For the record, after having gone 12-1 (Mundelein over Z-B ... who saw that coming) and 13-0 in picking prep football winners the last two weeks, it feels like the right time to take a week off.
Besides, that way, nobody in The Locker Room has to admit he thinks Evanston is going to beat Waukegan on Saturday.
Nore, will anybody in The Locker Room have to comment on the North Chicago/Wauconda game which looks like a 2-6 team playing a 35 team on paper, but there could be way more to it than that.
In any case, the prep football pairings will be announced on Saturday. There's a cable TV show from 8-10 p.m. that will show who plays who, but since the IHSA always does the classes in order from 1A to 8A, you don't need to watch until about 8:45.
Then, stop by The Locker Room, where, beginning at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, we will be chatting live about our playoff teams and who they might play in Rounds 2, 3 and 4 of the playoffs.
predictions: October 2008 Archives
Not exactly a lot of drama in these Week 8 prep football matchups.
The winner of Grayslake Central/Grayslake North will get bragging rights, but when you only win one game all year, there isn't a lot to brag about.
In any case, here are the picks to click ... as always, in the order of how sure we are confident in the result:
13) Lake Forest over Zion-Benton. Two pass-happy teams ... this game should be over around midnight
12) Antioch over North Chicago. Sequoits have unbeaten season in their sights
11) Libertyville over Mundelein. Cats need to win out or miss playoffs for second year in row
10) Lake Zurich over Grant. In every matchup of good teams, we pick the NSC Lake over the NSC Prairie every time.
9) Highland Park over Maine West.
8) Vernon Hills over Wauconda.
7) Grayslake Central over Grayslake North. Both these currently winless teams will win next year for sure because Woodstock North joins the league and will have no seniro class.
6) Glenbrook North over Deerfield. Spartans need the game for playoff push.
5) Carmel over St. Patrick.
4) Wheaton Academy over LF Academy
3) Antioch over North Chicago. Expect Antioch players to spend a lot of time in the checkerboard end zones at NC High.
2) Warren over Stevenson.
1) Niles West over Waukegan. .
Last week: 12-1, with Mujndelein's miraculous 22-point fourth quarter to stun Z-B the "1"
Before you take these prep football picks to the bank, remember that the guy in The Locker Room picking this week's winners is the same guy who called the 2000 election for President Gore, the 2008 Democratic primary for Hillary Clinton, and the 2008 election for President Palin and her running mate.
Here are this week's prep grid picks, in order of how certain we, in The Locker Room, are that the winner will, in fact, do just that: WIN.
13) ZIon-Benton over Mundelein ... Z-B Nation gets to celebrate for 1st and only time this year.
12) Carmel over St. Joseph
11) Prairie Ridge over winless Grayslake North
10) Stevenson over Lakes ... Unbelievably, Pats need game to make playoffs
9) New Trier over Waukegan ... ending the Dogs' playoff hopes. Very sad.
8) LF Academy over winless Luther North
7) Warren over Libertyville ... this is where it starts to get real tough.
6) Johnsburg over Grayslake Central ... Rams' moment to shine still a week away
5) North Chicago over Round Lake ... 1 win between these two teams.
4) Lake Zurich over Lake Forest ... a guess. LF's great controlled passing game vs. a tremendous defense. Fact is, LZ needs the game to make playoffs.
3) Highland Park over Deerfield
2) Grant over Wauconda. Grant coach Kurt Rous never gets outcoached and his players play awesome defense so don't know how Wauconda is going to score.
1) Antioch over Vernon Hills. Even with game at VH, this feels like a two-touchdown spread.Perhaps there's been too much Red/Gray Kool-aid being chugged down in The Locker Room, but we think not.
In The Locker Room, we can't remember the last year when there was such a disparity between the haves and have nots in area high-school football.
Last week, there were NINE games decided by MORE than25 points.
Sadly, this looks to be more of the same.
Here are this week's 14 area fb games, listed in order of how sure we in The Locker Room are of the result:
14) Lake Zurich over Mundelein
13) Huntley over Grayslake Central
12) Vernon Hills over Round Lake
11) Maine South over Waukegan
10) Warren over Zion-Benton
9) Lake Forest over Wauconda
8) Walther Lutheran over Lake Forest Academy
7) Carmel over Notre Dame
6) Stevenson over Libertyville
5) Johnsburg over Grayslake North
4) Antioch over Grant
3) Highland Park over Glenbrook North
2) Deerfeild over Niles North
1) North Chicago over Lakes
