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Interstate 8
Ottawa (1-5, 0-3) at Morris (4-2, 2-1)
When: 7:15 p.m. Friday
About the Pirates: The Interstate 8 is projecting to send four, quite possibly five of its six teams to the playoffs. While good for the I-8 in general, it’s been tough on Ottawa individually. The Pirates are 0-4 against I-8 competition this season with Morris this Friday followed by 5-1 Rochelle waiting in Week 8 and have been outscored in their four games against I-8 teams by an average score of 39.8-6.8. That being said, the improvement shown from Week 3′s 33-0 loss to La Salle-Peru to last week’s 14-7 defeat at the hands of L-P cannot be discounted, and the Pirates on the season hold sizable advantages in time of possession and penalty yardage suffered while only being minus-1 in turnovers. WR/RB/Wildcat QB Weston Averkamp and WR Owen Sanders are the only players on the team through six weeks with more than 200 yards from scrimmage.
About the hosts: Morris has repeatedly proven the offseason chatter of being “down” false with resumé wins such as season-starting wins against Coal City and Joliet West and Week 5′s 50-10 smashing of Kaneland. Stumbles in a Week 3 shootout with Peoria High and last Friday’s surprise 37-15 loss at Rochelle – both teams currently 5-1, the record Morris would have if it had beaten either of them – will keep the chatter alive most likely, with Morris looking to quiet it again and rebuild momentum with a decisive win here heading into a Week 8 showdown at undefeated Sycamore. QB Brady Varner, RB Caeden Curran and WR Jack Wheeler are all potent weapons the Pirates will have to contain to stick around in this one. Morris won last year’s meeting 54-17.
Friday Night Drive pick: Morris
Illinois Central Eight
Streator (2-4, 1-3) at Peotone (3-3, 1-3)
When: 7:15 p.m. Friday
About the Bulldogs: Streator has been playing its best football of the season the past two Fridays, losing on a last-second field goal at Herscher followed by last week’s 41-13 handling of Lisle at Doug Dieken Stadium. The challenge for the Bulldogs will be to keep that going against a team expected to finish in the top half of the ICE. Streator last Friday cleaned up the ball-control issues that cost it so dearly at Herscher. As a result, it produced two (RB Jordan Lukes 19 carries for 111 yards, QB Isaiah Weibel 11-100, 3 TDs) – and nearly three (FB Tristan Finley 10-82, 2 TDs) – 100-yard rushers en route to outgaining the Blue Devils 366-191, including 309-20 on the ground. That would appear to be the recipe to upend a Peotone team that also likes to run and control it. An upset win here and Streator has a legitimate chance to climb back to .500 with winless Reed-Custer visiting in Week 8 before Week’s 9′s trip to undefeated Wilmington.
About the Blue Devils: It’s a convenient storyline to say the Blue Devils started out hot and have cooled off – and it is technically true – but a more nuanced look would suggest a lot of that is more a function of how Peotone’s schedule was put together than how it has played through six weeks. After three blowout victories in Week 1-3 over teams now a combined 7-11 (four of those wins in the Chicago Public League), the Blue Devils have dropped three straight – 49-13 to Wilmington, an encouraging 27-13 loss to Coal City and last week’s less-than-encouraging 21-7 defeat at the hands of surprisingly undefeated Manteno. This last third of the schedule lightens up considerably for Peotone, making a run back to the Class 3A postseason well within its reach if it can avoid a stumble against an improved team like the Bulldogs. Chase Rivera and Connor Pasch are the main battering rams of the Blue Devils run-heavy attack. Streator lost a close one to Peotone last season, 36-32.
Friday Night Drive pick: Peotone
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Chicagoland Prairie
Seneca 1, Walther Christian 0 (forfeit)
About the forfeit: This is the third straight week Waltham Christian is forfeiting to an opponent and also the third consecutive year Seneca has been hit with at least one forfeit on its schedule. As of press time, the Fighting Irish (7-0 overall, 4-0 Chicagoland Prairie if the forfeit sticks) were still looking for an opponent to play in place of the Broncos (0-6, 0-5). Either way, the automatic conference win guarantees defending champion Seneca at least a share of the league title with a chance to win it outright again when Marquette comes to town in Week 8.
Kishwaukee River
Woodstock (3-3, 2-2) at Sandwich (3-3, 3-1)
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday
About the Blue Streaks: The Blue Streaks snapped a two-game losing skid with a 26-10 home handling of Plano in Week 6, with K Sam Tafoya kicking two mid-range field goals, Charlie Walrod providing a 60-yard TD run and a key interception, and RB Stewart Reuter rushing for 106 yards and a touchdown. The largest school in the KRC by a large margin (IHSA enrollment 1,017.5), Woodstock has back-to-back games with .500 teams (a visit to Johnsburg awaits in Week 8) before closing the season home against undefeated rival Woodstock North. Getting a win here keeps the Blue Streaks’ playoff hopes very much alive.
About the Indians: Winners of three straight after losing its first two to opponents who are still undefeated (Manteno and Wilmington), Sandwich appeared destined to make another powerful push into the Class 4A playoff picture. Richmond-Burton, however, pushed back last Friday, stunning the Indians 49-14 in a game that saw R-B’s Hunter Carley carve up Sandwich’s defense for four touchdowns while the wing-T Indians were held to two – a Nick Michalek run and Braden Behringer-to-Simeion Harris pass. A 6-0 Woodstock North team and 3-3 Marengo await in Weeks 8 and 9, making this an almost must-have for Sandwich’s playoff hopes.
Friday Night Drive pick: Sandwich
Heart of Central Illinois Small
GCMS (6-0, 5-0 at Fieldcrest (1-5, 0-5)
When: 7 p.m. Friday at Veterans Park
About the Falcons: Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley had to survive a pair of close games – 7-0 over Ridgeview/Lexington and 24-21 over Warrensburg-Latham, its only loss – to open the season. GCMS has rolled everybody since, defeating Fisher, Meridian, Heyworth and last week Tuscola, the last a 34-7 victory. Also-undefeated LeRoy awaits GCMS in Week 8 in what appears likely to be the de facto Heart of Central Illinois Small championship game. GCMS defeated Fieldcrest 40-14 in 2023 on its way back to the playoffs after rare back-to-back misses in 2021 and 2022.
About the Knights: Fieldcrest appeared to have an opportunity to get things going after losing its first three games. Its middle third of the season began well with a 54-0 handling of one-win Westmont, but upon returning to the HOCI the Knights dropped a pair of relatively close games, 21-0 to Warrensburg-Latham and 28-14 last week at previously one-win Fisher. RB Eddie Lorton has been the most reliable weapon for Fieldcrest and enters Friday with 540 yards on the ground.
Friday Night Drive pick: GCMS
Nonconference
Aurora Central Catholic (3-3) at Marquette (4-2)
When: 7 p.m. Friday at Gould Stadium
About the Chargers: ACC is an independent in football this season, but it probably doesn’t feel like it for either the Chargers or the Chicagoland Prairie Conference. This is the fourth and final game against a Chicagoland Prairie team on the Chargers’ schedule, perhaps a sign of things to come ... or perhaps not, as ACC has not done so well in those games so far. The Chargers lost 46-0 to Dwight/GSW and 41-0 to Seneca in between a 60-7 win over Walther Christian, which has not played a varsity game and forfeited ever since that defeat. RB Trey Siefrid has been ACC’s primary weapon, including a 193-yard performance in the Walther win.
About the Crusaders: Marquette is coming off what used to be a rarity but sadly isn’t anymore – a forfeit bye. It did offer the chance for the Cursaders, now winners of three straight, to rest up and self-scout heading into a demanding final third of the regular season that begins with ACC coming to Gould Stadium. It continues with take twos against Seneca (which topped Marquette 48-13 in Week 3) and Dwight/GSW (whom Marquette defeated 26-21 in Week 4). Between the bye and the rerun opponents coming up, expect to see a few new wrinkles out of Marquette’s Payton Gutierrez- and Grant Dose-led wing-T offense as well as its hard-nosed defense that in its last time out surrendered just 122 yards and seven points in a Saturday rout of rival St. Bede.
Friday Night Drive pick: Marquette
Illinois 8-Man
FCW (4-2) at West Central (6-0)
When: 7 p.m. Friday
About the Falcons: Flanagan-Cornell/Woodland started its most demanding three-game stretch of schedule last week, losing 46-14 to defending I8FA state champion Amboy/LaMoille/Ohio. Now comes a 127-mile trip due west to Biggsville to play one of only five undefeated teams left in the eight-man game. Even in last week’s loss, FCW found ways to get the ball in the hands of its playmakers. That included 50-plus yards passing for QB Seth Jones and 50-plus yards rushing for RB Leelynd Durbin. Getting the offense back on track will be Job 1 in keeping up with a Heat offense that has been scorching opponents all season long. After this, FCW visits a Ridgewood team that defeated the falcons 30-7 in Week 3 and closes the regular season at home versus winless Galva.
About the Heat: West Central’s 328 points scored this season (an average of 54.7 per game) is second most in the 30-team Illinois 8-Man Football Association, behind only Milledgeville’s 342. RB Graham Kelly (275 yards, five TDs) led the Heat’s 80-point explosion last week over Bushnell-Prairie City, with RB Kyle Lafary adding 103 yards and Alex McGraw (96 yards) also flirting with the century mark. West Central played its first five games all on the road and closes with four games at home, including the last three against prospective I8FA playoff teams.
Friday Night Drive pick: West Central