Illinois Thread

[abbatt]

I will start with the class 8A favorites......

Defending champ Lincoln-Way-East..or Beast as the are sometimes called.......returns only 6 starters. They graduated several 300 lb OFF linemen and have replaced them with 270 lb linemen. But the talent pool is deep and they have some play-makers returning. WR/Rb A.J.Henning has over 25 Div 1 offers and will be the go to guy. Their Def lost several Div 1 recruits including a DE to Northwestern but again they reload. A very well coached physical team that always has the potential to be in the final game in November.

Loyola Academy has 12 starters returning including WR Noah Jones with 8 div 1 offers.....Lb Armoni Dixon 6`4 225 with 7 offers and DE Conner Hough 6`5 235 with a bunch as well. There weak point may be the OL. L don`t see a full roster yet but so far I only see several 255 lb linemen. Loyola usually has good size so maybe there are some bigger OL not yet listed.

Maine South has 8 DF starters returning and only 2 on OF. But they just plug kids into the system with great success. They have some beef up-front led by standout Peter Skornowski .6`4 260 , Muhammed Alswai..6`3..300 and Jack Hayes..6`2..275. HC Dan Inserra is as good as any coach in the state. MS is a very hard-nosed team with a great legacy in Illinois. They have also won the state linemen tug 3 times in the last 4 years.

Other teams to watch are New Trier with Northwestern commit Duke Olge 6`6 .270.....Tackle Tommy Zepf..6`6..280..and David davidkoff...6`7 265...Gurnee Warren returns 13 starters including DE Zack Pollen .6`5 265 with offers from Oregon St., Air Force..Army and  And half the MAC conference. Several other teams to consider are St.Charles North with 16 returning starters and an OF line that avgs. 6`4 285....and St.Charles East with 12 starters returning. They lost a Heart breaker in the play-offs last year to eventual champ LWE..15-14.

I`d like to correct a mistake I made in my Illinois OOS thread....In the game between Phillips and Pickerington Central......I stated that it was PC`s 3rd game....it`s their first game as well.

[Sammyswordsman]

21 minutes ago, abbatt said:

I will start with the class 8A favorites......

Defending champ Lincoln-Way-East..or Beast as the are sometimes called.......returns only 6 starters. They graduated several 300 lb OFF linemen and have replaced them with 270 lb linemen. But the talent pool is deep and they have some play-makers returning. WR/Rb A.J.Henning has over 25 Div 1 offers and will be the go to guy. Their Def lost several Div 1 recruits including a DE to Northwestern but again they reload. A very well coached physical team that always has the potential to be in the final game in November.

Loyola Academy has 12 starters returning including WR Noah Jones with 8 div 1 offers.....Lb Armoni Dixon 6`4 225 with 7 offers and DE Conner Hough 6`5 235 with a bunch as well. There weak point may be the OL. L don`t see a full roster yet but so far I only see several 255 lb linemen. Loyola usually has good size so maybe there are some bigger OL not yet listed.

Maine South has 8 DF starters returning and only 2 on OF. But they just plug kids into the system with great success. They have some beef up-front led by standout Peter Skornowski .6`4 260 , Muhammed Alswai..6`3..300 and Jack Hayes..6`2..275. HC Dan Inserra is as good as any coach in the state. MS is a very hard-nosed team with a great legacy in Illinois. They have also won the state linemen tug 3 times in the last 4 years.

Other teams to watch are New Trier with Northwestern commit Duke Olge 6`6 .270.....Tackle Tommy Zepf..6`6..280..and David davidkoff...6`7 265...Gurnee Warren returns 13 starters including DE Zack Pollen .6`5 265 with offers from Oregon St., Air Force..Army and  And half the MAC conference. Several other teams to consider are St.Charles North with 16 returning starters and an OF line that avgs. 6`4 285....and St.Charles East with 12 starters returning. They lost a Heart breaker in the play-offs last year to eventual champ LWE..15-14.

I`d like to correct a mistake I made in my Illinois OOS thread....In the game between Phillips and Pickerington Central......I stated that it was PC`s 3rd game....it`s their first game as well.

I have good respect (now) for Loyola Academy after the beat down they put on a pretty good Amat team a few years back.  Color me #stunned.

It seems like Loyola is ranked in the Top 100 most years and is the most consistent program in the area.  Until someone can beat them regularly, my money is on Loyola.

How long has East been a power?  Do they have a good feeder system from outside their local area?

[abbatt]

Sammy,

LWE has been playing varsity football since 2001. They have qualified for the play-offs every year. It`s a very fertile ,talent rich area along with Lincoln-Way Central and Lincoln-Way West...also deep play-off qualifiers last year. The city of Frankfurt also includes Providence Catholic from the Chicago Catholic Blue.. who won the 8A title in 2015. Yes.. very strong feeder programs with hundreds of kids involved every year.

Loyola beat Bishop Amat last year 13-6 with 7 starters out .....8 out the week before in the loss to Phillips 20-14. They spent all year trying to recover. They were still down a few in the Title game loss to LWE.Loyola always has to be considered in the running..but I have a feeling they are going to lose a couple of games this year...possibly..Rockford Mi,  New Trier ...their neighborhood rival.

[Bones]

Yeah, if Loyola has that many starters back they should be #1. They're easily the most consistent large school in the state although I'll take whoever their opponent is in the championship game.

LWE will be good as usual, and highly rated, but I see a drop off. I believe the entire DL graduated and they were easily the strength of the team.

Phillips should get smacked in their OOS games. 

 

Honestly though, outside of Loyola I don't know what to expect.

[abbatt]

Hey Bones,

I see Phillips losing to PC and beating Chaminade..barring any major injuries from the PC game.. Chaminade was 5-4 last year. They drubbed Belliville East last year..40-13..but Phillips is way better.

How does the Beloved look this year? Also H-F ?  LWE lost a lot from last year...but I think that they are solid enough to pretty much re-load.

[Gospeeder]

Hey guys, glad you brought New Trier up as they look interesting this year. Bones... saw your interview of Duke Olges and if he is representative of the rest of their line, the only thing that can be said is that they may get a big chunk out of Loyola.

Quick question about Mt. C.

Earlier this summer I was told that kids were migrating to MC for the new coach. Lately I hear however that some of them decided to go to Phillips and the alum's are pissed about the Lenti firing. What's the real deal with that.

[Bones]

40 minutes ago, Gospeeder said:

Hey guys, glad you brought New Trier up as they look interesting this year. Bones... saw your interview of Duke Olges and if he is representative of the rest of their line, the only thing that can be said is that they may get a big chunk out of Loyola.

Quick question about Mt. C.

Earlier this summer I was told that kids were migrating to MC for the new coach. Lately I hear however that some of them decided to go to Phillips and the alum's are pissed about the Lenti firing. What's the real deal with that.

Can't really call it on Mt. Carmel, from what I can tell is it's a mixed bag. I think everyone agrees the way it went down was unfortunate, but people are split on whether it was time for a change. My personal view, I respect all he's accomplished and built at MC, but I've seen articles and interviews that would stop me from sending my son to play for him if I had a son to send lol. There was one televised interview where he took shots at Houston Griffith for transferring to IMG. I felt it was out of line. My position is that no one is bigger than the school and they played chess by naming Jordan Lynch as his replacement because you look like an ass if you're a MC fan but against Jordan Lynch. I think Phillips got a couple of their transfers last year. Honestly theres always traffic in the off season. I don't know if there was any more this year than past years.

@abbatt

I don't know anything about Chaminade, but this Phillips talk is getting out of hand. I pull for Phillips and want them to win but

Aug 26	7:15	W	20	14		H	Wilmette (Loyola Academy)	12-2	3377.55
Sep 1	7:00	W	34	21		A	Oak Lawn (Richards)	7-3	1578.00
Sep 9	6:30	W	14	0		A	Chicago (Simeon)	10-4	2176.35	Gately Stadium

Oct 6	7:00	W	42	28		H	Chicago (Raby)	11-2	684.75	Mandrake Park
Oct 13	7:00	W	14	9		A	Chicago (Solorio Academy)	8-4	1139.00	Solorio

Nov 11	1:00	W	15	3		H	Lemont (H.S.)	10-2	1361.00	Chicago (Gately Stadium)
Nov 18	2:00	W	27	14		A	Sterling (H.S.)	12-1	998.00	Sterling (H.S.)
Nov 25	10:00	W	33	7		A	Dunlap	13-1	1273.00	DeKalb (Huskie Stadium)

none of this says top 10 in IL (when you consider Loyola was down several starters). As a matter of fact if they were in the SouthWest Suburban last year they come in 4th place without question. Their offense was abysmal. They were a good 5A team that may have bitten off more than they can chew by going up to 6A this year.

 

The Beloved this year? I don't know. Our QB transferred to Naperville Central (Minn offer). Our Safety transferred to some private school in TX(D1 offers). Our starting DT tore up his knee... again. The other DT (who should be playing LB) tore up his knee too. But we do have a big OL, 2 D1 runningbacks (Michigan State and Eastern Kentucky), a D1 CB (Northwestern), and some speed at WR. I don't know if we can get them the rock though. I'm guessing 7-2 with losses to LWE and HF.

Not sure what LWE and HF have but they don't lose to us anymore.

[abbatt]

Bones,

I respect What Phillips has accomplished. At the end of the day they are an inner city school in a very tough neighborhood that has somewhat transcended and overcome the negatives to achieve success. They have everything to gain and nothing to lose  ( except the game ) to Pickerington Central. They are fast, big ,physical and quite disciplined. You know that they will play hard to the last whistle.Their TE..Jared Billingsly..6`5..225 is an Alabama commit. That`s pretty impressive !  I expect them to lose the game ....but to gain and learn much from the experience....And if this game was at Gately...I would like their chances.

I think Loyola may have a problem if they don`t have bigger Linemen than what is so far posted.They show 2 OL at 255 lbs and at least 4 more at 235 lbs. Where is their size that everybody keeps saying that they have.?  Look at the size that they had when they won state several years back. 12 linemen between 250-290.

I wish Bolingbrook would play an OOS team like Indy Cathedral or Cass Tech.

 

[Gospeeder]

Yea... Philips is interesting as they have progressively built the seeds for a really nice program IMO. I am not sure however that they are ready for prime time yet. Mc Allister has to be applauded for what he has accomplished and having the guts to schedule PC but that is trying to eat the whole cake in one bite. PC is more of a Marist, Naz or MS level game. It would be better if the program matured a couple of more years and they scheduled Crete Monee or some of the mid level 7a programs while at the same time securing the money to get decent facilities and more coaches if the CPS allowed it.

 

[abbatt]

Gospeeder,

Good points...I wonder who reached out first..PC or Phillips ? I think that the level of play at the top in Ohio has dipped a bit in the last 3-4 years. I was at the St.EDS/Naperville Central game last year. I sat on ED`s side and I will say that most of their fans were really shocked that the game was so close and competitive.They agreed that the top teams in Ohio are down a notch from the great teams from the early and mid 2000`s.

[Bones]

5 hours ago, abbatt said:

Bones,

I respect What Phillips has accomplished. At the end of the day they are an inner city school in a very tough neighborhood that has somewhat transcended and overcome the negatives to achieve success. They have everything to gain and nothing to lose  ( except the game ) to Pickerington Central. They are fast, big ,physical and quite disciplined. You know that they will play hard to the last whistle.Their TE..Jared Billingsly..6`5..225 is an Alabama commit. That`s pretty impressive !  I expect them to lose the game ....but to gain and learn much from the experience....And if this game was at Gately...I would like their chances.

I think Loyola may have a problem if they don`t have bigger Linemen than what is so far posted.They show 2 OL at 255 lbs and at least 4 more at 235 lbs. Where is their size that everybody keeps saying that they have.?  Look at the size that they had when they won state several years back. 12 linemen between 250-290.

I wish Bolingbrook would play an OOS team like Indy Cathedral or Cass Tech.

 

I respect it and applaud it too. As a matter of fact I am adopting Al Raby this year... glad to see them use the Phillips formula of collecting talent at a low enrollment school and winning in football (same formula for private schools). The thing annoying me is the false narrative of winning small school classes being tops in the state, and I've always been against it. A couple decades ago I was having this same argument about JCA and Providence.

Loyola will be fine.

We don't need to venture outside of the state until we get consistent again.  

[Gospeeder]

On 8/9/2018 at 1:57 AM, Bones said:

I respect it and applaud it too. As a matter of fact I am adopting Al Raby this year... glad to see them use the Phillips formula of collecting talent at a low enrollment school and winning in football (same formula for private schools). The thing annoying me is the false narrative of winning small school classes being tops in the state, and I've always been against it. A couple decades ago I was having this same argument about JCA and Providence.

Loyola will be fine.

We don't need to venture outside of the state until we get consistent again.  

Bones, 

Had a few minutes today to look at the media's Chicago land top twenty five pre season rankings and see that Phillips is among the top. I figured in the top ten would be OK but in the top 3? Are we missing something?

I know they have a lot of talent but ranking them so high?? ... reminds me of the Vocational teams of the 60's... lots of talent, killed everyone in the CPS and were well regarded nationally but when they faced the "big boys" in the Prep Bowl... they were crushed every year except one and even that game they lost.

Maybe I don't know my football as well as I used to but If Phillips played any of your other schools, at least in the top eight, I would have them as the underdog.

[abbatt]

Gospeeder,

In the SunTimes poll...Phillips and LWE are the 2 teams left for the top spot....Loyola is 3rd. Have you seen any more roster info for Loyola ? I just don`t see a lot of OL size this year. They have plenty of play-makers, but the line looks about 250.  There are 5-6 OL listed on Maxpreps and Hudl without that info...so maybe there are a few bigger ones. The Defense looks really fast and good sized.

CVS had some great teams but the Catholic League was top 1-3 conference in the country Nationally back in those days.

[Bones]

11 hours ago, Gospeeder said:

Bones, 

Had a few minutes today to look at the media's Chicago land top twenty five pre season rankings and see that Phillips is among the top. I figured in the top ten would be OK but in the top 3? Are we missing something?

I know they have a lot of talent but ranking them so high?? ... reminds me of the Vocational teams of the 60's... lots of talent, killed everyone in the CPS and were well regarded nationally but when they faced the "big boys" in the Prep Bowl... they were crushed every year except one and even that game they lost.

Maybe I don't know my football as well as I used to but If Phillips played any of your other schools, at least in the top eight, I would have them as the underdog.

Same issues every time. I appreciate the coverage our writers give but not much critical thought is placed on rankings. In a recent podcast of two guys that do rankings I sent a question asking if they felt Phillips would go to the Qtr finals in 8A. They both responded Yes and supported it with their win over Loyola even though they admitted Loyola was down several starters. They'll never mention the 14-0 game against Simeon, the 42-28 game against Raby, 14-9 against Solorio, 15-3 against Lemont, and 27-14 against Sterling. None of those teams had a prayer in 8A last year. Simeon was probably the best of the bunch and they got handled in the 1st rd of 7A.

In the pollsters minds Phillips beat Loyola, was undefeated, has prospects, and won a state title as if they're all the same. The same argument we're getting for Phillips is the same arguments we previously heard for Providence, JCA, and Mt. Carmel prior to us using a multiplier for open enrollment schools. Obviously those arguments didn't hold up against the larger, better schools.

We haven't learned our lesson in rankings yet and it's frustrating. I'd probably give Phillips #15 give or take a few spots. I expect them to be demolished by Pickerington Central by at least 4 TD's but I'm thinking running clock. If it's close it's an indictment on PC.

[Bones]

@abbatt

Give us the top games and rankings broski. I think people are sleeping on St. Charles North. I think they have 16 starters back not to mention WR Tyler Nubins who was probably the best individual player I saw last year. Sun Times has him as the #2 WR after Billingsly. 

I also think GBW is over hyped this year based on what I saw last year, but they have earned the benefit of the doubt as a program. Plus their skills on the grill are to be commended. Best brats I've had at any sporting event including Sox games.

[abbatt]

Bones,

I see the game with PC as an obvious over-reach by Phillips to grow up too fast. Do you remember the article several months ago that said ( Phillips had bested Illinois football and was now ready for the National stage.) It was full of ridiculous assumptions and statements that had no basis in fact. I don`t know if Phillips could win any game in your conference last year or this year. It`s a somewhat similar scenario compared to their State title game against Rochester several years ago which ended at a merciful 49-28 score. They are going to be pummeled hard in the first QT. I for-see a couple of quick TO`s leading to quick TD`s for PC ...and the rout will be on. Sure any situation can be a learning experience, but if you lose 56-7 it sure ain`t a positive one.

I also mentioned St.Charles North and East. What a team it would be if the schools combined the best from both.

And Simeon is playing at Trotwood-Madison. This could also be running clock material. If these Chicago public powerhouses ..?? want to play OOS .try scheduling teams from WI....Iowa ..Minn first. I hope Phillips and Simeon have good digestion ..because the scores of these games will be hard to swallow.

 

[abbatt]

The funny thing about this is that the Ohio Yappi forum shows apprehension and nervousness about the game. Apparently PC lost a lot from last year on Offense  and the Ohio folks are quite concerned about PC`s ability to hang with Phillips speed and athletes. So...let`s take a deep breath and see how it plays out. I sure hope that our perception of this game is proven wrong. But...PC will win.....And Simeon will be clubbed by T-M.

[Gospeeder]

Yea... St Charles North is who should  be playing PC. That game would IMO be a straight up Pick em.

Abbatt... I have not seen the Loyola roster in full yet but they have guys back from last year and from what I hear, they are not decimated like last years squad. The skill guys are all seasoned and very very good. If Fallon can mature into that group, they will be formidable for anyone (although I expect New Trier to be a real test.) Given that... they should be much better than last year.

[abbatt]

Gospeeder,

I think Loyola`s Def has the potential to be as good or better than their State championship team...And that was a very good D. I know that they are also loaded with excellent.skilled play-makers on OFF. My concern is with the size of the OL. I don`t see anyone over 255 lbs.. Usually they have 4-5 at 265-275.Maybe a few that are listed on the roster without any info are bigger.

According to the Ohio forums..PC graduated a lot of OFF from last year...so this would be the best time for Phillips to play them.

Rockford is ranked 4th in MI. so this is a good game to compare the states top teams. There is a good possibility of rain Friday night...so that could add an interesting twist.

New Trier has a lot of size and experience back...they could make a deep run this year.....I would like to see it. But they need to have better fan attendance than last year.

[Bones]

I suppose when I get home from work I'll post the top games. There's a nice bunch this week.

[abbatt]

Bones, It`s the best over-all OOS schedule that I`ve ever seen for IL.

[Bones]

Hinsdale Central @ Naperville Central - Must win for NC in the Grey Poupon Bowl in week 1 lol 

Glenbard West @ Maine South - GBW should be itching to get a measure of revenge after last season's beatdown

Batavia @ Lemont - 7A champs vs a team that lost to Phillips 15-3 last season

Marist @ Bro. Rice - South Side Super Bowl; despite poor record last year Rice is highly ranked as is Marist

Lutheran North (MO) @ Nazareth Academy - LN's coach recently tweeted that Naz was the best team he's seen on film. Naz must not have sent the Marist tape lol

St. Rita @ Joliet Catholic - After some down years this is the class that people are pointing to for JCA to turn it around. Rita is coming off of a qtr-final birth in 7A

Barrington @ Warren - Probably the top game in the North Burbs in week 1

East St. Louis @ King (Detroit) - I dunno

[abbatt]

Bones,

The ESL/King game will set the National record for longest regulation game ever because there will be 100 combined penalties in the game!! ...40 plus penalties is possible.

Providence has been trending downward since they won the state several years ago. Low numbers and less size...too much competition from the Lincoln-Way schools ? I can see them going winless in the Blue.....they may even lose to Lockport.

I wonder how many 60K SUV`s will be in the parking lot for the HC/NC game??!!

 

 

[DB4]

23 hours ago, Bones said:

Same issues every time. I appreciate the coverage our writers give but not much critical thought is placed on rankings. In a recent podcast of two guys that do rankings I sent a question asking if they felt Phillips would go to the Qtr finals in 8A. They both responded Yes and supported it with their win over Loyola even though they admitted Loyola was down several starters. They'll never mention the 14-0 game against Simeon, the 42-28 game against Raby, 14-9 against Solorio, 15-3 against Lemont, and 27-14 against Sterling. None of those teams had a prayer in 8A last year. Simeon was probably the best of the bunch and they got handled in the 1st rd of 7A.

In the pollsters minds Phillips beat Loyola, was undefeated, has prospects, and won a state title as if they're all the same. The same argument we're getting for Phillips is the same arguments we previously heard for Providence, JCA, and Mt. Carmel prior to us using a multiplier for open enrollment schools. Obviously those arguments didn't hold up against the larger, better schools.

We haven't learned our lesson in rankings yet and it's frustrating. I'd probably give Phillips #15 give or take a few spots. I expect them to be demolished by Pickerington Central by at least 4 TD's but I'm thinking running clock. If it's close it's an indictment on PC.

Good way for you to not give any credit to Phillips. If Pickerington wins, they should. If it's close then it couldn't be Phillips that did anything right. Lol that's pretty sad. But it seems like you're did the same for the Loyola win. Yeah they were down some starters, and? If Loyola lost you would have said something then too.

[Bones]

50 minutes ago, DB4 said:

Good way for you to not give any credit to Phillips. If Pickerington wins, they should. If it's close then it couldn't be Phillips that did anything right. Lol that's pretty sad. But it seems like you're did the same for the Loyola win. Yeah they were down some starters, and? If Loyola lost you would have said something then too.

Pickerington Central should not be losing to a 4A school from Illinois. Period. Last year if Loyola was full strength or even close I would have given Phillips more credit for the win. Several teams in IL would beat Loyola with damn near half the starters out. When Phillips killed Naperville North and Carmel Catholic in the past I credited them.

You sound silly as hell.