The Friday Night Drive podcast, is we recap week one of the twenty twenty four IHSA football season on that little world as always with Steve Sussi. What a weekend we got to witness quite the lidlifter for the both of us.
Yeah, absolutely, just it was one of those situations where there were quite a few games that you weren't sure what you were going to get. But especially with the game that ended my weekend, if you would have told me that that's what the score would have been and that's what would have happened, I probably would have laughed
at you. So it's always very interesting to start to get some answers to the myriad of questions that we have heading into the Illinois high school football season, and it was certainly a fun week to be had.
Yeah, we're gonna get to a chunk of this podcast discussing the Flyers, the High Flyers and what they did to Loyla. But let's take a total look at the weekend because week one is always fun because you have the occasional Thursday night on a appetizer and we got a good one with Mount Carmel. It feels like forever ago now and then a great Friday night slate, A Saturday night or Saturday afternoon and night slate that did not disappoint with Batavian Gloomberg West followed by East Saint Louis.
Just how much fun was it? And you were at plenty of games? What were the crowds looked.
Like to you? Pretty solid? I mean, I guess the Saturday night one was a little bit less than I thought it would be, But other than that, everywhere I went seemed to have healthy and ready to watch some football fans.
You got your first taste of Mount Carmel's facility. I will have to do that too, because it's still on my list. I have not been there, so looking forward to, especially after your rate reviews of what it looked like for you on Thursday night, East Saint Louis with a dominant performance of Loyal at Hancock Stadium. They start the season there, they want to end the season there, and Susie, you know, I tell you what. That performance left me no doubt that they'll be playing Thanksgiving weekend.
Well, it certainly looked like it. I mean, when you went through watching that game, and especially when you consider the opponent on the other side, that is that is an incredibly talented football team, and to be honest with you, I didn't know what we were going to get coming out of the Flyers. They had lost some key pieces, some guys that had been there for a really long time, and you'd gotten kind of used to having them around, you know. I didn't know what we were going to
get from their quarterback play. And in reality, it turned out that young man Kendall Vender played a really nice game just in the sense of, Hey, if you're gonna give me this, I'm gonna take it. He didn't try to do too much and allowed the athletes that they have on the outside just get them the ball and let them do the work. I mean, it seemed like
a really simple, fundamental game plan. But I guess you're kind of used to East Saint Louis these big, flashy, over the top plays, and they got one of those in the first half. They they took the top off the defense for about an eighty yard touchdowns or but for the most part, it was a very patient and
disciplined East Saint Louis offensive attack. That not to say that they haven't been capable of doing this before, but it really just looked like they were ready for whatever loyal they'll plan to throw at them, and Loyola seemed tentative,
and I understand why they were tentative. You can't really guard those guys really tight because they'll do what they what they can do, they'll go right past just so you're kind of in a catch twenty two if East Saint Louis is willing to take the short stuff, and they were on Saturday night.
It's a comfortability with this Flyers team. Again.
The last time they were on that field, they got dominated by Kerry Grove and they had to sit with that knowing that their first game would be right back on that field. And I would imagine that those young guys, especially that youth that was up front a year ago, those sophomores, they're now juniors, and I imagine that there was a feeling of we're on a mission to prove ourselves from what we did last year or what was done to us in the title game.
Then did you get that sense from that defense?
For sure?
I mean, I know there's a lot of speed, but I would imagine there's probably a mission aspect to this too.
Well. The one thing about it that was notable about the defense. I knew the secondary would be good, but that both of the defensive ends for East Saint Louis were just blowing up everything like it didn't matter what side of the field Loyola ran too. It just seemed like there was an East Saint Louis defender waiting to take that play apart, and they did it all night long. They didn't miss any assignments. They were just clean as day. And the other thing that kind of stood out to me.
I don't want to say that, I feel like East Saint Louis has been tentative because what has happened to them in state finals in the past, but it felt like a little bit of that old school East Saint Louis swagger was back again. Yeah, it felt like they were playing with a level of confidence that maybe they haven't the last couple of times that they've gone into those state championship games. It just kind of felt like that. It felt like there were, you know, one of one
of East St. Louis's guys that played really well. Christopher Bennett can't be any more than five foot seven, but he plays like he's about six foot eight. I mean, he just plays with a confidence that that you you've gotten to know from kind of past East Saint Louis themes that knew they were good, believe they were good, and look forward to showing you how good they are.
So they're going to be in Class six A. And what teams probably took notice the most, maybe one of them being the one I saw Friday night and Carrie Grove, because if they have any visions of doing what they did last year, that the the the alteration of that probably was was definitely noticeable Saturday night.
Well, I would imagine that's definitely true in terms of who's who's keeping an eye out. But you know, I think there's just gonna there's a lot of raised eyebrows no matter what classification you're in. That would when it really came down to it, because you're looking at Loyola, who had won nineteen consecutive games back to back Class
eight state state tie. Their only loss over the past two seasons has been one lost to Mount Carmel and Week nine of two years ago, everybody came in believing that that was the best team in the state entering the entering that Saturday night game, that was the common thread you could make maybe a little bit of an argument that the basic consensus was it was Loyola, and then we left Saturday night believing that we had seen the number one team, but it was the team on
the other side of the sideline.
Is this a good thing for Loyola overall because they have not had adversity like that going into week two or any week really in a long time.
Well, I wasn't able to complete my little statistical project yet this weekend, but I wanted to look into it. I can't remember the last time Loyola and Mount Carmel were both zero to one heading into week two. You know that I wasn't able to find the correct answer to it. I gotta dig further and see if I can drill down and see if it's ever happened for that matter. So but yeah, definitely puts a little bit of an interesting wrinkle on it. And you look at
the calendar. I mean, they go to Doucheon Field and play Glenbard West next week. I wouldn't want to be the team that has to play Loyola coming off a loss and looking the way that they did in that game against the Saint Louis, because that is that was not the Loyola product that I was accustomed to seeing. And I'm sure they're looking forward to the opportunity to write a whole bunch of those wrongs as soon as possible.
Loyola drops to Owen one and they'll face Blumbard West also one. Because what Batavia did to them at Doucheon Field on Saturday, I believe you were able to get a little bit a look at that one. But either way, Batavia they have some speed, they have some power, They've got a running back, and they have some new weapons out there. They're a little more they feel a little more balanced than maybe they have been in previous seasons.
On the offensive side of the football.
Well, it was actually kind of interesting because it was it's definitely a little bit of a work in progress for Batavia. They have a new quarterback that it seems like Ryan bow has been at Batavia for about five or six years, which really has so, I mean, he wasn't there. So they're breaking in a new quarterback, and it seemed like at times they were they were trying to ease him in to, you know, into the starting
varsity quarterback experience. Not exactly the kind of defense that you want to try to ease yourself into with a Glenbard West defense on the other side. But they, you know, they actually did something that I can't remember the last time Batavia had done. They put most of the offense on their lead running back. I mean, he ended up with thirty plus carries in the game, and and just that that's something that you're not accustomed to seeing from Batavia.
They tend to spread it around, and maybe that's something that developed over the course of the season, but they really want into workhorse mode, especially in the second half, to make sure that they fended off Glenbard West at the end. They controlled that game most of the way,
but Glenbard West just kept hanging around, hanging around. They had a little bit of alligator blood in that one, but a couple of things really kind of broke it open for them quite possibly the best on side kick I've ever seen at the high school level that they recovered. I mean, this was an absolute beauty. I mean, they should use this in instructional videos. Glenbard West. Glenbard West muffed a punt inside of their own ten yard line,
so that led directly to a Batavia touchdown. Gave at the time Batavia two touchdown lead, but Glenbard West fought back, fought back into the game, played well in the second half, got a huge return from the Mason Ellens to kind of spark them, but got underneath two minutes they got they turned the ball over on downs, but they were probably at about the thirty five yard line of Batavia
trying to go in. But Batavia won the football game, but did it in a little bit different fashion than than you're used to from Batavia.
He used to seeing some speed running backs from Batavia when you go literally twenty years back with Batavia. But Nathan Whitwell kind of a different animal with a one hundred and seventy nine yards in the ground. I loved your note of him being a four hundred sprinter because that's just a different.
Kind of speed when you get out in the open. He is just not.
Going to relinquish any sort of a gap of defenders chasing him, and that's something that's certainly going to help Batavia's offense. For Glenburg westy, is it me or do they feel younger than they had been in years past going in and this schedule means they're gonna have to grow up quite a bit in these next two weeks.
Well, I was looking at I guess I knew this, but I had kind of forgotten, especially with the Loyola Week two game coming up next week. They also have Downers Grove North and a very good kind of flying under the radar Lions team in the first four weeks of the season that I'll put that schedule. We talked a lot about the Catholic League schedule on how strong
that is. I'll put that Glenbard West schedule up against anybody in the state over the first four weeks of the season, and on top of that, there's some landmines later on too, So it's that is a you know, that's a schedule right now that I look at before the season and I think to myself, that's a fifty five point schedule. And if you don't know what I'm talking about, like, fifty is a whole heck of a
lot of playoff points. Fifty five is otherworldly, Like you don't maybe one two teams in the state will put up that many playoff points at the end of the day, at the end of nine weeks, and Glenbard West looks like they have that kind of strength.
And I know Chad Hecklett is not thinking like this, but I'll just put the scenario out there. What this does is it gives you breathing room save for goodness sakes that you gets them to zho to four and then they stumble later and it's four and five. All those playoff points put you in the playoffs, I would say, pretty much, Garret Garantee at this point of where we've seen the playoff picture of the last two or three years, and then the new public league rules which will talk
of nauseaum here in later weeks of the season. But you schedule this kind of schedule to give yourself breathing room. Yes you want to grow, Yes you want to win, but if you don't, it's okay because you're learning big games so that when you get down Nazareth's style to you know, go at a prairie ridge, Well, all of a sudden they've got a problem, and then you're on your way to a state title at nine and five.
Yeah, it's one of those it's one of those things now that are that's in play, and it's it's definitely a situation where, yes, you don't want to play a schedule so difficult that you've beaten yourself down during the
regular season. But then again, if you are forced into that situation, you do have to give yourself a little bit of a little bit of a respite and a little bit of a pause, saying, hey, if it does, if we do to accept some losses early in the season, if we can make it to four, I think we're
still going to get in. And I think we're a battle tested enough team to where even though you might be a four and five team and have a very high seed, I mean, one of those top seeds does not want to see you on the other side of that bracket. So it's definitely kind of a little bit
of a catch twenty two. But it might be a situation, and in the long run, it prepares a team like Glenbard West pretty well for whatever level of playoff they end up in, whether it be seven or eight, they're always a bubble team.
Can you imagine four and five Blumbard West facing off against a nine to zero Barrington That will not be That's the last thing that the Broncos would want to see. Well, we'll get to some of the impressive teams and leagues that we saw. But first off, before we get to the other ones, I want to stay with the Tavia because they and the Duke Kne did a serious number They've got. They got some late wins weak North and
Saint Charles North, but some dominant performances as well. Lake Park got a big win Saint Charles North of course, getting that exciting win. Who didn't I didn't have Geneva getting putting a sixty three burger on Larkin. I knew they'd be good, but not sixty three points better. There's what do you make of the Dukene so far, other than the fact that poor Saint Charles East is being Minnesota right now, the only one that didn't win but still put forty points on the board.
Yeah, I mean, and they appeared to have played pretty well in that game as well, losing to a Lincoln Way Central team that was the second round playoff team last year, so not exactly losing to a slouch there. But you mentioned the Geneva situation. They scored five touchdowns in the first quarter. I mean it was it was their starting quarterback only played a quarter, went six for seven with four touchdowns and of almost two hundred yards. Passing.
So I mean, Geneva is looking like they are ready to make that next step and get themselves into the conversation as one of the elite teams in the classification that they're in. So, you know, with Geneva and everybody in that conference, and I've talked about this a lot lately the last couple of years, it feels like every week once we get into the Dukene Conference schedule, there's at least one game that comes down to the wire,
maybe goes to overtime. I feel like we're gonna have so many of those, and it's just a situation where we have to consider that. I mean there's teams we're not even talking about. I thought Wheaton Warrenville South had a good day as well, So I mean on top of Wheaton North, top of a prominence team that a
lot of people like. Granted it was a fourth down play in the last second, but eventually you start to make a list here and you've got five or six teams that you think are definitely playoff caliber, and the math ain't mathing. If you start really breaking down, you know, some of these teams are gonna have to lose some conference games, like potentially you could have one of those situations where the conference champion loses one game in the
league play, maybe even loses two. I mean, that's how deep this conference is, where you've got to start figuring out like a four way tie or something like that. I mean, I really conceivably could see that. And it's strange for some of those teams that not necessarily saying that they're going to finish at the bottom, but like Lake Park got a solid win, but they have a mountain to climb just to get to the middle of the pack in right way right now. So that's it's
really really the depth there is really really impressive. And then you've got, you know, someone like Wheat and Warnville South that maybe has been a little bit back the last couple of years, looking like they want to maybe punch their way into that conversation too. So every week in the Duke Can is going to be crazy, and I think and for me to say that it's gonna be crazier than it's been in the past is really saying something.
And Batavia and Geneva they have i would say moderate opponents. This week with Batavia facing South Elgin, we saw they were thirty points less than Barrington, the Broncos putting sixty four on the board. Geneva plays a down Lamont team, and so those two teams can be five and zero going into their October matchup, which would be the game of the year in the league, you would imagine at
this point. But you know, for those other teams, they're gonna have to steal some wins somewhere Glenberg North or a Lake Park. I mean, you're gonna have to find a way to sneak through. And that's where if you're a week north, week South, you know that you gotta do what you gotta do to make sure you get in position. Saint Charles East is one of those teams. They have Wheaton Academy next week. They lost to them last year. Are the Saints any good? They put forty
in Linkaway Central. They mean they have to win this week against Wheaton Academy and they probably know it, knowing their schedule. I want to switch over to the Kishwaukee six and two for the Kishwaukee River. How about that kind of a new league set up with the Sandwich and Planos staying for good?
What do you make of the KRC at this point? Start things off.
You know, there were there was a couple of situations there where you know, I had good expectations for some of these teams in this league, but some of them were kind of forced into games that, like you know, with teams classifications a couple above them, you never know how those games are going to go. But but good victories out of the box. And ultimately, you know, what it came down to is the only two that lost where Sandwich, who had a great season last year, maybe
Mantino's turning the corner there. They put up fifty four on Sandwich and and and Woodstock loss to a what I believe to be a very good Roachelle team. But other than that, you know, Johnsburg went up to Wisconsin and claimed to win. Morengo beating Evergreen Park is a solid victory in the grand scheme of things. Plano beating a bigger school in Ottawa. I mean, granted they just got by him, but that's all the matters only got
to beat him by one. So I mean, I think this is another league where you're going to look at it at the end of the season and see a lot of games in the middle of that pack that could go either way. I mean, Richmond Burton is still your favorite and will continue to be your favorite in that league until someone proves otherwise. But beyond that, it looks like there's going to be a week to week dog fight, you know, with two or three games in that league schedule.
The Sandwich, of course, has Wilmington and the Wildcats have basically told the entire state of like, we'll play anybody at this point, so come on down, we don't care. And then they'll have Plano at Plano the War in thirty four of the following week. And let's give it up for Harvard. The Hornets twenty game losing streak snapped. They were able to get a win. You like to see that. I mean, we don't want to make fun of it, but man, I'll tell.
You what I was. I played on one of those teams and lost eighteen in a row.
When you get that win, it's a relief and a feeling that you can play at confidence surge coming after a win after twenty straight losses is something else.
Soon.
Yeah, not only a win, but a convincing win. I mean they won that game forty two to seven over lyle so good strong second half effort for them. I believe it was fourteen to seven at halftime, and then they came out and took care of business. So yeah, a nice win for them. You know, there were there were several stories around there around the state this weekend with teams picking up a win that maybe haven't had one in a while. Yeah, programs that programs that the
expectation was they might have some trouble. So it was, it was. It was kind of a good weekend for those types of schools. Still some other ones out there looking to break through, but yeah, Harbor was a good story this weekend.
Get out for the Fed and Bison.
Also, they had a ten game losing Street snapped on week one. They're above five hundred. All right, to the Catholic League, we go. We can talk about the loyalism Mount Carmel's to the cows, come home, dig in there a little bit, and some of the mess and the muck of what really stood out to you. We watched Brother Ice and that score come by and go, oh, okay, that's there's something there. They got Maris this week the Pulaski Super Bowl.
You know, I was I was interested in a couple of things involving the Catholic League this week I expected Brother Ice to take care of business in the fashion that they did. Phillips is not quite where the program has been in previous seasons, so I thought Brother Ice would come out and take care of business, maybe not in the grand fashion that they did. So that was a that was a win for them in a lot of ways. But Marris this weekend was kind of a
little bit of a wild card for me. Had a very interesting first round first week game with Morgan Park, a team that has a lot of talent, has done, has has had some playoff success. You know, I really didn't know what we were gonna get in Mike Fitzgerald, you know, first game over there after coming over from York. But a good, solid effort from that team knocking off Morgan Park puts them in a situation now in week two where you know they have this Brother Ice game.
It's at all of these games, all of these non conference games are so pivotal for every Chicago Catholic League team because you look at Marist and the Orange, They're joined with Joliet Catholic, Providence, Niles, Notre Dame, and on paper, you look at that none of those games. None of those games are a slam dunk winning. And then not only are they playing Brother Ice in a non conference, non conference game, they've also got another crossover game with
another Blue team. So this is just a chock full schedule. Maris would love to get to two and oh here. That would be great for them, same thing with Brother Ice. Brother Rice has got to maneuver that Blue division. They've got to play sat They've got to play both Loyola and Mount Carnival and conference games and a Saint Ignacious team that I think put together a nice win over Saint Louis Universe City, a pretty solid team but nothing spectacular there, but hung a whole bunch of points on
them and are like, hey, guys, we're still here. I mean, justin Scott may not be here, but we still think we can be a good football team this year. And even though they're in the Blue for them, they have another situation this week. They have to go They have to go to Fenwick and try to get to two and o themselves for the same reason that everybody else needs to get to two and oh in the Catholic League if they can, because once they get into into divisional play, all bets are.
Off two teams in the Catholic League that I wonder about your thoughts on just from what we see in the results, Nazareth and Saint Francis. We were watching those early on Friday night. Did they do what they needed to do to make sure that they're in position and what do they need to get better at what you were watching?
Well, Nazareth and Kanka Kee have developed kind of kind of a pretty interesting little rivalry over the past. It really is. This is the third year of that series. You go back two years, it was that wild kan Ka Key wins it two to nothing, and of course we started we started this game with a safety four Kanka Key, so it was an eyebrow raise there. But Nazareth did a really nice job what they didn't do in last year's game when they lost to Kanka Key. I went to that game. They got down and they
didn't really make a lot of adjustments. They kept trying to do the same things that had not been working. And it appears that they they got over that because they Logan Malichuk through an interception late in the game that gave Kanka Ke a lead with about nine minutes to play. Bounced back nicely, came back out and just didn't back down from it, went on the attack. He's a he's a really good dual run pass quarterback threat,
and he guided them past Kanka Key this time. So it was it was one of those situations where I think Nazareth is gonna have a lot of games like this. I think they're a very talented but in terms of their schedule, I think they're gonna have a lot of
opponents that give them their best shot. But even though they are a you know by classification, they are a five eighteen, they have a smaller roster than a lot of their opponents that they play, so a lot of their guys are asked to at least contribute both ways and sometimes and sometimes if if nazarethen is a close game, you can see them maybe in the in the third and fourth quarter, they might be a little low in
the gas tank. So, but their schedule is such a beast and it'll be interesting now because you mentioned Saint Francis, who it took a little while to get past Kenwood this week, Well, NASA's playing Kenwood this week, so we'll have a pretty good measuring scale for like where those two teams compare. I mean, they're in the same division. They will play later in the year. But that's very interesting. You know, it looked like Saint Francis just Saint Francis
gave up some place, gave up some big plays. So that's something that they're gonna have to adjust and and try to you know, hem that down a little bit. But yes, that's a that's it's a very interesting situation in that conference because in the Green you've got you've got four teams that I think are all teams that fully expect to be in the playoff dance, and all four of them are going to have a climb just
to get just to get into that conversation. It's not about whether or not, well, you know, we expect to be a quarterfinalist or a semifinals. Can we get in? And this set is the first concern. I mean, if you look at Saint Rita and IC Catholic, who are the other two members of that division. I mean, if it's a traditional stacking, one of those teams is going to
lose three conference games. Yep. So maybe it's not maybe you got two two and ones and two to one and twos, but that's still two losses, and you've got a crossover against the Blue that you have to deal
with and other difficult games. So it's it's really like I said, both of those teams, Saint Francis and Nazareth, they would really, really really love to get to two and zero this week because that would be a great situation for them moving forward, because it basically means, like we're talking about before, these teams honestly may only need
to get to four. So that gives them a nice blanket to go into that part of the season knowing that if we go five hundred the rest of way, we're totally good, or a game under five hundred, we're still in. And then you know, if the worst comes the worst, we only need to get two more.
Now you don't want to deal with the four and five, but it changes the way you feel and you approach things and the panic.
Attacks, so to speak.
I remember certain teams you get toed three and it's, oh my gosh, we're in big trouble. That doesn't You don't have that feeling with some of the bigger classes that have schedules like this for this reason now, So it'll be interesting to watch that as we go forward, one more conference to bring up, will switch gears here
and kind of talk about some of the surprises. The Mid Suburban League West is one play away from being five and one after this first opening week, after they had a big wins with Barrington, but Schaumber gotta win Friend with a thirty eight thirty one to nothing win as well. What do you make of the Mid Suburban West quite possibly the toughest conference that we're not talking about.
Yeah, I mean the first thing that raised my eyebrows was that Friend win over Lake Zurich. That's that's a program that you know, has has reached semi finals in six A, seven A very recently, and for them to be dominated by a team that is coming off of back to back three and six seasons, it's definitely a big surprise in my eyes in regards to you know,
I was basically making sure that that was right. It was one of those scores I felt like I had to double check just to make sure, because sometimes you get you get a bad score out there and you're never sure of it.
Ye.
But it's definitely definitely one of those games that stood out to me. Schomberg was one that I didn't even notice until very late in my score collection game on Friday night, and that that's a really impressive win for a program that has kind of struggled in that division over the last couple of years. Antioch just doesn't lose regular season games. It feels like almost every year they're coming out of there, they're coming out of the regular season at nine to zero or at works eight and one.
It feels like almost every single year. So that was you know, that's a really really big win in the grand scheme of things. Not only I mean, it's kind of double layer because it's like, I mean, winning that is really important for Schomberg based on how deep this division is just in the quest to get to the
win total. But you know, having an Antioch on your schedule who is more likely going to go back to their conference and probably do what they always do, You're still going to get seven or eight points out of
them most likely. So that's a big deal when it comes down to moving around later in the year if maybe they go five hundred in conference and you know, and did they get themselves into a situation where maybe they're in that four win group or even in the five win group, where the fact that they played this schedule, they're gonna go ahead of a lot of five win teams on the seat chart because of playing games like Antioch, who is going to go back to their schedule and win games.
And when Schaumberg did, When Mark Stilling looks at that schedule, he's gonna see Elk Grove, Niles, North, Niles, West, Palatine, and Conan before you get to the Barrington and from week seven and week eight, so Schauberg has a chance to stack up some wins and to get themselves in position to potentially compete for a conference title. Could they be in that conference conversation that's a little early, but the fact that they're in that mix just because of
one win changes it for them. Hoffman Estate's also victorious this weekend. They got one to zero and then Palotine lost in that flute play with Saint Charles North and Riverboat Robert Palmazak going for it with going for two with ten seconds left. So Palatine at zero to one,
they're still very good. And so this conference overall, and oh yeah, Barrington just throwing sixty four points on the board, Bronco is gonna be really hard to beat, but they're gonna have quite the test up and down the league this year, which might farewell for them if they want to make a final deep run. Haven't been in the state championship game in a long time, and this might be the one team that could get there.
Yeah. I mean, it's definitely one of those situations where you just kind of look at what's going on around, especially with these early games, just kind of getting a feel for what these teams are. You know, when I looked at Barrington early in the year, I was wasn't sure exactly how I needed to handle that, and and maybe South Elgin might be a little bit down, but still hanging fifty four I'm in that situation is really impressive.
I mean, that's a program South Elegion is a program has won a lot of football games over the last couple of years. So that's a good showing for them. I'll admit I just whiffed on them in terms of
the rankings. I should have been a little bit more, a little bit more cognizant of the Broncos in this situation, but it's an interesting The fun thing about them is, you know, they win that game where South elgim there and they go right into Hersey, which is a team that you know that is that lost last week, and yeah it's Warren, but I still believe is a really good football team. So they're gonna be chomping at the
bit trying to avoid going to zero and two. That's a really intriguing Week two matchup right there.
For me, Hersey's first loss in the regular season in like what two or three years at least they've been nine and over the last couple of years. Uh, the fifty five points from Warren, we did not see that coming. What makes them so special an offense.
Well, Aaron Stewart had a heck of a game on Friday night. And this is a team that when I talk about them, and evidence has bore this out, you start and almost finish your conversation on how good the Warren defense is because historically over the last five or six years, they just don't give up any points like they that's what the team is. So you know, to
see Stewart knew what he did. He ran for almost three hundred yards in the first half of that game and then made an early exit just short of four hundred yards. So a really really impressive effort for them in that game. Just showed that not only the defense is something that Warren's gonna hang their hat on, but the offense as well.
Very impressed with the fifty five points and again going to one and zero for them. Also one of those eight A teams and it's in that second tier waiting to get up to the Loyal and Lincoln Way East.
Do you think they get tired of hearing that up there?
I don't know how much you've been up to Gurney to talk to the folks of that program, but I would imagine after years of being in that quarterfinal and then getting bounced out, you get sick of feeling like you're in that second step and wanting to make that next step to try and put themselves in a position to get the normal.
Yeah, they got to got to a final and lost to Lincoln Way East, I believe four years ago. But you know, other than that, they've been close, but not quite at the level. It's hard to be, first of all, it's hard to be at the level that Loyal and
Lincoln Way East are at on a yearly basis. But yeah, I'm sure that that's that's that's annoying that you haven't been able to kind of transition that and get yourself into that upper echelon conversation where it's like everybody starts the conversation and ada with those two programs and then every time then lumps you in with a with a larger group of teams that isn't quite there. So that you know, maybe this team does have it. We'll see what a very impressive statement to start the season.
Of course, they'll go to Maine South on in week two and you want to talk about a statement game mate South is a limping into that one after getting toasted by Lincoln Way East. Warren could go in there and do some damage to to really set a tone for them with their schedule lightning up after that. So it'll be interesting to see how the Warre and Blue Devils do going on the road down in Park Ridge. A couple more minutes with Steve Sussi as we finish up for Friday Night Drive podcast.
Things around the state, even the small schools.
What jumped out at you from the weekend and what did you learn about some of the other things outside of the Chicagoland area that they talk about. I'll give you one that a little bit polin a really nice win at Washington.
They have a master schedule out of the straggline region a little bit. What else did you see?
You know, you mentioned the Caitlin win. I thought that was pretty impressive for them to do what they did. I was impressed with Princeton in week one, Uh, taking care of Newman Central Catholic in the fashion that they did. You know, that's that's a nice win for them. Metamoras win over Sterling was was pretty interesting to me just in the sense of, uh, you know, I think Sterling didn't have the greatest year last year, got in as
one of those four win playoff teams. But for Metamora, I think we're starting to see them maybe come back to the age of when Metamora was a thing. I mean, I think we're getting back there. I mean with Washington, you know, transitioning to a new coaching staff. I think Matamora might be now the standard in the middle line I conference. That's very you know, that one of those situations so very interesting in that sense. You know a couple of other teams that really kind of drew my
eye a little bit. In Week one. I was Columbia did not have a very good year last year, but they they hammered Breeze Modern Day on front all, which I thought that was that was a really interesting game that kind of jumped off the page for me. We touched on it a little bit earlier. I was impressed with what Wheaton Hornville South did this week with their win over glen Bard South. Uh, you know, and that's those are some of a few of the stories that
have developed. And the other one that really jumped out at me from a one A perspective was Fulton beat Forrest in twenty eight to nothing. And Forreston is typically the only program that can really give Lena Winslow a run right in the upstate of line I. So for Fulton to do that to Forrest and in that situation, uh, maybe bodes that there might be a changing of the guard and who is on the second step in that conference this year. So still Lina's conference until someone proves otherwise.
But Fulton with a very impressive win to kick things off.
Circle back to a Metamora now one and oh of course eight wins last year getting the second round for Jared Rebner and company. They're interesting in five a because they have La Salperu at home for their home opener, So they come off that wild win to play it home against lasal Peru and then they go to Washington, so right away they're going to figure out how good
they really are Morton. After that, Pekin had a nice win, more so because there's a lot of hypes around the other team that was coming in there, with Robbie Gold being the head coach of rolling medals. I thought that was a nice win for them or to in that kind of fashion, dealing with that kind of environment. So the middle line I some interesting stories of the folks down in Peoria this week. What are you looking forward
to the most? Is kind of a preview, a little snippet preview of what's the week two in store for you right now.
You know, there's there's a lot of games that, like I find intriguing just because of what happened. I mean, look, I look closer to my area here, Morris is playing Joliet West in a game that I think is really an interesting little Joliet West only regular season loss last year was to Morris. Morris still believes that they have the kind of team right now that can make a pretty deep postseason run. So that's a really fun game
for me. I think that's that's one of those things where Juliet West still trying to prove that, you know, they belong in conversations about the best teams in the South suburbs, and a win over Morris would do a lot for them. You mentioned it a little bit earlier. I'm very interested in that Warren Maine South game because I think Maine South is getting put in the rear
view mirror here a little too quick. I mean, they got by a really good football team on Friday night, but I don't think I don't think you want to bury them. I think the I think they will be heard from, maybe not as quick as this week, but I don't think they're gonna just go away. I don't think they're just gonna curl up and give up. I mean, that's still a very talented football team.
Game that jumps off the two of them, that kind of jump off the page one in a bigger fashion. Lions at Wheaton South. That is gonna be a very key playoff game from a playoff points perspective. If you watch the live stream and Friday we talk a lot about how those playoff points go based on these non conference matchups and who gets that extra point for it.
So to be very curious to see how the Tigers and the Lions do in that one Week one or week two, I should say, and Wheat and South and up in my area sneaky one. Dundee Crown is one and oh.
By the way they get Central Rockets, they could be two and oh here and that league is not really dominant if it's Carry Grove and everyone else, it seems. And so maybe Dundee Crown can get themselves to five and four get in the postseason for the first time in a while. They look good in week one, so now see if they can carry it over to week two. Those are the stories that are catching my eye. Steve Susie,
it's been a pleasure. Get ready for week two and we will see you next time here on Friday Night Drive. I hat just a football podcast.