WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.760 --> 00:00:04.919 SGKR Injury Attorney's proudly sponsors the Friday Night Drive. I 2 00:00:05.040 --> 00:00:07.440 met Roundio. We are ready to take on the insurance 3 00:00:07.480 --> 00:00:09.640 company for you and get you to the end zone. 4 00:00:09.880 --> 00:00:13.000 Visit us G A n A s SI dot com, 5 00:00:13.039 --> 00:00:14.960 Gannison dot com. 6 00:00:15.000 --> 00:00:18.239 This is State Representative Steve Reich. Since twenty sixteen. It's 7 00:00:18.239 --> 00:00:20.920 been my privilege to represent the sixty third district in 8 00:00:20.960 --> 00:00:24.239 the Illinois House. I'd like to continue representing you, and 9 00:00:24.280 --> 00:00:27.039 I'm asking for your vote on November fifth. Thank you 10 00:00:27.199 --> 00:00:29.320 pay for by citizens to elect Stephen Reich. 11 00:00:31.000 --> 00:00:36.039 All right, welcome in to Friday Night Drive. The local recap, 12 00:00:36.119 --> 00:00:39.399 of course of our semi finals and what a semi 13 00:00:39.439 --> 00:00:41.840 final round it was. We got a lot to talk 14 00:00:41.840 --> 00:00:44.039 about and plenty to dive into. So we're glad you're 15 00:00:44.079 --> 00:00:47.159 with us here as we get ready for the final 16 00:00:47.200 --> 00:00:50.000 week of the football season here in the state of Illinois. 17 00:00:50.039 --> 00:00:52.039 My name is Matt Rudelock. Glad you're with us this 18 00:00:52.119 --> 00:00:55.799 evening as we're taping this on Monday night. Steve Usci's here, boy, 19 00:00:56.119 --> 00:00:57.640 how is your weekend? Young man? 20 00:00:58.439 --> 00:01:00.719 A little adventurous, a little bit more so than I 21 00:01:00.799 --> 00:01:04.400 kind of expected that it would be. So, uh, definitely, uh, 22 00:01:04.480 --> 00:01:06.840 kind of like you said, kind of a crazy weekend. 23 00:01:07.359 --> 00:01:09.439 When I looked back at it after it was all 24 00:01:09.480 --> 00:01:13.439 said and done, you know, when you've got almost half 25 00:01:13.480 --> 00:01:16.319 of your semi final games decided by a touchdown or less, 26 00:01:17.000 --> 00:01:18.640 you've had a pretty interesting weekend. 27 00:01:19.599 --> 00:01:21.480 Yeah, And I would say that, you know, for all 28 00:01:21.519 --> 00:01:25.079 those that that look at the brackets and they say, well, 29 00:01:25.079 --> 00:01:27.640 why are they one seed with you know, with not 30 00:01:27.719 --> 00:01:30.319 as much depth that say you and I have throughout 31 00:01:30.359 --> 00:01:32.239 the course of the year, I would say that the 32 00:01:32.280 --> 00:01:35.000 teams that were supposed to be there probably what were 33 00:01:35.040 --> 00:01:37.319 there in the first place, And that showed you with 34 00:01:37.400 --> 00:01:40.959 the competitive games we saw everywhere that these are some 35 00:01:41.000 --> 00:01:43.439 great matchups and we got some great brackets out of this. 36 00:01:43.439 --> 00:01:45.359 This looked This's turned out great this year. 37 00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:47.799 Yeah, there were a lot of teams that you know, 38 00:01:47.959 --> 00:01:51.519 came out a different seed positions than maybe you were expecting. 39 00:01:51.640 --> 00:01:53.879 But you know, ultimately, when you kind of looked at 40 00:01:53.920 --> 00:01:56.359 it and you looked and headed into this weekend, I 41 00:01:56.400 --> 00:01:58.959 felt like there was the potential for a whole bunch 42 00:01:59.000 --> 00:02:00.400 of close games and a lot a lot of them 43 00:02:00.439 --> 00:02:03.079 came to fruition, some of them did not, and then 44 00:02:03.120 --> 00:02:05.079 there were a few others that I did not think 45 00:02:05.120 --> 00:02:07.879 were going to be close games that turned into very 46 00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:11.120 much the case. So you know, it was just kind 47 00:02:11.159 --> 00:02:13.719 of a hodgepodge of things that ended up going on, 48 00:02:13.800 --> 00:02:16.759 and just as I expected, all of the sources weren't 49 00:02:16.800 --> 00:02:19.479 what I expected. There's a lot of crazy stuff going on. 50 00:02:19.520 --> 00:02:22.159 Around three thirty four o'clock when some of those games 51 00:02:22.159 --> 00:02:25.159 were wrapping up, the two o'clock games were starting to 52 00:02:25.199 --> 00:02:27.919 show their shape. I mean, it was, it was very 53 00:02:28.080 --> 00:02:31.360 very interesting. I actually was so interesting what was going on. 54 00:02:31.599 --> 00:02:33.439 My game that I chose at one o'clock kind of 55 00:02:33.479 --> 00:02:36.639 got away from things, so I left a little bit 56 00:02:36.719 --> 00:02:39.240 early to get to my next game. I actually ended 57 00:02:39.319 --> 00:02:41.599 up pulling off the road so I could follow along 58 00:02:41.639 --> 00:02:43.639 with some of the games that were playing that were 59 00:02:43.639 --> 00:02:46.439 closing up, because I didn't obviously didn't want to take 60 00:02:46.479 --> 00:02:49.680 some reckless driving situation to find out what the score 61 00:02:49.759 --> 00:02:51.599 was in the semi final game. So I pulled off, 62 00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:54.240 got some gas, and just sat there for about fifteen 63 00:02:54.280 --> 00:02:58.080 or twenty minutes watching various things wrap up. So yeah, 64 00:02:58.080 --> 00:03:01.599 that was basically that was basically my Saturday after late afternoon, 65 00:03:02.240 --> 00:03:02.879 so I. 66 00:03:02.800 --> 00:03:05.879 Had I got asked to do radio duty for De 67 00:03:05.919 --> 00:03:08.919 Paul Radio. At the last second, well, what time is 68 00:03:08.919 --> 00:03:12.199 that game? Four o'clock? That takes me out of all 69 00:03:12.280 --> 00:03:14.599 of this. And there was a you know, the game 70 00:03:14.639 --> 00:03:16.879 at Geneva course that I wanted to watch and go 71 00:03:16.919 --> 00:03:19.159 see in person. I didn't get a chance to do it, 72 00:03:19.199 --> 00:03:21.960 so I had on the radio on my way, and 73 00:03:21.960 --> 00:03:24.719 then when the radio signal died, I made sure to 74 00:03:24.719 --> 00:03:27.560 get NFHS on, but I wasn't watching, so I was 75 00:03:27.599 --> 00:03:30.759 just trying to listen and try and you know, carry on. 76 00:03:30.840 --> 00:03:32.560 And I thought the Cruise did a nice job with 77 00:03:32.599 --> 00:03:35.800 that that broadcast, but that was something I was paying 78 00:03:35.800 --> 00:03:38.039 attention to, but also kind of checking to see all 79 00:03:38.080 --> 00:03:40.800 the other games going on. Around one o'clock, I checked 80 00:03:40.800 --> 00:03:42.840 the I checked the East Saint Louis score and said, 81 00:03:42.840 --> 00:03:45.400 well that's decided. I mean, it took two seconds to 82 00:03:45.439 --> 00:03:47.520 kind of do that. But which one of the games 83 00:03:47.560 --> 00:03:50.199 that you were paying attention to that you thought was 84 00:03:50.240 --> 00:03:52.599 not going to be tight? Which one of you surprised? 85 00:03:52.680 --> 00:03:55.199 Which surprised you the most? That was like, oh, this 86 00:03:55.360 --> 00:03:56.080 is a good. 87 00:03:55.840 --> 00:03:58.759 One, you know, I think one of them that kind 88 00:03:58.759 --> 00:04:00.759 of surprised me a little bit. It was one that 89 00:04:00.800 --> 00:04:03.639 you just mentioned there and it went in a different way. 90 00:04:03.879 --> 00:04:06.199 I was pretty confident that Kerry Grove was gonna win 91 00:04:06.240 --> 00:04:09.400 that football game against Geneva and the fact that it 92 00:04:09.479 --> 00:04:12.400 was right there and Geneva was leading, you know, a 93 00:04:12.439 --> 00:04:14.719 good portion of the way and just kind of trading 94 00:04:14.759 --> 00:04:17.879 it punch for punch and ended up winning that football game. 95 00:04:18.639 --> 00:04:20.399 That was the one that I was kind of monitoring, 96 00:04:20.399 --> 00:04:22.920 and it was giving me the reaction of, Oh, here 97 00:04:22.959 --> 00:04:25.319 we go. This is a little bit more interesting than 98 00:04:25.360 --> 00:04:27.759 I thought it was. I mean, And like I said, 99 00:04:27.759 --> 00:04:29.879 there were a lot of them that materialized pretty much 100 00:04:29.920 --> 00:04:32.240 exactly the way that I thought they would. One of 101 00:04:32.319 --> 00:04:36.519 them that was monitoring real close was the DePaul Prep 102 00:04:36.560 --> 00:04:39.560 Cole City game. That was I was very interested in, 103 00:04:40.120 --> 00:04:42.959 and that was a definitely a puncher's game. It went 104 00:04:43.040 --> 00:04:46.160 right down to the wire, you know. It never really 105 00:04:46.160 --> 00:04:48.639 seemed like either team had total control of that game. 106 00:04:49.959 --> 00:04:53.240 What's interesting about that game from where I was was 107 00:04:53.399 --> 00:04:56.759 being at DePaul, and there are some DePaul people who 108 00:04:56.759 --> 00:04:59.079 are very invested in what's going on with the Paul 109 00:04:59.160 --> 00:05:02.959 praffintex to Paul staffers, maybe the most important one in 110 00:05:02.959 --> 00:05:05.839 the athletic department as a kid on the team that's 111 00:05:05.920 --> 00:05:08.600 down into Paul Prepp had in his Central Michigan. So 112 00:05:09.120 --> 00:05:11.240 we were all watching that one on the stream when 113 00:05:11.240 --> 00:05:13.800 it got tight. So I watched the finish of that 114 00:05:13.839 --> 00:05:16.279 one down in Cole City. I gotta say, the folks 115 00:05:16.279 --> 00:05:19.360 in Cole City, that field is beautiful. Yeah, I will 116 00:05:19.360 --> 00:05:22.800 tell you that they good job, good job sports Boosters, 117 00:05:22.839 --> 00:05:25.319 good job school board. You got it right that and 118 00:05:25.360 --> 00:05:27.399 that that's a that's a building that deserves a good 119 00:05:27.399 --> 00:05:29.600 field like that. So that was cool to see. I 120 00:05:29.639 --> 00:05:31.319 had no idea they had a turf field down there 121 00:05:31.360 --> 00:05:33.600 all these years. Is it this year the first time? Yeah? 122 00:05:33.720 --> 00:05:35.800 They just they just got it this year. And they 123 00:05:35.879 --> 00:05:38.360 did a whole reconstruction of like the whole area over 124 00:05:38.399 --> 00:05:42.480 their baseball softball Field's got to redo everything. So and 125 00:05:42.519 --> 00:05:44.639 that's a that's a complex. It was pretty good to start. 126 00:05:44.759 --> 00:05:46.319 So when they when they beefed it up in the 127 00:05:46.319 --> 00:05:48.519 way that they did, it made for it made for 128 00:05:48.560 --> 00:05:51.480 a really nice setting. I haven't seen a game there 129 00:05:51.519 --> 00:05:54.040 live with it with turf, but I actually was driving 130 00:05:54.079 --> 00:05:55.920 by there one time because it's not too far from 131 00:05:55.959 --> 00:05:58.959 where I live. Yeah, and I just went over and 132 00:05:58.959 --> 00:06:01.000 took a look just because I was curious, and it's 133 00:06:01.199 --> 00:06:02.399 a it's a very nice facility. 134 00:06:02.800 --> 00:06:05.120 So kudos for De Paul going down there and winning, 135 00:06:05.519 --> 00:06:07.720 because that's not an easy place to play. But kudos 136 00:06:07.720 --> 00:06:09.680 to the Cole City folks because, you know what, you 137 00:06:09.759 --> 00:06:11.680 put on a good show for a lot of people 138 00:06:11.720 --> 00:06:13.800 that were tuning in to see what that looked like. 139 00:06:13.879 --> 00:06:17.000 And every seat in that building was taken and that 140 00:06:17.199 --> 00:06:19.959 was Cole City football. That was enjoyable to watch, and 141 00:06:20.079 --> 00:06:21.560 just a heck of a finish that was really a 142 00:06:21.600 --> 00:06:23.240 fun finish to Paul had a chance to put that 143 00:06:23.279 --> 00:06:25.560 thing away, didn't quite do it. Then they had to 144 00:06:25.600 --> 00:06:27.240 hold on for dear life in the last three. 145 00:06:27.160 --> 00:06:27.720 Minutes or so. 146 00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:30.720 An impressive finish to hold on and get that win. 147 00:06:30.879 --> 00:06:33.439 And you know who knew that the DePaul Pram, the 148 00:06:33.480 --> 00:06:36.560 DePaul prep Rams would be in a state championship game 149 00:06:36.600 --> 00:06:40.199 here Friday night. Now, that's that's just awesome. Something we 150 00:06:40.240 --> 00:06:43.680 wouldn't have been talking about August or September really when 151 00:06:43.680 --> 00:06:44.720 you got that found to it. 152 00:06:45.240 --> 00:06:47.360 Yeah, there was just a litany of games this year. 153 00:06:47.399 --> 00:06:50.000 It almost fit the script for De Paul where they 154 00:06:50.439 --> 00:06:52.879 just a very close game they played a lot of 155 00:06:52.920 --> 00:06:55.959 close football games this year, decided by a touchdown or 156 00:06:56.040 --> 00:06:59.160 last decided late in the game, win, lose, draw, whatever 157 00:06:59.199 --> 00:07:01.399 it was. They were in a lot of those close 158 00:07:01.439 --> 00:07:04.519 football games, and in a game like that one, maybe 159 00:07:04.560 --> 00:07:06.639 that benefited them, the fact that they had been in 160 00:07:06.680 --> 00:07:10.319 those situations before and knew not to tighten up and 161 00:07:10.399 --> 00:07:12.040 knew that they just had to play through it and 162 00:07:12.079 --> 00:07:14.600 do what they had to do. Because you know, as 163 00:07:14.680 --> 00:07:16.959 much as we talked about Cole City putting together a good, 164 00:07:17.319 --> 00:07:19.759 good situation, other than those two games that they lost, 165 00:07:19.959 --> 00:07:22.839 their other games were all runaways. They hadn't had a 166 00:07:22.839 --> 00:07:27.439 lot of games where every play, you know, could swing 167 00:07:27.560 --> 00:07:29.600 the outcome of the game one way or another. So 168 00:07:30.319 --> 00:07:32.480 for De Paul, they're used to that. They've had five 169 00:07:32.560 --> 00:07:35.879 or six of those games already. So for them, they 170 00:07:35.920 --> 00:07:38.040 were they were in a situation that they were comfortable 171 00:07:38.040 --> 00:07:39.279 with and had experienced before. 172 00:07:39.759 --> 00:07:41.800 Let me ask you the other way, obviously, the one 173 00:07:41.839 --> 00:07:43.800 that we you know, you talked about Geneva and character. 174 00:07:43.839 --> 00:07:45.519 I'm won't get in depth with all of these games. 175 00:07:45.800 --> 00:07:47.879 We kind of go down class by class, but just 176 00:07:47.959 --> 00:07:49.800 kind of get the overall feel of which one was 177 00:07:50.000 --> 00:07:51.839 a blawout that you didn't think was going to be 178 00:07:51.839 --> 00:07:52.399 a ballout. 179 00:07:53.240 --> 00:07:56.519 You know, I thought, just based on past history, and 180 00:07:56.759 --> 00:07:58.800 I'm learning more about them as I go week to 181 00:07:58.839 --> 00:08:02.000 week to week here, you know, I thought Camp Point 182 00:08:02.079 --> 00:08:04.399 Central would give bell Ball all tof at least a 183 00:08:04.439 --> 00:08:07.439 little bit better of a game than they did. And 184 00:08:07.680 --> 00:08:11.680 I guess I'm I'm wildly underestimating the power that is 185 00:08:11.759 --> 00:08:15.680 dear Hill Junior because Mike, I mean, he put together 186 00:08:15.759 --> 00:08:19.319 a massive game. I was looking at this state stats 187 00:08:19.360 --> 00:08:22.360 earlier today. That young man's averaging eighteen yards of carry. 188 00:08:22.920 --> 00:08:27.920 That's ridiculous. I mean that, I mean that carry. Yeah, 189 00:08:27.920 --> 00:08:30.519 and it's not they are one A team, but they 190 00:08:30.560 --> 00:08:33.080 did not play a one A schedule. That's I mean, 191 00:08:33.480 --> 00:08:36.080 until the playoffs got here, they had not played a 192 00:08:36.080 --> 00:08:38.879 single one A team. Every other team on their schedule 193 00:08:39.159 --> 00:08:42.399 two A, three A six A seven A beat. 194 00:08:42.279 --> 00:08:44.600 A six A playoff team in week nine. 195 00:08:44.960 --> 00:08:48.799 Yeah, I mean it's just I mean, yeah, that's I mean, 196 00:08:48.840 --> 00:08:50.919 they beat a seven A playoff team earlier in the year. 197 00:08:51.240 --> 00:08:53.960 I mean, so it's like they're they are. They are 198 00:08:54.360 --> 00:08:56.799 everything that I think everyone is trying to tell you 199 00:08:56.840 --> 00:08:59.600 that they are. They are very, very impressive and that 200 00:08:59.759 --> 00:09:03.480 the fact that they just they kind of they were 201 00:09:03.519 --> 00:09:06.879 scoring seemingly every couple of minutes in that game, and 202 00:09:06.960 --> 00:09:09.639 Campoint Central threw a couple of early punches and tried 203 00:09:09.639 --> 00:09:13.639 to match them, but eventually they just they couldn't. I mean, 204 00:09:14.039 --> 00:09:17.120 I mean, Campoint Central very good football team, but it 205 00:09:17.159 --> 00:09:18.480 looks like All Top's a different beast. 206 00:09:19.200 --> 00:09:21.200 We'll go through class by class here and then I 207 00:09:21.200 --> 00:09:23.720 want to come back to All Tough and the implications 208 00:09:23.720 --> 00:09:27.799 of winning and what that does from a basically a 209 00:09:27.840 --> 00:09:31.159 success factor and the multiplier, because you wrote some really 210 00:09:31.200 --> 00:09:33.559 good stuff today about that and I was looking at 211 00:09:33.559 --> 00:09:36.759 it going wow, Okay, so I want to hold that thought. 212 00:09:36.799 --> 00:09:38.960 But let's start with one a work our way back 213 00:09:39.039 --> 00:09:40.799 up as we kind of started already a little bit 214 00:09:40.840 --> 00:09:44.279 with that. And how about Lena Winslow. Lena Winslow is 215 00:09:44.320 --> 00:09:46.679 one of those teams. It's just still I think it's 216 00:09:46.720 --> 00:09:49.440 amazing how they've just flown under the radar this year. 217 00:09:49.919 --> 00:09:51.639 Now we're going to find out, you know, as they 218 00:09:51.679 --> 00:09:53.879 go in kind of I would say, as an underdog 219 00:09:53.960 --> 00:09:57.039 against the All Top Catholic here in the state championship. 220 00:09:56.600 --> 00:09:59.039 Game, Yeah, I think they are. And it's definitely kind 221 00:09:59.039 --> 00:10:01.279 of a weird position for Lena Winslow to be in 222 00:10:01.360 --> 00:10:04.000 that role. I mean, let's let's be honest, over the 223 00:10:04.080 --> 00:10:08.440 last six seven years, you were drawing them on that 224 00:10:08.480 --> 00:10:10.679 final line. If you you're doing your you know, pre 225 00:10:10.799 --> 00:10:14.440 playoff bracket predicting, it just you could you could start 226 00:10:14.480 --> 00:10:16.679 on that last line and build your way back. It 227 00:10:16.799 --> 00:10:20.120 was just as easy to do that. But uh, Lina's 228 00:10:20.200 --> 00:10:22.679 Lina's a really good football team, and you kind of 229 00:10:22.720 --> 00:10:27.960 maybe wondered exactly how good their team was when I 230 00:10:27.960 --> 00:10:30.200 don't want to say they struggled in the regular season, 231 00:10:30.480 --> 00:10:33.759 but they did it just knock people out like they 232 00:10:34.000 --> 00:10:36.279 they have in past years where they were just kind 233 00:10:36.320 --> 00:10:38.799 of steam rolling teams in the n U I C. 234 00:10:39.600 --> 00:10:42.559 But in the playoffs they've kind of gone back to that. 235 00:10:42.600 --> 00:10:45.159 They've gone gone back to the situation where they've just 236 00:10:45.279 --> 00:10:48.480 kind of just rolled over almost everybody in their path 237 00:10:48.559 --> 00:10:51.799 and and did a really they dominated Leroy, which was 238 00:10:51.799 --> 00:10:54.039 something that I really didn't see happening. I thought that 239 00:10:54.039 --> 00:10:56.399 that would probably be a Lina Winslow win, but I 240 00:10:56.399 --> 00:10:58.320 thought it would be a little bit more competitive than that. 241 00:10:59.600 --> 00:11:02.919 And once again, it looks like a lot of times 242 00:11:02.960 --> 00:11:04.600 in the bracket, you're not sure if you're going to 243 00:11:04.639 --> 00:11:08.039 get two teams to the final that I think we're 244 00:11:08.159 --> 00:11:10.240 the two best teams in one A. I think these 245 00:11:10.240 --> 00:11:12.399 two were the best two teams in Yeah. I think 246 00:11:12.440 --> 00:11:13.960 we've been looking at that all year. 247 00:11:14.639 --> 00:11:16.320 Yeah, I think we've been looking at it all year 248 00:11:16.360 --> 00:11:18.679 as that that's the matchup you want to see in 249 00:11:18.679 --> 00:11:22.360 one A. Let's remember Lena Winslow. Since twenty seventeen, they've 250 00:11:22.360 --> 00:11:26.159 gone thirty one and two in the playoffs alone, thirty 251 00:11:26.279 --> 00:11:29.399 one and two. So it's a remarkable success here. And 252 00:11:29.440 --> 00:11:31.039 if they can get a win over a team like 253 00:11:31.080 --> 00:11:33.720 Altop Catholic, that certifies their legacy as one of the 254 00:11:33.720 --> 00:11:36.360 greatest programs in the state of Illinois, to be very 255 00:11:36.440 --> 00:11:38.320 very honest with you, if they can beat an all 256 00:11:38.360 --> 00:11:41.519 top team like this. So that's what it's at stake 257 00:11:41.639 --> 00:11:43.799 for Class one A. Let's go to Class two A 258 00:11:43.879 --> 00:11:46.120 because this was fun. Usually two A is kind of 259 00:11:46.120 --> 00:11:48.639 the forgotten class across the state here when you look 260 00:11:48.639 --> 00:11:51.240 it down to it. Not so much last year with Wilmington, 261 00:11:51.360 --> 00:11:53.600 but it was kind of like, oh, Athens this year, 262 00:11:53.639 --> 00:11:57.279 that's nice. This year is oh, who's that team Chicago 263 00:11:57.360 --> 00:12:00.960 Christian getting there. How about the Chicago Kurst and squad 264 00:12:01.480 --> 00:12:04.320 trying to find their way through and winning the biggest 265 00:12:04.360 --> 00:12:06.360 game in Farmington history. How about that? 266 00:12:07.120 --> 00:12:09.720 Yeah, it was definitely a situation. I was kind of 267 00:12:09.799 --> 00:12:12.879 monitoring that. And as as the weekend has gone by, 268 00:12:12.960 --> 00:12:15.519 I've learned a little bit more about the Chicago Christian 269 00:12:15.559 --> 00:12:20.200 football team, but I didn't kind of know before. This 270 00:12:20.279 --> 00:12:23.120 is about as close to iron Man football as you're 271 00:12:23.120 --> 00:12:26.360 gonna get, this Chicago Christian football team. They've got eight 272 00:12:26.440 --> 00:12:29.000 guys who are the listed starters on both sides of 273 00:12:29.000 --> 00:12:32.159 the football. They've got multiple guys who never leave the 274 00:12:32.200 --> 00:12:37.279 field's dream, you know. And it's one of those situations. 275 00:12:38.080 --> 00:12:40.759 Was listening to the coach the coach's conference calls today 276 00:12:40.799 --> 00:12:44.000 and and it's and and their coach was basically like, 277 00:12:44.399 --> 00:12:47.799 you know, sometimes I'd like to take them on the field, 278 00:12:47.799 --> 00:12:49.559 they won't. They take them off the field, they won't 279 00:12:49.639 --> 00:12:52.159 let me. I mean, that's that's basically what it comes 280 00:12:52.159 --> 00:12:55.039 down to is that this is a senior dominated football 281 00:12:55.080 --> 00:12:58.879 team that really really believes in itself right now. And 282 00:12:59.759 --> 00:13:01.879 you know, this is a program that I'll be honest 283 00:13:01.919 --> 00:13:04.480 with you, does not have that much much of a 284 00:13:04.480 --> 00:13:08.720 postseason pedigree they've won. They've now won four games in 285 00:13:08.759 --> 00:13:12.679 this in this postseason run. Prior to that, in the 286 00:13:12.840 --> 00:13:17.519 entire school's history, they had won six playoff games. So 287 00:13:18.320 --> 00:13:21.200 I mean, that's it, That's all it was. So this 288 00:13:21.279 --> 00:13:26.039 is this is a storybook season for Chicgo Christian. Obviously 289 00:13:26.039 --> 00:13:28.200 they'd love to finish it out with a championship, but 290 00:13:28.279 --> 00:13:31.120 it's not going to I personally don't think it's going 291 00:13:31.159 --> 00:13:34.159 to deflect anything away from how much they've accomplished the season. 292 00:13:34.519 --> 00:13:37.080 No, the deepest run they ever had was one time 293 00:13:37.440 --> 00:13:41.919 getting the quarterfinals and then Driscoll, the old Driscoll Catholic Highlanders, 294 00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:44.919 took him out and it wasn't close. But you know, 295 00:13:44.960 --> 00:13:46.840 this is the kind of thing their their performance in 296 00:13:46.840 --> 00:13:49.679 the postseason the last few years out and round one 297 00:13:49.759 --> 00:13:52.399 forty one, nothing out and round one forty one to seven, 298 00:13:52.519 --> 00:13:54.600 out in round one forty two to six, And so 299 00:13:55.120 --> 00:13:58.200 they get a rematch here coming in here with you know, 300 00:13:58.279 --> 00:14:02.840 a team in morele Force that they've seen before. They 301 00:14:02.840 --> 00:14:05.960 have a little tape on them, so it's a different team. 302 00:14:05.960 --> 00:14:08.639 And I'm not I would call Morella the favorite just 303 00:14:08.679 --> 00:14:11.480 because of their pedigree and just what they've done on 304 00:14:11.519 --> 00:14:14.000 the field this year, but I would say the margin 305 00:14:14.080 --> 00:14:18.440 of favoritism is a little closer than you would even 306 00:14:18.440 --> 00:14:19.519 say in the one A game. 307 00:14:20.200 --> 00:14:23.639 Yeah, I think it's gonna be an interesting game. It's 308 00:14:23.679 --> 00:14:26.799 I think it's very important for Chicago Christian to kind 309 00:14:26.799 --> 00:14:30.120 of limit it possessions here because the one thing Moroa 310 00:14:30.279 --> 00:14:32.840 does like to do is play really fast on offense. 311 00:14:32.879 --> 00:14:35.639 They've got a lot of weapons and you know which 312 00:14:35.720 --> 00:14:38.279 Chicago Christian have, and so many guys going both ways. 313 00:14:38.320 --> 00:14:41.799 My concern would be if morea Forsyth is allowed to 314 00:14:41.919 --> 00:14:45.080 just run it at high octane, Kyle Christian might run 315 00:14:45.120 --> 00:14:47.879 out of gas. So I think it's one of those 316 00:14:47.919 --> 00:14:51.279 things where you know, how the tempo of this game 317 00:14:51.360 --> 00:14:53.679 is going to be very important to how it plays out. 318 00:14:53.879 --> 00:14:57.399 They've put points on the board all season long, and 319 00:14:57.440 --> 00:14:59.720 you know, when you have a team like Maria Forsyth three, 320 00:14:59.759 --> 00:15:02.000 you know it was good. But they got that big 321 00:15:02.080 --> 00:15:05.080 upset over Quincy Notre Dame. There's a little tick of 322 00:15:05.120 --> 00:15:07.519 motivation to say, hey, we got to finish the job here, 323 00:15:07.559 --> 00:15:09.840 and I know those kids are thinking about that that 324 00:15:10.120 --> 00:15:12.679 Quincy Notre Dame game has long gone in their memory 325 00:15:12.679 --> 00:15:15.320 at the moment, but it just shows you that Josh 326 00:15:15.399 --> 00:15:19.000 Jose continues to put together a year and in year 327 00:15:19.080 --> 00:15:22.399 out really good football teams. The youth program is humming 328 00:15:22.440 --> 00:15:25.759 down there. Everything in Morolla, everything in Forsyth, everything is 329 00:15:25.799 --> 00:15:27.879 going their way. And you know, getting a win over 330 00:15:27.960 --> 00:15:30.759 our buddies down at Johnston City, you know, they hung 331 00:15:30.840 --> 00:15:32.559 tough with him. They had to go in there and 332 00:15:32.559 --> 00:15:34.720 do it. I'm curious to see what that environment was like. 333 00:15:34.759 --> 00:15:37.039 I didn't get a chance to check in on that game, 334 00:15:37.120 --> 00:15:39.600 but you know, kudos to Johnson City for hanging in 335 00:15:39.639 --> 00:15:41.559 there and having great, great postseason run. 336 00:15:42.120 --> 00:15:44.679 You know, for Moroa, I think a lot of it is, 337 00:15:44.759 --> 00:15:48.080 you know, finally getting past that semi final hurdle. It 338 00:15:48.120 --> 00:15:51.000 seems kind of ridiculous to say that this is gonna 339 00:15:51.000 --> 00:15:53.720 be the I believe, the ninth appearance of a morele 340 00:15:53.840 --> 00:15:57.639 Forsyth coach Josh Justa's coach team in a final. But 341 00:15:57.720 --> 00:16:00.720 for the last four out of the last five seasons, 342 00:16:00.960 --> 00:16:04.440 Mereale Forsyites gotten beat in the semifinals. So for them, 343 00:16:05.200 --> 00:16:07.279 you know, finally getting past that semi final role and 344 00:16:07.320 --> 00:16:10.000 getting back to the title game probably takes a little 345 00:16:10.039 --> 00:16:12.679 bit of a weight off of particularly the coaching staff 346 00:16:12.720 --> 00:16:16.240 finally saying yes, we can get back. So for them, 347 00:16:16.480 --> 00:16:18.480 you know, I'm sure that they're they're rolling in with 348 00:16:18.519 --> 00:16:21.399 a lot of positive momentum and and feel like they 349 00:16:21.399 --> 00:16:22.759 can finish the job this time. 350 00:16:23.039 --> 00:16:26.519 It's amazing that he've been doing it since and two 351 00:16:26.600 --> 00:16:28.759 thousand and five in terms of the way the program 352 00:16:28.799 --> 00:16:31.480 has really turned out almost two hundred and fifty wins. Now, 353 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:35.559 it's awesome what they're seeing down there in marele FORESSI 354 00:16:35.919 --> 00:16:40.080 up to three A. Now Wilmington Montini. What happened to 355 00:16:40.080 --> 00:16:41.360 the Wildcats? 356 00:16:41.799 --> 00:16:44.360 Yeah, it was one of those things where I felt like, 357 00:16:45.080 --> 00:16:48.120 you know, they were gonna have some issues with whether 358 00:16:48.200 --> 00:16:51.120 or not, you know, some one of their defenses was 359 00:16:51.159 --> 00:16:54.279 probably gonna crack in this game, and it seemed likely 360 00:16:54.320 --> 00:16:57.000 that it might be Wilmington's. And that's what happened because 361 00:16:57.480 --> 00:17:00.559 early in the Montini scored very quickly the game and 362 00:17:00.639 --> 00:17:03.919 kind of put Wilmington back on their heels. And it 363 00:17:04.279 --> 00:17:07.640 just felt like what Wilmington does usually they get a 364 00:17:07.640 --> 00:17:10.319 bunch of stops and then they're able to put together 365 00:17:10.920 --> 00:17:13.839 long drives that kind of take away, you know, the 366 00:17:13.880 --> 00:17:17.960 other team's momentum ability to you know, ability to kind 367 00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:20.519 of take control of the game. Well, both of those 368 00:17:20.519 --> 00:17:24.799 components kind of deserted them in the Mantini game. They 369 00:17:24.839 --> 00:17:27.559 gave up the early score, which is something I probably 370 00:17:27.599 --> 00:17:29.920 don't think that they've done in years, to be completely 371 00:17:30.039 --> 00:17:33.319 honest with you. So they were always the whole you know, 372 00:17:33.559 --> 00:17:35.759 already had to start playing from behind right out of 373 00:17:35.759 --> 00:17:38.599 the box, were unable to get their running game going 374 00:17:38.680 --> 00:17:40.480 kind of until later in the game. They ended up 375 00:17:40.480 --> 00:17:42.799 putting up decent rushing stats in the game, but that 376 00:17:42.920 --> 00:17:44.799 was well after the outcome was kind of in hand. 377 00:17:44.960 --> 00:17:49.119 So Mantini, I think, just kind of physically bullied Wilmington 378 00:17:49.160 --> 00:17:51.640 around a little bit, which is also something that they're 379 00:17:51.680 --> 00:17:55.160 not really accustomed to having happened to them. So just 380 00:17:55.319 --> 00:17:57.759 you know, unable to kind of use the components of 381 00:17:57.759 --> 00:18:00.359 what they were able to do. Mantine he did a 382 00:18:00.359 --> 00:18:02.759 really good job of taking it away. And they've been 383 00:18:02.799 --> 00:18:05.599 doing that to teams all year long, and when they 384 00:18:05.640 --> 00:18:08.920 do it and their schedule, that's really saying something about 385 00:18:08.960 --> 00:18:11.839 the quality of their defense. That is a top shelf 386 00:18:11.960 --> 00:18:15.359 defense that has been performing against quality six A, seven A, 387 00:18:15.559 --> 00:18:19.000 eight A programs in their regular season. I mean only 388 00:18:19.039 --> 00:18:21.240 one team has scored more than three touchdowns on them 389 00:18:21.279 --> 00:18:24.759 all year, so that speaks to the quality of that defense. 390 00:18:24.920 --> 00:18:29.279 It's an experienced team, tons of senior leadership on that group. 391 00:18:29.960 --> 00:18:33.160 I feel like, you know, this march that they've put 392 00:18:33.200 --> 00:18:37.799 together was kind of expected from this group. So for 393 00:18:37.839 --> 00:18:40.480 them to complete it by getting to the state championship 394 00:18:40.519 --> 00:18:42.920 game isn't really all that big of a surprise to him. 395 00:18:43.240 --> 00:18:46.200 Maris scored twenty one points on them in Week three. 396 00:18:46.240 --> 00:18:49.079 That's the most they've given up at all this season, 397 00:18:49.240 --> 00:18:52.079 so in any game and everything else was tight Fenwick 398 00:18:52.079 --> 00:18:53.880 if you remember the Fenwick game is fourteen to ten. 399 00:18:53.920 --> 00:18:55.680 That was nip and tuck the whole way too. But 400 00:18:55.720 --> 00:18:58.000 I want to ask you, because you've been around, You've 401 00:18:58.039 --> 00:19:01.039