My Game of the Week...

...will be Fenwick at Loyola on Saturday afternoon. (According to my iPhone the temperature will be 86 degrees in Wilmette; a little different from last year's meeting, above.)

My older brother, who went to Loyola, will be flying in tomorrow to see the Ramblers host our father's alma mater, Fenwick. (We did this last year, remember?) But do the Friars have a chance against big, bad Loyola? On paper one would have to say "no."

Loyola (3-1) is ranked No. 5 in the Sun-Times and No. 9 in both the Tribune and MaxPreps. The Wilmette squad won the 8A title in 2015 and were runners-up last year.

Fenwick (also 3-1), is ranked only No. 124 in MaxPreps but is coming off an 11-2 season in which they defeated such formidable teams as Phillips, Montini and Lake Zurich. Did they graduate a bunch of guys? I don't know. But I do know Fenwick has a wily coach in Gene Nudo, who is more than capable of pulling a rabbit out of his hat.

To refresh your memory, Fenwick won its first game this year by forfeit. Here's the full schedule (home team in CAPS):

FENWICK 1, Bowen 0
FENWICK 24, Moline 7
MONTINI 28, Fenwick 7
FENWICK 28, Leo 0

Bowen is 0-2 and has since dropped football, Moline is 2-2 and Leo is 1-3. The only team with a winning record here is Montini (3-1) and they handled Fenwick rather easily. This doesn't bode well for the Oak Parkers.

Loyola, meanwhile, dropped a close one to Phillips before "taking care of business":

PHILLIPS 20, Loyola 14
LOYOLA 13, Bishop Amat (CA) 6
LOYOLA 31, Mount Carmel 7
Loyola 42, ST. FRANCIS 7

Now, it turns out that this schedule isn't exactly a "Murderers' Row" either. With the exception of Phillips (4-0), the rest of these teams have been less than impressive this year. Bishop Amat is 0-4, Mount Carmel is 3-1 and St. Francis is 1-3. (The Caravan's three victories came over teams with a combined record of 5-7, but a deeper dive would reveal that those five victories were against teams with a combined record of 5-15.)

Oh, well. Let's look at the recent history between these two Catholic League programs. As I mentioned last year, the Friars haven't bested Loyola since 2006:

2016: Loyola 52, FENWICK 14
2015: Loyola 54, FENWICK 16
2014: LOYOLA 42, Fenwick 0
2013: N/A
2012: LOYOLA 49, Fenwick 28
2011: Loyola 47, FENWICK 7
2010: LOYOLA 45, Fenwick 7
2009: Loyola 31, FENWICK 7
2008: N/A
2007: N/A
2006: FENWICK 20, Loyola 0
2005: LOYOLA 31, Fenwick 7
          Fenwick 10, Loyola 7 (Catholic League tournament)
2004: Loyola 7, FENWICK 6

So do the Friars have a chance this week? Sure, upsets happen all the time in football. But it would be an upset, a big one.

As always, I'll be live-tweeting the game @BoringOldWhtGuy.

P. S. My brother and I will be reliving the action at Hackney's on Lake after the game. (We'll probably be in Circe's Circle.) Come join us and I'll even buy you a beer. Maybe.