| Northern Illinois Sports Beat http://www.northernillinoissportsbeat.com |
| WEEK 9 OBSERVATIONS |
Of the area's 74 football teams, thirty-two teams saw their seasons end on Friday night.
Six more saw their seasons end on Saturday night. The other 32 area teams get to
move on.
This year's playoff qualifiers are:
Class 7A: Rockford Guilford (5-4), Hononegah (7-2), Harlem (8-1) and Boylan (9-0)
Class 6A: Belvidere North (5-4) and Rock Island (8-1)
Class 5A: Belvidere (5-4), Rochelle (5-4), Sycamore (6-3), Kaneland (6-3), LaSalle-
Peru (7-2) and Sterling (7-2)
Class 4A: Morris (5-4), Plano (6-3), Harvard (7-2), Mendota (7-2) and IVC (9-0)
Class 3A: Rockford Christian Life (5-4), Oregon (5-4), Newman (6-3), Winnebago (7-2),
Rockford Christian (8-1) and Stillman Valley (9-0)
Class 2A: Riverdale (5-4), Eastland/Pearl City (7-2), Bureau Valley (7-2), Amboy (8-1),
Annawan/Wethersfield (8-1) and Morrison (9-0)
Class 1A: Galena (6-3), Polo (7-2), Aquin (8-1), East Dubuque (8-1), Lena-Winslow (7-
2) and Dakota (9-0)
That Void From “Week 4 Observations”
In the Week 4 Observations piece, I made a list of who would be in the playoffs and who
would not. At the last minute I decided not to put the list in, with the following
explanation:
“(You'll have to buy the book I plan on releasing in about 40 years to see the complete
list of teams in an "In and Out" listing. I was going to put this in, but it was deemed too
graphic for football coaches and athletes.)”
Here it is:
Six more saw their seasons end on Saturday night. The other 32 area teams get to
move on.
This year's playoff qualifiers are:
Class 7A: Rockford Guilford (5-4), Hononegah (7-2), Harlem (8-1) and Boylan (9-0)
Class 6A: Belvidere North (5-4) and Rock Island (8-1)
Class 5A: Belvidere (5-4), Rochelle (5-4), Sycamore (6-3), Kaneland (6-3), LaSalle-
Peru (7-2) and Sterling (7-2)
Class 4A: Morris (5-4), Plano (6-3), Harvard (7-2), Mendota (7-2) and IVC (9-0)
Class 3A: Rockford Christian Life (5-4), Oregon (5-4), Newman (6-3), Winnebago (7-2),
Rockford Christian (8-1) and Stillman Valley (9-0)
Class 2A: Riverdale (5-4), Eastland/Pearl City (7-2), Bureau Valley (7-2), Amboy (8-1),
Annawan/Wethersfield (8-1) and Morrison (9-0)
Class 1A: Galena (6-3), Polo (7-2), Aquin (8-1), East Dubuque (8-1), Lena-Winslow (7-
2) and Dakota (9-0)
That Void From “Week 4 Observations”
In the Week 4 Observations piece, I made a list of who would be in the playoffs and who
would not. At the last minute I decided not to put the list in, with the following
explanation:
“(You'll have to buy the book I plan on releasing in about 40 years to see the complete
list of teams in an "In and Out" listing. I was going to put this in, but it was deemed too
graphic for football coaches and athletes.)”
Here it is:
IN
Harvard
Genoa-Kingston
Stillman Valley
Winnebago
Amboy
Bureau Valley
Morrison
Newman
Riverdale
Plano
IVC
Mendota
Geneseo
LaSalle-Peru
Morris
Sterling
Rockford Christian
Belvidere
Harlem
Rockford Boylan
Rockford Guilford
Hononegah
Dakota
Eastland/Pearl City
Lena-Winslow
West Carroll
Aquin
East Dubuque
Galena
Polo
Stockton
Annawan/Wethersfield
Harvard
Genoa-Kingston
Stillman Valley
Winnebago
Amboy
Bureau Valley
Morrison
Newman
Riverdale
Plano
IVC
Mendota
Geneseo
LaSalle-Peru
Morris
Sterling
Rockford Christian
Belvidere
Harlem
Rockford Boylan
Rockford Guilford
Hononegah
Dakota
Eastland/Pearl City
Lena-Winslow
West Carroll
Aquin
East Dubuque
Galena
Polo
Stockton
Annawan/Wethersfield
OUT
North Boone
Marengo
Byron
Oregon
Rockford Lutheran
Erie/Prophetstown
Fulton
Marquette
St. Bede
Sandwich (pp)
Kewanee
Princeton
Rock Falls
Hall
Dixon
Ottawa
Streator
Rockford Christian Life
Belvidere North
Freeport
Rockford Auburn
Rockford East
Rockford Jefferson
Forreston
Pecatonica (pp)
South Beloit
Warren/River Ridge
AFC
Durand
Milledgeville
Orangeville
North Boone
Marengo
Byron
Oregon
Rockford Lutheran
Erie/Prophetstown
Fulton
Marquette
St. Bede
Sandwich (pp)
Kewanee
Princeton
Rock Falls
Hall
Dixon
Ottawa
Streator
Rockford Christian Life
Belvidere North
Freeport
Rockford Auburn
Rockford East
Rockford Jefferson
Forreston
Pecatonica (pp)
South Beloit
Warren/River Ridge
AFC
Durand
Milledgeville
Orangeville
The teams in bold are my incorrect predictions. “(pp)” means out on playoff points.
How the Bubble Teams Fared
(From the Week 8 Observations piece)
In Class 7A, Rockford Guilford travels to 2-6 Freeport. The Vikings may come into the
game as an underdog, being that this is Freeport's Senior Night. The Pretzel seniors
are going to go all out for this one, and the juniors and sophomores are going to help in
making sure this happens. Guilford won a wild one, 60-46.
In Class 6A, Belvidere North has an easy opponent to face. The winless Rockford
Auburn Knights come to North for one last try at a win. North has won four of their last
five games after starting the year 0-3, with that lone loss being a five-point loss to
Rockford Boylan. North beat Auburn 26-8.
In Class 5A, Belvidere and Morris have to win games. The Bucs, coming off that hard
loss to North, has to regroup and be the opponent for Rockford Jefferson's (1-7) Senior
Night. Belvidere wins 26-6. Morris, which will be a lock if they win anyway with over 40
playoff points, needs to beat Dixon (3-5). Morris shuts out Dixon 47-8.
In Class 4A, three teams need to win out. The most notable of them being Rock Falls.
The Rockets take on Rockridge (2-6) to try for their first winning season since 1992.
Rock Falls won 24-15. Princeton, which started out 4-1, has lost their last three
games, and have a dangerous opponent coming to town in Orion (7-1). Princeton
gets shut out 35-0. The Sandwich Indians, whose season has been a big roller
coaster ride, will look to make playoffs if they beat Lisle (2-6). Sandwich did beat
Lisle 20-7.
In Class 3A, three teams need to win out. Genoa-Kingston, who started the year 2-0,
find themselves in a fight for a playoff berth. The Cogs host Byron (1-7). Byron wound
up winning 18-12. West Carroll has the toughest challenge of all of the hopefuls, as
they host unbeaten Dakota. West Carroll fell 20-12. North Boone is in a rut as far as
playoff points are concerned. Even if they pull off a stunning upset over Richmond-
Burton on the road, they may not get in. They didn't, by way of falling 47-14.
In Class 1A, Hiawatha and Stockton needed to win out. Hiawatha? The same program
that trailed Pecatonica 88-0 at half a few years back? The Northeastern Athletic
Conference has given the Hawks some competition to go against, and it has worked
well for them. Hiawatha upset Mooseheart in NAC play last week, and will try for a win
on Friday as they face Winnetka North Shore Country Day (1-7). Hiawatha wins big,
47-8. Stockton also plays a 1-7 team in the Durand Bulldogs. The game is being played
in Durand, which makes the Blackhawks an underdog in a way. Stockton wins 12-0.
Disappointing Saturday
Six area 5-4 teams did not make the playoffs. Sixteen other 5-4 teams in the state also
did not make it in. The number of 5-4 teams not making it in almost doubled the number
from last year (12). The previous high was 18 teams in 2006.
The number 38 ended up being the playoff point cutoff. Four teams that won games on
Friday did not make it in. Two teams that came into this past Friday with a 5-3 record
did not make it.
Sandwich and Stockton did not make it in. Sandwich fell one point shy of making it in,
and, ironically, had to rely on Plano to beat Coal City, which didn't happen. Stockton fell
two points shy of making the cut.
Hiawatha and Rock Falls missed the cut, but posted winning seasons for the first time in
a number of years.
Hiawatha's 5-4 record is their best since 1987, and Rock Falls's is their best since
1992. Hiawatha was a victim of a last-minute scheduling arrangement on the part of
Chicago CICS-Longwood. The Panthers had to play Momence in Week 7 to round out a
contract, while Hiawatha was left with Chicago Woodlawn, who finished 0-8. Longwood
was 5-4 this season, and if they played Hiawatha the Eagles may have made it in.
For Rock Falls, it was a matter of trying to get ANY win they could. The Rockets have
wins over Peoria High (1-8), Peoria Woodruff (2-7, but 3-6 on the field due to a forfeit),
and Rockridge (2-7) in addition to their upset of Hall (3-6) in Week 7. Could scheduling
work end up being the thing that gets the Rocket football program out of a funk? Next
year's new opponents are Byron, Forreston, Peoria Manual and Winnebago.
The two other teams that didn't make it in each had their high points at the halfway
mark. The team with the most points per game, and the team with the least points given
up per game at that mark both did not make it in.
Pecatonica only had 33 playoff points, and averaged over 42 points per game after
Week 5. However, the Indians' four wins in that span were against two winless teams
and two one-win teams. They found themselves looking forward to Saturday night after
falling to Eastland/Pearl City. Alleman wound up losing a close game this past Friday
by a baseball score of 8-5 to Dunlap. It was an ugly week overall for the Pioneer's
opponents last week: Only Byron and Rock Island won, but by close margins. The
Pioneers exited Week 5 with three straight shutout wins.
Crusaders Enjoyed The Spotlight
With it's public school counterpart embroiled in a labor dispute, Ottawa Marquette had
the city's lone high school football team after Week 5.
The Crusaders finished 1-8 on the season, and in the Big Rivers Conference. It's one
of those times where participation in extra-curricular activities isn't all about whether or
not one wins or loses, but gains a life skill or a physical skill. Marquette didn't win many
games, but still performed real well.
No other area 1-8 team has scored more than 200 points this season. Their 26 points
scored against Morrison is the most the Mustangs have given up so far this season.
Two of their first five points were decided by less than six points: Week 2 against Fulton
(38-41) and Week 5 against St. Bede (14-20) in a game between winless teams at that
time. They also fell to Newman by only ten points on the road.
An upset was in the works a couple of weekends ago when the Crusaders led Amboy
14-7 at halftime. They wound up falling 35-22. They finished their season real strong
with a 28-21 loss to Bureau Valley at home.
Marquette's lone win came in Week 7's Homecoming game against River Valley, 59-0.
Robbie Dunn became the program's all-time leading rusher this season, breaking Tyler
DeBenardi's record of 2,369 yards. Dunn finished with 929 yards this season for a
grand total of 2,637.
Week Nine “By The Numbers”
26 – Current losing streak for United Township. The Panthers ended their regular
season with a 32-20 loss to Rich East.
30 – Current losing streak. The Boilermakers ended their regular season with a 28-14
loss to Macomb this past weekend.
38 – Number of points scored by the Durand Bulldogs this season. Half of those points
were scored in a 19-18 win over Orangeville.
132 – Number of points scored against zero for Annawan/Wethersfield since the fourth
quarter of their Week 6 win over Elmwood/Brimfield.
141 – Number of points scored against zero in the past four weeks for Princeville, who
joins the Titans as a West Prairie Trail Northeast playoff team.
Top Five Playoff Games
This part of the piece will be shortened a bit because of the reduction of the number of
teams still playing.
#7 Galena (6-3) at #2 Freeport Aquin (8-1) [Class 1A]
#6 Polo (7-2) at #3 East Dubuque (8-1) [Class 1A]
#10 Bureau Valley (7-2) at #7 Mercer County (7-2) [Class 2A]
#10 LaSalle-Peru (7-2) at #7 Sterling (7-2) [Class 5A]
#9 Oak Lawn Richards (8-1) at #8 Rock Island (8-1) [Class 6A]
I made this week's plans a couple of weeks back. I'll be at work at the Shell station on
Friday afternoon and Saturday night. This week is also the IHSA Volleyball Regional
week. I would like to go to a top playoff game on Friday night, as well as a volleyball
Regional final on Saturday afternoon. Considering the drive from work, I'll be at the
Sterling/LaSalle-Peru game on Friday night, and the Somonauk Volleyball Regional on
Saturday afternoon. See you there!
-Cody
How the Bubble Teams Fared
(From the Week 8 Observations piece)
In Class 7A, Rockford Guilford travels to 2-6 Freeport. The Vikings may come into the
game as an underdog, being that this is Freeport's Senior Night. The Pretzel seniors
are going to go all out for this one, and the juniors and sophomores are going to help in
making sure this happens. Guilford won a wild one, 60-46.
In Class 6A, Belvidere North has an easy opponent to face. The winless Rockford
Auburn Knights come to North for one last try at a win. North has won four of their last
five games after starting the year 0-3, with that lone loss being a five-point loss to
Rockford Boylan. North beat Auburn 26-8.
In Class 5A, Belvidere and Morris have to win games. The Bucs, coming off that hard
loss to North, has to regroup and be the opponent for Rockford Jefferson's (1-7) Senior
Night. Belvidere wins 26-6. Morris, which will be a lock if they win anyway with over 40
playoff points, needs to beat Dixon (3-5). Morris shuts out Dixon 47-8.
In Class 4A, three teams need to win out. The most notable of them being Rock Falls.
The Rockets take on Rockridge (2-6) to try for their first winning season since 1992.
Rock Falls won 24-15. Princeton, which started out 4-1, has lost their last three
games, and have a dangerous opponent coming to town in Orion (7-1). Princeton
gets shut out 35-0. The Sandwich Indians, whose season has been a big roller
coaster ride, will look to make playoffs if they beat Lisle (2-6). Sandwich did beat
Lisle 20-7.
In Class 3A, three teams need to win out. Genoa-Kingston, who started the year 2-0,
find themselves in a fight for a playoff berth. The Cogs host Byron (1-7). Byron wound
up winning 18-12. West Carroll has the toughest challenge of all of the hopefuls, as
they host unbeaten Dakota. West Carroll fell 20-12. North Boone is in a rut as far as
playoff points are concerned. Even if they pull off a stunning upset over Richmond-
Burton on the road, they may not get in. They didn't, by way of falling 47-14.
In Class 1A, Hiawatha and Stockton needed to win out. Hiawatha? The same program
that trailed Pecatonica 88-0 at half a few years back? The Northeastern Athletic
Conference has given the Hawks some competition to go against, and it has worked
well for them. Hiawatha upset Mooseheart in NAC play last week, and will try for a win
on Friday as they face Winnetka North Shore Country Day (1-7). Hiawatha wins big,
47-8. Stockton also plays a 1-7 team in the Durand Bulldogs. The game is being played
in Durand, which makes the Blackhawks an underdog in a way. Stockton wins 12-0.
Disappointing Saturday
Six area 5-4 teams did not make the playoffs. Sixteen other 5-4 teams in the state also
did not make it in. The number of 5-4 teams not making it in almost doubled the number
from last year (12). The previous high was 18 teams in 2006.
The number 38 ended up being the playoff point cutoff. Four teams that won games on
Friday did not make it in. Two teams that came into this past Friday with a 5-3 record
did not make it.
Sandwich and Stockton did not make it in. Sandwich fell one point shy of making it in,
and, ironically, had to rely on Plano to beat Coal City, which didn't happen. Stockton fell
two points shy of making the cut.
Hiawatha and Rock Falls missed the cut, but posted winning seasons for the first time in
a number of years.
Hiawatha's 5-4 record is their best since 1987, and Rock Falls's is their best since
1992. Hiawatha was a victim of a last-minute scheduling arrangement on the part of
Chicago CICS-Longwood. The Panthers had to play Momence in Week 7 to round out a
contract, while Hiawatha was left with Chicago Woodlawn, who finished 0-8. Longwood
was 5-4 this season, and if they played Hiawatha the Eagles may have made it in.
For Rock Falls, it was a matter of trying to get ANY win they could. The Rockets have
wins over Peoria High (1-8), Peoria Woodruff (2-7, but 3-6 on the field due to a forfeit),
and Rockridge (2-7) in addition to their upset of Hall (3-6) in Week 7. Could scheduling
work end up being the thing that gets the Rocket football program out of a funk? Next
year's new opponents are Byron, Forreston, Peoria Manual and Winnebago.
The two other teams that didn't make it in each had their high points at the halfway
mark. The team with the most points per game, and the team with the least points given
up per game at that mark both did not make it in.
Pecatonica only had 33 playoff points, and averaged over 42 points per game after
Week 5. However, the Indians' four wins in that span were against two winless teams
and two one-win teams. They found themselves looking forward to Saturday night after
falling to Eastland/Pearl City. Alleman wound up losing a close game this past Friday
by a baseball score of 8-5 to Dunlap. It was an ugly week overall for the Pioneer's
opponents last week: Only Byron and Rock Island won, but by close margins. The
Pioneers exited Week 5 with three straight shutout wins.
Crusaders Enjoyed The Spotlight
With it's public school counterpart embroiled in a labor dispute, Ottawa Marquette had
the city's lone high school football team after Week 5.
The Crusaders finished 1-8 on the season, and in the Big Rivers Conference. It's one
of those times where participation in extra-curricular activities isn't all about whether or
not one wins or loses, but gains a life skill or a physical skill. Marquette didn't win many
games, but still performed real well.
No other area 1-8 team has scored more than 200 points this season. Their 26 points
scored against Morrison is the most the Mustangs have given up so far this season.
Two of their first five points were decided by less than six points: Week 2 against Fulton
(38-41) and Week 5 against St. Bede (14-20) in a game between winless teams at that
time. They also fell to Newman by only ten points on the road.
An upset was in the works a couple of weekends ago when the Crusaders led Amboy
14-7 at halftime. They wound up falling 35-22. They finished their season real strong
with a 28-21 loss to Bureau Valley at home.
Marquette's lone win came in Week 7's Homecoming game against River Valley, 59-0.
Robbie Dunn became the program's all-time leading rusher this season, breaking Tyler
DeBenardi's record of 2,369 yards. Dunn finished with 929 yards this season for a
grand total of 2,637.
Week Nine “By The Numbers”
26 – Current losing streak for United Township. The Panthers ended their regular
season with a 32-20 loss to Rich East.
30 – Current losing streak. The Boilermakers ended their regular season with a 28-14
loss to Macomb this past weekend.
38 – Number of points scored by the Durand Bulldogs this season. Half of those points
were scored in a 19-18 win over Orangeville.
132 – Number of points scored against zero for Annawan/Wethersfield since the fourth
quarter of their Week 6 win over Elmwood/Brimfield.
141 – Number of points scored against zero in the past four weeks for Princeville, who
joins the Titans as a West Prairie Trail Northeast playoff team.
Top Five Playoff Games
This part of the piece will be shortened a bit because of the reduction of the number of
teams still playing.
#7 Galena (6-3) at #2 Freeport Aquin (8-1) [Class 1A]
#6 Polo (7-2) at #3 East Dubuque (8-1) [Class 1A]
#10 Bureau Valley (7-2) at #7 Mercer County (7-2) [Class 2A]
#10 LaSalle-Peru (7-2) at #7 Sterling (7-2) [Class 5A]
#9 Oak Lawn Richards (8-1) at #8 Rock Island (8-1) [Class 6A]
I made this week's plans a couple of weeks back. I'll be at work at the Shell station on
Friday afternoon and Saturday night. This week is also the IHSA Volleyball Regional
week. I would like to go to a top playoff game on Friday night, as well as a volleyball
Regional final on Saturday afternoon. Considering the drive from work, I'll be at the
Sterling/LaSalle-Peru game on Friday night, and the Somonauk Volleyball Regional on
Saturday afternoon. See you there!
-Cody
C o d y' s
o
r
n
e
r
C o l u m n s
o
r
n
e
r
C o l u m n s
| Those Who Know Northern Illinois High School Sports Know about NISB! |
