Friday, November 4, 2011

I'll be in Bolingbrook...

...tomorrow night to see the No. 2-seeded Raiders (9-1) host No. 7 Mount Carmel (7-3).

Bolingbrook High School, like Lincoln-Way East, is a fairly new school with almost no famous alums. But the town of Bolingbrook, you may remember, was put on the map by a former police sergeant, Drew Peterson, above, who was in the news for having trouble keeping track of his various wives.


As for the game, Saturday night's contest pits Bolingbrook junior Aaron Bailey, above, the fastest quarterback I've ever seen, against Carmel running back Brandon Greer, below.


In fact, we could make this a lot easier by just letting the two of them play each other while everyone else sits on the bench and puts their feet up. Because, really, that's what this game will come down to. (I expect Bailey to score two touchdowns to Greer's one.)

Oh, well, let's go through the motions. Bolingbrook is ranked No. 4 in the state by MaxPreps, Mt. Carmel is No. 28. The Caravan eliminated the Brook from last year's playoffs but aren't the same team this year. For starters, Don Butkus has been inconsistent at quarterback and just isn't the signal-caller that Chris Sujka was last year. Again, with losses to Providence, St. Rita and Loyola, this ain't your father's Mount Carmel.


If Bailey can get help from running backs Jaden Huff and D. J. Pruitt, and complete a pass or two to wide receiver Chandler Piekarski, it could be a long night for the Caravan. And on defense, expect Raiders' cornerback Diaron Rhodes, above, to shut down the Caravan air attack.

A quick look at Mount Carmel's schedule shows the Caravan beat just three winning teams: Hinsdale Central (6-4), Brother Rice (7-3) and Simeon (7-3):

MOUNT CARMEL 28, Hinsdale Central 14
Providence 24, MT. CARMEL 18
ST. RITA 17, Mt. Carmel 7
Mt. Carmel 51, ST. LAURENCE 6
LOYOLA 12, Mt. Carmel 7
MT. CARMEL 35, Brother Rice 24
Mt. Carmel 62, ST. JOSEPH 0
MT. CARMEL 40, De La Salle 7
MT. CARMEL 31, Morgan Park 0
Mt. Carmel 23, Simeon 14, Soldier Field

Bolingbrook, meanwhile, beat Belleville East (6-4), Homewood-Flossmoor (7-3), Sandburg (6-4) and Lockport (7-3) before eliminating Neuqua Valley (5-5). The Raiders' only loss came at the hands of Lincoln-Way East (10-0).

BOLINGBROOK 33, Neuqua Valley 14
BOLINGBROOK 42, Lockport 17
Bolingbrook 38, LINCOLN-WAY CENTRAL 0
Bolingbrook 27, SANDBURG 3
Lincoln-Way East 20, BOLINGBROOK 14
Bolingbrook 41, HOMEWOOD-FLOSSMOOR 28
BOLINGBROOK 49, Joliet West 12
BOLINGBROOK 60, Joliet 6
Bolingbrook 39, BELLEVILLE EAST 13
Bolingbrook 40, PLAINFIELD SOUTH 16

BOWG prediction: Bolingbrook 14, Mt. Carmel 7.

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