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September 4, 2025 • 41 mins
Join hosts Eddie Carifio and JT Pedelty as they preview Week 2 in DeKalb, La Salle and Grundy counties on the Friday Night Drive podcast.

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Episode Transcript

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Speaker 1 (00:29):
I'm still pumped after that, even after week two. Welcome
to the Shaw Media Podcast North and West Edition. I'm
Daily Chronicle Sports Editor Ednie Caripio. I'm alongside Shaw Media
Regional sports editor JT. Penalty. JT what is Uh?

Speaker 2 (00:47):
Took the dog out this morning and uh, you know,
to do her business and man, it feels like football
out there. Nice Christmas in the air. Grass is just
losing that sharp green to it. I'm really excited for
week two here after I was outstanding week one of football.

Speaker 1 (01:01):
Ady, Yeah, it's like chili. You could even say, if
you wanted to today, perfect football weather, like you said,
so we should probably jump into it. I think that's
a small talk. I think we're good, right, We're good
because we got a rivalry game this We had a
rivalry game last week's sickl more to calve that one
went as advertised. Up this way, we go down your

(01:22):
way for another another rivalry games Streeter and Ottawa. What
should we know about that one? Jat.

Speaker 2 (01:32):
Yeah, one hundred and fourth meeting between these two. Third
oldest rivalry in the state for years. They thought it
was eighteen ninety five was the first one, and then
looking through newspapers dot com. I found an eighteen ninety
four to one where the society editor of the Streeter
newspaper was disappointed that none of the boys got killed
during the game. It was a different time back then.

Speaker 1 (01:52):
Yeah, I would like to read that article.

Speaker 2 (01:55):
Will I will text it to you here when we
get done recording. But yeah, you know, as Brian Hoxy
and I were putting together our season previews this year
for the Illinois Valley Special Previews section, we kind of
both realized the way the schedules fell, there's a great
chance for either Streeter or Ottawa to start the season
three and oh, which you know Ottawa one and eight,

(02:15):
last season Streeter three and six. You know, I'd be
huge for either one of those programs if they could
do it now. To do it, LP would have to
find a way to beat LP, which they haven't done
in about a decade, I'm sorry. Ottaw would have to
find a way to beat LPU, which they haven't done
in about a decade. Or Street would have to find
a way to beat Ottawa, which they haven't done since
that fall season of twenty twenty one. But we're here.

(02:37):
Both teams won last week pretty impressively. Ottawa you know
handled Planeo thirty five to six. Streeter took care of
Decatur Eisenhower thirty six to fourteen. So really excited. You know,
always a great environment at Kingfield in Ottawa or at
Doug Deacon Stadium and Streeter for this one. When these
old rivals meet. It's not a conference game anymore, but
it means a lot to both communities. So and not

(02:58):
to mention starting to and oh, means a lot to
any football team in Illinois.

Speaker 1 (03:02):
Yeah, you know, as they saying, is like I said,
the calv has now proved two weeks in or two
years in a row against Sycamore. With these near upsets
in both of them, you could toss out the records
when these teams play. It would be a really dumb game.
You know. With our new eliminator challenge we're doing, this
seems like it would be a pretty dumb game to pick,
Like who would pick a rivalry game? Spoiler alert, And

(03:24):
this is the one I'm going to be picking.

Speaker 2 (03:26):
And you can probably guess who would pick that as
their eliminator game because I live in Lasole County, so
there ain't no way I'm touching this one. With a
ten foot pole as an eliminator game with confidence, and
partly because you know, they say throw out the records,
and that's one of the stupid things you can say.
But when these two meet, they tend to be good games.
There have been lots of upsets over the years. Teams
tend to win it in streaks, especially Ottawa Streeter in

(03:50):
the very early days of the rivalry, Ottawa in the fifties, sixties,
and they're on a little run now. But yeah, I'm
I'm very excited. I think it'll be a really good
football game. Past few years, you know, Streeter, If I'm
being honest about it, which is what we're here for,
I think they've kind of got some Week two culture
shock after playing some lesser opponents. In Week one they

(04:12):
had the East PORI I believe for a lot of years,
Decatur Eisenhower here the past couple of years, and nothing
against those programs, but just saying that Ottawa, you know
the football that we play up here to Ottawa, that
that type of football is a lot different, a lot
more physical, and I think Streeter kind of hasn't adjusted
well to that Week two change facing outaway, even when

(04:35):
maybe I think a handful of times over the past
few years. A lot of people thought maybe Streeter might
even have had the more talented team than Ottawa, but
Ottawa kind of took it to him. So very interesting
to see how this one goes. I think it'll be
a really good game, and no way in heck I
would ever pick it as my eliminator.

Speaker 1 (04:49):
We'll get to that in a minute. We're gonna bring
on a rob here in a minute, but before we do,
want to hit this rock Ridge Princeton game again down
your way. Seems pretty inner. You think it would be
a meeting of maybe a one and oh teams but
had themselves a tough, tough Week one opponent in a
tough Week one game.

Speaker 2 (05:09):
Yeah, Princeton coming off a twenty eight fourteen loss to
Sterling Newman, Newman Central Newman, Central Catholic, Many School of
many names, but you know, I you know, no shame
in losing to Newman. Obviously a great program. A little
bit surprising. Maybe you're just so used to seeing Princeton
with a zero in that right side of the column
for a lot of times the entire regular season, but

(05:29):
certainly at this point of the season. I don't think
they'd lost a season opener for eight years, so, you know, Princeton,
this is a bounce back game for them. Although rock Ridge,
you know, coming off a forty five nothing dismantling of Charard.
You know, they got a good quarterback Colin Schwagen. He
threw four touchdowns last week. But you know, coming off
a loss, Princeton still had two hundred yard rushers last

(05:52):
last week they out gained Newman in yards from scrimmage.
I like Princeton's chances in this one.

Speaker 1 (06:00):
Yeah, it does seem like, you know, they'd be the favorite,
especially I got to think after that you know, week
one loss, like you said there against the tough team. Obviously,
that was a fun voice crack against the tough team obviously,
but this does have I think bounced back written all
over it. Not to undersell this rock Ridge team that
you know, definitely also had, like you said, a very

(06:22):
solid Week one.

Speaker 2 (06:24):
Yeah, absolutely, you know, while we're down here, as there's
one more down here that I point o. That kind
of goes in with those Princeton's and Ottawa's and Streeters
as you know, those old NCIC schools and kind of
the teams down here Illinois Valley Lasalperue lost to United
Township for the first time since twenty nineteen. Or I'm
actually their first Week one loss since twenty nineteen. They

(06:45):
lost to United Township, who they've handled the last handful
of seasons. In the opener twenty three to twenty one
last week, great game, Marion perce Ch lpi's quarterback, you know,
ran for over one hundred yards through for over two
hundred yards. He did his thing. Another D one recruit
I think an IU recruit, uh Jadewan Cranford. You might

(07:08):
know how to pronounce that better than I do. Ready,
I that name popped up for me. In a couple
of years. You'll learn it from Metamora. He had a
six unless.

Speaker 1 (07:16):
Iowa State ends up stealing him before he NAU people
listen to the podcast, but that's gonna go over huge.

Speaker 2 (07:24):
I'm just telling you, well, in any college nowadays, as
you never know, year to year, Iowa.

Speaker 1 (07:29):
State has been plucking a lot of NIU recruits. They
took like three of them last year. I think after
a player had committed the NIU, not even through the
portal like after. These are seniors Iowa State that had
committed to n i U for college, Iowa State flipped them.

Speaker 2 (07:46):
Well, let's hope, uh mister Cranford's not listening to us
down in Metamora and calling into Iowa State. But yeah,
Metamora forty three fourteen win last week. You know, big plays,
big plays, big plays. That's what LP is going to
have to stop. This Metamora program feels like after a
couple of years that have been down for them, like

(08:08):
they might be back to playing Metamora Redbirds football.

Speaker 1 (08:12):
Yeah, and plus doing that again Sterling. It's kind of
an eye opener.

Speaker 3 (08:15):
You know.

Speaker 1 (08:16):
Sterling obviously has been very very up these last few years,
don't you would. I wasn't expecting a step set back
from them this year, So that probably indicate that this
Minimoria team is really really good. Lasal's gonna obviously have
to click on all cylinders to uh, you know, make
this one interesting.

Speaker 2 (08:34):
Yeah, and you know, you know you cover teams in
the Interstate eight Conference. I cover teams in the Interstate
eight Conference. You can't afford a whole bunch of non
conference losses because you know, you've got Sycamore, You've got Morris,
You've got Rochelle, You've got Canlin. They're all lurking there
for you. So you know, LP's playing their arch rival
twice this year, so I I'd never like that, no

(08:55):
matter which team you think is better on a second meeting.
Oh boy, you know so I I I'm very I'm
very interested to see kind of how LP handles Metamora here,
if they can keep up with them, because you sure
don't want to start on one too.

Speaker 1 (09:09):
Yeah no, you absolutely, Like you said, you covered it all.
It's going to be really tough for them to circle
back from a two hole. So I think we could
bring on our boy.

Speaker 2 (09:20):
Correct, Rob Oasterly, Let's bring them on.

Speaker 4 (09:23):
Hey, guys man, not too bad. It's always good to
be talking football.

Speaker 1 (09:32):
Let's start with one that scott my attention because it's
actually I met Seymour going on their I eight tour
this year. They got Sycamore in Week three, but first
they're hosting Morris.

Speaker 4 (09:46):
Yeah, I mean, don't know too much about Muhammad. The
last time I saw them was a few years back.
They came up to Morris in the playoffs, and we're
pretty highly touted. They had a quarterback that was supposed
to be going like small d one type of kid,
and I believe Morris like laid a fifty burger on

(10:08):
them and send them back home. That tends to happen
when Morris plays like the you know teams south of here.
Seems like the physicality of the play up here is
a little more than those southern teams I used to seeing.

Speaker 1 (10:28):
Uh.

Speaker 4 (10:29):
I know, Morris probably doesn't have a real good taste
in their mouth after having to come back in the
last minute and beat Wilmington. I think they'd kind of
like to show people that, you know, they are, you know,
as good as people think they're gonna be.

Speaker 1 (10:46):
What's your impression of them after that first week, because
you look at that score and it's maybe not exactly
what you would have thought, even though it does end
up obviously being a win.

Speaker 4 (10:54):
Yeah, it certainly was surprising. I thought maybe the first
half could be you know competitive, Uh, but I just
figured Morris's sheer numbers and size would end up wearing
down Wilmington. But you know, Jeff Reens is in the
is a Hall of Fame coach for a reason, and
you know, he knows what he's doing. He's going to
have his kids prepared, and he certainly did. And I'm

(11:17):
sure there was a mention or two during during their
lead up to the game that that Jeff graduated from
Morris and he would really like to beat them.

Speaker 2 (11:29):
Yeah, you know, and you know what you talked about
about Morris kind of wearing them downside. You know, that's
kind of been the blueprint the last couple of years
when Cole City's opened against Morris has been you know,
Cole City hangs tough with them for a while, Morris
wears them down and then you look at the final
score and you end up being you know, thinking, a
it wasn't that competitive of a game, and you know,
you see had a lot when you have larger for
larger schools a s. Mossk goes Wilmington avoided that. And

(11:50):
we'll talk about their Week two match up here in
a second Roun A surprising match, a matchup of two
teams who was surprisingly oh and one but one other
thing with you know that I was going to talk about,
you know, Mohammed seymore. You know, they're in the playoffs
every year five a I think nineteen of the past
twenty two seasons that there were a playoff. Oh that
COVID year. I just hate having to write that and
say that all the time. Yeah, there was a playoff.

Speaker 1 (12:13):
You can just say nineteen the last twenty two postseasons.

Speaker 2 (12:15):
Yeah, yeah, but that's that's a tip. Yeah, that's a
tip right there. We're here to teach, maybe even to learn.
But you know, I really think, you know, Mohammed Seymour
starts out ozhe one here. They lost just a thrilling
game to Morton. I think that mohammet Seymour scored in
the closing seconds much like Morris did, and they went
for two. Morris and Morris I believe went for two

(12:37):
and got it, but it didn't Matt really matter on
the final result. Mohamed Seymour went for two and didn't
get it and lost twenty eight twenty seven to the
Potters down there. So another team with probably a chip
on their shoulder coming into this one a strong program,
but they graduated quite a bit. So I'm with you, Rob,
I think Morris Morris is the pick here.

Speaker 4 (12:57):
Yeah, that one. Yeah, would you consider that? You know,
they always say that the teams make the biggest jump
between week one and week two, So if you know,
Morris got away with a win that maybe probably wasn't
their prettiest I heard there was several unsportsmanlike conduct penalties,
which is kind of to be expected when you've got

(13:18):
like a neighborhood rivalry and all the trash talk that
was going back and forth between the kids before the game. Yeah,
you're going to have some of that. I don't think they,
you know, there's there's not that neighborhood pride to play
for and in Muhammed because it's you know, unless you're
you know, forty seven bragging rights. But that's quite a

(13:42):
ways to go for those. But yeah, I just got
a feeling that that Morris you know, really gets back
to business, you know, down to business, not back to business,
but they get down to business and make their improvements
and come away with a I would say, a pretty
handy victory. The only the biggest thing is maybe a

(14:04):
trap game. You had an emotional game in week one
against a neighborhood type rival, and then next week you've
got Peoria, which I know they are sick and tired
of losing two, so they you know, they got to
kind of watch out for looking past Muhammad here in
this uh in between those two games, and.

Speaker 2 (14:26):
I think we can slide right over to Morris played
sorry even week one Wilmington. Sandwich comes in on one Wilmington,
as we mentioned, comes in onen one Wilmington, that heartbreaking
loss to Morris twenty seven. Sandwich, you know, really just
couldn't stop Mantino at all, allowed over fifty points. And man,
if you have a tough time stopping you know, the

(14:46):
Mantino running game, I feel I think Sandwich might have
a tough time stop in that Wilmington running game.

Speaker 4 (14:55):
Yeah, I think. And you know, speaking of the eliminator earlier,
this this is i eliminator pick. I wouldn't want to
be in the path of Wilmington after that, after that loss,
They're gonna have some frustrations to take out, and you know,
Sandwich may be lucky to see the ball. Wilmington will

(15:17):
just grind it and grind it and grind it, and
you know, I think they end up wearing down the
Indians before it's over as well.

Speaker 1 (15:26):
It'll be interesting to see what Sandwich can do. But
I think you're like one hundred percent right on that one.
You know, Sandwich has been such a feel good story
in the last couple of years, but it might be
a little a little bit of a rough start for
them this year.

Speaker 2 (15:39):
Yeah, and speaking of feel good story because you didn't
feel the varsity team for a year or two and
then you come back and have a successful season. Dwight.
You know, kind of in our neck of the woods,
ROB is one of those teams that's playing the team
that started off one and oh after not fielding a
varsity team for a couple of years, Rock Island Aloman
Dwight got a four feit week one. They come in
one and oh, Rock Island I Aloman came in just

(16:02):
crushed Walter Christian sixty three to twelve. Walter Christian one
of those teams that was in the Chicago Land Prairie
and no longer is with Dwight. But you know, I
Dwight's by coming off that Lyle because Lyle isn't field
and the varsity team this year. But you know, Dwight's
an interesting team Rob because they made the Class two

(16:22):
A quarterfinals last year. They were kind of a Cinderella
story themselves. They make the quarterfinals, they bring back a
ton from that team, and what they don't bring back
is a little dash gs W at the end of
their school name because they're no longer co opting with
Gardner South Wilmington, which by all projections, is probably going
to drop them down to Class one A this year.

(16:43):
You know, if d White plays to expectations and we'll
find out, you know, this Friday night at Augustana College,
if if the team is what we think it can be.
But you know, that could be a beast in one A.

Speaker 4 (16:54):
Yeah, I mean they could be. You know, I don't
think they're quite you know, up to Lee wins status,
but I mean they may not see them until quite
late in the playoffs if they do make the playoffs.
So but yeah, losing uh, losing that dash GSW, I
think helps Dwight because from all I've heard is they really,

(17:15):
you know, weren't getting the numbers from GSW that that
they had in the past. Like I think there was
only a couple of kids from Gardner that like the
last couple of years that had come over to Dwight.
So they just decided, you know, it really hasn't been
worth it. So they're just not you know, eliminating it.
And yeah, now that enrollment drops and you know, they're

(17:37):
another factor in one A.

Speaker 2 (17:41):
Yep, and everyone else has said they're eliminators. So I
don't actually picked I guess you didn't technically, but that
would be a great time to hit that and then
let Rob go and maybe take a break and come
back and talk about the other games we got.

Speaker 4 (17:55):
Rob.

Speaker 2 (17:55):
You know you mentioned yours, you got Wilmington. Uh what
what are you thinking on that one?

Speaker 4 (18:01):
Do I have to throw out a score?

Speaker 1 (18:03):
No?

Speaker 4 (18:03):
No, no, I'm thinking, uh oh, you covered it pretty
good already. Yeah, I think I'm thinking. Yeah, it's kind
of a pick your score for Wilmington. Uh after you
know they Sandwich gave up fifty to Mantino. I know
Mantino is supposed to be pretty good this year, but
I don't know if you know, if they've ever been

(18:25):
on Wilmington's level.

Speaker 1 (18:27):
Uh well, if I'm picking a score, I would like
to see them score five, really prove that talent.

Speaker 4 (18:34):
Yeah. No, I think it's going to be uh yeah,
one of your typical Wilmington games that you know, you
look at the score early and you might, oh, wow,
they're hanging in there. But you know, Wilmington's that team
that tends to wear on you too, and in the
third and fourth quarters. Those four and five yard games
from the first quarter are all of a sudden, you know,
fifty and sixty yard touchdowns. So and you know what

(19:01):
was it? Is it Katman from is the running back
from Wilmington. He you know, what do you have like
one hundred and sixty yards against Morris? Granted eighty of
it was on a touchdown, but you know, he's got
that type of ability. And you know, I think.

Speaker 1 (19:16):
I'm still ripping off. An eight touchdown against Morris is
impressive in and of itself, let alone with the other
eighty yards.

Speaker 4 (19:22):
Right, So, I mean, although, on the other hand, if
you're gonna beat Morris, you're gonna run it right at
him like Wilmington does, and they're very good at it.
It's all they do. And it's like Denzel Washington in
uh remember the Titans. You know, it's like Nova Kaine.
Takes a while, but it's gonna work.

Speaker 2 (19:42):
So you don't want to take a break here and
come back and do our survivor picks.

Speaker 1 (19:47):
Yeah, Rob, thanks for thanks for dropping in. My pleasure.
Appreciate that very much. We're gonna pause for a quick
break here and then we'll get back to JT and
Mines picks, minds pick mind pick my pick when we get.

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(20:38):
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Speaker 1 (21:06):
Okay, so pick time we got Rob just picked Wilmington
for his eliminator challenge. We all, by the way, got
our eliminators right. Rob is picking on behalf of the
guest each week, which was Sam. Last week picked Dupek,
and they did go ahead and win quite handily. I
already teased mine, so I'll finished mine up here. I
did obviously tease. I was picking Outawa Streeter. I just

(21:29):
couldn't find a good game to pick there. There were
a couple. I like this one, I like coming down
your neck of the woods. I like poaching this one.
I'm gonna go Autowa in this one. I mean, I
think it's a good use of choosing Ottawa to get
a win, because you know, we can only pick a
team once, So I'm I'm picking Autawa in this one.

(21:50):
I hope it pays off. I just kind of like
the way they played in this game lately. I think
it's a good chance for them.

Speaker 2 (21:56):
Yeah, I think Ottawa is definitely the favorite, you know,
for our Friday night drive picks. You know, we don't
always pick them. Sometimes it's a game another market has
and then we discuss and debate between ourselves. Some sometimes
Sus just picks them because you know, who's not going
to listen to SEUs about high school football. But you know,
sometimes when it's an in market game, we pick them ourselves.

(22:16):
I picked this one, and you know, as a Streeter
high school graduate, I will, you know, stand up and
say I picked Ottawa in this one. And you know
if Streeter, I know they think that they're much improved.
New head coach Jay Sloane, I know they think they're
kind of got. You have to prove it. And you
haven't beat Outawa for a few years. You really haven't
competed very well with Ottawa for a few years. So
that's something you got to prove. So I think Ottawa

(22:38):
is a very reasonable pick to make. I would I
don't think i'd go strong. I had a different one
than I was thinking. Was a little strong, a little
little more of a sure thing. Also, in the city
of Ottawa, you know you're gonna have two one and
oh teams playing, you know where the rivers come together
in Ottawa and just a little bit up the Fox River,
you're gonna have Ottawa Marquette hosting Madison. That's Madison, Illinois

(22:59):
now Wisconsin, but both teams on one. But you know
Marquette's twenty one point loss to Aurora Christian you know
which is a constant one A playoff team and probably
a two A playoff team this year if you listen
to Seuss, which you should as I just said. But
I like Markeett's twenty one point loss to Aroa Christian
a lot better than I like madison sixteenth point sixteen

(23:21):
point loss to Sparta Steelville in Week one. Sparta Steelville
hadn't won a varsity football game in six years. So yeah,
I think Marquette's a strong pick here. New head coach
Ken Carlson. They looked pretty good against Aurora Christian had
a rough second half, but I think they get on
the right side of things here. I'm picking Marquette all
the way for my eliminator pick this week. Like you said, Eddie,
you got last week correct Canlan over Rock Island handily,

(23:45):
and I had tri Valley over Fieldcrest, which we got handily,
so hopefully we can keep it rolling.

Speaker 1 (23:49):
Yeah. I think all three last week were running clocks,
which are bonus points if your game doesn't go to
the running clock and it's still win. I don't know,
I'm just pitball in How's week my Ottawa Streeter pick.

Speaker 2 (24:00):
I feel strongly yours will not be running clock. But
we'll see No, that's me.

Speaker 1 (24:04):
I got bonus points for that. Yeah, closer or whoever
picks the closest game gains bonus points or something. Doesn't matter.
We got more games to discuss and rather trying to
jerry rig my score in this competition.

Speaker 2 (24:18):
You know what, we were talking some ni some Chase
NIB twelve here I go. We were talking some some
Interstate eight. You know, Sycamore has a pretty interesting game
I think here against a seven A school Eddie.

Speaker 1 (24:31):
Yeah, Sam, we're gonna a row the Calb. Obviously seven
A Sigamore say came over with that one twenty twenty one,
second straight year they were losing in the fourth quarter
to the Calb, second straight year. They end up pulling
it out. Your very typical um end of that game,
where they got the ball with eight minutes and thirteen
seconds left and just ran out the clock, as you're

(24:51):
prone to do with eight and a half minutes left
on the clock. Other than that, though, it wasn't like
much of a typical Sycamore game. You know, they turned
it over to which they don't do very often. One
of those directly led to a touchdown a Devon Grant
fumble return forty five yards or so. There was a
special team's miss que a bat snap at the end

(25:12):
zone that the punter did a good job just getting
out of the end zone but only got about the
one or two with it. The calb immediately turned that
into a touchdown. So just just a very Unsycamore like
game in week one. A lot of new bases. Part
of that. Rob mentioned the biggest jump coming between week
one and week two. That's one of Joe Ryan's favorite
or most I guess held believes is that that happened.

(25:33):
So he's expecting a lot from this team and they've
got the long ride out to Maline against the Maline
team that's you know, become a playoff regular over the
last decade or so. Actually, they played the Calvin the
postseason a couple of years ago. I think they even
met in the regular season. They did a home and
home the two teams. So this one seems interesting. I
like Sycamore, I think they showed enough. I don't think

(25:55):
they're gonna be you know, down, even though there's a
lot of new faces on that team running the ball
really well. They had three guys top over eighty. They
had Kevin Lee hit one hundred and Ralph Dylan Curis,
we're in the mix. Cooper Body also plays linebackers sitting
there if they need him to. Is a big, more
bruising back. So I I like the Sycamore team after
Week one, even though that game didn't go And I

(26:17):
think this Maleene game, I wish we'd been able to
get out there, but it's going to be a really,
really good one.

Speaker 2 (26:25):
Yeah, yeah, I think I think that's you know, you
love teams to challenge themselves in the early weeks of
the season, be it with you know, playing with longer trips,
with playing up a class or two, with seeing what
you got. You know, it's kind of a wild card
this year, you know is and I don't know the
exact rolemans of Sycamore. I know Sycamore better than I
would know Maleen, But you know, are these teams going
to fall in next seven A, six A, five A.

(26:46):
You know, there's such a wild card this year with
A with a non boundary multiplier being applied to so
many more schools than it has traditionally that you know,
some of these we talked traditional seven A and they
might fall six A or you know, you just don't know.
And then a lot of the private schools, non boundaried
schools that were used to talking about, you know, being
a one A power, like Aurora Christian, you know, they

(27:07):
seem like a shoeing. They played two A this year,
you know, and I think a lot of them, I'm sorry,
I was gonna say a lot of football fans may
not understand that. You know, the way the classes are
set up, you really don't know what class you're in
until you know which teams make the playoff field the
two fifty six. So until that moment, no one is
for sure in any class unless you're the smallest school

(27:29):
in the state or the largest school in the state
or I guess smallest thirty two and largest thirty.

Speaker 4 (27:33):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (27:33):
Other than that, it all depends how it breaks out
where they go. And now with that multiplier added in
for so many more schools, it's a wild thing. But
regardless either way they are, they are playing up and
I love to see teams challenge themselves like that.

Speaker 1 (27:46):
Yeah. No, there's still a decided what's it called a
population gap between the two because I did look it
up Sycamore. I remember the exactly where the Sycamore is
at about twelve hundred and Millene's at about twenty two.
Trying to remember because I was read when Seuss had
the you know, his projections and everything I remember. I

(28:07):
still think Sycamore is pretty solidly going to be in
the five A group, and I believe Maline is can
remember the cow being solidly in seven A if they
were to make it, and Malleene's about two hundred bigger
than they are, so I think these are still if
I'm remembering everything correctly, which we know I don't make mistakes,
so I'm pretty sure I have Mallene seven eight and

(28:27):
Sycamore is still five A.

Speaker 2 (28:29):
So pretty right. Another game that you had on your list,
and I think everyone in the state has on their
list for those middle school sized football Byron Dixon. You know,
I was listening to Sus and Matt Roadawall the Mothership
podcast for Friday Night Drive yesterday while I was mowing
the grass, and they were incredulous that why are you

(28:49):
playing this game in week two? And I don't, honestly,
I don't know how you justify you know, if you're
a conference putting together a schedule, why you would schedule
this one week too. It's exciting Week two. But man,
it'd be fun to build up to this and and
see it. But uh, you know, Byron Dixon, this is
this is a big time match up, Eddie.

Speaker 1 (29:05):
Yeah, no, it's I don't know why they would put
it in week two. I mean, obviously it's a league game.
You have a lot of control over that. And I
know the BNC with the nine teams, it gets a
little weird with schedule. But you still have four games
in week nine and you could just swop them out.
It seems like it would work. No, But this is
you know, last year was really close with Byron. Obviously Byron,

(29:28):
I don't know who would type Dixon in a hurry
at six ams morning in their notes that are hastily
thrown together for this podcast. Iron Byron twenty eight last
year kind of what we got foreshadowing of how their
playoff game won against future three A state champ Montini.
Very similar games, obviously coming down to a two point

(29:50):
conversion at the end worked out in Byron's favor to
be Dixon. That did not work out against Martini.

Speaker 2 (29:56):
So in the second round, by the way.

Speaker 1 (29:59):
Oh yeah, we did. I say, oh, no, you didn't.

Speaker 2 (30:01):
I'm just I don't think you did. I'm saying in
the second, you know, second week of the season, second
round of the playoffs, were spoiling our great matchups here
way too early.

Speaker 1 (30:12):
Yeah, well, obviously, you know Mantini being in three a
last year and went in the title there. I think
that was part of the catalyst for the changes you
just mentioned with the multiplier. There definitely one of them.
So no of this, obviously is going to be a
really interesting game. Byrons dominated. I only went back through

(30:33):
twenty sixteen trying to find results of this series. Byrons
won every year. They didn't play twenty sixteen and twenty
seventeen because the BNC was at eleven teams at that
point after the immediately after the teams that went to
form the Kiswaukee River Conference left, so that they have
had eleven, they've had nine, But so they didn't play

(30:55):
those two years. But in Byron's won every year since
twenty eighteen. Yeah, not playing the short.

Speaker 2 (31:01):
And I'm going off memory, or maybe I did type
it in my notes.

Speaker 1 (31:05):
I did.

Speaker 2 (31:06):
Dixon's last one over Byron came in twenty fourteen, So
there you go. It's been eleven years.

Speaker 1 (31:11):
Maybe she was just read one more sentence in the notes.
I didn't realize. Yeah, nice sad.

Speaker 2 (31:16):
I wasn't sure if I did, quite honestly. So. But yeah,
Dixon's eighth in Class four A, Byron's first in Class
three A. You know this is obviously, I mean, come on,
this is this is a marquee matchup, the marquee matchup
for the conference, and and you know this, this is
this is a big one. You know, we have other
ones that are regional rivalries Week one, Week two. You
don't have a lot of conference showdowns like this in

(31:37):
week you know, this early. Although I believe I'm going
off memory. I hope I'm right, but I think Wilmington
Cole City might be a little earlier in the season
this year also, or maybe it's week nine. I know
they moved it. Yeah, well, forget I mentioned that this
should be great. This was this one obviously should be
a great matchup.

Speaker 1 (31:58):
Yeah, no, and Dixon, obviously, I still think Byron comes
out on top. But man, you know, kind of just
wanted to see just to change it up a little bit,
see Dixon kind of break through them, and they've had
the teams to do it. Obviously, last year's game was
last year's game, iron I know, there's still kind of
Caden Considine for what seems like his six year senior season,

(32:20):
but he might have had COVID eligibility. I'm not sure
the red shirt, but it seems like he's been there
forever because he's been running over people since he's a freshman.
So Dicky's Iowa bound if I remember in correctly. So
that's an interesting BNC matchup. Also want to keep it
in the BNC for a second, just you know, because
it's one of my schools we cover up here Raylan

(32:41):
and that's you know, a Kingston talked a little about
them last week, ended up losing the Oregon twenty seven
to twenty. Now they have Stillman Valley this week. Both
games are at home and talk about big Week two matchups,
you know, conference champs and everything. I pointed it out
last week that there were three team that ended up
going five and four in the regular season in the

(33:02):
v NC five and five overall, and GK plays both
of them in the first two weeks and they are
the third. So they lost to Oregon. That makes this
game against still In Valley really important. Obviously, whichever one
of these teams loses these games. Still in Valley lost
to Marango last week handily. The Merengo's a little bigger

(33:23):
and also one of those five and four five and
five type teams. But whichever team loses this game this
week is going to be oh and two and in
really bad shape. And Genoa Kingston's instance, that's a couple
of teams that you know you could have slash should
have beaten, one of which you did beat last year.
And to let those get away, it's gonna be a
rough start if they're zero and two. Not that one

(33:44):
of one's a cake walk, but it's given the way
the schedule fell, it's it's gonna be tough.

Speaker 2 (33:49):
Yeah, and that's true for Team Fellow. I mean oh
and two. Certainly you can come back from it. You know,
the schedule is with the schedule is, and a lot
of teams, as we talked about, challenge themselves early in
the season with those non conference But that being said,
it's not a position anyone wants to be. And the
other thing, it's not all just about getting in the playoffs.
You know, it's the draw you end up with, you know,
you know, we talked about. You know who you end
up with is you know, some second round matchups that

(34:11):
are just rutal killer and they're out there. You know,
those teams are out there lurking. They might be in
a different class this year for the non boundary school,
but they're out there lurking. So you know, even starting
zero to two and hey we finished seven and two, awesome,
You're in the playoffs. You have a road game, Go
go play an undefeated team, you know, two hundred and
fifty miles from your stadium, you.

Speaker 1 (34:30):
Know, yeah, especially at three or whatever.

Speaker 2 (34:33):
Yes, And also I did I did look it up.
Cold City Wilmington was moved to Week nine, so the
Illinois Central eight they got their stuff together.

Speaker 1 (34:41):
Oh, they figured that out where it should be.

Speaker 2 (34:43):
I believe it was a late season game last year,
but I don't think it was week nine so so yet.

Speaker 1 (34:49):
No, it's in GK, if I'm remembering correctly, has struggled
against still in the last couple of years. So this is,
like I said, they've got to circle up the wagons
and this is going to be a big one for
that one. So I think we're good with eleven man schools.
But I wanted it to have been the eight man
for a minute with a couple of things. I know
there's one up my way and one down your way.

(35:11):
Slash out west, Yes, one down my way.

Speaker 2 (35:14):
It would be a polo a state Illinois eight Man
Football Association state semifinalists last year. They're visiting Flanning and
Cornell Woodland. The game is right down the street from
my house at Woodland High School, the Woodshed. You know,
that's one of those games. Polo is kind of approven.
They've won two eight man championships already. How many have
there been seven eight you know, so you know they've

(35:37):
won two of them. They're state semi fans last year.
They are that elite crop FCW strong program. They've been
in the playoffs more often than not since eight man,
including the past two seasons. But they want to be
join that elite crop. So you can't do it if
you can't beat the teams that are at the top.
So this is a big one for them. FCW does
have a couple of dangerous you know people can run

(36:00):
the ball. Leland Durban ran for one thousand yards last year.
Logan Ruddy is just a physical, tough guy. Heck of
a basketball player, just one of those kids as an athlete,
everything he does. FCW want to know after taking a
forfeit win last week. That being said, I mean you
got to you gotta beat him to join them, and
you know, I think Polo's a powerhouse and you gotta

(36:22):
like their chances.

Speaker 1 (36:24):
Yeah, you know, like you said, the presentation of that
game is interesting with you know, FCW getting the chance
to you know, they want to make a statement this
year eight week two, go ahead and make her statements.
A lot better to have statement games in week two
than you know, two of the best teams in the
state battling announced. I'm gonna go ahead and say that.

Speaker 2 (36:43):
And you have another eight man game that looks pretty interesting.
I know you mentioned Hiawatha and Westminster.

Speaker 1 (36:49):
Yeah, I wanted to bring up Hiawatha because they opened
with a win over galm. I know Galva was kind
of struggled the last couple of years or for a while,
I think, both in one A and then dropping down
in the eight man. But you know, Hiawatha went out
there down there whichever and picked up to win. They're
playing the Harvest Christian Westminster. Harvest Christian Westminster Christian co

(37:12):
op this year say that even twice. I dare you.
Westminster hasn't it played a game since twenty nineteen. They
didn't play last week. They only have about twelve players
on the roster. Apparently according to.

Speaker 2 (37:25):
Hiawatha, that was and that was FCW's forfeit.

Speaker 1 (37:28):
Ah well didn't see there yet, so they had to
forfeit that one. Apparently they didn't have enough kids to
practice during the week, so they didn't have enough to
play the game. So again it was just twelve. It's
with a co op at the two private schools there
in Elgin. But it seems like, you know, kind of
a winnable type game for Hiawatha having it at home.

(37:49):
Then right now was Hiawatha's schedule stands, They got two
forfeits coming up. They haven't been able to find a
replacement for either Schlarman or Rockford Christian, who I had
a drop right before the season started. So I mean
that's four wins for Hiawatha. You know, if they, you know,
can pull this one out, so not just you know,

(38:10):
you talk about not just making the playoffs, but moving up.
That's kind of been the issue with Hiawatha the last
couple of years is you know, they'll they'll win four
or five games, sneak into the eight man playoffs and
then who's the polo or lose the you know whatever
team's going on to reach the finals or the semi finals.
So this, you know, year is set up for Iiawatha
to have kind of a better seat if they can

(38:32):
get this win here.

Speaker 2 (38:33):
And you mentioned twelve kids on the roster or twelve
kids in practice. Have you ever covered a game like that?
I think I think at FCW. I think it might
even been a game at Woodland. It might have been
Schlarman one. It was eight man a couple of years ago.
But there was a team that had two kids on
the bench, you know, and that's playing eight man. So
they had two kids on the bench standing over there,
and one of them got hurt and was laying on

(38:55):
a trainer's table, so they had one kid, you know,
one sub It was. It was a thing to see, man.
I mean it's but you know what it's it shows
a love for high school football.

Speaker 1 (39:03):
You know.

Speaker 2 (39:03):
You know, we can we celebrate the great teams, and
we should, but you know, there are kids that go
out there every week. No one, they're probably going to
get running clocked, and but they go to practice every
day they do, and it's just, you know, it's the
love of high school football, you know here that those
kids have, that these coaches have. It's awesome to see
that they're willing to, you know, suit up even though
it's an eight man not eleven man team with twelve
kids and go out there and say, man, you know

(39:25):
it probably ain't gonna go well, but I'm get to
play football tonight. I think that's just awesome.

Speaker 1 (39:29):
No, it really is the best. And it's the part
of this that you know, like you said, it's just
fun and great to see and you know why we
love this sport, and not just for you know, Dixon
Byron games, but for the other end too. It's just
it's just fun. That's why we're here, or that's why
we were here. I guess we should say, because I
think we're putting a big bow on this sucker, are

(39:50):
we not?

Speaker 2 (39:50):
It sounds good to me, Eddie. Good talk again. Where
are you at Friday?

Speaker 1 (39:54):
Where am I? Oh? I'm at the calv Actually didn't
really mention them. They're playing Phillips this week. Kind of
an interesting matchup there. Both teams last decade were we're
playoff perennial. This decade we've kind of fallen on a
little harder times, both of them, so it should be
kind of interesting. I for the Calb obviously, it's seeing

(40:14):
if they can bounce back. We talked about it last
week that, you know, after they lost the Sycamore, it's
send them down a kind of bad path, you know,
And so we'll see what another tough Sycamore loss in
the game they probably feel like they could have slash
should have won. See how they bounce back this year.

Speaker 2 (40:30):
Sounds good. I'll be down in Eureka. Another game we
didn't talk about, pro Saint Bede Saint Pete Academy visiting Eureka.
Saint Bede looks like has a decent chance again at
a win against a Eureka program that has been really strong,
but maybe might be down a little bit. But I'll
find that out for myself Friday night.

Speaker 1 (40:48):
So obviously all coverage, preview and from Friday available at
Friday Night Drive dot com. Also check out our YouTube channel.
I'm gonna I'm sure the big boys have been teasing
that a ton, but you should check out our YouTube channel.
Every reporter in this company has been doing a great
job last week and getting videos up there. Obviously, the
live show Friday Night with Rhoda Wald and Seuss is

(41:10):
kind of incredible, and I'm not just saying that because
they put my video on there. Sometimes it's a great
show and you should probably watch it. Starts at like
nine thirty on Friday night. I think that's right, so
on our YouTube channel, you can't miss it. So thank
y'all for listening. This week. He was JT Penalty, I
met a Carrifia. Thanks guys,
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