I agree with Edgy's assessment of St. Rita this year. His final rankings on the "Edgy Nation" side is Gold to me.
I think you're trying to say the right thing but are getting it completely wrong. It's not so much about matchups as it is any given Saturday or Tuesday or Wednesday. I think half of the CCL/ESCC would have beaten ESL on the very cold Tuesday evening including Naz and CC. If played 1 month earlier I think only MC would get it done.Football is all about matchups, if Nazareth had beat Fenwick then ESL would be champions. Fenwick was better against ESL’s weaknesses and it showed Tuesday. For example, I think Mount Carmel would beat Carmel Catholic by a few scores. The same team that beat Loyola by 3 scores. The same Loyola team that was a possession from ending MC’s 4 peat. That’s what’s crazy and also awesome about football
He laid low for awhile, but he can't help himself. Be glad he has stopped talking about the Naz coaches, players and waterboys.Oh my god, we're gonna hear about this dead ball penalty for 9 months aren't we?
I completely agree with what you are saying, however, it was a cold Wednesday evening for MC as well and because of how Oswego played MC that day they are being called arguably a top 5 team in the state from it. I think Lockport could have done the same that Wednesday and they were a few less mistakes from being thereI think you're trying to say the right thing but are getting it completely wrong. It's not so much about matchups as it is any given Saturday or Tuesday or Wednesday. I think half of the CCL/ESCC would have beaten ESL on the very cold Tuesday evening including Naz and CC. If played 1 month earlier I think only MC would get it done.
I am really curious as to what the weakness was that Fenwick was better against. Fenwick was a GREAT team that needed a stupid dead ball foul rule (should be changed like yesterday)and an overtime 2 pt conversion fail to beat Naz.
Three 1 play scoring drives, blocking a punt from a team that doesn't really punt and playing in negative degree weather and benefiting from turnovers is not my idea of "matching up better" We can all be happy they slayed the giant but lets come back down to reality for a bit.
Loyola literally played MC twice 8 days apart. It's tough to beat a team twice when having weeks apart but in this case every thing was fresh it was like a practice game for the real game next week. Play that game in the quarters and its back to a 2 or 3 score margin.
They are being called a top five team because the beat Maine South, Naperville North, Lockport (who destroyed Barrington) AND they played well against Mount Carmel.I completely agree with what you are saying, however, it was a cold Wednesday evening for MC as well and because of how Oswego played MC that day they are being called arguably a top 5 team in the state from it. I think Lockport could have done the same that Wednesday and they were a few less mistakes from being there
And yet you ranked a 5 loss Loyola team that lost by 4 scores to Carmel and 3 scores to Rice as well as losing to a 5A team in Providence. St Francis was their only decent win.All things considered:
1. Mt. Carmel (14-0) [Undefeated 8A champion that also plays in the best division from the best conference in the state.]
2. Brother Rice (13-1) [Didn't look great in the cold, but 7A champ's only loss was to #1 team.]
3. Montini (14-0) [Handled every playoff game by double digits and finished two places ahead of Fenwick in the White Division.]
4. Fenwick (11-3) [A well-earned 6A championship needs no further justification, but, they also lost to Mt. Carmel by only 7 points.]
5. Nazareth (11-2) [The CCL/ESCC Green Division champion was as close to beating Fenwick as a team can get, but came up just short.]
6. Loyola (4-5) [Yes, it was an up and down season, but they defeated St. Francis and gave Mt. Carmel its most difficult playoff game.]
7. Oswego (11-3) [The 8A runner-up had big wins over Bolingbrook, Maine South and Lockport. They also battled well against Mt. Carmel.]
8. East St. Louis (10-4) [Yes, they lost the championship game, but it was a genuine upset. Look at the yardage.]
9. Byron (14-0) [Who beat IC Catholic more handily this year? Not Nazareth, not St. Rita, and not St. Francis who lost by 7]
10. St. Francis (11-3) [They beat Providence for a second time to win the 5A championship, and also won at St. Rita.]
Regarding Lincoln-Way East, I am not putting a three-loss, 41-point playoff loser in my top ten. Nor am I putting any team they easily beat in my top ten (sorry Maine South).
With respect to St. Rita, they had a very difficult schedule and are certainly better than a typical five-loss team; but at some point you have to at least come close to winning one of those games. They lost by 21 points to Mt. Carmel, 18 points and 16 points to Brother Rice, 24 points to Nazareth, and their 7-point loss to St. Francis was a home game. In my humble opinion that does not describe a top-ten team.