Schwiker, Gannison, Krizak Rundio proudly sponsors to Friday Night Drive. I'm Mike Krazak. If you've been injured, we are ready to take on the insurance company and get you to the end zone. We've recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for our clients. Visit GA nassi n dot com. Hello, and welcome back to the Friday Night Drive Podcast. I am Kyle Neighbors along with Steve Susy here for a special edition really of the Friday Night Drive Podcast.
Because it is semi final weekend. It is my favorite weekend of the year. Suits it's gonna be a good week and we've got thirty two teams left in the state. It's gonna be a cold weekend though. Man, yeah, it certainly is. And I mean, like you said, the semi final week is one of the most fun weeks around. You tend to get some of those matchups that you're thinking to yourself, this might be better served as a state final. I mean, that's just kind of the way that
the brackets fall sometimes. So you always have a lot of games that are that are kind of coming down to the wire. You've got you know, great matchups that you like to try to pick apart before we get to those games, and it's always fun to get those games to the point of where they're in fruition. Interesting thing about this week, there's a lot of games.
Almost all the games I believe are in the early afternoon, excluding the one Friday games, So we're probably going to get another one of those moments of like around three thirty four o'clock where a lot of games are coming to their apex and are all completing at the same time and should be a little bit of chaos to round out the last the way I term it, the last kind of week of the season, where you've got a whole bunch of games going on at the same time. Yeah, you referenced the Friday night
game. I reference the cold temperatures you are going down on Friday night for the Leonard Bowl, which we're going to jump into in a bit to talk about. We'll preview one eight three eight, like we typically do during the postseason. But certainly, you know it's it's mid November. We're used to cold, but this is this is certainly colder than we're used to even for this time of year. Um, what are you doing on Friday night to
stay warm? Man? Well, I think I'll be okay just in general, because you know, it's it's one of those things that I kind of anticipate that I'm going to have a bad one, uh, you know deeper in the playoffs, so you know, I'll just layer up and manage to get through it. You know, I'm a hardcore sideline guy, so I mean, it doesn't really matter to me whether you know how bad it gets. I still plan on being down on the sideline in the middle of it,
because I don't. I don't really like any other way. The only really, the only time that uh that I put up with it is at the state finals. Um, and even then I get a little, I get a little stir crazy. I gotta go wander for at least a game or two for a while, because it's just it's it's the way that I
do it. So I don't I'll complain about it in the moment, but I enjoy it so much that uh that I you know, like, well, I can deal with it, and I challenge it to compete with some of the worst ones that I've ever had, because you know, it will be bad, but I can. I can make you a list of several that were much worse where I felt like I was. You know, I literally had to thaw myself out as an ice block after it was over.
You'll get quite that bad on Friday night. So no, us. It's funny because Joe Aguilar, a long time writer, a prep writer at The Daily Herald who's now a member here at Shaw Media. I was talking to him. We were talking about our favorite postseason game when it came to like
weather stuff, and he actually covered the game. And I don't I don't remember talking to Joe that day, but he covered that state semifinal game back in like twenty fifteen suits where we had the snowstorm between Bradley bourbon A and Libertyville. He came down for the DH and covered Libertyville. And that is some of the worst conditions I've ever covered a game. But him and I both agreed that it's also the most fun we've ever had covered a game.
So um, you know, I mean, that's that weekend in particular as one that's kind of ridiculous in general. I remember that weekend because I covered Icy Catholic in Wilmington that weekend and you know, a little look behind the cover of who I am as a person. I really dislike driving in winter weather. So I anticipated that it was going to be a bad weather day that day. And I actually went up and saw a morning movie prior to that game. And when I went into the movie theater, the weather was
clear, it was open. And then I went and I actually remember what movie it was. I went to see Spotlight, and I mean it wasn't an exceptionally long movie. It was probably a two hour movie. And I came out of the movie and it was a winter wonderland outside. So in the span of the time that I had watched that movie, the weather had violently changed. So yeah, it was And that made for a really interesting day. And that was back when I was doing radio for another publication.
So I was tucked into the icy Catholic press box, which is microscopically tiny, and went out before the game and was messing around on the field to try to get a feel of how the texture was and I felt twice, well, I was like, this is gonna be this is gonna be an interesting day. Yeah, we're not looking at any snow this weekend. It
doesn't look like just just some cold temperatures, unlike Buffalo suits. I don't know if you've been paying attention there, Like the Buffalo Builders supposed to play on Sunday and they're predicting four to six feet of lake effect snow in Buffalo, So good luck with that. Make a fun Sunday game if they do play that in Buffalo and we get to watch that. But like I said, no, no snow in the area. But um, all right, we're gonna go ahead and dive in one A through eight A here and start
breaking down these games. And ZEUS will start in one A and we'll start in the north bracket where we have a semifinal matchup that honestly, I don't feel like we had have to spend a lot of time on. And that's simply because we're looking at a match up here between Forested and Lena Winslow two Nui see rivals, two teams that are used to, honestly playing in the
semifinals. They're used to seeing each other deep in the playoffs. This was a game that Lena Winslow one twenty eight to fourteen during the regular season. And the reason I say we don't have to spend a lot of time on it is because, like I said, these teams know each other really well, and honestly, they're not going to do a lot to try and change what they do. It just comes down to execution in a game like this. Yeah, it really does. I mean, obviously they know, you
know everything about each other. I mean when I look at this game, it's just astonishing to me to think about the fact that one of these two teams have hoisted every single Class one A state championship trophy going back to two thousand and fifteen. So, you know, it's obviously it's it's cliche to say it, but the road to the one A state championship runs directly through
this conference and directly through these two programs. So you know, Lena Winslow is obviously your face here, but you just despite the fact that all the numbers leaned towards Lena Winslow, you can't completely dismiss Forrest in the game. Um, you know, I would be slightly surprised if they won the game, but I refuse to acknowledge that they have the zero percent chance of winning it. Yeah, I mean, they the Forreston knocked off Lena Winslow and
the regular season finale last year. Not um. You know, UM, these two teams know each other so well that it can happen like that. You get into a close game, you know it's fourth quarter. Um, I'll go back to several years ago, right, Like, UM, I want to say this, with the twenty seventeen season, Kerry Grove and PR played and that's a very memorable game for a lot of reasons, including UM.
Anyone who's the state football fan probably remember it's the Sampson Evans touchdown run in the final seconds down the sideline when it looked like PR, which was the heavy favorite to win the state title that year, almost got knocked off by it's in district rival Kerry Grove in a game where you know a lot of people thought PR would win by a couple of touchdowns. So it just goes to show you when you have two teams that are it's a rematch their
conference rivals, things can get a bit weird. Lena Winslow is the clear favorite here, but like I said, I think can get a bit weird. So, UM, let's go to the southern side of the bracket, where you know we're talking about two kinds of state powers on the north side. On the south side, you're talking about two programs here that have kind of cemented themselves over the last decade as and particularly you look at Ridgeview, a co op that started became a co op I want to say in like
twenty fourteen twenty fifteen has taken off over the last couple of years. Now back to back state semifinal appearances. At Camp Point Central is making it fourth semifinal appearance. I was looking through the Peoria Journal Star Um West View. It had posted some by the number stuff and it was Camp Point Central's fourth semifinal appearance. All have come since two eleven sous. Yeah, it's a program that has really built itself up and over time to be the expectation that
they're going to be in the mix at this time of year. It doesn't really surprise me all that much that this is the matchup that we have on the opposite side. In fact, this entire bracket is kind of set up in a way that I if you would have given me maybe two or three guess is that who who will the final four B in one A probably would have gotten all four of these teams, right. That's you know, I
ridge View, as their success level has been fairly recent. They have emerged, but this particular group of players kind of got some wind under their sales in their playoff run of last year, kind of came in as a team with you know, a couple of losses in the postseason, a relatively low seed. That group of underclassmen still here and now looking to make their mark even deeper get themselves to a state championship game. You have a lean either
way in this game. I'm leaning ridge View, But like all season long, I think I've said on this podcast, or at least you're in the postseason, like I I've not had a great feel for the one A South teams this year. Yeah, I lean a little towards Ridgeview, but it is not a heavy lean, you know. That's one of those things where I think this is a fairly fairly competitive game. I would be surprised if it was a runaway one way or another. But I think it's it's pretty
close to a toss up in my mind. But picking it, I'm picking Ridgeview. By the way, I was so excited to dive in that I didn't mention that You can find the complete schedule for the semifinal round at Friday Night Drive dot com. You can also follow us on Twitter at f and Drive. You can follow SEUs on Twitter at the SEUs. You can follow myself on Twitter at Kyle Neighbors, and you can find all of our content on Facebook and Instagram as well. Just search for Friday Night Drive follow us
there. So let's go ahead and dive into two A suits where I feel like we have on both sides of the brackets two teams that both of us considered to be the favorites going into these games, the two teams that we thought would meet in the state title game. On the north side the bracket, you have number six Try Valley at number one, Moroa Forsyde. On the south side of the bracket you have number two Johnson City at number one
Saint Teresa. I felt all along that we were on a collision path between Moroa Forsydes and Saint Teresa, but started on that north side of the bracket. Try Valley is playing really well. You saw him a couple of weeks ago. They followed that up with another impressive win last week. So I don't want to kiss a discount Try Valley in this matchup with Morou. Yeah, I mean, I guess I got a little I guess got a little off the Try Valley train for a couple of reasons as we headed into the
postseason. But all they've done since has convinced me that I was wrong to do. So, you know, it's they have gone through a relatively strong gauntlet through the state playoffs. They crushed Clifton Central in the opening round, which raised my eyebrow a little bit. Then they moved into and defeated the
state champions. They're defending state champions Wilmington in round two in a game that I was at UM and I was really impressed with what they were able to do and how they were able to adjust when Wilmington kind of took away some of their preferred modes of getting things done, they were still really really good. UM. And and then last week, you know, hanging forty six points on Knoxville, UM just tells me that this is a team that's playing
really good football at the right time. And before the before the postseason began, I thought we were looking at a Mount Moroa of forsythe Sat. Teresa game. I'm not one hundred percent convinced anymore that I don't believe that Try Valley can win this football game. Wow, That's That's where I'm at right
now. I I like morea of forsythe a lot, but it's just one of those things where I think, like sometimes you get a little bit of mojo going here and and I think they've got it right and Try Valley has it on their side right now. So, um, I could see that I picked Try Valley to win this game. I I did. I went off I went off book a little bit and picked Try Valley to win. Yeah, Sus, as he's done all season long or all postseason long,
has been predicting every postseason game with a little bit of analysis. Those will be dropping on Friday morning at Friday Night Drive dot Com SEUs on the south side of the Brackett Johnson City at Saint Teresa. I'm not gonna lie to any of our listeners. This is by far the matchup I know the least amount, in particular Johnson City and how they would match up against this Saint Teresa team. Sus, you know much better than I do, so walk
us through this. What do you think of this matchup? You know it's interesting because Like I've mentioned before about Johnston City, I've been confused about them the entire postseason. It's always very, very difficult to get a read on Locked Conference teams and how good they are and in regards to the rest of the field that they're in, and I didn't really get a lot of answers to that through a couple of rounds of the playoffs. They opened the playoffs
against a Black Diamond Conference team. They played an Arthur team in round two that I had heard through the grapevine was really really banged up. So they
won that game and they moved on. The quarterfinal game against Belleville. ALTOF was a game where, you know, heading into it, it looked like ALTOF the stars that aligned for them, you know, playing a five A six A caliber schedule, you know, getting themselves in through kind of the back door of the playoffs at five and four, they look like one of those teams that you would see them potentially even make a run to the state finals and go, yeah, I understand like how they had four losses against
the schedule that they had, but this is a really good football team. But Johnson City just kind of said, Okay, we're just gonna trade punches with you, and they beat them. So, you know, I still have I still have a few questions about them, even though that we've reached the semifinal round. But I think they're kind of running into a behemoth here. You know, Saint Teresa has has done everything that they needed to do
to get themselves at this point. They've won comfortably in every game they've played this season. They have not really been pushed. This is where they ran into a little bit of a stumbling block before. For them, right now, I think it's a matter of simply not getting ahead of themselves finishing the job in task, because I mean last year they got beat by Nashville in a wild game that was high scoring and you know, didn't end up getting
them, you know, where they wanted and needed to be. Historically, this has been a team that has put up some huge numbers in this regular season in the early rounds of the playoffs, but other than a few limited situations, they've been tabbed as favorites and they haven't been able to finish the deal. So, you know, I think here they are the favorite again, and I think whoever they would get on the other side of the bracket.
I think they would remain the favorite if they were to win this game, but I think just moving them smoothly to that final would be a mistake. Like I said, I think we have to we have to take into account what Johnson City has done to this point and give them some prompts at
this point in time. Completely agree, all right, So let's go ahead and move on to three A. Here on the north side of the bracket, we are looking at a matchup that we should be pretty familiar with because it is a rematch of last year's state semifinal game, and that comes from
two quarterfinals that were rematches the last year. And you know, you're looking at Byron versus Ice Catholic and it played out so similar on Byron side, at least, you know they're coming off a semifinal win over Recuster where they scored in the final minute, Jeff, like they did the year before. I see Catholic played Princeton again, but unlike last year where I see Catholic won the game rather handily. I see Catholic very very tough game against Princeton
to get by them. There. This sets up to be a very competitive matchup between I see Catholic and Byron. I'm thinking sus yeah, I mean, no disrespect to the south side of this bracket, but this would be a game that I'd really like to see as a state championship game. I feel like both of these two teams have obviously run a pretty impressive gauntlet just to get here. It will bother me that one of these two teams is not in the state championship game. It's it's once again, I'm going to
fall back on another cliche. To me, this is kind of the state championship game. I feel like whoever wins this game will be a heavy favorite in the three A final and we'll probably win it. So and I don't really I hate to keep using phrases like coin flip and stuff like that. I feel like this is I mean, yeah, I agree, you know, I feel I see Catholic, in my mind, might be the more talented team and has, you know, the explosive playmaker and the things that
you look for in a game like this to maybe gain separation. Oh man, it is so difficult to go against the Byron track record in games like this. I mean, we used to win games like this all the time. I mean, they did it last year fifteen to fourteen. I think was the final score if I remember correctly. Yeah, I mean the they it's Byron will slow the game like Byron knows they can't. They're not gonna outscore I see Catholic. If they get into the shootout, they're probably gonna
lose the game. But Byron knows if they slow the game down, which is what they want to do anyway, they're going to run the ball, control the clock, rely on what's always the salad defense, and in the fourth quarter half a shot to win the game. Yeah. I mean, that's that's really what they do. And uh and I They've shown it time and time again. They're not gonna get rattled if they if they fall behind, um and and have to you know, rally in the last minutes of
the game. So I don't know, sus. Can you hear the the obnoxious people out on my deck right now or on my front porch with a lawn a blower. I can hear it a little bit. Ye, Okay, if that is it overpowering, because we'll stop for now. Okay, if it gets work, just let me know we'll stop. Anyone's listening to the podcast wondering what's going on in the background. I live in a town
home in the ground crew, no matter what. So usually they come on Mondays when I'm doing UM the Bears podcast with Sean when we're doing it live. So of course they didn't come on Monday, but they found another time
when I'm recording a podcast. It's it's it's quite entertaining and it's incredible how often they're able to time it. UM anyway, So let's go ahead of My dogs will start barking at it, so you'll know it's the the the amusements of working from home in post COVID, Right, So let's go over to the South bracket, where you have another team into state semifinals as a repeat from last year in Tolono Unity, the fourth seed going to number three
Williamnum Up sorry Williamsville, and the Bullets are in no case a stranger of also being in the state semifinals. This is a matchup of two teams, two programs once again that are used to being in this position. It's another matchup where I expected to be incredibly incredibly close throughout. Yeah, I mean both of these two teams kind of have this pedigree of being able to get through things get it done. You know, Tolono kind of surprises me that
they're here. They avenge that loss to Prairie Central and last week's quarterfinals, but it doesn't really surprise me because Tolono Unity always seems like they're here. So when it comes right down to it, you got two programs that obviously had quite a bit success during the regular season and put themselves in this position on a regular basis. You know, I leaned towards Williamsville here, but
I would also accept and understand just about any result on the spectrum. Yeah, I mean, I think Williamville. The way the Bullets are playing right now, I really like the way the offense is looking. I think the Bullets win this game. But I do think it's gonna be pretty competitive throughout. Like I said earlier, sus Yeah, I do too. And it's just you know, it's hard to bet against either one of these two teams in their postseason pedigrees. You know, if Tolono wins it, we'll talk
about their struggles in the next round at that time. But as far as getting there, there are a few programs that are better that than Tolono is all right. One more class before we take a quick commercial break, and then Class four A. In the north bracket, you have number thirteen Providence, which pulled off the upset last week against Richmond Burnon and not only pulled off the upset but controlled that game throughout. They get another tough matchup going
to number three Saint Francis this week. A team suits. I've liked the Saint Francis team. I'll see and long. You know, it's it's weird because I had Richmond Burden as the favorite to make it to State in four A and Providence just beat them. So I should be taking Providence to win this game, but I find myself leaning towards Weed in Saint Francis. Here, Susan, Well, I'm gonna I'm gonna stop using the word upset in
connection to Providence' that's there. That's my personal motto for at least the next week or so. I'm just gonna stop doing it because they keep I don't know if they keep sticking it to me, but they keep showing me that they are a very, very sound football team. And sometimes I can't really
explain how this is getting done. It's just getting done. And that's when I look at this game, like if you would have asked me and said hypothetically, okay, because I mean, when you really look at the brackets, we weren't that far away from having this as a first round matchup. If you think about it, if this would have been a first round matchup in the playoffs, I wouldn't have blinked. I would have picked Saint Francis. I mean, I wouldn't even hesitated. Yeah. Now it's a whole
different thought process and conversation in my mind. And it's only been three weeks. So that's that's kind of the way that I look at it. It's it's definitely a game where I really like both teams. But I also I'm not a big believer in you know, oh, this team's got momentum, and this team's got you know, you know, all the all the intangibles on their side. I'm not a huge believer in that kind of stuff.
But there are isolated incidents where I do believe that it's it's credible and something that you have to consider, and I think if anyone qualifies under those grounds, it's providence. Right now, I feel, you know, I hate like momentum and that type of stuff too, But I do feel like at
the high school level it tends to carry a bit more weight. Yeah, And it's and I think some of it with Providence comes from a leadership position, because I don't know if I've ever seen someone, especially in their first year as a head coach more even keel than Tyler. Plants is like he is almost completely unflappable, and when he speaks about what his team does, it's almost like he one hundred percent expected all of this and it's just materializing
the way that he planned it to go. I mean, maybe maybe it's a little bit of a guys, but I don't know. Like I said, I don't know if I've ever come across somebody who, especially in their first year as a head coach, that just seems to handle everything that comes to him with just a complete calm. It's almost zen like I mean it is. It's it's really something. I mean that he just has a way that I think the kids have really responded to, and it's just it's been
kind of fun to watch, to be completely honest with you. So, I mean I'm picking Providence to win the games. I mean that's That's really what it comes down to. This is a fascinating game. I talk about this all the time. I would love to be able to clone myself on some of these playoff weekends because I want to go to multiple games. I'm going to a game that I'm really excited to see, but this I think would be number two on the list of games that I wish I could see
on Saturday. Yeah. Well, I mean Tyler, Tyler Plants may look unflappable. So if any of our listeners don't know, Tyler is a Providence grad that went on to play at the University of Notre Dame and ended up working his way up on the coaching staff there and had been an assistant until he was hired. And maybe the reason he feels it looked on flappable suits is if you've had to work under Brian Kelly, I can't imagine that you've
had a lot of scenarios where you haven't been costing a fire before. Yeah, I suppose that could be accurate. I mean, it's just like I said, he just he has a way about him that I can see would would be a potential situation for a high school athlete to be rare responsive to him, so and at definitely whatever he's doing, it is working because they have put together a really impressive playoff run and they are not eking these games out. I mean, they are winning them and winning them comfortably. I
kind of thought that it was possible that they would win last week. I did not think that I would be hopping in my car after the game that I was covering to discover Providence was ahead comfortably and essentially just winding out the clock in that game, Hunt. I did not think that was going to be as the scenario that came into play. So the recipe, the recipe for Providence has been pretty impressive. All right. On the south side of
the bracket, we had the up that we've all been anticipating. Here, as I mentioned earlier, we get one last matchup, one last Leonard Bull here with Rockchester number four Derek Leonard going up against his father Ken Leonard, who is retiring at the conclusion of the season, Number two Sacred Heart Griffin. It's it's a special matchup suits one. It's a matchup that I think football fans in Illinois always enjoy because it's two of the best programs in the
state. But anyone who who enjoys the history of high school football relishes this matchup and knows what it means, and anyone that knows that's had a chance to talk with both Derek and Ken over the years, it's just it's it's a fun matchup. It's a special matchup, is what I'm saying. Yeah, I mean, obviously I've been watching this for a while. From a
historical perspective, I'm excited. This is my first one that I've attended, so I've been in I've been floating around him for years in the situations like this when I thought I might be able to get to go to one, and I never have. So I'm glad that it's working out this way that I have a chance. You know, I become friendly with both of these coaches over the years. I'm obviously impressed with what they've done with both of
their programs. But they're both really, you know, really genuine people, so it's just kind of a fun situation for them, and it creates an environment that I mean, you almost never get in these types of situations where you know where if you are on the losing side of it, there seems to be genuine happiness for the person on the other side that actually won the game. So you know, sometimes that stuff feels insincere. That's definitely not
the case here. I talked a lot in the run up to the postseason with coach Leonard about a coaching n Lennard about his kind of hoping that his team might flide into the three A classification, not necessarily because he wanted to try to induct the competition in Foura I think of given the eye, and he would have played up to five to avoid this stact because he was concerned
about like the strife that it causes whoever doesn't win the game. So so it was it was really kind of interesting to have that conversation with him. Um, you know, it was that's why he was kind of hoping that it wouldn't come down to this, potentially maybe ending his long career on a loss to Rochester or ending Derek's season because he's a son for Christ's sake.
So um, it's just it's one of those things where you know, everybody loves the Leonard Bowl, especially when it comes into the playoffs, but I don't know if that family loves the Letter Bowl as much as everyone else is yeah, No, that's yeah, definitely, definitely understandable. I think everyone on the outside loves it. Um got to be a tense isn't the right word. Tense week for the Leonard family, but a conflicted week for the Yeah. Again, though, we're looking at a matchup where I expect to
see Rochester make this game a lot closer. And the other thing to note of that first meeting is it was week one. I mean, it was not just the fact that it was a long time ago, but Week one tends to be a little bit weird to begin with. It takes a while for teams to figure out what exactly they have, so I expect this to
be a much closer rematch. Well. And if there's anybody that I trust to go into their mad science laboratory and come up with something interesting to try to combat a team that it doesn't look like, I mean they have a really good chance against it's Derek Leonard, as inventive as they get in regards to attacking something that looks like maybe maybe they're not in the best position for so I would be I would be surprised if if we don't see some wrinkles
from Rochester and them closing the gap considerably from the first matchup with the two teams. I'm taking Facred Heart Griffin in this game. Suits, Are you willing to go to the other side? Are you coming with me here? I'm coming with you on this one. I just I can't see like I
realized that. I mean, they did get beat pretty handily in last year's four A final against jol a Catholic, but that entire roster practically returns from last year, and that was a pretty good football team in the grand scheme of things. They just ran into a superpower. I mean, that's that's as good a four A team that I think I've seen maybe in my lifetime in Joe a Catholic last year. So that's you know, that's what it comes down to, is I mean, this is a really this is a
really, really good Sacred Heart football team. Schweiker Gannison Krizak Rundio proudly sponsors the Friday Night Drive. I'm Mike Krizak. If you've been injured, we are ready to take on the insurance company and get you to the end zone. We've recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for clients visit GA N A S S I N that's count and now SEUs let's go ahead and talk about Class five A here or we're looking at a North matchup between number eleven Nazareth and
number one Sycamore. Sycamore playing incredibly well defensively coming off a shout out against Sterling last week, but this Nazareth team also playing really well. Not surprised to see it as an eleven seed find its way to the state semifinals. Yeah. I don't know what happened to cause them to flip the switch that at some point they were two and four during the regular season, and they have been on fire since then. I guess somebody maybe you know, told
them, hey, you know the year playoffs start now. I mean, it's it's one of those things that people talk about all the time. But since that happened and they dropped the two and four, this seems to have been a totally different football team. They have been pretty dominant in the playoffs.
They have done a nice job of of shutting off some extremely capable individual offensive players and it poses an interesting challenge here here with Sycamore, a team that you know, I've said repeatedly continues to convince me how good this football team really is. Uh, this is this is a five a semifinal that I think could be really really good. You know, we're just looking at two teams right now that I think are playing as well as they have been
all year long at the exact same time. And when you get those those types of games, uh, you usually get those epic struggles that I don't often say this because it's it's weird to make a call like this. Um, this game feels like an overtime game to me. I'm just it's just one of It's one of those that, like I'm thinking to myself, you know, I just feel like it's just going to come right down to the
wire. Yeah. And honestly, UM, I know now as it's been scoring some points over the last six weeks or so, but I expect that this to be a pretty low scoring game. Oh I do too. I mean, I would be really surprised if this this game had I guess, either team in the twenties. That's kind of what I feel like we're going to get here. Now, moving to the south side of the bracket, we're got a matchup between number three Peoria hosting number four Morris this weekend.
What do you think of this matchup? You know, it's very interesting. I mean when you look at at these two teams just individually and not necessarily up against one another, they each have things that really kind of pop for you. You look at what Morris has done in the majority of their games, how they've like really kind of like jumped out on teams and basically put
their boot on people's throats. And I mean they've they've forced multiple games this year to go into the running clock when you're coming out for the second half. That doesn't happen very often. This is a team that can score in bunches. They make a lot of plays on special teams. And then you look at Peoria down there in the bottom and they've scored a ton of points.
And that's something that Peoria has done a lot recently, but they're kind of doing it in a little bit of a different way than they've done in the past. Peorias, you know, in the past, has been kind of a team that you would, I guess they've been classified as being fun and gun, where they throw the ball all over the field and run when the passing game has opened up running lanes for them, um, and just do a lot of things you know, very well offensively. This is more
of a smash mouth version of Peoria football. Um. You know, their lead running back at forty kerries last week. It's so odd to see, you know. It's so it's it's it's definitely not what you You look at their scores and you think it's typical Peoria football, It's not. And that's the thing about them. They've done a really nice job of not trying to put you know, a wear pag into a round hole. They fit their
personnel, They're using what they have to the best of their abilities. Um, and that makes them a very interesting team in this type of situation. This is this is yet another I think of all the groupings, I think the five A semi finals are the most interesting to me in terms of the individual matchups between the two teams. How I think they are there there are two teams here that are kind of similar in a lot of ways and do a lot of the same things, and the keys for both teams are kind
of the same things. So Razor Edge kind of marketing both of these games. Yeah, So it's it's I think that makes for obviously some some very interesting games to try to break down, but also some very interesting games to watch. So, um, you know, I really think either one of these two teams could end up in Champagne. Um, and that my gut I'm picking Morris, but that's that's really just a gut pick. I'm on the same page as you. I I like the way this Piora team is
playing. I think it sets up better than it normally would for them against Morris. Like if they were still this this kind of throw it all over the field game against Morris and the postseason, I would think that would actually hurt them. But the fact that they're running the ball effectively like this, I actually think it makes this a more competitive game. Yeah. And that and that's definitely one of those situations where you're looking at fit and how teams
are considering the weather conditions and all these other things. Um, you know, I've seen Pioria deep in the playoffs before with their with their you know, offense where they will so I don't know, can you see that zeus? Yeah, So anyone who doesn't know, obviously you can't. You can't see what we're doing as we're recording the podcast. Um at this point you
probably trade it out. I'm having some internet issues as well as people outside my apartment, so I'm sitting on the floor next to the modem and the dog has come over to join the podcast here. So as we move over to Class six A, sus we're gonna look at a matchup in the north
bracket between number four Saying Ignatious and number two Prairie Ridge. And so this is a matchup here between two triple option teams, and Prairie Ridge has been the favorite pretty much all season long in the north bracket of six A. With the way things were setting up, that continues to be the case. And I think the Wolves are a fairly substantial favorite for this game. But a couple of interesting wrinkles is the fact that Saying Ignatius not just as playing
well, but playing really well defensively. And I think the fact that they know the triple options so well running the system themselves, that helps a lot. You know, we see this in the postseason so often where teams faith pr or Kerry Grove and when they don't see the dog down there, and when they when they don't know the triple option, it makes it a lot more difficult, But when you're at least familiar year, I mean that should
help saying ignacious quite a bit in this matchup series. You know, I'm not sure if I agree that pray Ridge is a substantial favorite in this game. Interesting. I do think they're the favorite, but I think i'd probably remove that substantial label from it. I Okay, when I say substantial, and I we should, I should frame it in this way, so like
substantial in a regular season might mean thirty or fully points. When we're talking about state semifinal, I think this is probably more of like a two score game. Okay, that's fair, and I don't I don't know if it's
that wide. That's This is a Saint Ignatious team that I think does what they do very well, and I just have a sneaking suspicion that while I understand he's run for a billion yards this year, I just think that that Saint Ignatious will have a better understanding of how they can hem him in and they have justin Scott, so I have a feeling he's going to cause some problems. So, I mean, there are things here that I think that
give saying just a little bit of a leg up. Like you said, a lot of teams don't have the familiarity with this they do I do. I think this game is maybe a little bit more interesting on paper than a lot of people are giving a credit for him. Yeah, I'm happy you brought up Justin Scott because I was gonna make share to mention him. Anyone who's going out to see that game this week and it's the first time I'm
gonna have a chance. I'm gonna go over and watch that game on Saturday, the first time I'm gonna have a chance to lay eyes on Justin Scott, who is a defensive end comes in and about what six five, three ten, somewhere in that range, I want to say, is the top
rated recruit in the twenty twenty four class in the state of Illinois. Has just about an offer from every major Division one program that you can think of, if you can name, it's a good chance they've at least talked with the kids, So that definitely can play a fact in the game's use. Yeah, And like I said, it's it's definitely an X factor type of
situation in this game. So I'm sure prayer Rich will have a game plan for how how to deal with him, because obviously this is a program that comes into every situation as prepped as they can be, but sometimes the best laid plans. So, like I said, I think this is a pretty interesting game. I'm interested to see how it plays out. It never surprises
me with Prayer Ridge in the postseason when they have success. So once again, if you're right on that and this is a wide outcome wouldn't be particularly stunning. I just think maybe Sainty Nastius has a potential to throw a little bit of a monkey wrench in there. Yeah, and one more thing before we move on. Joe Stevenson previewing Prayer Ridge and talked with pr coach Chris
Trump and talked about the improvement. Well, the biggest concern I had for the Wolves heading into the postseason was their defense, and it struggled over the second half of the season really throughout. But I had anticipated to get stronger. Um it kind of hadn't though. Honestly, it was rough even into the first round of the playoffs. And I know that was a matchup, a rematch against Crystal Lake's outlet. Like South moved that ball against Prairie Ridge.
They tied it up over the last couple of weeks. Um, I think that's a good sign. They have to get better defensively for this matchup. But all right, so let's let's go to the south bracket of Class six A where you have East Saint Louis against Lamont, and it's it's it's it's so weird to say because here you go, Lamont, the top seed has been tremendous all season long, and then you're like, congrats, you made it to the state semifinals. Now you get to face an absolute juggernaut
in in East Saint Louis. Have fun, buddy. Yeah, It's it's just one of those things that you know, you know, it's kind of inevitable. I keep thinking back when I look at this game, back all the way to before the season started. I was at a preseason event before the year started, and I was sitting at a table with Lamont's safety Noah Taylor, and we got to talking about, like, you know, what
was going on, and we talked about some of the early games. It took him all of about a minute to ask, how good is he Saint Louis, And how do you think the bracket plays out? In sixth heay, So that was just with me in a casual conversation in August. So the Lamont kids I think won this game. They knew this game was probably coming if things played out the way that they expected that they were going to play. But even though they want it, they want the opportunity to prove
themselves. They know the behemoth that is coming to Lamont, They're well aware of what it is and how good this football team is. Still want the opportunity to challenge themselves against them. So it's a it's a shame for Lamont in a lot of ways. They got knocked out of the postseason and similar circumstances last year by the same EAS Saint Louis team. Yep, um gave
him a pretty good game. Um probably, I mean, obviously they see Saint Louis didn't lose in the championship game, but to that point, maybe the best game that EAS Saint Louis had had all season. Um. So, I think they know in the backs of their minds that they play really,
really really well. They can compete with this team, but it's gonna take a curriculian effort for them to remove the Flyers from this playoff bracket because you know, they don't have Luther Burden anymore, but they have just about everything else. Yeah, that's well, that's what I would. What's what's so fun funny about East Saint Louis this year is Yeah, they lost Luther
or Burden. They lost. Um, I'm blanking on the kid's name, the defensive back to Toriano Pride that No, No, that's the the right that's one of them. Yes, okay, well he I mean like he graduated right, Yeah, he was at he went to Clemson. So like you lose, you lose players that went to Missoo and Clemson off that team that was in a state title game last year. And I think this Seat St. Louis team is better than it was last year, just because they
were actually pretty young overall last year. And I just think the maturation, like this team I think is a more complete team than they were a year ago. Well, the thing that always gets kind of lost in the shuffle when you're talking about East Saint Louis is there one Illinois High School Football Coaches Association All stater is an offensive lineman. The supernova that is Miles McVeigh,
who's going to Alabama legitimately superstar. Here's the fun thing about them. The honorable mentioned list from the Ellini High School Football Coaches Association also includes two more offensive linemen from East Saint Louis. So it's I mean, they don't talk about that. That offensive line is massive. I honestly think you could take it off of the East Saint Louis line and put it on some Division one college football lines and maybe improve that team situation. I'm not talking about Big
ten or anything like that. I'm just talking about maybe a lower rung D one team. If you took all five of the Saint Louis's offensive lineman and plug them in and gave them a couple of weeks to get acclimated, you might improve your situation. That's how good this offensive line is, part by part. So I mean people don't even talk about that. I mean that's you didn't get caught up in the offensive numbers and all these other things.
They've They've thrown three consecutive shutouts in the playoffs. I could go on and on about this team. I think, honestly, you know, pound for pound, I mean, if they play their best football game, I don't know if anybody in Ellinois can beat them. That's really what it comes down to. Yep, we're on the same page. So let's go ahead and get over to class seven eight where we have Mount Carmel uh facing Saint Rita,
which is h There's a lot to unpack here. So first off, let me say, Michael dwel Jack go to Friday Night Drive dot com right now and Remichael's CCLESCC notebook. A ton of information about a ton of team in there from that that league, UM, and he hits on this matchup. It is the hundred meeting was the season opener for these two teams. UM, but they get another match up here. Uh. Todd Cousca retiring or stepping down in same Rita at the end of the year. A lot
of interesting storyline for this matchup series. Yeah, there are. I mean I was talking to coach Cusca before the seasons or before the postseason started, UM, and I was kind of explaining to him what I thought, what I kind of forecasted for them in regards to the playoffs, and he's like, well, hopefully we'll have a chance to make another run at it and maybe get another crack at malt Carmel, And that was kind of how our conversation wrapped up. That was four weeks ago, and here we are,
they get another crack at Moult Carmel. He didn't sound extremely excited about that possibility, but I think nonetheless he wanted another chance. So um, that was that was kind of what I remember about that at the time. But you know, this is a game that that is fun in a lot of way. I'm interested to see I actually get to watch this one because I'm gonna tape it because the Marquee is starting their broadcast of them of high school
football games this weekend. It was something that's kind of been anticipated that they were going to do eventually. They're starting with a pretty good one. So that semifinal game is available on the Marquee Network on Saturday afternoon. So taping that one, I plan on watching it when I get home from the game that I will be at. So um, you know, so that that should be interesting. Uh. Mount Carmel. Obviously, the way they're playing
right now still remains a pretty substantial favorite. Um. But still you can never you never discount anyone when you get one of these Marquee Catholic week matchups together. I like that you dated yourself and really myself here by saying that you're taping it instead of recording it. Yeah, I mean that's the I was talking with Stevenson the other day and we had a conversation about tape and video. That's that's Uh, that's definitely one of the one of the misnomers
of being old man like I tend to be sometimes. Yeah, I mean Saint Rita playing really well. I'm not gonna lie. I did not expect to see the Broncos coming into the season. Like once we got in the postseason, I'm not shocked to see this team here. Umie, what's that you call them the Broncos? They're the Mustangs? Oh the Mustang? Sorry, uh it was I knew it was a type of horse. Come on. Uh So going into this season, honestly, like I thought Saint Rita
was gonna take a bit of a step step back. Um, but they really solidified that that that roster um over the course of the season and they've been humming come to the postseason. So while I think Mount Carmel is they considerable favorite in this game, um, I do think that they will give them a better effort than we saw back in week one. Yeah, I do too, and that's you know, that comes from a lot of factors.
But uh, you know, Mount Carmel was kind of a bit of a buzz saw to another Catholic League Brother and last week and Brother Rice. But I think the Clamps get down a little bit tighter this week. Still favor Amount Carmel to win the game, but I do think it will be competitive. So all right, let's move on to or to the next game. Here, Patavia the eighteen seed at number eleven, Lake Zurich. I want to start with lake Zurich because this is a team doing some research on
them for to do the podcast today. It was interesting because my thing with lake Zurich, and really it's kind of the same thing with Warren, is they're very good defensive teams that I always worry when when they get behind against top competition that they're not going to be able to score quick enough to have
a pretty much a dynamic enough offense to get back in the game. So they were down twenty one to seven against Peak and last weekend they had a special teams play a return for a touchdown which got them back within twenty one fourteen, So that's not an offensive play, but they really took control of that game at that point and were able to build a lead peak and actually scoring late, went for two to try and tie it to force overtime.
But where I'm going with all this is that gave me a lot of more confidence that lake Zurich has the potential or has the ability suites even if they were to fall behind in this game against Patavia. And I'm not saying that's going to be the case, because I think this is going to be a tremendously competitive game though, But if they do fall behind against Patavia, I don't think that means it's over. I think lake Zurich has the tools this
year to be able to come back and win a game. Yeah, It's definitely something that I've kind of noticed through throughout their run through the playoffs. They've now shown an ability, especially with that you can win, to kind of morph themselves into the situation that they need to morph themselves into. A lot of times, when you get a team with that defense first label on them, it's hard to worry about the constructive Okay, what happens if they
get behind fort You know what do they do can they come back? And I think that's something that Lakes There can do in this situation. You know, I just kind of think that this is gonna be a punching bag game. It's like, hey, you throw a punch at me, I'll throw one back, and we'll just keep going back and forth and see where we're at the fourth quarter. That's just kind of what I feel like this game is going to be. That might mean that we're we're ten to seven or
seven all. I mean, I can see that being a potential Supario here. But nonetheless, I have a feeling it's going to be one of those games where nobody really gets entrenched and says, Okay, we're gonna we're just gonna throw grate our way to this victory. That I don't really see that happening. It's it's a very weird little undercurrent circumstances. Lakes direc has one loss, it's two Saint Charles North. One of Behavia's losses during the regular
season is also the Saint Charles North. You don't have that happen very often when you get to a semifinal where you know, if they're not from the same conference, where they have a common opponent that does not happen very often. All right, we got one more class. We want to get you. Actually, I you know what, I don't think we let's let's I didn't make a pick there, um, so I'm gonna make it a little more clear. I'm taking Batavia in the game, but I think it's gonna
be close. Sious, I am also taking part. All right, one more class ago um and I just got an email. Suits Uh, the Airbnb reservation for State football was confirmed. Uh, so we have a We'll have a ton of people down at State Football for Friday Night Drive. But there's four of us in particular that are staying for all eight games on the weekend. Myself, Steve Susy, Alex Kentecki, and Michael Dwojack will be
down in Champagne. So trying to find an hotel room. I'm sure people listening to this, no this, It's hard to find hotel rooms in Champagne for State football that aren't incredibly expensive. But I was messing around on Airbnb and found this nice renovated home and pretty close to the stadium. So we got the Friday Night Drive house for the weekend. That'll be fun suits that
should I'm looking forward to that. That is always a good time on State final week, but weekend, but you know, having the opportunity to hang out with the rest of the staff that we don't obviously we don't run. We don't cross physical cross paths very much during the regular season because we're all
out of our own individual games. Yeah, so all right, one class to go here, Class eight A, and we're looking at a matchup here on top of the bracket in the well, I guess not the North and half and eight A, but the top team in the bracket here, Glenbard West, the five seat at number one. Lincoln Way East sues another matchup, and I'm really happy to say this about our semifinals. For the most part, man, these are a game where I have a really tough time
deciphering who I want to take. And while I think Lincoln Way East is tremendous deserves all the credit, this Glenbard West team is playing really tough football right now. Yeah they are. And it's you know, I've talked about this a little bit in the past. For me, like and I'm trying to be mindful of this one. I watched them play. I don't think I've appreciated Lincoln Way East properly, like for this entire season, Like Eve, how good they are at what they do and how they do that.
I mean, it's it's just you know, they're not flashy, but they just do everything so well. And I'm like, you don't. You don't find a lot of situations where you're looking at a team and you're like, I think the opponent can do this to possibly, you know, take advantage of this. There's just not a lot of those things, you know. I mean, and I never know how they're going to eventually break away from
somebody. I just know that they're going to and that's It's it's very kind of it's very kind of strange trying to analyze this football team because they're gonna figure it out. You just don't know how they're going to figure it out. Something's something's going to come to the forefront. They just have so many things that might do it. It's like, I mean, I was watching
that game against Warren, which they completely dominated that game. I mean it looks on the score, I mean it was thirty five fourteen at the end of the game. The gap seemed much much wider. I mean, it just it was a complete dismantling by lincoln Way East Warren. Warren couldn't do anything offensively, and it was just like every time I looked up, it was a different lincoln Way East defender that was causing the problem. It wasn't
one guy that was that was blowing up everything. It was on this play, it was kaid Nor Rourke. On this play, it was Jake Siana. I mean, it was just like it was like all over the field, everybody's doing their jobs and that's they They just have this lunch bucket mentality about them. They don't care if it's twenty one, twenty or forty two, nothing, it does not matter. W is all we care about and we're going to try to do the best we can to make sure that that
happens. So it's it's just a really good football team. And it's I don't, like I said, I don't think I've really appreciated them as much as I should have. As for Glenbard West, I haven't seen them since week one. I was extremely impressed with them in week one in their win over Marist, and it just when I look at just having visual knowledge of both of these two teams. I'm fascinated to see how this plays out, Just truly completely fascinated to see, you know, how each team kind of
combats what the other team has. I don't know if link Away East has had a pretty good defensive effort all year long. I don't know if they've they've squared locked horns with an offensive line that is as talented as Glenbard West's and as big as Glenbard West believe it or not. Chris Terrick on the outside is the main component, but it's just it's a very good offensive line. They have a running back who's kind of kind of been converted into that
running back position in Julius Ellens, who's really really good. It's just there's just a lot of things here that that could potentially make this a really really interesting game. And uh, you know, I could make a list, but we'll be here all afternoon. Yeah, the Glenbard West, you know, the offensive line, and it really the explosiveness of the offense of the Glenbard West offense is something that Lincoln Way East hasn't seen a ton this year.
Like I look back through their schedule, I mean, um, and the only time. I really look at a game where I felt like they like it was a game where Lincoln Way East had to keep scoring, right, was that bowling Brook game? And they but even then I'm pretty sure they you covered that game. They controlled that game, right, like, yeah, no question it was. It was one of those situations where you're saying that Lincoln Way East had to keep scoring, they could keep scoring,
Yeah, they couldn't. It was literally gives give us the ball, will go score. The job for bowling Brook in that situation was you need to match us because we're going to keep scoring. You can't stop us. And they couldn't. That's I mean, And I think that I'm drawing a blank. I think that we're stopped one time the entire game, and so it might have been half time. And I think that's a good thing for them, because what I'm saying is that I think this is by far the most
dynamic offense Lincoln Way East has seen on the year. I think they're going to have to score a lot in this game. I actually think this game is going to be fairly high scoring. I want to say that, like, you know, particularly for an eight A game, I think we see a lot of lower scoring games when you get to the eight A semifinals and stay championship game. But I think this is a game that you could see
it end up being thirty five to thirty one on something like that. Yeah, And I think in order for that to happen, I mean, I think one of the things that falls on Glenbard West here is they kind of maybe have to go back to their roots a little bit in this game. Usually you look at this team as being a defensive minded type of program that
hasn't meant as much the case this year. Glenbard West is going to need to get some stops here they if they really need to, because if you let Lincoln Way East to get themselves into a groove, they'll they're more than content to just squeeze eight minutes of clock on you and and end it with a you know, a two yard touchdown run. They'll do it, and they don't care, and they'll they'll keep doing it until you demonstrate that you you can stop it in some capacity, and right now, just based on
Glenbard West results, I don't know if they can. So it's I mean, that's in my mind for Glenbard West to be in this game, they're gonna have to get a couple of defensive stops, preferably early, just to demonstrate to lincoln Way East that they can do it, because if they can't, Lincolnway East will will put them through the meat grinder like they've put everyone else on their schedule. At this point, I think that's pretty clear that
you're taking lincoln Way East. I'm leaning that way as well. As much as I really actually like that, I'm really close to picking Glenbard West to win this game. I really really like the way this team is playing, but lincoln Way East it's just too strong for the way. Like for me to sit here and say that I expect Glenn Martin West or I'm taking Glynn
bart West, I think would be would be over the top. So like, I'm taking lincoln Way East, but at in no way would I'd be surprised to see Glynn Marble West pull off the upset here, I'm inclined to agree with you. I mean, it's it's one of those situations where lincoln Way East, in my mind, has not really had a lot of games where they have been pushed. So what happens if they are you know what happens, maybe they make a mistake or two early on and have to rally.
I mean, I don't know the answers to any of these questions because they really haven't been pressed. So I mean, that's that's I mean, what happens when that happens. Maybe it doesn't happen. Maybe maybe they just keep doing this. But um, you know, if the breaks don't go their way early, what is the response to that? You know, if they have to rally, if they have to. You know, I have some questions about their ability to move the ball vertically quickly because they really have
not have had to do that very much. So you know, if it's it's a game and where that needs to get done, can they do it? Um? You know, is that is that something that's in their bag?
Maybe it is and we just haven't seen it, but um, it's it's definitely a game where I think there might be some scenarios playing out where Lincoln Waste has to go a little bit deeper in their playbook than maybe they have all season all right, one game to finish it up here, suits we got number six Loyola at number two York, you got the Ramblers. Loyola um, doing what they have to. They get the run game going, getting getting help from multiple pieces there in the run game, and York
a team that just continues to prove itself suits. Yeah. I mean, this is a game that, like on paper, you look at it and you say, Okay, well, I think Loyola is probably gonna win the game. And I'm not saying that I don't necessarily believe that, but I just have a real problem like discounting York here and their their capability to possibly also win the game. It's York just continues to get things done, and I think they're just gonna make this very very interesting. It's more of a
gut instinct than anything else. But York all season long has has taken these challenges and some of them haven't been pretty, and some of them have been really kind of close calls. But if this is a close game, I kind of lean towards York just because they've had those experiences and most of them have been positive. Wow. So if they can stay in this, they can stay in the realm of making this a competitive game. You know, I think York is better already prepared to deal with a you know, a
competitive game. So I'm gonna pick Loyola, but it's more like I'm picking Loyola. If that makes sense. I mean, that's that's that's that's where I'm coming from. It's you know, I think this has the potentially be a close game, and if it turns into that reality, um, I think York is better prepared to play in a back and forth sort of hey decide, you know, let this decide it for us. And I also think York's defense probably hasn't gotten the respect that it deserves. I think they
potentially can force this to be a competitive game. So, yeah, York has been the team all year. Like you go back to the regular season, they finished nine year old. But like middle of the season they beat Lions. I'm like, okay, they beat Lion, but they're not gonna beat Glenbard West next week. Then they beat Glenbard West. Then you get to the playoffs, I'm like, oh, wow, they actually got by Merits in the second round. That's really good. I don't think they're gonna
get by Palotine next week though. Then they go out and only give up ten points of Palotine. It's like, yeah, if they just keep proving that they are an elite team that needs to be taken seriously. So yeah, I completely agree with you. I'm taking Loyola to win the game. But again, I can't discount York at all. Yeah, yep, all right, give us some final thoughts and we'll get out of here. Man.
Well, you know, it always seems to be this way, and you can say it on almost any playoff year, but it really looks like we have a fascinating semi final weekend on tap here. A lot of great matchups, a lot of teams that I think are so evenly matched that picking games is almost foolish in this particular round, because you know they could go one way or another. So just looking forward to seeing how it all ferrets out and seeing which sixteen teams are going to be making that trip to Champagne
next weekend. Absolutely, we're looking forward to bringing all that coverage to you at Friday Night Drive dot Com over the weekend. Stick right there now, we're gonna go ahead and sign off though for Kyle Neighbors, I am for Stieve Susy, I am Kyle Neighbors. We will talk to you next week. Everyone, Enjoy semi final weekend. Schweiker Gannison Krizak Rundio proudly sponsors to
Friday Night Drive. I'm Mike Krizak. If you've been injured, we are ready to take on the insurance company and get you to the end zone. We've recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for our clients. Visit GA nassi n dot com.