that you need
Speaker 2: but for heading into conference play. But I mean they
Speaker 2: still showed that South Elgin still showed that they had
Speaker 2: some quality players on the team, big one of course
Speaker 2: being Ishmael George who's playing tight end for them. He
Speaker 2: had one hundred and twenty five yards and all three
Speaker 2: touchdowns for South Elgion last week. So for Batavia, the
Speaker 2: real question is going to be you know, obviously they
Speaker 2: had to learn how to stop the rush in their
Speaker 2: first game against glen Bard West. The big thing this
Speaker 2: week is going to be how can they show that
Speaker 2: they can protect in the air. Obviously, they're returning to
Speaker 2: a bunch of big defensive backs for them, you know,
Speaker 2: of course, big one being Chase Osbourne, who's coming off
Speaker 2: of the season where he led the team in tackles.
Speaker 2: I think you also got guys like Jacob Dancy who
Speaker 2: can provide that backup as well. So it's going to
Speaker 2: be interesting to see how they can play against a
Speaker 2: team that primarily uses the air rather than using the
Speaker 2: ground like they did last week.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Batavia was down one of their key defensive backs
Speaker 1: last week, Josh Kayley, I think you know the name.
Speaker 1: He didn't play and coach, I mean he said he's
Speaker 1: one of our best, if not our best, defensive players.
Speaker 1: So I'm not quite sure the extent of his injury
Speaker 1: and how long it could be out, but really wasn't
Speaker 1: tested much. Glenbard West is not a team that puts
Speaker 1: it through the air a whole lot, but obviously that
Speaker 1: that will be the case against South Elgin and Man
Speaker 1: South Elgin. We I talked about it last week how
Speaker 1: the Upstate A Conference used to be, you know, kind
Speaker 1: of locker close conference where they just played each other.
Speaker 1: But now with the way that conference has been sort
Speaker 1: of reconfigured, now they're able to step out and play
Speaker 1: non conference games. Well Man talk about stepping out playing
Speaker 1: Barrington and Batavia back to back, that's that's really challenging
Speaker 1: yourself right off the bats. So so yeah, we'll see
Speaker 1: what happens in that game with South Elgin Batavia. Another
Speaker 1: interesting matchup about with a couple of teams that we know,
Speaker 1: one of them being from Decay Conferences. Wheaton Warneville South
Speaker 1: hosting Lyons Township. Yons Township. Of course they're head coach
Speaker 1: Don Butcher. He was a great quarterback at Wheaton Warneville
Speaker 1: South back in the nineties, went on to play at
Speaker 1: Iowa and Illinois both but both of these teams want
Speaker 1: to zero Lions Township. They got a really nice win
Speaker 1: over Prospect last week, Danny Carroll, their running back. Really
Speaker 1: good game for them and really good win for them.
Speaker 1: They scored thirty eight points in that game, so that's
Speaker 1: a nice start and Wheat and South they were able
Speaker 1: to really handle Glenbard South and really eye opening game
Speaker 1: from a from a young man. I didn't know his
Speaker 1: name before last Friday talking about Owen York. He ran
Speaker 1: for over two hundred yards in that game, so really
Speaker 1: nice game for him. Luc At carbon Arrow their quarterback
Speaker 1: as well. Uh you know, he had a nice game.
Speaker 1: So pretty good Week two matchup Lyyons Township and Wheaton
Speaker 1: Warnville South.
Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely. I mean I kind of mentioned it last
Speaker 2: week because I mentioned Wheat and worn Bill South. I
Speaker 2: said in the night that that game was going to
Speaker 2: be a very important game for Wheaton Warnville South, and
Speaker 2: apparently they heard me and they stepped up to the challenge.
Speaker 2: I mean multiple that Owen York Lucy Carbonaro backfield is
Speaker 2: going to be very lethal for them in the future,
Speaker 2: and of course going up against a huge football program
Speaker 2: like Lions is going to be another big test for them,
Speaker 2: especially heading into the Decaying Conference, which seems to be
Speaker 2: a trend among a couple of these teams facing off
Speaker 2: against some pretty good teams who are heading into conference play.
Speaker 2: So it's going to be interesting to see.
Speaker 1: No doubt, a couple other games that I'm kind of
Speaker 1: looking at for Friday night. One that I'm going to
Speaker 1: be at is York at Plainfield North. York was able
Speaker 1: to get a win last Friday in the head coaching
Speaker 1: debut of Don Gelsamino, who was their defensive coordinator prior
Speaker 1: to that, so they were able to beat one Brick
Speaker 1: South rather Handley. On the other hand, Plainfield North they
Speaker 1: lost a close one to Lockport twenty to twenty.
Speaker 2: One.
Speaker 1: Should be a good game. I'm kind of expecting it
Speaker 1: to maybe be low scoring, even though they both put
Speaker 1: up points the first week. Both of those coaches are
Speaker 1: defensive coordinators with a defensive background, you know, Plainfield North
Speaker 1: usually has a lot of talent on the defensive side.
Speaker 1: Of course, of course, York on the other side has
Speaker 1: Joseph Rife as the defensive lineman going to Notre Dame.
Speaker 1: So you know, really really interested to see what York
Speaker 1: looks like with a new head coach. I'll be at
Speaker 1: a coach that that that was with the programmer already.
Speaker 1: And the other side, Plainfield North, I mean, similar to York,
Speaker 1: they have a very difficult conference ahead of them, and
Speaker 1: and last year they they just squeaked into the playoffs
Speaker 1: in four and five. They obviously want to avoid zero
Speaker 1: and two starts, so it should be a fun game.
Speaker 1: Looking forward to that. One York at Plainfield North. The
Speaker 1: other one Oswego is hosting Joliet Catholic. That's a game
Speaker 1: that you know Asweego. I was talking to head coach
Speaker 1: Brian Cooney this week and I asked him, I'm like,
Speaker 1: you know, how did you end up with Joya Katholic.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's not like when you're scheduling games, You're like,
Speaker 1: you know what, Week two, let's just play Jolia Catholic
Speaker 1: and uh. And he said they were looking for a
Speaker 1: week two game and the options out there were limited,
Speaker 1: and they were limited some pretty big names. He mentioned
Speaker 1: that Glenbard West was out there, Lincoln Way East was
Speaker 1: out there, Yola was out there, and they settled on
Speaker 1: joy At Catholic. And that's a matchup that I asked
Speaker 1: coach Kune. I said, you know, when was the last
Speaker 1: time you guys played each other? And he didn't remember.
Speaker 1: He said that their former head coach, Carl Honkas was
Speaker 1: there for a long time. He said, I bet Carl
Speaker 1: remembers I Actually, he said, I bet Carl remembers the
Speaker 1: exact date, and he thought maybe he was like nineteen
Speaker 1: ninety or so when Mike Alsott was with Joy at Catholic.
Speaker 1: Mike Alstott went on to play for the Tampa Bay
Speaker 1: Buccaneers was a very good NFL player. So that should
Speaker 1: be a fun one, obviously, asked, WeGo coming off of
Speaker 1: a big Week one win, but then they played Joy
Speaker 1: a Katholic who also had a nice one as well,
Speaker 1: so you know that's a matchup that, man, I'm kind
Speaker 1: of seeing Let's see what Asueo can do. I mean,
Speaker 1: they were pretty confident when I talked to those kids
Speaker 1: afterwards that we know we had Joyacatholic coming in, but
Speaker 1: we think we're pretty good too. And even coach Cooney
Speaker 1: this week, he was pretty confident when I talked to
Speaker 1: him as well, that that you know, we're not just
Speaker 1: playing this game to play and we're coming in here
Speaker 1: with a lot of confidence. So so so it should
Speaker 1: be a fun matchup. Joey Kathla got oswego. What are
Speaker 1: some of the games you're looking at, Joel this this weekend?
Speaker 2: I'm looking at I think the big one is going
Speaker 2: to be against surprisingly enough two Oho to one teams
Speaker 2: Glenn Bard West and Loyola. Those two are going to
Speaker 2: be matching up. Of course, you mentioned that they were
Speaker 2: two teams that didn't have you know, any matchups heading
Speaker 2: into Week two originally. But I mean, both of these
Speaker 2: teams are coming off with some losses against some pretty
Speaker 2: big programs. Obviously Billiola is the big one, losening to
Speaker 2: East Saint Louis thirty thirty five to seven, I believe,
Speaker 2: is that right?
Speaker 1: It was pretty one side and then snap Loyola's nineteen
Speaker 1: game winning streak which went back in a couple of years.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So it's definitely going to be a big bounce
Speaker 2: back game for either one of these two teams. I mean, obviously, Blake,
Speaker 2: you mentioned you don't want to start oh and two,
Speaker 2: especially in a you know, big league like this, So
Speaker 2: that's definitely going to be one to look out for.
Speaker 2: Another one also kind of touched on a little bit already,
Speaker 2: Cretemanay and Saint Charles North. I think that's gonna be
Speaker 2: a big game for Saint Charles North, just trying to
Speaker 2: see if they can get you know, a more solidified
Speaker 2: win before they head into Decan conference instead of a
Speaker 2: you know, a last second touchdown one of course, and
Speaker 2: then another one as well is going to be Geneva
Speaker 2: versus Lamont. Lamont is obviously a little bit not as
Speaker 2: much of a big football team as they were a
Speaker 2: couple of years ago, but I think it's gonna be
Speaker 2: a big game to kind of show if Geneva is
Speaker 2: more than just a one quarter team and can see
Speaker 2: if they have you know, the depth and of course
Speaker 2: the stamina to play consistently throughout the entire game. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we mentioned Lamon's not quite what they were a
Speaker 1: couple of years ago, but I still think that they're
Speaker 1: a little bit step up in class from Lark in
Speaker 1: week one and and and another, you know, as Geneva
Speaker 1: kind of eases their way into the Cane Conference plays.
Speaker 1: So so yeah, that that that should be one to
Speaker 1: watch as well. So a lot of football coming up,
Speaker 1: a lot of things coming up on Friday Night Drive.
Speaker 1: I'm going to be back here tomorrow with Steve Susie
Speaker 1: as we look at to week two around the state, JT.
Speaker 1: Pidelti and Eddie Griffio and Drake Landsman. They will be
Speaker 1: coming at you later this week with a podcast looking
Speaker 1: at in northwest Illinois. To Calve Illinois, Valley Stirling, that
Speaker 1: kind of triangle, so that podcast as well, and of
Speaker 1: course Friday night, please tune in back into our Friday
Speaker 1: night live stream nine thirty to eleven PM Steve Susie
Speaker 1: and Matt Rodowald with highlights, scores, guests from reporters and
Speaker 1: they'll break down what it all means. So a lot
Speaker 1: to look forward to week two, and you can look
Speaker 1: at before a week two. We'll have our previews coming
Speaker 1: out previous and picks coming out Thursday as well, So
Speaker 1: a lot of good stuff coming here well and way,
Speaker 1: and thank you very much for joining us, Joe, before
Speaker 1: we get out of here, any final thoughts, Yeah.
Speaker 2: I'll pretty excited with week one, even more excited to
Speaker 2: see what happens in week two.
Speaker 1: Again. You can follow me on Twitter or ex whatever
Speaker 1: you choose to call it at j WELG ninety six.
Speaker 1: You can follow Joel what's your Twitter handle? I don't
Speaker 1: have in front of me, Joel.
Speaker 2: Gay and for b O, E, N I t Z too.
Speaker 2: Most of the time people I say my last name
Speaker 2: and then everybody just said is it wrong? So it's
Speaker 2: just easier to spell it out.
Speaker 1: So I feel the same way Friday Night Drive on
Speaker 1: Twitter at f and drive. You can also follow us
Speaker 1: on Twitter and Instagram. Again, thanks for joining us, and
Speaker 1: you have a lovely Tuesday afternoon