Our area boasts many big, big games on the docket Friday
By MIKE CUNNIFF
Big games.
A lot of them this Friday.
On the turf ... as several area football teams inch nearer conference titles and-or playoff berths.
The Morris Redskins will be hosting the Streator Bulldogs on Friday night in the NCIC in one of three games featuring the top half of the conference versus the bottom portion. Morris is 3-1 while Streator is 0-4.
Sterling, also 3-1 in the NCIC, will visit Dixon with the Dukes being 1-3. The final contest will not happen, with 1-3 Ottawa forfeiting to Geneseo, making the Maple Leafs 4-2. It appears as though the season is over for the Pirates, with the team now needing a minimum of five practices [if school is not in session Thursday] before Ottawa will be able to play again.
La Salle-Peru, now 4-1 in the NCIC after knocking off Geneseo 38-36 last Friday, has a non-conference contest with Woodstock this week before heading up to Sterling next Friday.
The Redskins have tallied 63 points on the season while allowing 129. Unbelievably, Ottawa has scored 118 points on the year despite not playing the last two weeks. La Salle-Peru has already clinched a postseason berth with its 6-1 ledger. Geneseo will get its sixth win Friday while Sterling has five victories thus far.
Morris, in garnering its forfeit win over Ottawa last week, finally met a team that was under .500 going in. The first three Redskin opponents [Oswego, Chicago St. Rita and La Salle-Peru] are all 6-1 this year while their next three foes [Geneseo, Crystal Lake Prairie Ridge and Sterling] are all 5-2.
Minooka is 5-2 on the season, with the Indians traveling to Oswego to meet the Southwest Prairie Conference leading Panthers on Friday. Oswego is 6-1 overall and 5-0 in the SPC. Minooka is a game back at 4-1 while Plainfield Central, Plainfield North and Romeoville are all 3-2. The Indians need at least one more victory to guarantee postseason action.
The second highest scoring team in the conference, Minooka has tallied 216 points while giving up only 99. Romeoville is the leading team in points scored with 229 with the Spartans allowing 202 that includes 56 to the Indians last Friday. Oswego is not not as explosive as Minooka with the Panthers owning a 166-69 advantage in points scored to allowed.
Over in the Interstate Eight Large, all eyes will be on the Reed-Custer at Coal City game with the Comets going in 3-1 and the Coalers 2-2 in divisional action. Both teams are 5-2 on the year, seeking the vital sixth victory.
Reed-Custer is the lowest scoring team in the Large, with the Comets putting 137 points on the board. Reed-Custer, on the other hand, has allowed just 111. Coal City has outscored its opponents by a 227-121 count.
Peotone can claim the outright Large title when the Blue Devils host Herscher this week. Peotone and the Tigers are both 4-3 overall.
The Interstate Eight Conference Small Division is split into three segments thus far. Both Wilmington and Plano are 4-0 and meet Friday night in Reaperland for the title. The Seneca Fighting Irish travel to Dwight on Friday with both teams being 2-2 in divisional action. Lisle will host Westmont [at Illinois Benedictine University] in a battle of a couple of 0-4 clubs.
Seneca is the third highest scoring Small Division squad with the Irish turning the board to the tune of 157 points. Seneca has given up 166. Dwight, coming off a pair of convincing wins over Lisle [37-26] and Westmont [32-14] has been outscored by a 172-104 margin.
Wilmington has rolled up 326 points thus far in seven outings for an of 46.6 markers per game. The Wildcats have scored at least 37 points in every contest, hitting in the 40s four times and in the 50s twice. The Wilmington defense has given up only 62 points on the year.
Wilmington has thus scored nearly as many points as the next two highest scoring teams in the division. Plano has 180 and Seneca 157. The Irish, though, have the most playoff points in the division with 33. That's because Seneca has played five teams that are currently above the .500 level.
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