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Speaker 2: This is State Representative Steve Reich. Since twenty sixteen, it's
Speaker 2: been my privilege to represent the sixty third district in
Speaker 2: the Illinois House. I'd like to continue representing you and
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Speaker 4: Thank you pay for by citizens to elect Stephen Reich.
Speaker 3: Hello everybody, and welcome to the Friday Night Drive Western
Speaker 3: Suburbs podcast. This is Josh Welgy along with Joel Bennett's
Speaker 3: and Joel. We're a third of the way through the
Speaker 3: regular season. I can't believe it. Time flies. You know,
Speaker 3: how's it been going for you and how are you
Speaker 3: doing today?
Speaker 4: Thanks, It's been pretty good this entire I mean, like
Speaker 4: you mentioned, we're third of a week or third of
Speaker 4: the way through football season and we've seen a lot
Speaker 4: of interesting results so far. I've gotten some shocks on
Speaker 4: one side. On the other hand, we've seen some teams
Speaker 4: playing better than expected. So it's definitely been a shocking
Speaker 4: season so far.
Speaker 3: Definitely has a lot of interesting results from last Friday
Speaker 3: that we're going to talk about, and then we're going
Speaker 3: to also look ahead to Week four in the high
Speaker 3: school football season. So you know, we talked about it
Speaker 3: last week on the podcast Jill that that the conference
Speaker 3: games were about to start in some of the leagues
Speaker 3: of the Ducaine West Suburban the Chicago Catholic League, the
Speaker 3: c c l E s CC was one of those
Speaker 3: leagues as well, and you know, there was some interesting
Speaker 3: matchups across the board. I mean, Nazareth Mount Carmel lived
Speaker 3: up to what we thought was going to be a
Speaker 3: really high scoring game, really exciting game there, but really
Speaker 3: the result I think that probably everybody was talking about.
Speaker 3: Certainly the game that caught my attention was Saint Francis
Speaker 3: going up Toyola, first ever game that Loyo has played
Speaker 3: under the lights on Friday night lights. Obviously the two
Speaker 3: time defending Lass eight eight champs. Saint Francis led pretty
Speaker 3: much the whole game, I feel like, and they went
Speaker 3: on to win thirty five to twenty one.
Speaker 5: Very impressive win for them. Really kind of the star
Speaker 5: of the show.
Speaker 3: Brady Palmer, their quarterback, who their coach Bob McMillan has
Speaker 3: really talked up.
Speaker 5: He likes them a lot.
Speaker 3: Huge game. He ran for eighty seven yards two touchdowns.
Speaker 3: He threw for one hundred and ninety two yards two touchdowns.
Speaker 3: Zach Washington caught it a couple of touchdowns from him.
Speaker 3: But man, Saint Francis is a team that they played
Speaker 3: Kenwood week one. It was kind of a close game,
Speaker 3: so I'm thinking, I'm kind of wondering about Saint Francis.
Speaker 3: Then they went down to Saint Louis and you know,
Speaker 3: nothing against Joel, but when teams go to the cross
Speaker 3: state line of Missouri, I don't know what's going on
Speaker 3: down there. I don't know if the teams they're playing
Speaker 3: good are really good or not. So I was a
Speaker 3: little bit unsure about Saint Francis. I thought they were
Speaker 3: pretty good. They really show that they're they're a team
Speaker 3: that's gonna be uh that you're gonna want to watch
Speaker 3: out for.
Speaker 5: That's a big win for that program.
Speaker 4: Yeah, definitely. I mean Saint Francis was one of those
Speaker 4: teams I think everybody was a little bit confused about
Speaker 4: how they were. I think people knew they were going
Speaker 4: to be good. It was just a matter of how
Speaker 4: good they were going to be. Obviously, the loss of
Speaker 4: Aalles Santro Midevoovich was really a big loss for that program.
Speaker 4: But like you kind of mentioned, there are other contributing
Speaker 4: factors as well, like Zach Washington Ian Willis outside and
Speaker 4: I think that's really been helping them as well. Now
Speaker 4: with Loyola, I mean, it was their first game or
Speaker 4: their first home game under the lights at home. I mean,
Speaker 4: it was a really big game for them. And obviously
Speaker 4: when you don't have somebody like Brian Fitzgerald on the field,
Speaker 4: you know, kind of commanding that offense, it's a little
Speaker 4: hard to impact the game and just kind of keep
Speaker 4: up with a team like Saint Francis. But I mean, overall,
Speaker 4: it's still a really awesome showing for the Spartans, and
Speaker 4: you know, it really shows what they can do against
Speaker 4: a top quality or against a high quality team like Loyola.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean you mentioned Ryan Fitzgerald, loyal'st quarterback going
Speaker 3: to Iowa, and it was notable that he did not
Speaker 3: play in that game. He tweaked his hamstring in the
Speaker 3: first quarter of the Glenbard West game previous week that
Speaker 3: I was at, and you know, at the time, they
Speaker 3: kind of really downplayed it. They said if he could
Speaker 3: have returned, he if we needed to, he could have
Speaker 3: returned in that game. And so I thought maybe he
Speaker 3: played last Friday. I was very surprised that he didn't.
Speaker 3: But you know, again, it's week three of the regular season.
Speaker 3: They're probably not gonna want to take any chances. It
Speaker 3: wasn't a CCL E SCC blue games, so they're probably like,
Speaker 3: let's not risk it here. But at the end of
Speaker 3: the day, Ryan Fitzgerald doesn't play defense and St. Francis
Speaker 3: scored thirty five points.
Speaker 5: In that game.
Speaker 3: And if we're you know, I don't want to talk
Speaker 3: too much about Ryan Fitzgerald. I want to talk more
Speaker 3: about the quarterback that played in that game, Brady Palmer
Speaker 3: from Saint Francis. You mentioned St. Francis graduated a great
Speaker 3: quarterback Seo. I'm not even gonna try to pronounce it
Speaker 3: the last name, because I butchered every time grade three
Speaker 3: years started for Saint Francis. And like you said, I
Speaker 3: think there's a little bit of uncertainty, a little bit
Speaker 3: not sure what about Saint Francis, and it probably started
Speaker 3: with the quarterback position when you graduated three year started.
Speaker 3: But but Brady Palmer, he's he's answered all the questions
Speaker 3: so far and and what a great win. I mean,
Speaker 3: last year Saint Francis, an icy Catholic Prep, they joined
Speaker 3: the the c C L E s CC Conference and
Speaker 3: really kind of wondered how those teams would faire in
Speaker 3: that league because they're they're you know, they're they're.
Speaker 5: Kind of smaller schools.
Speaker 3: They've kind of dominated the leagues that they are in
Speaker 3: previous to that, and and Saint Francis really really answered
Speaker 3: the belt. I mean, they've they've shown that they can
Speaker 3: compete against the better teams in that league. And again,
Speaker 3: a very very impressive win for Bob mc millan's program. So, uh,
Speaker 3: congratulations Saint Francis. Moving on, we we mentioned it before
Speaker 3: the the Duke Cane Conference was going to be starting
Speaker 3: play last week, and you know, I think we talked
Speaker 3: about last week that I said, every week there's gonna
Speaker 3: be one or two games that are down to the
Speaker 3: wire and wild finishes and close games, and it just
Speaker 3: didn't transpire that last week.
Speaker 5: I mean, there was a lot of you know.
Speaker 3: Kind of two touchdown, three touchdown type games. I mean,
Speaker 3: very impressive weeks for Geneva Saint Charles North Batavia. I
Speaker 3: mean they really stood out from last week. And you
Speaker 3: were at one of those games. You got to see
Speaker 3: Geneva beat wien Rville South.
Speaker 4: Yeah, slight change of pace. I actually went to the
Speaker 4: closest game throughout the entire conference. I mean it was
Speaker 4: two touchdown or it was a two touchdown score. Final
Speaker 4: score is forty five thirty one Geneva. But in all honesty,
Speaker 4: the scot didn't tell the entire story of the game.
Speaker 4: I mean it was pretty much Geneva kind of just
Speaker 4: taking the reins on offense throughout the entire game. And
Speaker 4: I think from this game, it really does show the
Speaker 4: versatility of Geneva's offense. I mean, Talent Taylor finished the
Speaker 4: game with or two receptions in twenty nine yards and
Speaker 4: Tony Chikino still ended up running for over three hundred
Speaker 4: yards for the first time in a Vikings uniform. I mean,
Speaker 4: it showed a lot of versatility on that offense. I
Speaker 4: mean they finally got Michael Romorro included in the game.
Speaker 4: He had two hundred scrimmage yards in the game with
Speaker 4: eighty three rushing yards and one hundred and seventeen reception
Speaker 4: yards in two touchdowns. Bennett Conky as sophomore who's kind
Speaker 4: of rosen up in the ranks on that Vikings offense,
Speaker 4: he finished with eighty eight yards in a touchdown and
Speaker 4: plus also he got his second return touchdown of the season.
Speaker 4: So it kind of showed the versatility of that Geneva
Speaker 4: offense and shows that, hey, even if we don't have
Speaker 4: a guy like Talon Taylor, you know, producing as much
Speaker 4: as he usually does because he's getting double teamed, we
Speaker 4: can still hurt you in multiple different ways. And I
Speaker 4: think another thing as well that was kind of interesting.
Speaker 4: I noticed in the fourth quarter Talon Taylor was playing
Speaker 4: defense a whole lot. He was trying to cover Mary
Speaker 4: Williams on Wheaton worn Ville South. He actually ended up
Speaker 4: limping off the field late in the fourth quarter. It
Speaker 4: looked like he was getting something done on his right leg,
Speaker 4: back of his right leg, maybe like an achilles or
Speaker 4: something like that. So that is something that we may
Speaker 4: need to look forward in the future because obviously Taylor
Speaker 4: missed a lot of time last year due to a
Speaker 4: torn meniscus, so it does have that injury history, but
Speaker 4: it's definitely gonna be something to look forward to in
Speaker 4: the future to see if it limits his you know,
Speaker 4: offensive play or even play on defense as well in
Speaker 4: the future.
Speaker 3: Yeah, certainly something to keep an eye on. I mean,
Speaker 3: that's impressive that Geneva was able to do what they
Speaker 3: did offensively when talent Taylor only had two catches. But
Speaker 3: you know, if they're going to be winning conference titles
Speaker 3: and going deep into playoffs, they need talent Taylor on
Speaker 3: the field and on the feel healthy.
Speaker 5: So we'll see.
Speaker 3: I mean, maybe they they they take the Ryan Fitzgerald
Speaker 3: route and are kind of careful Brandon back. I'm sure
Speaker 3: they will, especially given what he means to that team
Speaker 3: and also his future. I mean, the kid's gonna be
Speaker 3: playing high Division one football in the future, so I
Speaker 3: don't want to take any chances. So yeah, certainly something
Speaker 3: to watch. But but Geneva very impressive win Saint Charles North.
Speaker 3: I mean that Saint Charles North. They be Wheaton North
Speaker 3: pretty handily. That was really a game that I thought
Speaker 3: might have been the most compelling matchup last week and
Speaker 3: maybe the closest matchup. But they really controlled that game
Speaker 3: and Ada mcclury ad a pick six, I believe, and
Speaker 3: they just keep rolling.
Speaker 5: Really impressive win for Saint Charles North.
Speaker 4: Yeah, definitely. I mean it was you know, it was
Speaker 4: one of those games that kind of pained on my calendar.
Speaker 4: It was like, this may have potential to be a
Speaker 4: really good game, but I mean Saint Charles North just
Speaker 4: took advantage of the opportunities they got and the mistakes
Speaker 4: that we North made throughout the game. I mean, you
Speaker 4: mentioned Aiden McClure. He finished the game with another pick six.
Speaker 4: It's his second year or second week in a row
Speaker 4: where he got that. He also got to fumble his
Speaker 4: second week in a row doing that, So he's been
Speaker 4: a really good factor on defense before the North Stars.
Speaker 4: And I mean we kind of saw, you know, Keaton
Speaker 4: Rinky being one of the forefronts of the offense in
Speaker 4: the past couple of weeks. They they pushed off again
Speaker 4: to the running back Joel Holloman, who ended up with
Speaker 4: one hundred and thirty front or one hundred and thirty
Speaker 4: rush yards, fifty six receiving yards, and two touchdowns as well.
Speaker 4: So they kind of you know, pushed It followed the
Speaker 4: trend of most of the other Tri city teams and
Speaker 4: pushed everything onto the running back this time around, and
Speaker 4: it seemed to worked out for them a whole lot.
Speaker 4: And it's definitely a good confidence Buscher goes for you
Speaker 4: note against the team that you've lost to last year
Speaker 4: heading into a big game like Batavia next week.
Speaker 3: Yeah, definitely, so good wins for Batavia, Geneven San Charles North.
Speaker 3: I still think that league. I'm not counting out either
Speaker 3: of the Wheatons. I think they're going to be heard
Speaker 3: from at the end of the day. And I think
Speaker 3: Lake Park has got a pretty pretty good team as well,
Speaker 3: but maybe, just maybe Patavia, Genevan Sant Charles North have
Speaker 3: established a pecking order, you know, through one one one
Speaker 3: week in that league. Another league that started conference play
Speaker 3: last week was West of West Suburban and Downers Grove North.
Speaker 3: They have just they have just demolished everybody in their
Speaker 3: path so far in a year. They beat Glenbard West
Speaker 3: forty two to seven game that was played in a
Speaker 3: running clock in the second half, and and Downards Go
Speaker 3: North is just They've only given up one score in
Speaker 3: three games, and I think they've scored forty two points
Speaker 3: in every game they played. Owen Lance to their quarterback
Speaker 3: going to Minnesota. He threw for three touchdowns. But really
Speaker 3: there their defense has been darned. But I mean they
Speaker 3: only gave up I think five first downs to Down
Speaker 3: and Grove South. They only gave up six first downs
Speaker 3: to Glenbard West. I mean, they're just really putting on teams.
Speaker 3: And and they were a team that last year they
Speaker 3: got to the Class seven eight state champion, UH state final.
Speaker 3: You know kind of wonder what they are gonna be
Speaker 3: like coming back. They have clearly established themselves as a
Speaker 3: team that's gonna be a team to watch, not only
Speaker 3: in the West Suburb and Silver, but also in seven A.
Speaker 3: I mean, they're they're they're clearly one of the top
Speaker 3: teams in seven eight so far. Hey football fans, listen
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Speaker 2: This is State Representative Steve Reich, and I'm happy to
Speaker 2: sponsor this year's Friday Night Drive. There'll be plenty of
Speaker 2: time for politics down the road, but for now, let's
Speaker 2: enjoy some high school football. Whichever school you follow, give
Speaker 2: them your support.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think I think, you know, kind of that
Speaker 4: good variety of having a very high scoring offense while
Speaker 4: also having a defense that doesn't give up a whole
Speaker 4: lot of yardage. I mean, it's definitely a good recipe
Speaker 4: for success. And I mean, on the flip side of that,
Speaker 4: I mean, talk about Glen Pard West. I mean, probably
Speaker 4: one of the more shocking things about it is that
Speaker 4: they're entering week four without a win. I think, if
Speaker 4: I remember correctly from all the podcasts I've been hit
Speaker 4: listening to about all of this, this is the first
Speaker 4: time they're owing three since like nineteen ninety seven, I believe.
Speaker 4: So it's definitely, you know, in the past couple of
Speaker 4: weeks we've said there's no you know, room for alarm
Speaker 4: or anything like that, or no reason two it may
Speaker 4: be if they start out the season and forward.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean I knew that going into the year
Speaker 3: this was going to be a brutal start to the season.
Speaker 3: I mean, when you're talking about playing Batavia, playing Loyola,
Speaker 3: playing Downers Grove North the first three weeks of the season,
Speaker 3: and then on top of it, you know, they go
Speaker 3: to Lions soundship this week. A really good Lions team
Speaker 3: that is that is just a that's just a gauntlet
Speaker 3: start of the year. And yeah, I think Steve Susi
Speaker 3: had in one of his stories this week, I believe
Speaker 3: it's it's either nineteen eighty nine or nineteen ninety nine.
Speaker 3: The last time Glenbard West started uh oh to three.
Speaker 3: I believe it was nineteen eighty nine, So we're going
Speaker 3: back a few years. And yeah, I mean I'm not
Speaker 3: I'm not counting them out. They had kind of a
Speaker 3: slow start to the year last year, a little bit
Speaker 3: worried and at their start. Running back Tayan Oriental has
Speaker 3: not played its injuring his hand in week one, so
Speaker 3: they obviously need to get him back with it. Don't
Speaker 3: get them back, their offense is really going to struggle
Speaker 3: to struggle to put up any points.
Speaker 5: But but yeah, we'll see.
Speaker 3: I mean, they could be a team that if you're
Speaker 3: looking at four and five record at the end of
Speaker 3: the year, they're into the playoffs, but you need to
Speaker 3: get to four wins to get there, and they're at
Speaker 3: zero right now. So certainly a lot of sense of
Speaker 3: urgency on the Glenbard west Side, but very impressed to
Speaker 3: win for downers Grold North a game that Joe outside
Speaker 3: of the suburbs people might not really understand maybe how
Speaker 3: big of the game is. I'm talking about a game
Speaker 3: that I was at last Friday. Sandwich was playing at Plano.
Speaker 3: It was a one hundred and thirteenth edition of that
Speaker 3: rivalry along Route thirty four. They've been playing since eighteen
Speaker 3: ninety seven, which that's that's a long time, and it's
Speaker 3: a game that you know, really means a lot to
Speaker 3: both of those communities. I mean, fans were packed, Plano,
Speaker 3: came out in purple smoke, They had fireworks before the game.
Speaker 3: I mean, how many times do you see fireworks before
Speaker 3: a game? Not very often, not for a high school game.
Speaker 3: Certainly it was an event and Sandwich just a very
Speaker 3: impressive win. That was a game that they really needed.
Speaker 3: They started the season zero to two. They were a
Speaker 3: team that made the Class four eight quarterfinals last year.
Speaker 3: They really came out and did what they do. They
Speaker 3: ran the ball. They run out of that wing wing
Speaker 3: team with multiple running backs. They ran for almost four
Speaker 3: hundred yards of offense. They had two running backs Simey
Speaker 3: and Harris and Nick Michael Lake that both went over
Speaker 3: one hundred yards. Their full back Diego Gomez ran for
Speaker 3: almost seventy five yards. Their quarterback Brady Barringer, he ran
Speaker 3: for two touchdowns, threw for one. Simmey and Harris, who's
Speaker 3: just his nickname is Flash and he earns that name
Speaker 3: name the kids fast. I mean, he's a track kid,
Speaker 3: plays basketball, plays football. He had a seventy five yard
Speaker 3: touchdown run. But a very impressive win for Sandwich forty
Speaker 3: one to sixteen. And now they're one and two and now,
Speaker 3: you know, get their feet on the ground and now
Speaker 3: maybe they're feeling a little bit better about themselves. They're
Speaker 3: getting getting a little bit healthier. They got one of
Speaker 3: their key offensive linemen back for that game, so feeling
Speaker 3: good about themselves. So a very good win for Sandwich
Speaker 3: and a great environment last Friday. Before we look ahead
Speaker 3: to the next week, any other games that kind of
Speaker 3: caught your attention from last Friday.
Speaker 4: I think a big thing for me was just kind of,
Speaker 4: you know, when I kind of mentioned how there were
Speaker 4: some teams that kind of surprised me at the beginning
Speaker 4: or that have been kind of surprising at the beginning
Speaker 4: of the year, and one of those that has kind
Speaker 4: of popped out for me has been Cainland. They started
Speaker 4: out three and oh for the first time since twenty
Speaker 4: fourteen with a forty two seven win over to Calb.
Speaker 4: I mean, after those first two weeks where the offense
Speaker 4: was a little bit shaky, they're say, you know, they
Speaker 4: finally it looked like they finally found their footing against
Speaker 4: the the Calb team, who they maybe zero to three,
Speaker 4: but you know, had some very hard fought losses in there.
Speaker 4: So I think it's definitely a good sign for Caitland
Speaker 4: heading into heading into conference play when they face Autawa
Speaker 4: this week. But yeah, no, I think it was a
Speaker 4: really impressive showing for them in the week three.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean similar to Saint Francis and that. I mean,
Speaker 3: you lose really guys that have been faced to your
Speaker 3: program for a long time, uh, Caitlin. I'm talking about
Speaker 3: you know, Treyer Carlson and Eric Johnson a receiver, and
Speaker 3: and you know, life goes on. I mean, new guys
Speaker 3: take over and guys that are really talented you might
Speaker 3: still have in your program, and clearly they do.
Speaker 5: I mean they're you.
Speaker 3: Know, you can maybe chalk up one win and you're like,
Speaker 3: all right, let's see what they got. There're three and zero.
Speaker 3: Now they have let's be honest, they have a favorable
Speaker 3: matchup with Ottawa this week. They're looking at a four
Speaker 3: to oho record, feeling good about themselves. You mentioned their
Speaker 3: defense has been great so far, their offense got going
Speaker 3: with forty two points. They're feeling pretty good about things,
Speaker 3: and they should. I mean, that's a really good start
Speaker 3: to the year. And they beat some good programs, you know, Washington, Wakanda, Tocalb.
Speaker 3: I know they've struggled a bit, but out still a
Speaker 3: bigger school than Kaitlin. So I mean, that's that's still
Speaker 3: a good win for them, beating the Calps. So yeah,
Speaker 3: that that's that's a very good start for Kaitlin. Feeling
Speaker 3: good about themselves. On another note, a couple of teams
Speaker 3: in the Southwest Prairie Conference that I saw that really
Speaker 3: really needed wins last week and they got him was
Speaker 3: Yorkville and Oswego East. They both started owing two. They
Speaker 3: both really struggled offensively the first couple of weeks.
Speaker 5: Both really got going on.
Speaker 3: Suwego East was able to score forty two points to
Speaker 3: beat Plaintfield East and then and I and I'm getting
Speaker 3: him myself. Uh, Yorkville they were able to put up
Speaker 3: thirty one points against Joey at West they got a
Speaker 3: big block punt for a touchdown. And then back to
Speaker 3: the IU reference, Uh, Dylan Malone their their wide receiver
Speaker 3: that's going to n IU. He caught two touchdowns. He's
Speaker 3: a guy that man. They need to get the ball
Speaker 3: on his hands and let him make plays because he's
Speaker 3: like six foot three, six foot four, long, fast, can
Speaker 3: make plays. He needs the ball in his hands, and
Speaker 3: he he made. I mean he had a fifty five
Speaker 3: yard touchdown catch. He also had a catch that our
Speaker 3: writer Hart Pisani said it was just a great juggling,
Speaker 3: very athletic type play. So a good win for Yorkville,
Speaker 3: a good win for US. Suegly East. They're one and two. Now,
Speaker 3: you know, they get a win this week and are
Speaker 3: back to two and two, and now we're now we're
Speaker 3: talking now we're thinking about maybe getting it getting set
Speaker 3: up for a playoff run. So so, yeah, a lot
Speaker 3: of great football from Week three, Yeah, solutely.
Speaker 4: And it sounds like also it was a good week
Speaker 4: for players heading the NIU next week or next year,
Speaker 4: especially at the wide receiver position. I forgot to mention
Speaker 4: it earlier when we were talking about the game, but
Speaker 4: Amari Williams from Warrenville South, who's also heading the NIU,
Speaker 4: finished with nine catches, one hundred and twenty five yards
Speaker 4: and two touchdowns. So definitely a good week for NIU
Speaker 4: future NIU receivers.
Speaker 3: And I hu the rich just keep getting richer. What
Speaker 3: can you say? I mean, it's just all about NU
Speaker 3: right now. So so yeah, we week four as we
Speaker 3: look ahead, and obviously the game that stands out uh
Speaker 3: Batavian St. Charles North. Uh, Joe'll be your first time
Speaker 3: seeing that matchup. It's it's a game that seems like
Speaker 3: it never disappoints. There's been so many down to the wire, overtime,
Speaker 3: double overtime, great performances. But as you look at this matchup,
Speaker 3: what are you looking for.
Speaker 4: And expecting another great game this time around? I mean,
Speaker 4: obviously these are a battle between the past two Dukine
Speaker 4: Conference champions. I mean two years ago St. Charles North
Speaker 4: defeated Batavia or to hear that conference championship, and then
Speaker 4: last year Batavia beat it. Patavia beat them and went
Speaker 4: on their way to win another DK Conference championship last year,
Speaker 4: so it's gonna be another really big battle for them. Obviously,
Speaker 4: you know St. Charles North has experienced on their roster,
Speaker 4: especially on the offense, which is something that you know
Speaker 4: Patavia is still getting a lot more of. I mean,
Speaker 4: obviously you've got Ethan Plumb, You've got Keaton Ranky, You've
Speaker 4: got Joel Holloman on offense, got a McClure who's kind
Speaker 4: of on a hot streak right now on defense. So
Speaker 4: Saint Charles North does definitely have the weapons in order
Speaker 4: to pull out their second win three years against Batavia.
Speaker 4: But I mean you can never really count the Bulldogs.
Speaker 4: I mean they've shown week in and week out how
Speaker 4: valuable some of those players on that team are. I mean, obviously,
Speaker 4: Nathan Whitwell has up for five hundred rushing yards in
Speaker 4: this season through three games. So who's going to be
Speaker 4: able to stop them this time around? I'm not sure,
Speaker 4: but I definitely think it's going to be a really
Speaker 4: good game no matter which way it turns.
Speaker 3: No, I mean, Nathan Whitlaw's just put up some huge
Speaker 3: numbers right off the bat, starting with that Week one
Speaker 3: game in s Gunbard West, and know taking the pressure
Speaker 3: off of their first year starting quarterback. And uh but
Speaker 3: but yeah, I mean it's it's it's a game that
Speaker 3: never disappoints. It's a game that I mean, Batavia is
Speaker 3: going to find out a lot more about themselves the
Speaker 3: next few weeks, you know, you know, facing these guys, uh,
Speaker 3: facing Geneva in a couple of weeks.
Speaker 5: So uh so, yeah, I'm really really.
Speaker 3: Interested to see what happens, you know in that one
Speaker 3: other matchups that I'm looking at in the in the
Speaker 3: Chicago Catholic League, Mantini and Fenwick, a couple of teams
Speaker 3: that they got a couple of wins right off the
Speaker 3: bad to the season, and then they they're both coming
Speaker 3: off losses. Fenwick to Joliet Catholic in a pretty close
Speaker 3: game and Mantini lost the Maris And uh and yeah,
Speaker 3: I mean that that's it's a game that you know,
Speaker 3: just kind of curious to see how they're gonna bounce back.
Speaker 3: I mean, Montini's got a lot of experience on defense, uh,
Speaker 3: Fanwick on the other side, their quarterback really talented, kind
Speaker 3: of dual threat tight quarterback and and and that's match
Speaker 3: them just kind of and to see how those two
Speaker 3: teams are gonna respond. I think both of those teams,
Speaker 3: particularly mon Teenie, are going to be teams that we're
Speaker 3: going to be following quite a bit, very deep into playoffs.
Speaker 3: But but you know, I want to see how they
Speaker 3: do coming off of that lost to Maris and the other.
Speaker 5: Game in the Catholic League.
Speaker 3: Actually, there's a couple more that are of interest to
Speaker 3: Nazareth playing Icy Catholic. Icy Catholic coming off of their
Speaker 3: first loss. They they lost to Ignacious Actullly Nazareth coming
Speaker 3: off their first loss as well. I feel like this
Speaker 3: is kind of a recurring theme here. But but you know,
Speaker 3: really really good matchup there, Nazareth and Ici Catholic and
Speaker 3: then and then the other one, Saint Francis. We talked
Speaker 3: about them off the top beating Loyola. I mean the
Speaker 3: Catholic League. It's like, oh my god, we had this
Speaker 3: huge win last week. Well now we can take a break. Well, no,
Speaker 3: now you've got sant Rita coming to your place. So,
Speaker 3: I mean, it's just kind of the nature of the
Speaker 3: beasts in that league. It's just kind of a week in,
Speaker 3: week out grind.
Speaker 4: Yeah. So one thing I've learned since you know moving
Speaker 4: to Illinois is that, you know, the Christian Catholic League
Speaker 4: is very good at football, and each team basically has
Speaker 4: to go through the gauntline every single year. So yeah,
Speaker 4: it's definitely a big thing, and it's definitely gonna be
Speaker 4: a big week in the Christian Catholic League this week.
Speaker 5: Chicago and Chicago cl E s CC.
Speaker 4: Just how that serves how long I've been here, because
Speaker 4: I still don't know the name of it.
Speaker 3: I just used the Latters and I'm happy. So yeah,
Speaker 3: a lot of good football. Any other games that kind
Speaker 3: of stand out to you this week, Joel?
Speaker 4: I think in terms of, you know, from my coverage area.
Speaker 4: I think another big one that I think is going
Speaker 4: to be one that's not on everybody's radar but could
Speaker 4: be potentially is going to be from the Pops Valley Conference.
Speaker 4: I got Burlington Central Crystal Lake Central. I mean, both
Speaker 4: those teams have been right on the edge of, you know,
Speaker 4: being playoff teams, you know, pretty consistently over these past
Speaker 4: couple of years. I don't think Burlington Central has made
Speaker 4: it twenty hasn't had a winning season since twenty seventeen.
Speaker 4: They're two and one heading into this conference but I
Speaker 4: think is one of their best records that they've had
Speaker 4: entering this contest in the past couple of years. And
Speaker 4: I think this is gonna be a big game for
Speaker 4: Burlington Central because if they gonna win against Crystal Lake Central,
Speaker 4: you know, it puts them at three and one, and
Speaker 4: it puts a really good a really good position to
Speaker 4: potentially make it into the playoffs for the first time
Speaker 4: since twenty fourteen. So I think this is actually going
Speaker 4: to be a game that might be important to watch,
Speaker 4: especially with the layer seasons or with the later weeks
Speaker 4: coming in. And if they lose, this may be the
Speaker 4: one loss to where it's like, this is the game
Speaker 4: where they should have won and they would have been
Speaker 4: in the playoffs. But yeah, I think that's the one
Speaker 4: game that I'm thinking of.
Speaker 3: Yeah, in a nine game season, it's like there's there's
Speaker 3: a handful of games that you are pretty sure you're
Speaker 3: gonna win, and there's one or two games that a
Speaker 3: lot of teams you're wondering if they have a chance,
Speaker 3: you know, compete. But yeah, I mean, if you're a
Speaker 3: team that's gonna be around that five and four mark,
Speaker 3: there's usually that one or two games that it really
Speaker 3: makes a difference. And it might not be in week nine,
Speaker 3: it might be in week four, because week nine you
Speaker 3: might have a team that you know you can beat or.
Speaker 5: You know is gonna be tough to beat.
Speaker 3: I mean, but but there's usually that one or two
Speaker 3: games that that you can really identify and and that
Speaker 3: was a good one.
Speaker 5: For Burington Central and another one I'm looking forward to.
Speaker 3: We mentioned off the top a game I'm gonna be
Speaker 3: out Saturday, Glenbard West playing at Lions Township. How will
Speaker 3: they respond? I mean, oh and four does not mean
Speaker 3: you don't make the playoffs. But man, if they get
Speaker 3: to oh and four, they still have York left on
Speaker 3: their schedule, one of the best teams in that league.
Speaker 3: So that's gonna be another one. And then you know
Speaker 3: they still play Hinstille Central. I mean that that's not
Speaker 3: a that's not a gimme there. So I mean we've
Speaker 3: been talking about they can get in four and five.
Speaker 3: Well I don't think three and six teams get into
Speaker 3: the playoffs. Steve Susio no.
Speaker 5: Better than I. But so a very big game for
Speaker 5: them on Saturday. A lot of good football coming up.
Speaker 3: Really looking forward to it, a lot of good stuff
Speaker 3: coming up on Friday Night Drive.
Speaker 5: I'm going to be back here.
Speaker 3: On Wednesday with Steve Susie's you break down some of
Speaker 3: the top games from around the state.
Speaker 5: JT.
Speaker 3: Penalty and Eddie Griffiel will be here on Thursday. I'm
Speaker 3: not quite sure what they call their podcast. I think
Speaker 3: it's South and West. Whatever it is, it's very entertaining.
Speaker 3: You definitely want to check it out. And then Steve
Speaker 3: Susie and Matt Rodewall will be back here on Friday
Speaker 3: night with the Friday Night Drive live stream from nine
Speaker 3: to thirty pm to eleven pm. So a lot of
Speaker 3: great stuff come up on Friday Night Drive. We have
Speaker 3: all of our previews coming in the next two days,
Speaker 3: and then of course coverage over the weekend. So yeah,
Speaker 3: a lot of great stuff. And Joel, I'm very much
Speaker 3: looking forward to next week being back here and having
Speaker 3: you talk about it. Batavia Saint Charles North game.
Speaker 4: Yeah, definitely, and I'm going to be really excited to
Speaker 4: be out there on Friday just kind of watch it
Speaker 4: and see everything from my own eyes and hopefully watch
Speaker 4: a very fun game.
Speaker 3: Should be a lot of fun. Thanks again everybody for
Speaker 3: joining us again for we leave. This is Josh Wellge
Speaker 3: with Joe Bennett's and you all have a very happy Tuesday.
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