Lincoln-Way East will host...

...Providence on Saturday night and I'm pretty sure I know the outcome of this one. (Uh-oh.) I've seen both teams play this year (the Griffins against Bolingbrook and the Celtics against Loyola) and I feel confident that Lincoln-Way East will advance to the third round. (For my money, they're the best team in the state.)

Even though Providence defeated Joliet Catholic in Week One, they got beat pretty convincingly by Loyola and Mount Carmel. Lincoln-Way East, on the other hand, is undefeated, having downed Carmel, Montini, Homewood-Flossmoor and Sandburg, as well as Bolingbrook, during the regular season. That's a tough schedule! And, the Griffins have the most exciting quarterback I've seen all year, Tom Fuessel, above.

The two programs haven't played each other since 2009, when the Griffins beat the Celtics, 28-7. They also beat Providence in 2008, '07, '06 and '05. As far as I can tell, the Celtics have never beaten Lincoln-Way East. Will Saturday night's game be any different? No, but it should be a good matchup. (The two schools are only fifteen minutes apart. If nothing else, I'll bet a lot of these kids know each other.)

BOWG prediction: Lincoln-Way East 31, Providence 14.