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WEEK 11 PREVIEW: Top 15 Games and Picks · Gateway Sports Venue Show

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Gateway Sports Venue Show.
• 0:02
  Speaker 2: We are here to preview week 11 of the St.
• 0:07
  Speaker 2: Louis Metro Area high school football season. And Roman, this
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: might be the most stacked, anticipated week.
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: 11s we've ever done.
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: I think it is number one already, just with anticipation
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: and the games.
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: That we have on tap.
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: I mean, we give Misha a lot of crap, but
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: This is a pretty impressive slate.
• 0:33
  Speaker 3: Misha is pretty much... The past few years, they've been saying,
• 0:37
  Speaker 3: we're going to put you through one boring week.
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: Don't worry.
• 0:40
  Speaker 3: Just one week. And then everything's going to be awesome
• 0:43
  Speaker 3: after that. So... Not awesome for some.
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: I mean, not awesome for some teams. Like, I'm having fun.
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: I mean, we're about to have a lot of fun
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: preview these games, but like.
• 0:52
  Speaker 3: For fans and the media, this format is almost perfect.
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: There's almost... I know, but there's going to be some really,
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: really good teams who... are going to go home early.
• 1:01
  Speaker 3: Way too early, way, way, way too early. That, that is, I'll,
• 1:07
  Speaker 3: I'll save my comments for later episode. You know, I
• 1:09
  Speaker 3: just talked about the playoff format, but if you are not,
• 1:14
  Speaker 3: if you're listening to this right now and you will
• 1:17
  Speaker 3: be in town this Friday or Saturday and you're not
• 1:21
  Speaker 3: going to a game, then what are you doing? Cause
• 1:24
  Speaker 3: you're missing out on some very high quality football, uh,
• 1:28
  Speaker 3: And I do know, speaking of going to games, I
• 1:30
  Speaker 3: believe every school now does digital-only ticketing.
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 1:35
  Speaker 3: So make sure not to just show up at 6.50 p.m.
• 1:39
  Speaker 3: and expect to buy a ticket at the gate because
• 1:42
  Speaker 3: I think it's just online only.
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: I mean, you can in theory do that.
• 1:46
  Speaker 3: As you pull up, you can do it online. I'm
• 1:48
  Speaker 3: just saying, like, make sure to be prepared and know
• 1:51
  Speaker 3: what you're doing.
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: Right, right.
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I'm sure, like, in a week or two,
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: we're going to realize, like, man, like, this team is
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: playing that team who only had to play those teams
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: to get here. Like, we're probably, we're going to be
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: having those conversations. But right now, it's, yeah, there's a
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: lot on tap, and there's a lot at stake.
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 2:08
  Speaker 3: For now, though, let's go to Class 6, District 2.
• 2:12
  Speaker 3: For our number 15 game of the week, we've got
• 2:14
  Speaker 3: Marquette at Kirkwood. Kirkwood's fair by 20 and a half points.
• 2:17
  Speaker 3: The Overns at 53 and a half. this is the
• 2:20
  Speaker 3: first of my final game in the class six district
• 2:22
  Speaker 3: two bracket. These two teams actually played back in week three.
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 2:28
  Speaker 3: Week three. No, week four, week three.
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: Oh yeah. You're right.
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: I'm looking at Kirkwood schedule. It was technically their week three.
• 2:36
  Speaker 3: Kirkwood won that one pretty easily. Um, but, uh, it was,
• 2:41
  Speaker 3: it was a close game at halftime and Kirkwood kind
• 2:43
  Speaker 3: of just pulled away in the second half. Um, So
• 2:46
  Speaker 3: you could say, oh, well, Marquette, they were right there
• 2:48
  Speaker 3: with him the whole time. It was like, well, the
• 2:51
  Speaker 3: talent kind of came out in the end for Kirkwood.
• 2:54
  Speaker 3: It was really bad turnovers in the first half that time,
• 2:57
  Speaker 3: which kept Marquette in the game. And hey, it's a
• 3:01
  Speaker 3: Mustang team. It's got some momentum with their crazy overtime
• 3:04
  Speaker 3: win against Lafayette last week, but Kirkwood definitely has a
• 3:09
  Speaker 3: talent edge. I'm not going to sugarcoat it. They've had
• 3:13
  Speaker 3: nothing crazy so far this year offensively, but Nick Tucci's
• 3:18
  Speaker 3: been a good enough QB. Their rushing attack has gotten
• 3:22
  Speaker 3: way better from previous years. Chase Griffin and Darion Brown
• 3:24
  Speaker 3: have both been really good for five years.
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: That's really been the difference for them. I think this.
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: Has not by any means been a special year for
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: their passing attack.
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: Their run game has really been the saving grace.
• 3:36
  Speaker 3: The funny part is Griffin and Brown are their leaders
• 3:38
  Speaker 3: in rushing. They both have over 500 yards so far.
• 3:41
  Speaker 3: But DeMarcus Tatum and Benji Rice, they both have over
• 3:44
  Speaker 3: 300 yards rushing each, and they both are averaging over
• 3:47
  Speaker 3: 9 yards per carry. So it's really a creative rushing
• 3:50
  Speaker 3: attack here for Coach Macklin of the Pioneers. And just
• 3:55
  Speaker 3: given that incredible diversity on their offense, I'm going to
• 3:58
  Speaker 3: go with Kirkwood to win here, and I'm going to
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: go with you over.
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: Yeah, because at the end of the day, it's going
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: to be tough to pick a team who beat Marquette.
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: Kirkwood beat Marquette by 21 points, so it's going to
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: be really hard to pick against them.
• 4:09
  Speaker 3: 31 points.
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: Sorry, 31. what Marquette needs to improve on from that
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: game is stopping, stopping the run because they gave up
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: 436 rushing yards in that game. They did a nice
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: job of limiting, albeit, you know, to Kirkwood. Well, Joey
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: Goodman was the backup quarterback for Kirkwood. Nick Tucci didn't play.
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: So admittedly a backup.
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: Quarterback, they did a good job of limiting that.
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: But if they're going to have any chance to win
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: this game, they can't, I mean, they got to cut
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: that rushing yards in half pretty much.
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: If they want to have a chance.
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: I mean, they were able to move the ball offensively
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: at times in that game, not by a lot. I mean,
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: Jermon Abbott was one of the few guys on Marquette
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: who had a good game. He had 113 rushing yards
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: and 21 carries, but they struggled to throw in that game.
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: They struggled to keep turnovers down, and it's going to
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: be at Kirkwood's hosting again, and Kirkwood's usually, I can't
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: remember a time where they've been upset genuinely and especially
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: at home at home in the playoffs um i've been
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: a long time sure there might be some examples but
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: it's been long enough where it's like it's just not
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: what they really do so they just typically win these
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: type of games and they've beaten marquette already this season
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: by 31 points and um it.
• 5:29
  Speaker 3: Took an all-time black county team to beat kirkwood at
• 5:31
  Speaker 3: home in the.
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: Playoffs last year by a good amount but yeah still
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: um yeah, they're usually, and Kirkwood's a tough place to play.
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: I mean, that's a, that's a place that, you know,
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: the community has got to come out and they're going to,
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: you know, it's a fairly big stadium and they're going
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: to get loud. And, uh, so yeah, it's, it's a
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: tough place to, to.
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: Win in the playoffs.
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: So yeah, therefore I'm going to pioneers and, uh, let's see,
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: I will take that over and I, I will have
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: Marquette covering though. I do think they will improve a
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: little bit, uh, upon their last game against Kirkwood. It's
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: tough to beat a, It's tough to beat a good
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: team twice, but is Marquette that good of a team?
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: We shall see.
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 6:11
  Speaker 3: All right, next up, Metro League matchup here. This is
• 6:15
  Speaker 3: in the Class 3 District... No, was it Class.
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: It's Class 3.
• 6:23
  Speaker 3: Yeah, Class 3. Sorry, I'm spazzing out here. Sorry, Class 3,
• 6:27
  Speaker 3: District 3, lower side of that bracket here. A rematch
• 6:32
  Speaker 3: from just under a month ago, MICDS at Lutheran North.
• 6:36
  Speaker 3: excuse me, Lutheran North played by 16.5 points. The overruns
• 6:39
  Speaker 3: at 59.5. Last time these two teams played, Lutheran North
• 6:42
  Speaker 3: had an all-time day rushing the ball. They ran for
• 6:45
  Speaker 3: over 550 yards as a team. And it was a
• 6:49
  Speaker 3: freaking track meet, to say the least. And MICDS, they
• 6:53
  Speaker 3: got some dudes up front, but their depth up front
• 6:55
  Speaker 3: is just not there. They got some good talent on
• 6:59
  Speaker 3: the outside, but I just think front seven depth is
• 7:02
  Speaker 3: their main weakness. That's one thing Lutheran North saw ahead
• 7:05
  Speaker 3: of time and really, really beat them down on. I think,
• 7:10
  Speaker 3: I mean, unless MICDS finds a way to create some
• 7:13
  Speaker 3: turnovers early, I think yet again, guys like Kai Robinson,
• 7:20
  Speaker 3: Baron Carter, Jonathan Moore, or Baron Kreider.
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: Jonathan Moore is not playing their last two games. He
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: did not play in their game last week.
• 7:26
  Speaker 3: I guess he's hurt. Caden Johnson's been their QB recently.
• 7:30
  Speaker 3: he stepped in mostly fine.
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: Um, yeah, not, not, not obviously not Jonathan Moore type
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: of numbers, but.
• 7:37
  Speaker 3: You know, not, you know, pretty good for backup, but
• 7:40
  Speaker 3: I think what, and also.
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: MICDS, I mean, they're, they're missing numerous guys, including Amari Roberts,
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: who's their best player. I mean, I think, I believe
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: he's out for the rest of the season with a
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: ankle injury, um, that he sustained against Luther North. Unfortunately,
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: I mean, it's unfortunate either way, but obviously, yeah. Ironic
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: how that was against Luther North. Um, and yeah, since
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: that game, I mean, they've lost and they lost three
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: in a row, including a, giving a lot of up
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: a lot of points to just an average Jefferson city team.
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: And they came back and beat Priory this past week.
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: They still gave up 21 points to them. I'll be
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: at 15 in the fourth quarter. So I don't know
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: how much of that, that really matters. So, um, yeah,
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: I just, you know, I mean.
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: Their game against Luther North was a track meet, especially
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: in that first half.
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: Um, But not that it matters where the games are
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: being played at. It will be at Lutheran North at
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: 6 o'clock on Friday. I just think, even though without
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: Jonathan Moore, I think Lutheran North is going to do
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: fine offensively. And then MICS could still do some damage
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: defensively with their passing attack. But I just think Lutheran
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: North has too many guys, and they're just more talented overall.
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: So I think the Crusaders win this one. And I'll
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: take the over, and I'll have them covering as well.
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 8:58
  Speaker 3: Next up, going back up to the Class 6 bracket,
• 9:01
  Speaker 3: this is the Class 6 District 4. We've got Zumo
• 9:06
  Speaker 3: West at Francis Howell. Francis Howell figured by 14.5. The
• 9:09
  Speaker 3: Overns are 45.5. Massive rivalry here. Unfortunately, both programs are
• 9:17
  Speaker 3: kind of on a down for the past few years.
• 9:21
  Speaker 3: You know, that's... We've seen some decent success in Francis
• 9:25
  Speaker 3: Allen over the past few years, but Zuma West, kind
• 9:28
  Speaker 3: of since 2019, has been nothing really that special.
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: Well, I mean, last year they only won a district championship.
• 9:36
  Speaker 3: They did. I'll give that to them, but that... I
• 9:41
  Speaker 3: don't want to be that guy. Zuma West won 9-4
• 9:44
  Speaker 3: last year. They did a good year last year. But
• 9:47
  Speaker 3: the way they lost to Pattonville last year lets a
• 9:50
  Speaker 3: sour taste in my mouth, so I kind of like...
• 9:52
  Speaker 3: didn't have a good final feeling about that team. Um,
• 9:56
  Speaker 3: but yeah, that is, that is true. They, they beat, they,
• 9:59
  Speaker 3: they beat Troy when, when their district last year. So
• 10:01
  Speaker 3: that was, I have to come back and win, but yeah,
• 10:02
  Speaker 3: they still did.
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: They still did it. Yeah.
• 10:04
  Speaker 3: Um, but yeah, this year though, four and five, Francis Howell, uh,
• 10:08
  Speaker 3: five and four.
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: They did nearly beat Hannibal. So that's interesting.
• 10:13
  Speaker 3: It is. Um, these two teams played each other back
• 10:17
  Speaker 3: in week four. Uh, Francis Howell won 31 to seven.
• 10:22
  Speaker 3: And the Howell offense has been kind of off and on.
• 10:29
  Speaker 3: Against Troy, they lose 14-10. But against Chaminade, they put
• 10:32
  Speaker 3: up 42 points. It's kind of hard to see what's
• 10:38
  Speaker 3: coming for them.
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: 21 in the fourth quarter.
• 10:41
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: When it was 55-21 at that point.
• 10:46
  Speaker 3: I think it's really just going to come down to
• 10:48
  Speaker 3: turnovers here because... it's just, you know, it's more West
• 10:55
  Speaker 3: has been okay at running the ball this year. Uh,
• 10:57
  Speaker 3: Gavin Morris, um, 748 rushing yards, 14 tuck rush touchdowns
• 11:01
  Speaker 3: for him on the ground so far. Um, but yeah,
• 11:05
  Speaker 3: I mean, this is a, it's my West team who
• 11:07
  Speaker 3: is somewhat prone to turn the ball over. So if
• 11:09
  Speaker 3: they can get the ball, I think they can keep
• 11:11
  Speaker 3: it close, but I'll go with Francis Howell to, uh,
• 11:15
  Speaker 3: to cover here and I will go with the, I'll
• 11:17
  Speaker 3: go with the under. Okay.
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: Uh, Derek Chup has kind of had a nice season for,
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: you know, for how he's thrown 15 touchdowns, four interceptions
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: quarterback rating at 111, 1200 yards, Damian Donaldson's rush for
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: 937 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns for how, and three
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: receivers with over 300 receiving yards. So they got, it's
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: not an explosive, like you said, it's off and on.
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: It can be explosive. Sometimes it isn't, but they have a,
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: they have pieces and, Yeah, I mean, what you described,
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: Zuma West is an apt description. So I'm going to
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: go with Howell to win, I think, the overhits. And
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: I guess I'll have West covering. I think it'll be
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: a two-score game, something like that. Just because it's the playoffs. West,
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: they were better against Hannibal. So, but yeah, I still
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: got Howell winning this game for sure, though. Mm-hmm.
• 12:18
  Speaker 3: All right, next up, shifting over to the IHSA Class
• 12:22
  Speaker 3: 4 playoff bracket. We've got Cahokia at Rochester. Rochester fared
• 12:28
  Speaker 3: by 20.5 points. The overrun is at 66.5. Cahokia, they've
• 12:33
  Speaker 3: had a great season so far. They had a nice
• 12:34
  Speaker 3: scrappy win against Jacksonville last week. And unfortunately, they got
• 12:38
  Speaker 3: matched up against the Rochester Rockets, who are having an
• 12:40
  Speaker 3: incredible season so far. I talked about them last episode,
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: about how they, under Coach Derek Leonard, have done... Pretty
• 12:47
  Speaker 3: much everything you can do as a football team. You know, setting...
• 12:51
  Speaker 3: I mean, for a bit there, I think they had
• 12:54
  Speaker 3: like four of the top ten offensive seasons in Illinois
• 12:58
  Speaker 3: history when it comes to points scored.
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: That's not surprising.
• 13:01
  Speaker 3: Their one loss this year is to Sacred Heart Griffin
• 13:05
  Speaker 3: out of Springfield. Formerly coached by Derek Leonard's father, Ken.
• 13:08
  Speaker 3: Now they're coached by John Allison, though. But, yeah, anyway, they.
• 13:16
  Speaker 3: For Rochester, they've had a good schedule, and they've shown out.
• 13:22
  Speaker 3: They crushed Batavia back in Week 2. Batavia's 8-2 right now.
• 13:26
  Speaker 3: They crushed Decatur MacArthur by 30. MacArthur's 8-3 right now.
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: To beat Glenwood 65-21 is usually good. And I think
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: they're still playing. No, sorry, Glenwood, they lost.
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: But they're a respectable program. Yeah.
• 13:43
  Speaker 3: And then we briefly mentioned their win over Waterloo last week.
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: Yeah, dominating.
• 13:49
  Speaker 3: But, yeah, I mean, this is a good Cahokia team.
• 13:51
  Speaker 3: Don't get me wrong. They've got talent all up and
• 13:54
  Speaker 3: down the field, especially on offense. But this is a
• 13:57
  Speaker 3: Rochester team that just does not make mistakes. And especially
• 14:00
  Speaker 3: when you get late into playoffs like this, you cannot
• 14:05
  Speaker 3: do anything to beat yourself. Any kind of poor communication
• 14:09
  Speaker 3: on defense or a blown coverage or a turnover– it's
• 14:13
  Speaker 3: going to be hard to beat Rochester and it's going
• 14:15
  Speaker 3: to be even harder if you help them be you. Uh,
• 14:18
  Speaker 3: not to say that Cahokia does that, but I'm just
• 14:20
  Speaker 3: saying that Rochester is not going to do that to themselves.
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: So given that, I'm going to go with Rochester to
• 14:25
  Speaker 3: cover here and I'll go with the over. I think
• 14:27
  Speaker 3: Cahokia is going to be able to put up some points,
• 14:29
  Speaker 3: but I think Rochester's offense is going to be way
• 14:31
  Speaker 3: too much.
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: I think if Cahokia is going to put up points,
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: they're going to have to throw the ball a little
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: bit more because they have the athletes to certainly do that.
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: And they, I mean, they got good size.
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: Um, so there, I mean, when you, when you look
• 14:40
  Speaker 2: at both teams, you're not going to think that other
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: team is out of place. Um, but you know, in Rochester,
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: I can't remember. I mean, they might have this insane
• 14:51
  Speaker 2: record right now of like wins in a row at
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: home in the playoffs. I can't remember the last time
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: they've lost a game in the, like in the playoffs
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: at home.
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: Maybe it was, I know it wasn't a year ago
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: cause they went to state. Maybe it was two years ago.
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: I can't remember, but yeah. Um, I'm going to have
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: to pick Rochester to.
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 15:12
  Speaker 3: I hate to do this to you.
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: Yeah, what?
• 15:14
  Speaker 3: But they lost last year at home.
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: I thought they went to the state championship.
• 15:19
  Speaker 3: They lost to Montini.
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: Oh, okay.
• 15:22
  Speaker 3: In the....
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: Are you sure? Okay. Because I thought Breeze Central.
• 15:29
  Speaker 3: Oh, that was the final. That's right. Okay, I was
• 15:31
  Speaker 3: looking at it wrong. Sorry. That was the State Championship game.
• 15:33
  Speaker 3: Because they beat Breeze Central in the semifinals.
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: In overtime, yeah.
• 15:36
  Speaker 3: That's right. Okay, yeah, sorry. Sorry, John was right.
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 15:39
  Speaker 3: Hashtag John was right.
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: Thanks.
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: By the way, this is really cringe, but Wright is
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: literally my middle name.
• 15:50
  Speaker 3: Actually, they did lose. Unless I'm reading this wrong. Unless
• 15:54
  Speaker 3: I'm reading this wrong.
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: This is 2024.
• 15:55
  Speaker 3: This is two years ago. Rochester lost to Peoria Notre Dame.
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: By a point.
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: Yeah, 58. I remember that was kind of a crazy game.
• 16:06
  Speaker 3: I forgot they played Ritter that year.
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: And they beat? No, they lost. But it was close.
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: It was a lot closer than probably what it should
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: have been. Yeah, so.
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: I'm going to have to go with the Rockets to
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: cover and take the over in this one. I think
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: there will be plenty of points scored. It would be amazing.
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: if Koki were to win this game, but yeah, Rochester
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: at home, uh, you know how.
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: They'd been moving this year.
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: I mean, they, they beat a really, really good Batavia team,
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: smoked them actually in week two and, uh, and, uh,
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: smoked a lot of other teams.
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: This season too.
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: And obviously put up a lot of points and it
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: looks like they're pretty young too. Um, they have a
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: lot of juniors on their team contributing.
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: All right.
• 16:50
  Speaker 3: Next step back over to the Missouri class six bracket
• 16:53
  Speaker 3: or class five, excuse me. We've got Class 5, District 1.
• 16:57
  Speaker 3: We've got Farmington at Fox. Farmington fair by 8.5 points.
• 17:00
  Speaker 3: The Overns at 44.5. This is an interesting matchup because
• 17:04
  Speaker 3: we know Farmington had the controversy earlier this year, a
• 17:07
  Speaker 3: few weeks ago, where they had to forfeit the first
• 17:08
  Speaker 3: five games of their season due to playing an ineligible player.
• 17:13
  Speaker 3: But this is still the solid Farmington team we've been
• 17:15
  Speaker 3: looking at all year. And this is a Fox team that,
• 17:18
  Speaker 3: you know, some people are upset at the system for
• 17:21
  Speaker 3: them getting the one seed. You know, they went 5-4,
• 17:24
  Speaker 3: so I mean, yeah, like, Farmington would have gotten the
• 17:27
  Speaker 3: one seed, but because of the forfeit losses, Fox kind
• 17:30
  Speaker 3: of gets lucky there and gets the one seed. Still
• 17:33
  Speaker 3: a solid Warriors team, though. I mean, this is a
• 17:35
  Speaker 3: team that was right there with Kirkwood until the fourth quarter.
• 17:41
  Speaker 3: Late in the fourth quarter, I should say. They shut
• 17:44
  Speaker 3: down Parkway West. They were right there with Seckman until
• 17:47
  Speaker 3: the very end. They kept really close to a do.
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: They did.
• 17:52
  Speaker 3: So this is a team that, you know, they're not
• 17:53
  Speaker 3: world beaters, but they're a scrappy team who runs the
• 17:56
  Speaker 3: ball really well. You know, they've got that option offense with.
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: Triple option, yeah.
• 18:01
  Speaker 3: With Jude Prybus, Jacob Edwards, Ryan Joggers, those main three guys. And, yeah,
• 18:06
  Speaker 3: they're going to be a scrappy team. And I think
• 18:08
  Speaker 3: they're going to cover here. I think they're going to
• 18:09
  Speaker 3: keep it close and probably win this one. And I'm
• 18:11
  Speaker 3: going to go with the under.
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: That would be an upset if Fox were to win
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: this game. Yeah.
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: And I think it's going to be a good game
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: as well. And you can't let the Farmington record deceive you.
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: They were 7-2. 8-1, and their only loss was to Jackson.
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: That's right.
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: They're 9-1 on the field. And they have a really
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: good spread offense. And maybe their defense is a little suspect.
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: I don't know. But their offense has been there all season.
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: And so I'll take the.
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: Well, here's the thing.
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: I feel like if the over hits, it's probably good
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: news for Farmington because Fox would prefer to keep the score.
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: They prefer to have the ball for eight.
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: Minutes on every possession. Yep.
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: And I'm still going to go with Farmington to cover,
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: and I'll take the over.
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: I think Coach Eckley is a really good coach, and
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: I think they're probably playing as far– think they're fully
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: healthy or just have everybody who they need to play
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: who's I think the ineligibility thing is all in the
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: past now so um yeah I mean and Farmington they
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: got this they got good playoff experience I mean they
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: went to the quarterfinals last year so they know what
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: it takes and especially Coach Eckley and his staff knows
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: what it takes yeah he's a he's a winner former.
• 19:34
  Speaker 3: State champion of Jackson yes he is yeah next up
• 19:37
  Speaker 3: this is in a Missouri class four district four bracket
• 19:42
  Speaker 3: we got Orchard Farm at Parkway North. Parkway North's favored
• 19:45
  Speaker 3: by two and a half points. The overruns at 56
• 19:47
  Speaker 3: and a half. I think these are two really evenly
• 19:50
  Speaker 3: matched teams with solid athleticism on the outside.
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: They got history too now.
• 19:54
  Speaker 3: And they do. These two teams played a freaking wild
• 19:58
  Speaker 3: game last year where Parkway North came in on top 17-14.
• 20:02
  Speaker 3: And it was actually the district championship matchup there.
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: And, uh, The game came down to a blocked field goal.
• 20:11
  Speaker 3: Yeah, so Parkway North, they got a go-ahead touchdown with
• 20:18
  Speaker 3: about two minutes left. Orchard Farm drives back down the field,
• 20:22
  Speaker 3: and then Parkway North blocks it to virtually seal the
• 20:25
  Speaker 3: game there. And, you know, most of these guys, both
• 20:28
  Speaker 3: teams came back, and they're going to fight out again.
• 20:31
  Speaker 3: And it's... I think it's going to... I mean, because
• 20:35
  Speaker 3: this is Parkway North playing, and because... I have to
• 20:40
  Speaker 3: say it's going to be... This game is going to
• 20:42
  Speaker 3: come out of turnovers. And I'm not going to say
• 20:44
  Speaker 3: every game is going to come out of turnovers. I
• 20:45
  Speaker 3: think that's going to be the case of the Cahokia game,
• 20:48
  Speaker 3: if they want to stay in it. But especially for
• 20:51
  Speaker 3: Parkway North, we've seen that when they keep the ball safe,
• 20:53
  Speaker 3: they can do really good things. But they don't do
• 20:56
  Speaker 3: it every game. Like, they beat Seckman because they kept
• 20:58
  Speaker 3: the ball safe. And they were able to drive down
• 21:01
  Speaker 3: the field.
• 21:03
  Speaker 3: Have nice sustained drives. I should say they kept the
• 21:08
  Speaker 3: ball relatively safe that game. They only had one turnover,
• 21:11
  Speaker 3: which you can live with usually if you only have
• 21:13
  Speaker 3: one turnover. But they won the turnover battle that game,
• 21:18
  Speaker 3: which was huge for them. And that seems to be
• 21:20
  Speaker 3: the theme. For example, when they played Pattonville, they just
• 21:28
  Speaker 3: couldn't really get the rushing attack going. And this is,
• 21:33
  Speaker 3: I don't know, it should be a fun one, and
• 21:35
  Speaker 3: Orchard Farm is definitely going to try not to blow
• 21:37
  Speaker 3: a 21-point lead again, because if they do, that might
• 21:40
  Speaker 3: be a bad sign for them. This should be a
• 21:43
  Speaker 3: fun game, though. I will go with Parkway North to cover,
• 21:47
  Speaker 3: and I'll go with the under.
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: This is tough. I mean, well, Orchard Farm, they're going
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: to have the, they're not, this is probably.
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: Not the best offense they've come up against all season,
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: but it looks like North is doing they're doing a
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: little bit better, especially with taking care of the football.
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: Their defense really seems like they've been locking in. They've
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: locked in.
• 22:08
  Speaker 2: I'm talking about North last two weeks, especially that second
• 22:11
  Speaker 2: game right there.
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: And even against Rittner where they lost, but, you know,
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: still only gave up 16. And so it seems like.
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: Ever since the Ladoo game where that was their worst
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: game of the season, they've been playing better. And, you know,
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: and they're, you know, they're a well-coached team, Coach Carl
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: involved there. So you'd expect them to, you know, eventually,
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: you know, turn a corner. But, you know, I respect
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: this Orchard Farm team a lot. I mean, they're going to,
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: I would imagine they're going to put up points.
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: But, you know, on the other.
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: Side of it, can they, you know, can their defense
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: hold up? Because, you know, North is probably going to
• 22:45
  Speaker 2: have the talent edge with, you know, or.
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: At least the speed edge.
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: Because Orchard Farm, they got talent too.
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: I mean, Terrence Curry, he just got offered from Miami.
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: And Miami, Florida, by the way. Not Miami, Ohio. Big difference.
• 22:58
  Speaker 2: And Patrick Ayers is a nice receiver. And, you know,
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: Liam Sinclair is one of the better quarterbacks in the area.
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: So they got a good offense to work with. Yeah, just,
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: but if Parkway North, if they're able to play like
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: how they play against Suckman and I know different kinds
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: of opponents, if they can do that, I think they'll
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: do enough to win the game. I don't know how exactly,
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: but I'll pick them to cover and I'll take the under.
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: So we agree there. Okay.
• 23:28
  Speaker 3: Next up, going to the Class 5 District 4 Semi-Final.
• 23:37
  Speaker 3: We got... Oh, not District 4. Why does it say
• 23:39
  Speaker 3: Semi-Final 4?
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: That's weird.
• 23:40
  Speaker 3: This is Class 5 District 3. It's weird because on
• 23:44
  Speaker 3: the page it says, you know, Rockwood Summit vs. Parkway West.
• 23:46
  Speaker 3: Class 5 District Semi-Final 4.
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: I don't know.
• 23:48
  Speaker 3: Whatever. Rockwood Summit vs. Parkway West. This is going to
• 23:54
  Speaker 3: be at Summit.
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: Uh.
• 23:56
  Speaker 3: Summons favorite by 6.5 points. The overruns at 58.5. This
• 24:01
  Speaker 3: should be a fight. These two teams have not played
• 24:03
  Speaker 3: it this year, but they've got a few common opponents.
• 24:05
  Speaker 3: They both played Lindbergh, Peckworth Central, and Riverview Gardens. They've
• 24:09
  Speaker 3: all had the same results there. Two teams, funny enough,
• 24:14
  Speaker 3: that are. 1 points per game separated on offense. Summons
• 24:19
  Speaker 3: has been averaging 31.2 points per game. West has been
• 24:21
  Speaker 3: averaging 31.3 points per game.
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
• 24:23
  Speaker 3: And Summit's been allowing 17.6 points per game, and West
• 24:26
  Speaker 3: has been allowing 16.5 points per game. So two pretty
• 24:30
  Speaker 3: similar teams so far when it comes to the macro.
• 24:36
  Speaker 3: Summit took care of business against Central. West took care
• 24:40
  Speaker 3: of business against Washington. And this Parker West team that
• 24:44
  Speaker 3: we mentioned last episode has got a much, much better
• 24:46
  Speaker 3: rushing attack, especially compared to previous years. Offensive line that's
• 24:50
  Speaker 3: got a lot more confidence, especially in the past few weeks.
• 24:54
  Speaker 3: And then for Summit, this is a team that we've
• 24:57
  Speaker 3: seen do great things. The way they beat Festus week
• 24:59
  Speaker 3: one was huge. The way they just laid waste to
• 25:04
  Speaker 3: Marquette week nine, that was very impressive. And they were
• 25:08
  Speaker 3: this close to getting away with Kirkwood, but lost by
• 25:12
  Speaker 3: six points there. We've also seen them kind of have
• 25:15
  Speaker 3: some blowout moments.
• 25:17
  Speaker 2: It wasn't looking good for them at two and three
• 25:19
  Speaker 2: after they lost to Lindbergh, but little did we know
• 25:21
  Speaker 2: this is a a changed Lindbergh team, and so I'm
• 25:25
  Speaker 2: sure that doesn't make Summit feel any better about.
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: It, but.
• 25:30
  Speaker 2: No, ever since, it seems like ever since the Valley
• 25:33
  Speaker 2: Catholic game, which is week two, they've really settled in defensively,
• 25:37
  Speaker 2: especially against the teams that they should be beating, you know,
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: only giving up 20 to Kirkwood at Kirkwood, you know,
• 25:45
  Speaker 2: 14 to Lafayette, you know, 22 to Eureka, only 14
• 25:49
  Speaker 2: to Marquette, which is nice, I mean, that was a
• 25:51
  Speaker 2: solid 40-14 win over them I think they're more battle-tested
• 25:56
  Speaker 2: than West overall. Summit's played a tough schedule, and being
• 26:01
  Speaker 2: in the suburban yellow, that's going to happen. That also
• 26:04
  Speaker 2: includes Festus and Valley Catholic in their non-conference there, too.
• 26:11
  Speaker 2: Like I said in the last show, I think West
• 26:13
  Speaker 2: is playing their best football of the season right now,
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: especially these last two or three weeks. I think they
• 26:19
  Speaker 2: figured some stuff out, but I'm really, I really like
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: summit right now. Their defense has been really good. And
• 26:26
  Speaker 2: I think they're even their offense. I was a little
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: concerned about their offense, but, uh, especially after the limber game,
• 26:31
  Speaker 2: but I mean, they've been, their offense has been solid
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: and they've recovered.
• 26:35
  Speaker 3: Well, McCoy Brown very quietly eighth in the area and
• 26:38
  Speaker 3: pass touchdowns.
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: Ever since week, ever since week six, they've been, their
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: offense has been, uh, been pretty productive, uh, as well
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: there too. So, you know, if they can, uh, this
• 26:49
  Speaker 2: is a good sign. So Kendall young, he's been, um, Well, no,
• 26:54
  Speaker 2: he's been playing. I thought he was injured or out
• 26:55
  Speaker 2: for whatever reason. No, he's been playing for a while now. So, no,
• 26:58
  Speaker 2: he's been a solid three-year starter running back for them.
• 27:00
  Speaker 2: So they do have a capable run game with him there, too. Yeah,
• 27:05
  Speaker 2: so this is going to be a nice game, I think.
• 27:10
  Speaker 2: You know, a nice West County game.
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: But I'm going with, I'm picking Summit to cover, and
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: I'll take the under.
• 27:18
  Speaker 3: All right, very good. Next up, back over to the
• 27:21
  Speaker 3: Illinois side. This is in the IHSA Class 5 bracket
• 27:24
  Speaker 3: in the South region. You've got Triad at Morton. Morton
• 27:27
  Speaker 3: favored by 11.5 points. The overruns at 49.5. Both these
• 27:31
  Speaker 3: teams come into the game at 9-1. Triad being the
• 27:34
  Speaker 3: area team, this is one of their best teams ever.
• 27:36
  Speaker 3: We talked a lot about their offense so far, how
• 27:38
  Speaker 3: impressive they've been. But really, last week, Their defense came through.
• 27:44
  Speaker 3: They got a scooping score. They got two picks at
• 27:46
  Speaker 3: the end of the game. Totally shut down Washington to
• 27:49
  Speaker 3: get that nice playoff win. And then a little bit
• 27:53
  Speaker 3: on Morton here. So they're 9-1. But this is a
• 27:57
  Speaker 3: really good 9-1. Their one loss being to currently 10-0
• 28:00
  Speaker 3: Muhammad Seymour team. And they got some nice wins. For example,
• 28:05
  Speaker 3: a 22-point win over current 8-2 Dunlap.
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: Well, now their season's over. They were 8-1, I remember.
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: But yeah, you're right.
• 28:12
  Speaker 2: And then they 56-30 over Washington. That sounds like a good...
• 28:16
  Speaker 2: And then probably their best victory of the season.
• 28:18
  Speaker 3: Over Metamora.
• 28:19
  Speaker 2: 35-7.
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 28:21
  Speaker 2: And that's a Metamora team who came into Breeze Central
• 28:25
  Speaker 2: and beat them in the playoffs. And then this Morton
• 28:29
  Speaker 2: team just laid waste to Metamora. And this was just
• 28:31
  Speaker 2: a few weeks ago. This was two weeks ago. Yeah.
• 28:34
  Speaker 3: I think the biggest thing here is just communication on
• 28:36
  Speaker 3: defense for Triad. I mean, they're already pretty good at that,
• 28:38
  Speaker 3: but These guys are going to have to be super-duper
• 28:42
  Speaker 3: on page when it comes to their coverage defensively and
• 28:45
  Speaker 3: not pulling assignments because this is a Morton offense that
• 28:48
  Speaker 3: will take advantage of your mistakes, especially in the secondary.
• 28:50
  Speaker 3: I think Triad covers and keeps it close, but I
• 28:56
  Speaker 3: still think Morton's going to win. So I'll go with
• 28:58
  Speaker 3: Triad to cover, and I'll go with the under. Nah,
• 29:02
  Speaker 3: I'll go with the over.
• 29:04
  Speaker 2: Triad's been competitive in every game this season. Their only
• 29:07
  Speaker 2: loss is O'Fallon, 7-3. Yeah, I'm going to go... I'll
• 29:15
  Speaker 2: give Trad a shot. I'll have them cover. I do
• 29:18
  Speaker 2: think Morton's going to win, and I'll take the over.
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: So we agree.
• 29:21
  Speaker 2: Yep.
• 29:22
  Speaker 3: Alright, staying in Illinois, but now we're in the Class
• 29:25
  Speaker 3: 4 bracket. Highland is at Carterville this week. Carterville is
• 29:32
  Speaker 3: favored by 9.5 points. The over-under is at 68.5. Highland,
• 29:34
  Speaker 3: they beat Freeburg in that track meet of the game
• 29:41
  Speaker 3: last week. 54-34 was the final score on that one.
• 29:45
  Speaker 3: Upsetting Freeburg, if you want to say it, based off
• 29:49
  Speaker 3: seed line. But I'm sure Highland would tell you that's
• 29:51
  Speaker 3: not an upset and they expected to win that one.
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't really view that as an upset as well.
• 29:55
  Speaker 3: But yeah, a bit on Carterville... they're 10-0 so far,
• 30:00
  Speaker 3: they're putting together a really good year, uh, they haven't
• 30:04
  Speaker 3: had the best schedule, uh, their best win is a
• 30:06
  Speaker 3: 31-point win against an 8-2 Nashville team, decent win, yeah,
• 30:11
  Speaker 3: and then they beat Salem 37-0 last week, or, yeah,
• 30:14
  Speaker 3: last week, um, so, yeah, good team, but, uh, I
• 30:20
  Speaker 3: would say Highlands played a more difficult schedule, uh, I mean,
• 30:23
  Speaker 3: beating Freeburg the way they did was really impressive, um.
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: That's their best win of the season. Yeah. And they've
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: had some other decent victories.
• 30:33
  Speaker 2: I mean, they beat Mascuta early on in the season.
• 30:36
  Speaker 3: To beat Waterloo the way they did was pretty impressive.
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 30:40
  Speaker 2: Carterville, by the way, they were ranked number seven in
• 30:42
  Speaker 2: the last poll of the regular season.
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: I mean, naturally, they're 9-0, so they're going to get
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: a ranking.
• 30:49
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, in the regular season, I don't know if
• 30:55
  Speaker 2: this still applies, but in the regular season, their opponent
• 30:58
  Speaker 2: win-loss record was 39-60. So, yeah, going back to what
• 31:04
  Speaker 2: you said, they haven't played a really tough schedule. They
• 31:06
  Speaker 2: are averaging 44 points a game, so they're outscoring opponents
• 31:10
  Speaker 2: by 31 points, which is actually the.
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: Third highest out of.
• 31:20
  Speaker 2: Any Class 14 in the playoffs.
• 31:23
  Speaker 3: I think Highland pulls off the upset here. I think
• 31:25
  Speaker 3: the Bulldogs get the win. I think we're going to
• 31:28
  Speaker 3: see a Jax Oren to Grayson Stone touchdown at the
• 31:35
  Speaker 3: end of the game to take the lead for Highland.
• 31:38
  Speaker 3: It's going to be a super close but super exciting game.
• 31:41
  Speaker 3: Highland's got five receivers remaining. with 400 or more, well,
• 31:46
  Speaker 3: five players, excuse me, with 400 or more receiving yards
• 31:48
  Speaker 3: so far this year. Carter Harris, the running back, being
• 31:52
  Speaker 3: one of them, so he's not a receiver, he's a
• 31:53
  Speaker 3: running back. And Harris himself, averaging over eight yards per carry,
• 31:56
  Speaker 3: 18 touchdowns in the year for him. This Highland offense
• 32:00
  Speaker 3: has been really, really good. If they can force some turnovers,
• 32:03
  Speaker 3: then they'll be in great shape. Yeah, I think Highland
• 32:06
  Speaker 3: wins this game outright, and I'm going to go with
• 32:09
  Speaker 3: the over.
• 32:10
  Speaker 2: There's really only two games going on in the area
• 32:13
  Speaker 2: that at least I care about One of them is
• 32:15
  Speaker 2: this game.
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: It's going to be in Carterville.
• 32:16
  Speaker 3: On Saturday.
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: For Saturday, yes.
• 32:19
  Speaker 3: Let's make that clear.
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: Yes.
• 32:22
  Speaker 2: I'm really intrigued to go down and film this one.
• 32:24
  Speaker 2: I've wanted to see Highland all season. I just haven't
• 32:26
  Speaker 2: been able to personally. Obviously a very fun team to watch.
• 32:31
  Speaker 2: It's at 2 o'clock in Carterville, Illinois.
• 32:34
  Speaker 3: Carterville is south. I mean, they're about... It's not close. Yeah,
• 32:38
  Speaker 3: they're probably about three hours away. Between Marion and Carbondale...
• 32:44
  Speaker 3: A bit off I-57 down there, for those who are wondering. Yeah,
• 32:48
  Speaker 3: it's a bit of a drive.
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: It's either that or Triad going to Morton.
• 32:51
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I guess similar drives for both those teams.
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: One's going north, one's going south. It's too bad. I mean,
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: I think East St.
• 33:00
  Speaker 2: Louis, they're not in our top 15 games of the week.
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: They are at home.
• 33:03
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's funny.
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: But it's a Friday game, and it's just not. it's
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: not going to be that important of a game.
• 33:11
  Speaker 3: It's funny. You mentioned that because East St. Louis is
• 33:14
  Speaker 3: the way they are. And it's like, Oh my gosh,
• 33:16
  Speaker 3: East St. Louis is playing.
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: They'll be hosting a playoff game. Yeah.
• 33:19
  Speaker 3: They're hosting a playoff game. I'm like, yeah, well, if
• 33:22
  Speaker 3: East St. Louis does not crush St. Patrick and something's
• 33:25
  Speaker 3: gone horribly wrong, we'll.
• 33:27
  Speaker 2: Just say that.
• 33:27
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 33:28
  Speaker 2: So I'm going to have to make a drive somewhere
• 33:31
  Speaker 2: on Saturday, but, uh, I'm, I'm currently eyeing Carterville for
• 33:35
  Speaker 2: that one. Cause that, that seems like a really good game. Um,
• 33:40
  Speaker 2: the most points they've allowed in a game all season
• 33:42
  Speaker 2: was 28 to Charleston, who didn't win a game all season.
• 33:46
  Speaker 2: So that was weird. But it seems like the Cardinals
• 33:50
  Speaker 2: kind of rode the ship, though. Righted the ship, I
• 33:53
  Speaker 2: should say. There, like, yeah, Jack's over in 31, over 3,000 touchdowns, 3,000
• 33:59
  Speaker 2: passing yards, 33 touchdowns, 11 interceptions, Carter Harris, 18 rushing touchdowns, 1,400
• 34:03
  Speaker 2: rushing yards.
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: So, I mean, they can They can throw. They can run.
• 34:11
  Speaker 2: Can they play defense, though? That's the question. So I
• 34:15
  Speaker 2: agree with you. I do think Highland will get the upset.
• 34:18
  Speaker 2: And taking that over and, yeah, Highland covering.
• 34:24
  Speaker 3: All right, very good. Shifting back over to the Missouri side,
• 34:27
  Speaker 3: we got in the Class 6 District 1 bracket, we
• 34:30
  Speaker 3: got Seckman at Northwest. Seckman is paired by 5.5 points.
• 34:33
  Speaker 3: The overrunner is at 41.5. This is a rematch from
• 34:36
  Speaker 3: last season where– Northwest won the game 14-7 in a very,
• 34:43
  Speaker 3: very scrappy game. That was a game where obviously not
• 34:48
  Speaker 3: too much happened on offense, just 21 points combined between
• 34:51
  Speaker 3: these two teams. But some turnovers in that one made
• 34:55
  Speaker 3: it a little interesting, but Northwest got the win with
• 34:59
  Speaker 3: about five minutes left with a go-ahead touchdown. And yeah,
• 35:03
  Speaker 3: coming into this one, these are both teams coming off
• 35:05
  Speaker 3: a bye week because only a five-team district. So, three
• 35:08
  Speaker 3: of the teams got by these are two of them
• 35:12
  Speaker 3: and this is a segment team that it's been interesting
• 35:16
  Speaker 3: because you know they got a nice the good rivalry
• 35:20
  Speaker 3: winning against Fox they got the I think their best
• 35:23
  Speaker 3: game of the year so far the 26-0 winning against
• 35:25
  Speaker 3: Rittner yeah a solid Rittner team just totally shutting them
• 35:29
  Speaker 3: down was very impressive I mean they held Rittner to
• 35:34
  Speaker 3: like just barely over 200 yards of offense that whole
• 35:36
  Speaker 3: game so that was that was legit Second rushing attack,
• 35:40
  Speaker 3: you know, Trey Conner, Jackson, Jablonski, they're kind of the
• 35:43
  Speaker 3: one-two punch there. There's not really necessarily just one guy
• 35:48
  Speaker 3: they go to because they give them both a lot
• 35:50
  Speaker 3: of carries and they both really come through well. Both
• 35:53
  Speaker 3: hit the holes really hard and stay on their feet,
• 35:56
  Speaker 3: have great balance. Northwest, you know, this is, Cone Starks
• 36:02
  Speaker 3: has been doing his thing. They're 8-1 so far, the
• 36:05
  Speaker 3: one loss being two. An undefeated, very good U-City team
• 36:08
  Speaker 3: back in Week 3.
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: Six-point loss.
• 36:10
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and they just maintained career business. But I think
• 36:14
  Speaker 3: that they've kind of been riding a fairly easy schedule.
• 36:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I mean, they did beat Oakville by one.
• 36:23
  Speaker 3: Which was good, but.
• 36:25
  Speaker 2: They beat Fox by 20, and Seckman beat Fox in overtime. But.
• 36:32
  Speaker 3: That's different matchups. It is. We'll say, for example, if
• 36:37
  Speaker 3: Seckman beat them by one and Northwest beat them by 40,
• 36:39
  Speaker 3: then I would take that a lot more seriously.
• 36:43
  Speaker 2: But you're right. Seckman is... They are more battle-tested. And,
• 36:49
  Speaker 2: for what it's worth, Seckman beat Oakville all the way
• 36:51
  Speaker 2: back in Week 9, 33-14. Yeah, I'm going.
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: To go with.
• 36:55
  Speaker 2: That Parkway North loss is concerning, though.
• 36:59
  Speaker 3: That's the thing. That Parkway North loss is concerning, but
• 37:02
  Speaker 3: that's a Parkway North team that all year was underperforming.
• 37:07
  Speaker 3: And they'll tell you that. That's a team that didn't
• 37:11
  Speaker 3: put it all together on a Friday probably until then,
• 37:14
  Speaker 3: to be totally honest. And I'm not just trying to
• 37:16
  Speaker 3: bail out a segment here. That's just... Observing Parkway North,
• 37:21
  Speaker 3: that was a very inconsistent team that a lot.
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: Of people could see.
• 37:25
  Speaker 3: So I'm not trying to.
• 37:28
  Speaker 3: Cozy at the second here that's just that that was
• 37:30
  Speaker 3: just what i observed from probably north this year but
• 37:33
  Speaker 3: this should be a really hard fought game i think
• 37:35
  Speaker 3: it's going to be very similar to last year where
• 37:37
  Speaker 3: it's going to be very two run heavy teams that
• 37:40
  Speaker 3: just um you know three or four yards in a
• 37:42
  Speaker 3: cloud of dust where they're trying to keep the ball
• 37:45
  Speaker 3: safe trying to get consistent first downs which is the
• 37:47
  Speaker 3: name of the game i mean it just hold on
• 37:49
  Speaker 3: the ball getting first downs that's how you win games
• 37:51
  Speaker 3: like this.
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: Northwest they got cohen stark so he's Best player in
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: the field, probably.
• 37:56
  Speaker 3: I'm going to pick Northwest to win here, and I'm
• 37:58
  Speaker 3: going to go with the under. Interesting. I think they
• 38:00
  Speaker 3: get their biggest win in a long time here, because
• 38:03
  Speaker 3: they have not been to the district finals.
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: Since... Well, they've never been to the district finals, I
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: don't think.
• 38:10
  Speaker 3: Okay, I was going to say, because.
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: Because we've only been doing this since 2012.
• 38:13
  Speaker 3: So two years ago, they went 5-5, and that was
• 38:16
  Speaker 3: their first break-eye year. It was like, okay, Northwest is
• 38:20
  Speaker 3: on the rise here. And that was Stark's first year starting,
• 38:24
  Speaker 3: I believe. and right now they're 8-1. They've tied last
• 38:30
  Speaker 3: year's win total. Last year they went 8-3. Well, so
• 38:35
  Speaker 3: last year they went to the district final. Wait.
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: Or did they?
• 38:40
  Speaker 3: They must have. If they played 11 games, they must have, right?
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah.
• 38:44
  Speaker 3: Yeah, because they had a bye, and then, okay, yeah.
• 38:47
  Speaker 3: Because they beat Secman last year. They lost to Jackson
• 38:51
  Speaker 3: in the finals of that tournament. So, yeah. Yeah, I
• 38:56
  Speaker 3: think Northwest does it again, and they get the win here,
• 38:58
  Speaker 3: and I'm going to go with the under.
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: I'll go with Sackman to cover, and I'll take the over.
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: All right.
• 39:10
  Speaker 3: Should be a close game, though. Next up, we got
• 39:12
  Speaker 3: Rittner at SLU. SLU high is fair by 8.5. The
• 39:15
  Speaker 3: over is at 40.5. This is a very unique matchup here.
• 39:19
  Speaker 3: These are two teams that are very, very dissimilar styles.
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: They did play each other. This is a rematch from 2023.
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: This is a.
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: Actually, 2024.
• 39:30
  Speaker 2: They played back-to-back in 23 and 24. That was the
• 39:35
  Speaker 2: big SLU comeback. That was the all-time SLU comeback game.
• 39:39
  Speaker 1: There's some recent history between these two schools.
• 39:41
  Speaker 3: Two very different teams, though. This is a SLU high
• 39:47
  Speaker 3: team that Just relies a lot on their defense to
• 39:52
  Speaker 3: put teams in bad field position. And Slough High just
• 39:55
  Speaker 3: loves running the ball with their QBs and running backs.
• 39:59
  Speaker 3: The double pat attack for Slough High. Pat Stein and
• 40:02
  Speaker 3: Patrick Romella for them. It's funny because Slough High, like
• 40:09
  Speaker 3: a lot of young teams in the area, they show
• 40:12
  Speaker 3: flashes where we see them do This close to beating
• 40:18
  Speaker 3: CBC this year, but let it get away at the end.
• 40:20
  Speaker 3: You know, crushing St. Dominic the way they did, which
• 40:24
  Speaker 3: looking back on it is a really good win.
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: Probably their best win.
• 40:27
  Speaker 3: Yeah. Beating Live for Life. And then Rittner. They've had
• 40:32
  Speaker 3: a great year as well. You know, 6-3, getting a
• 40:35
  Speaker 3: really nice win against Pattonville a few weeks ago.
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: Co-conference champs.
• 40:38
  Speaker 3: Beat Parkway North. The Sekben game, I think... That was
• 40:44
  Speaker 3: a game where Seckman freaking brought the physicality and Ritter
• 40:47
  Speaker 3: just couldn't handle it. And I think that is a
• 40:49
  Speaker 3: major red flag here because Lou High is going to
• 40:51
  Speaker 3: see that and say, hey, when you come out and
• 40:54
  Speaker 3: punch them in the mouth, they're going to fold, which
• 40:58
  Speaker 3: isn't necessarily true because Ritter definitely went through some inversion
• 41:00
  Speaker 3: in that Pattonville game. But when it comes to just...
• 41:07
  Speaker 3: Putting your nose down and running the football. Slough High
• 41:09
  Speaker 3: is really going to want to do that. And they're
• 41:11
  Speaker 3: going to try and replicate what Seckman did to Rittner
• 41:13
  Speaker 3: a few weeks ago. And I think they're going to
• 41:14
  Speaker 3: be able to do it. So I'm going to go
• 41:16
  Speaker 3: with Slough High to cover here. And I'm going to
• 41:18
  Speaker 3: go with the under.
• 41:19
  Speaker 2: One thing that usually works in Rittner's favor is that
• 41:21
  Speaker 2: they're not favored. Whenever they're favored, they never play well.
• 41:25
  Speaker 3: It's true.
• 41:26
  Speaker 2: And that's why when I ranked, because they deserved it.
• 41:29
  Speaker 2: Because they were 5-2 against going into that Seckman game.
• 41:31
  Speaker 2: And it's like, they're probably going to lose, aren't they?
• 41:34
  Speaker 1: And they did. It wasn't even close.
• 41:37
  Speaker 2: But, yeah, so Rittner, they're playing with house money. I mean,
• 41:40
  Speaker 2: they're going to be playing with house money in every
• 41:42
  Speaker 2: playoff game.
• 41:43
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 41:43
  Speaker 2: You know, they play, and if they can get past
• 41:46
  Speaker 2: this one. Yeah, this is not a typical slew. Well,
• 41:50
  Speaker 2: it's a typical slew because they are really good defensively,
• 41:53
  Speaker 2: but they don't really have a big-time receiver, although Tristan
• 41:59
  Speaker 2: Johnson is a sophomore. He will be a big-time receiver.
• 42:01
  Speaker 2: He's already getting some offers, but you know, they don't
• 42:04
  Speaker 2: have a, you know, a Chris Brooks or a Ryan
• 42:06
  Speaker 2: Wingo as a receiver this year. But yeah, so they,
• 42:11
  Speaker 2: they've relied on the run game and that's, that's a
• 42:12
  Speaker 2: good formula to win the playoffs. You know, you run
• 42:14
  Speaker 2: the football, you limit turnovers and you play really good defense.
• 42:16
  Speaker 2: So yeah, ultimately I think Anthony Odom can have a
• 42:20
  Speaker 2: good game. Montre Banks is a solid receiver. I mean,
• 42:22
  Speaker 2: they got, I think, I think Rittner matches up with
• 42:25
  Speaker 2: Slough's athletically actually might even slightly be better athletically than
• 42:29
  Speaker 2: them overall. However, I think Slough's more physical and, For Rittner,
• 42:35
  Speaker 2: this is the toughest defense they're going to come up against.
• 42:37
  Speaker 2: They will see all season. So, yeah, I'm going with
• 42:40
  Speaker 2: the Bills to cover and the under.
• 42:44
  Speaker 3: All right, yes, we agree. Next up, shifting down to
• 42:50
  Speaker 3: the Missouri Class 4, I think it was the District 4. Yeah,
• 42:56
  Speaker 3: Class 4, District 4 bracket. We got Hannibal at St.
• 42:59
  Speaker 3: Charles West. Hannibal favored by 2.5 points. The overruns are
• 43:02
  Speaker 3: at 47.5. John, you love using the phrase battle-tested, and
• 43:06
  Speaker 3: there might not be a better team to use that
• 43:08
  Speaker 3: for than Hannibal so far this year. This is a
• 43:11
  Speaker 3: team that is not afraid of smoke. They travel all
• 43:14
  Speaker 3: over the place to play a great team. They played Helias, Eureka, Troy, St. Dominic, Festus, Jackson,
• 43:24
  Speaker 3: Zumwalt West. Winning some of those games, they beat Zumwalt West,
• 43:30
  Speaker 3: beat Eureka back in Week 2. barely lost to St. Dominic.
• 43:36
  Speaker 3: And this is an undefeated St. Charles West team. It's
• 43:37
  Speaker 3: having one of their best years so far in school history.
• 43:40
  Speaker 3: We've mentioned Maddox Sikma a lot so far this year.
• 43:42
  Speaker 3: He leads the state in interceptions defensively. In offense, he
• 43:48
  Speaker 3: doesn't do anything too crazy. It's mostly just Christian Mitchell
• 43:51
  Speaker 3: kind of doing his thing as a great athlete back
• 43:53
  Speaker 3: there at QB. He leads the team in passing and rushing.
• 43:56
  Speaker 2: I would say their best win is 35-14 over Richard Farmer.
• 44:00
  Speaker 2: They're Their offense was able to... Let's see if they were... Yeah,
• 44:07
  Speaker 2: I mean, their offense was able to do a pretty
• 44:10
  Speaker 2: solid job on the ground and just had an overall
• 44:14
  Speaker 2: good game in that one. They ran for 327 yards.
• 44:19
  Speaker 2: Definitely a run-first team, St.
• 44:20
  Speaker 1: Charles West. And so is Hannibal. So there's going to
• 44:24
  Speaker 1: be a lot of running in this one.
• 44:25
  Speaker 2: Yeah, this is... This is.
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: This is the litmus test for the Warriors here. Yes,
• 44:33
  Speaker 1: they're undefeated. They've played a small school schedule.
• 44:37
  Speaker 2: Not tiny, but mostly a Class 4, 3 level schedule.
• 44:44
  Speaker 2: They've beaten some alright teams there, but this is by
• 44:48
  Speaker 2: far the toughest team they've played all season. In Hannibal,
• 44:52
  Speaker 2: this is probably... They've played Elias. They lost by 16
• 44:56
  Speaker 2: to them. Elias is undefeated in Class 5. They beat Eureka,
• 44:59
  Speaker 2: which is which is a great, one of the best victories.
• 45:03
  Speaker 2: I think probably any class four team can claim to have.
• 45:06
  Speaker 2: And then, you know, they played Troy, you know, he
• 45:11
  Speaker 2: had a tough, tough, close losses to St. Dominic confesses,
• 45:14
  Speaker 2: like you said, and then it was really competitive with
• 45:17
  Speaker 2: Jackson for three quarters as well. I'm just, I'm going
• 45:21
  Speaker 2: to have to go with Hannibal on this one. I mean,
• 45:23
  Speaker 2: this is, I'm looking at their schedule. I mean, I
• 45:25
  Speaker 2: don't like St.
• 45:27
  Speaker 1: Charles West is probably like the fifth or sixth best
• 45:29
  Speaker 1: team they've played. this season.
• 45:33
  Speaker 2: And so Hannibal's doesn't mean the Hannibal's going to win
• 45:35
  Speaker 2: because of that, but they are used to this. And
• 45:37
  Speaker 2: as long as they're healthy enough, I'm sure with the
• 45:40
  Speaker 2: style of play, they, they got, I'm sure they got
• 45:42
  Speaker 2: some guys banged up, but you know, Hannibal's has kind
• 45:46
  Speaker 2: of been an up and down team as well. I mean,
• 45:47
  Speaker 2: cause they barely beat Zumont West, which you would have
• 45:50
  Speaker 2: thought coming off that Jackson game, they would have, you know,
• 45:54
  Speaker 2: taken to the cleaners a little bit, but I'm still
• 45:57
  Speaker 2: going to go with Hannibal to cover and I'll take
• 45:59
  Speaker 2: the under.
• 46:00
  Speaker 1: There's going to be a lot of running in this game,
• 46:01
  Speaker 1: so I think there's going to be.
• 46:03
  Speaker 2: Both teams are going to try to maximize their possessions,
• 46:05
  Speaker 2: and so therefore, less clock time.
• 46:09
  Speaker 3: I'm going to go with St. Charles West to win
• 46:10
  Speaker 3: this one, then I'll go with the over. GAC bias
• 46:14
  Speaker 3: right there. These are two teams that have had a
• 46:17
  Speaker 3: history in the playoffs. The most recently they've played in
• 46:20
  Speaker 3: the playoffs was actually back in 2008, but they've played
• 46:22
  Speaker 3: in 2008, 2006, they've played in 2002, they've played back
• 46:26
  Speaker 3: in the 90s and late 80s in the playoffs as well. Hmm.
• 46:30
  Speaker 3: There's two programs that just find a way to keep
• 46:32
  Speaker 3: playing each other in playoffs in very meaningful games. But
• 46:34
  Speaker 3: I think St. Charles West gets their biggest home win
• 46:37
  Speaker 3: in a long time here.
• 46:38
  Speaker 1: This would be one of their biggest wins in.
• 46:40
  Speaker 2: A long time.
• 46:40
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I'll go with the Warriors.
• 46:42
  Speaker 2: They did beat Luther North, not when Luther North was great,
• 46:45
  Speaker 2: but I think in 2021 they upset them to win
• 46:48
  Speaker 2: a district championship.
• 46:49
  Speaker 3: They did. I remember that game. When it comes to
• 46:54
  Speaker 3: me going through Twitter at the end of the night,
• 46:57
  Speaker 3: verifying scores... That was probably the biggest, oh my gosh,
• 47:03
  Speaker 3: moment I've had in a long time, was St. John's
• 47:07
  Speaker 3: West beating Lutheran North. I was back in 2022. They
• 47:12
  Speaker 3: beat them 24-7. And yeah, that was interesting.
• 47:16
  Speaker 2: I also remember some West people, because we were calling
• 47:19
  Speaker 2: it an upset, and they were like.
• 47:20
  Speaker 1: This isn't an upset. No, it's not. They're a one seed.
• 47:24
  Speaker 1: They're a one seed for a reason. That can't be
• 47:25
  Speaker 1: an upset.
• 47:26
  Speaker 2: You guys literally Gatorade-baffed your own head coach and rushed
• 47:29
  Speaker 2: the field. And you don't think that was a little
• 47:32
  Speaker 2: excitement because you guys knew you probably on paper weren't
• 47:34
  Speaker 2: going to win the game.
• 47:36
  Speaker 1: I still remember that. And I definitely don't hold any grudges.
• 47:39
  Speaker 3: All right, next up, going to the Class 5 section
• 47:45
  Speaker 3: of the Missouri playoffs. This is going to be in
• 47:47
  Speaker 3: Class 5, District 4.
• 47:50
  Speaker 2: St.
• 47:50
  Speaker 3: Dominic at Zumwalt North. Zumwalt North favored by six and
• 47:53
  Speaker 3: a half points. They over under 34 and a half.
• 47:55
  Speaker 3: That's pretty low. I think St. Dominic's win last week
• 47:59
  Speaker 3: over North Point kind of shows how they've been as
• 48:01
  Speaker 3: a team so far this year. They played North Point
• 48:03
  Speaker 3: week one and barely won 31-28. And then they just
• 48:07
  Speaker 3: played them and smoked them 40-7. I think that just
• 48:09
  Speaker 3: goes to show how much they've been improving so far
• 48:11
  Speaker 3: this year.
• 48:12
  Speaker 1: Beat Hannibal.
• 48:14
  Speaker 3: As a team that beat, you know, first part of
• 48:17
  Speaker 3: the season. You know, barely beat a not very good
• 48:19
  Speaker 3: North Point team. Only put up seven points against Marquette.
• 48:24
  Speaker 2: I bet if they played again, I bet St. Dominic
• 48:26
  Speaker 2: beats Marquette.
• 48:27
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and then they beat Hannibal and everything turned around.
• 48:29
  Speaker 3: They went and got their first win at Borgia, I think, ever.
• 48:32
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it was, yeah.
• 48:33
  Speaker 3: And they totally handled them 24-0. Completely contained MICDS, beat
• 48:39
  Speaker 3: them 4-1-7, beat Westminster 35-7, and just beat North Point 4-7.
• 48:44
  Speaker 3: And I think, you know... against Zumwalt North here. This
• 48:48
  Speaker 3: is going to be the best team they've played. I mean,
• 48:52
  Speaker 3: given Zumwalt North's current form, you could say this is
• 48:54
  Speaker 3: the best team they've played all year.
• 48:56
  Speaker 1: Well, I mean, St. Dominic played Slough and Chaminade.
• 49:00
  Speaker 3: I get that, but this is a Zumwalt North team. Honestly,
• 49:04
  Speaker 3: it's funny because both these teams, through their first four
• 49:07
  Speaker 3: weeks of the year, it's like, ugh, not good starts.
• 49:09
  Speaker 3: But Zumwalt North, winning some five straight. The way they
• 49:14
  Speaker 3: just defensively shut down Troy I think was really impressive.
• 49:17
  Speaker 3: Their pass rush was insane that game. You know, they
• 49:21
  Speaker 3: were giving Carter Schaefer and Troy O'Lan an absolute fits
• 49:24
  Speaker 3: all game back in week nine. And, you know, St. Dominic,
• 49:29
  Speaker 3: they're definitely a run-first team. You know, Dominic Palo leads
• 49:33
  Speaker 3: the way in yards for the Crusaders. But, you know,
• 49:38
  Speaker 3: there's going to be those times where they're forced to throw.
• 49:41
  Speaker 3: And we'll see. We'll see what they can do there.
• 49:43
  Speaker 2: I mean, that checks out for North as well. You know,
• 49:47
  Speaker 2: that's going to be the same type of thing. It's
• 49:49
  Speaker 2: like if they have to throw, it's we'll see.
• 49:52
  Speaker 3: Yeah. And then we've got Tyson Greiner who is right
• 49:55
  Speaker 3: there searching for that state sack record. I think he's
• 49:58
  Speaker 3: one away from tying, two away from taking the lead.
• 50:01
  Speaker 3: So he's looking for that as well. I think ultimately, though,
• 50:04
  Speaker 3: Zumwalt North prevails. I'm going to go with FZ in
• 50:06
  Speaker 3: the cover, and I'm going to go with the under.
• 50:08
  Speaker 2: I think I might have picked St. Dominic to win
• 50:11
  Speaker 2: this district, but I'm kind of having second thoughts. I
• 50:15
  Speaker 2: don't know why, but it seems like Zumwalt North is
• 50:18
  Speaker 2: really clicking right now. I mean, everything you said about St.
• 50:21
  Speaker 2: Dominic is accurate, but that was, like I said before,
• 50:26
  Speaker 2: I'm going to use this again, the litmus test for
• 50:28
  Speaker 2: Zumwalt North, the The reborn Zmolt North, you know, after.
• 50:31
  Speaker 2: I'm kind of disregarding the first four weeks, honestly, because
• 50:34
  Speaker 2: I think they're a different team.
• 50:35
  Speaker 3: To call the first four weeks of the FZN season
• 50:37
  Speaker 3: dramatic would be understating it a lot.
• 50:42
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 50:42
  Speaker 3: There's a lot of crap going on off the field.
• 50:45
  Speaker 1: So they won five straight.
• 50:47
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, they were expected to win all those
• 50:50
  Speaker 2: games until Troy.
• 50:52
  Speaker 1: And it's like, okay, let's see what happens here. And
• 50:54
  Speaker 1: they did it.
• 50:55
  Speaker 2: You know, we've already gone through that. That game was
• 50:57
  Speaker 2: two weeks ago, so we don't need to go over
• 50:58
  Speaker 2: that again. Um, but yeah, so huge win for them.
• 51:01
  Speaker 2: This still could go either way. Honestly, uh, it's a
• 51:05
  Speaker 2: battle of O'Fallon, uh, which is going to be awesome.
• 51:09
  Speaker 2: I expect a big crowd, uh, at Zumwalt North High School.
• 51:14
  Speaker 2: I'm going to take, um, six and a half. I
• 51:18
  Speaker 2: could see this game being decided by like a field goal.
• 51:21
  Speaker 2: So I'll have, I think Zumwalt North wins, but I
• 51:26
  Speaker 2: have St. Dominic covering and I'll take the under. these
• 51:30
  Speaker 2: two teams like really kind of have both have a
• 51:34
  Speaker 2: similar blueprint on what they want to do. And it's,
• 51:36
  Speaker 2: you know, play good defense and run the ball.
• 51:38
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 51:39
  Speaker 3: I don't think they've ever played each other before.
• 51:41
  Speaker 1: I doubt it.
• 51:43
  Speaker 3: Oh, they have.
• 51:44
  Speaker 1: Oh really?
• 51:45
  Speaker 3: Back in 2023. That's right.
• 51:46
  Speaker 2: Wow. We completely forgot about that.
• 51:51
  Speaker 3: I forgot that St. Dominic had that run of the
• 51:54
  Speaker 3: state championship in 2022 and that bumped them up to
• 51:58
  Speaker 3: class five almost immediately. Well, they were in Class 6
• 52:01
  Speaker 3: last year.
• 52:02
  Speaker 2: History is on the North side because they are 5-0
• 52:05
  Speaker 2: all-time against St.
• 52:05
  Speaker 1: Dominic.
• 52:06
  Speaker 3: Yeah, so we'll see how that goes. Anyways, next up
• 52:09
  Speaker 3: to our number two game of the week, the Smets
• 52:13
  Speaker 3: at CBC. CBC favored by 4.5. The Overns at 60.5.
• 52:19
  Speaker 3: This is a game, I mean, this is, you could argue,
• 52:21
  Speaker 3: this is the biggest rivalry on the Missouri side in
• 52:24
  Speaker 3: the St. Louis area. These two teams do not like
• 52:27
  Speaker 3: each other at all. They played back in Week 3
• 52:30
  Speaker 3: where CBC came away with a win, 59-48. Really rollercoaster years, though,
• 52:37
  Speaker 3: for both these teams, to be totally honest.
• 52:39
  Speaker 1: Yes, it has, it has.
• 52:40
  Speaker 3: CBC playing a really good Louisville training team Week 1,
• 52:44
  Speaker 3: but then came back and won the conference with nice
• 52:47
  Speaker 3: wins against Lehigh and Smet. Played a couple really good
• 52:50
  Speaker 3: out-of-area teams in Lipscomb and Raven Gap. Lost both those
• 52:53
  Speaker 3: games by just one point. Brutal, brutal breaks for the
• 52:57
  Speaker 3: cadets there. And they beat Chaminade, and like, okay, you know,
• 53:00
  Speaker 3: we're back on track. But then they played that Thursday
• 53:02
  Speaker 3: game against Ritter in Week 8, and Ritter handled them.
• 53:06
  Speaker 2: CBC had a really good start to the game, going
• 53:08
  Speaker 2: up 14-0, but then it was all downhill.
• 53:11
  Speaker 3: Yeah. So, we've seen some really high highs from CBC,
• 53:16
  Speaker 3: but also some questionable moments as well.
• 53:18
  Speaker 1: I mean.
• 53:20
  Speaker 2: Especially their defense all season. Yeah.
• 53:22
  Speaker 3: Offensively, they've been pretty reliable. I mean, Dillon Austin Harvey's
• 53:25
  Speaker 3: been all over the place. He has... 16 touchdowns on
• 53:28
  Speaker 3: the ground, 14 through the air.
• 53:31
  Speaker 1: Only eight games, by the way.
• 53:33
  Speaker 2: It's been almost a month since they played.
• 53:35
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 53:37
  Speaker 2: And that was the Ritter game on October 15th, and
• 53:40
  Speaker 2: this game's on November 6th.
• 53:42
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 53:43
  Speaker 3: And, you know, Kingston McPike, Arnest Webb, incredible athletes. You know,
• 53:47
  Speaker 3: we know about them. And then the Smet also kind
• 53:50
  Speaker 3: of been on their own rollercoaster ride. You know, they're 7-2,
• 53:51
  Speaker 3: but You know, the whole Ritter game, the whole DeSmet-Ritter
• 53:56
  Speaker 3: game back in Week 2 was a rollercoaster in and
• 53:59
  Speaker 3: of itself.
• 53:59
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 54:00
  Speaker 3: That was an insane game. And the CBC game, you know,
• 54:03
  Speaker 3: a lot of turnovers for DeSmet in that one. And
• 54:06
  Speaker 3: they take care of business the rest of their conference games.
• 54:08
  Speaker 3: And then the St. Pius X game, they were down, like, what,
• 54:12
  Speaker 3: 20 points in that one and came back to win?
• 54:14
  Speaker 1: They were down 21, I think 20-7.
• 54:15
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 54:15
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, they were down 20-7 and... I was there.
• 54:22
  Speaker 2: So they, they came back. It wasn't like a huge comeback,
• 54:25
  Speaker 2: but yeah, I mean, they just, they finally took advantage.
• 54:28
  Speaker 2: It didn't, it helped that St. Pius X couldn't really
• 54:31
  Speaker 2: throw much, even though they could throw because they're, they
• 54:34
  Speaker 2: didn't have their starting quarterback with their backup was really good.
• 54:37
  Speaker 1: And so the better team ultimately took over.
• 54:39
  Speaker 2: In one, but, or at least a more athletic team. So,
• 54:43
  Speaker 2: but yeah, then they had that really strange loss to St.
• 54:45
  Speaker 2: Mary's that now I don't really know what to think
• 54:48
  Speaker 2: about them. I mean, we, we, they're, These are two
• 54:50
  Speaker 2: really good.
• 54:51
  Speaker 1: Teams, but....
• 54:55
  Speaker 3: But again, with rollercoaster rides, they were losing at halftime
• 54:59
  Speaker 3: to Luther North, and then they beat them by 30.
• 55:03
  Speaker 1: A Luther North without Jonathan Moore at quarterback.
• 55:05
  Speaker 3: Yeah, so what dismet team are we going to see?
• 55:10
  Speaker 2: Both these teams don't have good defenses.
• 55:12
  Speaker 1: They just don't. I mean, for a high... Okay, they
• 55:15
  Speaker 1: have good defenses.
• 55:15
  Speaker 3: For their standards, they don't.
• 55:17
  Speaker 1: For their standards, you're absolutely right. For.
• 55:19
  Speaker 2: like top 10 teams in the state, they have, they,
• 55:22
  Speaker 2: they don't have a good defense for, for giving that standard.
• 55:25
  Speaker 2: They just don't, um, you know, 30 points, like CBC
• 55:29
  Speaker 2: going with 30 points of Ritter isn't awful, but the
• 55:33
  Speaker 2: thing that was kind of stunning was that they didn't, they,
• 55:35
  Speaker 2: they almost scored 20, which we'll talk about right in
• 55:39
  Speaker 2: a second right here. But, um, yeah, but then to, to,
• 55:44
  Speaker 2: to lose the first half to Lutheran North and then
• 55:46
  Speaker 2: to lose the game to St. Mary's and then, you know,
• 55:48
  Speaker 2: have a, close, really close game with St. Pius X,
• 55:51
  Speaker 2: who's really good, by the way, I mean, these are
• 55:53
  Speaker 2: all talented teams we're talking about here, but yeah, it's, it's,
• 55:56
  Speaker 2: it's weird, but we got to be positive about these
• 55:59
  Speaker 2: guys at the same time, I mean, you know, Cam
• 56:02
  Speaker 2: Sharp is one of the best running backs in the
• 56:05
  Speaker 2: state of Missouri, 10,000, 10,000, 1,000 yards, 17 touchdowns, Malik Waters,
• 56:07
  Speaker 2: who I believe is also a sophomore, he's got 13
• 56:09
  Speaker 2: rushing touchdowns for 721.
• 56:14
  Speaker 3: Yards.
• 56:15
  Speaker 2: And Chase Cooper's thrown for 2,121 yards, 16 touchdowns, six interceptions,
• 56:20
  Speaker 2: completed 69.66% of his passes. And, you know, they got
• 56:26
  Speaker 2: reliable receivers, Roy Searcy, Cash Lucius, Rids James, tight end, four-star,
• 56:32
  Speaker 2: Rocky Sharp. And Sharp, he can do a little bit
• 56:36
  Speaker 2: of everything. You know, he can be a reliable running
• 56:39
  Speaker 2: back and, you know, solid receiver. And then he's a
• 56:41
  Speaker 2: really good return man on, Kick and punt returns. So,
• 56:45
  Speaker 2: I mean, Smet's got a lot of that. Both these
• 56:49
  Speaker 2: teams have a lot of depth. CBC, Smet's probably better
• 56:53
  Speaker 2: at throwing the ball, but CBC's probably better at running
• 56:57
  Speaker 2: because you mentioned Harvey, his ability to run the football.
• 57:01
  Speaker 2: And Jaleel Walker is okay, 450 yards, three touchdowns. But basically,
• 57:08
  Speaker 2: when it boils down to it, if you can limit Daly, Austin,
• 57:11
  Speaker 2: and Harvey– you're probably going to beat CBC, especially with
• 57:15
  Speaker 2: the Smet, with the offense they have.
• 57:18
  Speaker 1: I don't think points are going to be hard to.
• 57:19
  Speaker 2: Come by for other team, but if you know, the
• 57:22
  Speaker 2: whole offense revolves around Austin Harvey with what CBC wants
• 57:25
  Speaker 2: to do.
• 57:26
  Speaker 1: I mean, he's there, you know, he.
• 57:28
  Speaker 2: Hasn't thrown then again, only eight games, but hasn't thrown
• 57:31
  Speaker 2: thrown for a ton of passing yards, but he's still
• 57:34
  Speaker 2: quite capable and he's really tough to stop in the
• 57:37
  Speaker 2: open field. Once it gets going, uh, just having seen
• 57:40
  Speaker 2: him in person myself against Ritter, um, So this is
• 57:44
  Speaker 2: going to be an awesome game. Awesome game.
• 57:46
  Speaker 1: I have no idea who's going to win.
• 57:49
  Speaker 3: I think because of CBC's, not one-dimensionality, but DeSmet's bigger.
• 57:58
  Speaker 2: But that might be enough for CBC, though.
• 58:00
  Speaker 3: It was last time. DeSmet's bigger array of weapons on offense,
• 58:03
  Speaker 3: I think, is huge. And it's ball security here. I mean,
• 58:08
  Speaker 3: that's why CBC won last time, because CBC took advantage
• 58:10
  Speaker 3: of all DeSmet's turnovers. And DeSmet can't dig himself a
• 58:14
  Speaker 3: big hole. They can't afford to do it against CBC
• 58:16
  Speaker 3: or they will lose again. But I ultimately think DeSmet's
• 58:18
  Speaker 3: going to come through and win this one off some
• 58:21
  Speaker 3: nice special teams play by Rocky Sharp and his returning.
• 58:23
  Speaker 3: I'm going to go with DeSmet to win and cover
• 58:27
  Speaker 3: and I'll go with the over.
• 58:29
  Speaker 2: CBC's had DeSmet's number these last few years.
• 58:36
  Speaker 1: They've won five straight. This is the.
• 58:41
  Speaker 2: This will be the third time in four seasons they've
• 58:44
  Speaker 2: played each other in the playoffs. And, man, this is...
• 58:50
  Speaker 2: Let's see. So going back to 2018, they've played each other.
• 58:54
  Speaker 1: Twice in the same season. Four, five, six.
• 58:59
  Speaker 2: Six times, and this will be the seventh time.
• 59:01
  Speaker 3: That's crazy.
• 59:03
  Speaker 1: In just nine seasons.
• 59:04
  Speaker 3: I mean, it makes sense, given that they're both very large,
• 59:08
  Speaker 3: male-only private schools. that are very geographically close to each other.
• 59:11
  Speaker 1: Well, the key there is being really close to each other. Yeah.
• 59:15
  Speaker 3: They're, you know, like, what? Less than three and a
• 59:21
  Speaker 3: half miles away as the crow flies? Yeah.
• 59:24
  Speaker 1: Maybe less.
• 59:24
  Speaker 3: They're right there.
• 59:25
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and so... here's what's interesting. CBC, they've scored over
• 59:30
  Speaker 2: 55 points in the last three games they played against
• 59:33
  Speaker 2: the Smet.
• 59:34
  Speaker 1: Hmm.
• 59:35
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Um, the Spets, I mean, even going back to
• 59:37
  Speaker 2: a year ago, they put up, they're doing well offensively,
• 59:39
  Speaker 2: but they just don't seem to have an answer. I'm
• 59:44
  Speaker 2: going to go with CBC because of that. I just,
• 59:47
  Speaker 2: and even though like I've, I know I kind of
• 59:49
  Speaker 2: paid dearly with, uh, picking against the Smet and the,
• 59:52
  Speaker 2: you know, state finals two years ago against Nixa. But, um,
• 59:57
  Speaker 2: I'm pretty sure I would have picked CBC to beat
• 59:59
  Speaker 2: them last year, and they did that.
• 1:00:00
  Speaker 3: Well, to be fair, that 2024 DeSmet team, that DeSmet
• 1:00:06
  Speaker 3: defense was unreal.
• 1:00:07
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 1:00:07
  Speaker 3: That was an incredible DeSmet defense.
• 1:00:10
  Speaker 2: CBC beat them.
• 1:00:12
  Speaker 1: Yeah, they did. But, yeah, so that's going to be
• 1:00:17
  Speaker 1: a big, big-time game right there. However, there's a slightly
• 1:00:21
  Speaker 1: bigger game.
• 1:00:23
  Speaker 3: Hmm. Here we go. This is a matchup that we've
• 1:00:26
  Speaker 3: been anticipating really all year.
• 1:00:30
  Speaker 1: I knew this damn game was going to happen before
• 1:00:33
  Speaker 1: the season started.
• 1:00:34
  Speaker 3: Class 5, District 3. Cardinal Ritter at Ledoux. Cardinal Ritter
• 1:00:40
  Speaker 3: favored by 6.5 points. The overrunners at 63.5. I'm sure
• 1:00:45
  Speaker 3: the Ledoux folks are not going to appreciate not being
• 1:00:47
  Speaker 3: favored on their home turf as the undefeated 1C in
• 1:00:50
  Speaker 3: their district.
• 1:00:51
  Speaker 1: They don't mind being the underdogs.
• 1:00:53
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and we'll do 9-0 so far this year. Hallmark
• 1:00:58
  Speaker 3: win was definitely against Eureka in overtime back in Week
• 1:01:00
  Speaker 3: 7 was that. Also some nice wins against Parkway West, Fox,
• 1:01:05
  Speaker 3: MICDS back in Week 1 in the War on Wars.
• 1:01:07
  Speaker 1: Parkway North wins looking kind of good now.
• 1:01:09
  Speaker 3: It is. They turbo-clocked them, which is huge. And then Ritter, again,
• 1:01:15
  Speaker 3: you love saying battle-tested. Ritter is the most battle-tested team
• 1:01:18
  Speaker 3: in the whole area outside of St.
• 1:01:20
  Speaker 2: Louis.
• 1:01:20
  Speaker 1: Probably the whole state.
• 1:01:21
  Speaker 3: As a team that Barely lost to DeSmet in an
• 1:01:25
  Speaker 3: insane game back in Week 2. Barely lost to Knoxville Catholic,
• 1:01:29
  Speaker 3: a really good team out of Tennessee back in Week 3.
• 1:01:32
  Speaker 3: Lost a track meet game to Millard South, the best
• 1:01:35
  Speaker 3: team in Nebraska.
• 1:01:36
  Speaker 1: Second best. Millard lost to another team in Nebraska in
• 1:01:39
  Speaker 1: Week 9.
• 1:01:40
  Speaker 3: Really?
• 1:01:40
  Speaker 2: Just to clarify.
• 1:01:42
  Speaker 3: Interesting.
• 1:01:43
  Speaker 1: They lost to another really good Omaha team.
• 1:01:46
  Speaker 3: And then against Jackson, Jackson the best team in the state.
• 1:01:50
  Speaker 3: So that's going to happen.
• 1:01:53
  Speaker 1: So they've been, I would say.
• 1:01:55
  Speaker 3: But the big CBC, the CBC win, I think... That
• 1:02:01
  Speaker 3: was so needed for Cardinal Ritter. So needed. Given how
• 1:02:07
  Speaker 3: their season was going.
• 1:02:08
  Speaker 2: That's why they're favored, I think, in this game, and
• 1:02:12
  Speaker 2: to potentially win state.
• 1:02:15
  Speaker 3: Yeah, given how their season was going, I think that
• 1:02:18
  Speaker 3: was the biggest regular season win for Ritter in a while.
• 1:02:21
  Speaker 3: simply because of the momentum shift it gave them. Because
• 1:02:24
  Speaker 3: they were coming off those losses, those out-of-state teams. They
• 1:02:28
  Speaker 3: had a really messy win against Live for Life, and
• 1:02:29
  Speaker 3: it was like, eh, we should have done better. And
• 1:02:32
  Speaker 3: they beat CBC in that game on their senior night,
• 1:02:34
  Speaker 3: so that is huge for them. And this is going
• 1:02:37
  Speaker 3: to be interesting, because Ladue, they got athletes. They got
• 1:02:41
  Speaker 3: some great speed on the outside, because we talk all
• 1:02:44
  Speaker 3: year about how almost nobody has.
• 1:02:48
  Speaker 3: The athletes to keep up with Malahan Green and Ryan
• 1:02:50
  Speaker 3: McDavis on the outside. Because even CBC was having a
• 1:02:53
  Speaker 3: hard time containing it in the second half. But Ledoux,
• 1:02:59
  Speaker 3: are they as elite athletically as Ritter? Maybe not, but
• 1:03:02
  Speaker 3: they're close at least. Because Ledoux's got some dudes, I've
• 1:03:05
  Speaker 3: got to admit. Shari Edwards, he makes some plays. Evan
• 1:03:09
  Speaker 3: Vai makes a ton of great plays. KJ Sutton makes
• 1:03:12
  Speaker 3: some plays. I mean, I'm going to end soon so
• 1:03:16
  Speaker 3: that you can go and talk about Ledoux because I
• 1:03:18
  Speaker 3: know you have a lot to say about this game.
• 1:03:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah, sorry.
• 1:03:21
  Speaker 3: This should be a really, really fun game. But... Ledoux
• 1:03:28
  Speaker 3: is going to have to establish the run well. They're
• 1:03:30
  Speaker 3: going to have to. And they're going to have to
• 1:03:31
  Speaker 3: stop the run well as well because... Ritter is going
• 1:03:34
  Speaker 3: to get some big plays. They just will. They do
• 1:03:36
  Speaker 3: against every single team. That's just the way it is.
• 1:03:39
  Speaker 1: They did even against Jackson. They had some big plays.
• 1:03:41
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's just going to happen. So the Ladoos got
• 1:03:44
  Speaker 3: to keep their head on straight. They got to stay
• 1:03:45
  Speaker 3: focused and not get too beat up when they make
• 1:03:47
  Speaker 3: mistakes because Ritter's a really good team. I think this
• 1:03:50
  Speaker 3: is going to be an absolute dogfight. It's going to
• 1:03:52
  Speaker 3: be a freaking war. But ultimately, I think Ritter's going
• 1:03:55
  Speaker 3: to come out on top. I just think their athleticism
• 1:03:57
  Speaker 3: is just a little too much for Ladoo. So I'll
• 1:03:59
  Speaker 3: go with Ritter to cover here, and I'll go with
• 1:04:01
  Speaker 3: the under.
• 1:04:02
  Speaker 2: You know, the athleticism isn't the biggest thing I'm worried about.
• 1:04:04
  Speaker 2: It's just, you know, can Ledoux stay physical enough with them?
• 1:04:09
  Speaker 1: Because Ritter has been able.
• 1:04:10
  Speaker 2: To establish a better run game than they had previously.
• 1:04:14
  Speaker 2: It really kind of all, you know, the switch kind
• 1:04:18
  Speaker 2: of flipped against CBC where they were able to, yeah,
• 1:04:23
  Speaker 2: run the ball pretty good whenever they would want to.
• 1:04:25
  Speaker 2: So that's, from a Ledoux standpoint, that would almost worry
• 1:04:29
  Speaker 2: me the most a little bit because I think Ledoux
• 1:04:31
  Speaker 2: can I think they can stay with Ritter's receivers, especially
• 1:04:36
  Speaker 2: if they can get pressure on Ryland Moore.
• 1:04:38
  Speaker 1: Because if.
• 1:04:40
  Speaker 1: And I've said this before. Ritter, their.
• 1:04:42
  Speaker 2: Yeah, their run game has been dodgy this season.
• 1:04:45
  Speaker 1: They're doing better, though, with it. But, like I said before,
• 1:04:50
  Speaker 1: when Ritter.
• 1:04:51
  Speaker 2: Their whole line is good at protecting Moore, especially if
• 1:04:54
  Speaker 2: only three guys will rush him. And they typically have
• 1:04:56
  Speaker 2: a three-man front.
• 1:04:58
  Speaker 1: That's when Ritter's really tough to stop. Because.
• 1:05:02
  Speaker 2: the receivers are just too good and too fast to,
• 1:05:03
  Speaker 2: to just be covered for that long. And if you get,
• 1:05:06
  Speaker 2: you get a guy like four or five seconds throw,
• 1:05:08
  Speaker 2: he's going to surgically ultimately, you know, find someone. So
• 1:05:13
  Speaker 2: I feel like that, that's going to be the big
• 1:05:14
  Speaker 2: difference for Lou is like what they can, what they
• 1:05:16
  Speaker 2: can do defensively to, to, to limit Ritter. And then Ritter,
• 1:05:21
  Speaker 2: they got a good defense as well. Ladue's got a
• 1:05:24
  Speaker 2: great offense.
• 1:05:26
  Speaker 1: So, I mean, you mentioned some names like, Emmitt.
• 1:05:30
  Speaker 2: McIntosh is probably the most underrated quarterback this season. I mean,
• 1:05:33
  Speaker 2: it just, who's come out of absolutely nowhere. And then
• 1:05:38
  Speaker 2: try Reese Edwards, who he's, he's got 12 touchdowns on
• 1:05:43
  Speaker 2: the season for over 600 yards.
• 1:05:45
  Speaker 1: He's come out of nowhere too.
• 1:05:47
  Speaker 2: And I think if I'm not mistaken, if he scores
• 1:05:49
  Speaker 2: two touchdowns in this game, I think he'll set a
• 1:05:51
  Speaker 2: school record for single season receiving touchdowns in a season. Wow.
• 1:05:55
  Speaker 1: Yeah. And there's been, I mean, J.U.
• 1:05:57
  Speaker 2: Chesson played in the NFL, so there's one guy right
• 1:06:00
  Speaker 2: there in good company there. And then, yeah, Evan Vai and,
• 1:06:06
  Speaker 2: you know, K.J. Sutton and Trevor Walker. I've said before,
• 1:06:10
  Speaker 2: I think Ledoux's got the best four-man receiving core in
• 1:06:15
  Speaker 2: the area with who they have as their weapons, and
• 1:06:17
  Speaker 2: they've been really good. And I can tell you right now, like,
• 1:06:20
  Speaker 2: Trevor Walker's due for.
• 1:06:21
  Speaker 1: A big game. He's due for one. I mean, he missed.
• 1:06:25
  Speaker 2: I think, yeah, he's missed the last few games because
• 1:06:27
  Speaker 2: it was just a nurse injury, but I'm pretty sure
• 1:06:29
  Speaker 2: he's going to be back. I mean, he looked, when I,
• 1:06:31
  Speaker 2: when I saw him at Parkway West two weeks ago,
• 1:06:33
  Speaker 2: he looked fine.
• 1:06:33
  Speaker 1: I think they were just rusting him, honestly, just because
• 1:06:35
  Speaker 1: they didn't absolutely need to have him.
• 1:06:38
  Speaker 2: Um, so yeah, he's, uh, and he's really good. What
• 1:06:40
  Speaker 2: he does really well is, is, is blocking downfield. Um,
• 1:06:43
  Speaker 2: you know, he's taking advantage of his six foot three frame. So,
• 1:06:46
  Speaker 2: I mean, Marco Tipton and Cody Anderson are really good,
• 1:06:49
  Speaker 2: you know, running back duo and Ritter's got a really
• 1:06:52
  Speaker 2: good trio of running backs with, uh, Amir Tillman, Dylan Schell,
• 1:06:56
  Speaker 2: and now Terrence Jones. This is his first game back
• 1:07:00
  Speaker 2: when they played McClure North last week. His first game
• 1:07:02
  Speaker 2: back in a few weeks. He's got some offers, including
• 1:07:05
  Speaker 2: an offer from USC. They've got a guy who's a
• 1:07:09
  Speaker 2: running back who has an offer from USC, and he's
• 1:07:12
  Speaker 2: their third guy on the depth chart right now at
• 1:07:15
  Speaker 2: running back. This is a unique game. I know even
• 1:07:21
  Speaker 2: though these two teams played a year ago for the
• 1:07:22
  Speaker 2: first time ever, but just... these two teams meeting the playoffs,
• 1:07:29
  Speaker 2: it's a big-time game. I mean, Ledoux being 9-0, you know, potentially,
• 1:07:33
  Speaker 2: you know, we'll see. It'll be hard to judge a
• 1:07:37
  Speaker 2: team who finishes 9-1 and say you're one of the
• 1:07:39
  Speaker 2: best teams in school history for a program who's had
• 1:07:42
  Speaker 2: a really great history. But, yeah, this is a Ledoux
• 1:07:46
  Speaker 2: team who's– hold on, let me get their stats up.
• 1:07:50
  Speaker 2: believe they're averaging over 40 points again.
• 1:07:52
  Speaker 1: Yeah. They're averaging 44 points a game.
• 1:07:54
  Speaker 2: And if, if the season, and if the season would
• 1:07:58
  Speaker 2: have ended a week ago, then that would, that would
• 1:08:00
  Speaker 2: set a school record for most points in a season
• 1:08:03
  Speaker 2: average wise. Um, so that's.
• 1:08:07
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it's just going to come down to,
• 1:08:09
  Speaker 1: I think both teams are going to put up points.
• 1:08:11
  Speaker 1: And I think one advantage I think.
• 1:08:13
  Speaker 2: We'll do has over Ritter is their special teams because they've, uh,
• 1:08:18
  Speaker 2: I think Ladue's got, I think, six or seven kickoff
• 1:08:21
  Speaker 2: slash punt returns this season for touchdowns. And frankly, it's
• 1:08:25
  Speaker 2: stopped ever since the Eureka game because I think teams
• 1:08:27
  Speaker 2: have realized, like, we're just not.
• 1:08:28
  Speaker 1: Going to punt to them.
• 1:08:29
  Speaker 3: Evan Vai is too dangerous.
• 1:08:30
  Speaker 1: Evan Vai, Trevor Walker.
• 1:08:31
  Speaker 2: Yeah, even Kyler Sutton's got a punt return.
• 1:08:35
  Speaker 1: He had one against Riverview. So, yeah, they just, if
• 1:08:39
  Speaker 1: Ritter's smart, they just don't risk kicking Ladue, honestly.
• 1:08:43
  Speaker 2: Unless they're really, really confident in their coverage. Um, so
• 1:08:48
  Speaker 2: there's that something to keep an eye on right there.
• 1:08:52
  Speaker 2: I'll say this, I'll take the over and I'm not
• 1:08:56
  Speaker 2: going to say who's going to win, but I do
• 1:08:58
  Speaker 2: have a little covering. it's going to be it's going
• 1:09:02
  Speaker 2: to be you look at it on Ritter's side it's
• 1:09:04
  Speaker 2: going to be a tough game for them I mean
• 1:09:05
  Speaker 2: Ledoux historically is really good at home in the playoffs
• 1:09:08
  Speaker 2: at their literal home by the way not when they're
• 1:09:10
  Speaker 2: the home team and playing at another stadium by the
• 1:09:14
  Speaker 2: way like that that was like they've been doing that
• 1:09:16
  Speaker 2: forever Even before, like, the stadium renovations, they would always
• 1:09:19
  Speaker 2: do that. But, yeah, I mean, this is... And Ledoux's been...
• 1:09:26
  Speaker 2: They're typically pretty good at home. I would imagine it's
• 1:09:29
  Speaker 2: going to be a packed place.
• 1:09:31
  Speaker 3: It better be.
• 1:09:32
  Speaker 2: Ledoux's usually... I mean, I don't think there's going to
• 1:09:34
  Speaker 2: be a whole lot of fans, like, you know, tailgating
• 1:09:38
  Speaker 2: before the game. That's just not what Ledoux does. But
• 1:09:41
  Speaker 2: we're just... LaDue's got like an LA Dodger crowd. They'll
• 1:09:44
  Speaker 2: show up like five minutes.
• 1:09:46
  Speaker 3: Before the game.
• 1:09:48
  Speaker 2: Boo. Boo.
• 1:09:49
  Speaker 3: Come on.
• 1:09:49
  Speaker 1: They'll show up five minutes before the game. They'll show up.
• 1:09:51
  Speaker 1: They'll get there, but it's going to take a little
• 1:09:54
  Speaker 1: bit to fill it up. Yeah.
• 1:09:56
  Speaker 2: So it's the best game in town. 7 p.m. on
• 1:10:01
  Speaker 2: November 6th can't come soon enough.
• 1:10:03
  Speaker 1: I can't wait.
• 1:10:05
  Speaker 3: It's the most wonderful time of the year.
• 1:10:09
  Speaker 1: It's also the most nerve-wracking time of the year.
• 1:10:12
  Speaker 3: It is. It definitely is, but.
• 1:10:15
  Speaker 1: I think, so I think, you know what, for this game,
• 1:10:17
  Speaker 1: I think.
• 1:10:18
  Speaker 3: We wait all year for this.
• 1:10:19
  Speaker 2: I know.
• 1:10:21
  Speaker 1: I think Ledoux should approach this game like they got
• 1:10:23
  Speaker 1: house money. They do.
• 1:10:25
  Speaker 2: They do.
• 1:10:26
  Speaker 1: Because Ritter, their expectation is a state championship.
• 1:10:30
  Speaker 2: Yes. And I'll tell you this, Ledoux, they believe they
• 1:10:35
  Speaker 2: can win a state championship as well, but... they, they
• 1:10:39
  Speaker 2: obviously know what, what they have in front of them
• 1:10:40
  Speaker 2: right here. And this is going to be a really
• 1:10:42
  Speaker 2: tough game. And, um, but yeah, ultimately it's, uh, I
• 1:10:46
  Speaker 2: don't think I guarantee you zero people at the beginning
• 1:10:49
  Speaker 2: of the year thought we'd do would win a state championship.
• 1:10:51
  Speaker 2: And I, and most people would have told probably thought
• 1:10:54
  Speaker 2: that Ritter would probably win a state championship or at
• 1:10:57
  Speaker 2: least get to get there.
• 1:10:59
  Speaker 1: And one of these teams is going home after Friday.
• 1:11:04
  Speaker 1: And that's the, that's a tough.
• 1:11:05
  Speaker 2: Reality to this, but, uh, Yeah, the Misha, the playoff
• 1:11:09
  Speaker 2: system is unforgivable. But it gives us some great moments.
• 1:11:13
  Speaker 2: And I just have a gut feeling that this game
• 1:11:15
  Speaker 2: is going to produce something magical. So that's all I
• 1:11:19
  Speaker 2: got to say.
• 1:11:20
  Speaker 1: I got more to say, but I'll leave you guys
• 1:11:21
  Speaker 1: with that.
• 1:11:24
  Speaker 3: Well, it should be a heck of a week. Usually
• 1:11:26
  Speaker 3: week 11 and week 12 are the best because not
• 1:11:31
  Speaker 3: only are the matchups so good, but there's so many
• 1:11:33
  Speaker 3: of them.
• 1:11:33
  Speaker 2: There is.
• 1:11:34
  Speaker 3: I mean, there's... I mean, there's matchups we didn't talk
• 1:11:36
  Speaker 3: about in this episode that should be really, really interesting games.
• 1:11:40
  Speaker 3: Shyamalan Hazelwood East, that should be a really interesting game.
• 1:11:44
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 1:11:45
  Speaker 3: Timberland Zumwalt South, that was interesting last time they played
• 1:11:47
  Speaker 3: this year. That could get really cool.
• 1:11:49
  Speaker 2: Yeah, not the most glamorous game on the schedule, but yeah,
• 1:11:51
  Speaker 2: I think that'll be a fun, that'll be a really
• 1:11:53
  Speaker 2: interesting one for seed game.
• 1:11:55
  Speaker 3: And then out of area, there is also a ton
• 1:11:59
  Speaker 3: of really good games. In Class 6, Blue Springs, Lee's Summit.
• 1:12:03
  Speaker 3: That one should be very interesting. Rockbridge versus Blue Springs South.
• 1:12:07
  Speaker 3: Also in that same district.
• 1:12:09
  Speaker 1: Upset Lee's Summit North.
• 1:12:10
  Speaker 3: They did. Ray Peck, Lee's Summit West. Sounds going to
• 1:12:14
  Speaker 3: be interesting. In Class 5, Republic versus Carthage. That's the game.
• 1:12:21
  Speaker 3: Ritter versus Ledoux is the same game. I would put
• 1:12:24
  Speaker 3: Republic versus Carthage a bit above that.
• 1:12:26
  Speaker 1: I respectfully disagree. I think Ledoux-Carthage is the biggest game
• 1:12:29
  Speaker 1: in the state.
• 1:12:31
  Speaker 3: Ledoux-Ritter? You said Ledoux-Carthage.
• 1:12:33
  Speaker 2: That would be a great state title game. However, Ledoux-Ritter
• 1:12:36
  Speaker 2: I think is the biggest game in the state. It's
• 1:12:39
  Speaker 2: just the uniqueness of it, and you've got two top
• 1:12:44
  Speaker 2: ten teams in the state right there. Right now, you
• 1:12:47
  Speaker 2: can't really say Carthage is a top ten team in
• 1:12:49
  Speaker 2: the state because there's a lot of really good teams
• 1:12:52
  Speaker 2: out there. But they are still a top 25 team
• 1:12:56
  Speaker 2: in the state.
• 1:12:57
  Speaker 1: I just wouldn't say right now top ten team.
• 1:13:01
  Speaker 2: If I had to do a ranking, so, no disrespect
• 1:13:05
  Speaker 2: to them, that's just, you know, they ended the season 6-3,
• 1:13:07
  Speaker 2: but then they got back on track with a really
• 1:13:09
  Speaker 2: clutch win over Web City. There, so, yeah, I can't,
• 1:13:15
  Speaker 2: it's just, I can't recall, like, Ledoux ever playing in
• 1:13:19
  Speaker 2: a game of this magnitude, this, so early in the playoffs,
• 1:13:21
  Speaker 2: I mean, the closest I could compare was In 2011,
• 1:13:25
  Speaker 2: when they played MICDS in the second round, back in
• 1:13:27
  Speaker 2: the last year of the old format, because MICDS and
• 1:13:31
  Speaker 2: Ladue naturally are in the same district, they played each
• 1:13:34
  Speaker 2: other in MICDS one by one in one of the
• 1:13:37
  Speaker 2: best games I've ever seen in my life. And then
• 1:13:38
  Speaker 2: they played each other in Week 2, and then that
• 1:13:40
  Speaker 2: was a pretty good game as well in MICDS 1 again,
• 1:13:42
  Speaker 2: and ultimately got to the state title and lost to
• 1:13:45
  Speaker 2: Webb City. And really looking back, that was a game
• 1:13:48
  Speaker 2: between two top five teams in Class 4 for that one.
• 1:13:52
  Speaker 2: So that's... And it's still not a great example of, like,
• 1:13:55
  Speaker 2: a game like Ritter versus Ledoux this early in the playoffs. So,
• 1:14:00
  Speaker 2: but that's the closest one.
• 1:14:01
  Speaker 1: I can think of. So, I can't wait.
• 1:14:05
  Speaker 2: I'm sure I'm going to be, you know, I can't
• 1:14:09
  Speaker 2: imagine what it's like as a player, like, having just a,
• 1:14:13
  Speaker 2: calm your nerves before a game like this, like several
• 1:14:15
  Speaker 2: days in advance.
• 1:14:16
  Speaker 3: It's more nerve-wracking before the game than during the game,
• 1:14:19
  Speaker 3: I'll tell you that. Because, you know, once the game
• 1:14:21
  Speaker 3: has started, it's like, okay, it's a game, I've played
• 1:14:23
  Speaker 3: this my whole life.
• 1:14:24
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 1:14:24
  Speaker 3: Let's just do it again. Here we go.
• 1:14:26
  Speaker 1: So, yeah.
• 1:14:28
  Speaker 3: And for whatever reason, it's probably easier at Leduc because
• 1:14:31
  Speaker 3: there's only one side of stands. For whatever reason, when
• 1:14:34
  Speaker 3: you're playing in a game, you can't hear the crowd.
• 1:14:37
  Speaker 3: Unless it's like insanely loud. For whatever reason, because you're
• 1:14:40
  Speaker 3: so focused on what's going on in the field that
• 1:14:44
  Speaker 3: you just mentally ignore what's going on outside, including the crowd.
• 1:14:48
  Speaker 2: So yeah, a lot of players have said very like
• 1:14:52
  Speaker 2: the same thing and just in anywhere.
• 1:14:54
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 1:14:54
  Speaker 2: So that's really weird how that works out, how the
• 1:14:57
  Speaker 2: mind works like that. Uh, maybe it helps that you're
• 1:14:59
  Speaker 2: wearing a helmet.
• 1:15:00
  Speaker 1: I don't know.
• 1:15:01
  Speaker 2: Um, but yeah, it's, uh, and yeah, you're right. It
• 1:15:04
  Speaker 2: does help that the grandstands are on one side at
• 1:15:06
  Speaker 2: Ladue and, I'll say I think it's the best venue
• 1:15:09
  Speaker 2: in the area to watch a football game. It's just
• 1:15:12
  Speaker 2: really awesome how it's done there. All right, we'll see
• 1:15:15
  Speaker 2: you guys next week to recap what I think is
• 1:15:20
  Speaker 2: going to be a potentially all-time great weekend of high
• 1:15:23
  Speaker 2: school football in St. Louis area that we've had the
• 1:15:26
  Speaker 2: privilege of covering. We can't wait for it, and we'll
• 1:15:29
  Speaker 2: see you guys then.
• 1:15:30
  Speaker 3: Peace.