Thursday, September 16, 2010

Glenbrook South takes on...

...Niles North today in Skokie at the second windiest stadium in the Chicago area. (GBS has the windiest.) Meanwhile, unranked Maine South (unranked?) will play at Maine West, New Trier will be at Maine East, Mundelein will travel to No. 17 Stevenson, Elk Grove Village will play at No. 7 Schaumburg, and Evanston will be at Deerfield.

(That's GBS, above, in the victory against Deerfield, not Ohio State-Michigan.)

Glenbrook South should defeat Niles North (1-2) today, although the Vikings' offense is picking up steam as the season progresses. After getting blanked by Elk Grove Village, 41-0, in the opener, the Skokie squad defeated Niles West, 24-15, and scored 37 points in a one-point losing effort to Evanston.

Despite being the alma mater of NFL veteran Brent Novoselsky, who played for the Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings from 1988 to 1994, Niles North is not known for its prowess on the gridiron. The school, which is wedged between the Edens Expressway and Old Orchard Shopping Mall, was used for some scenes in the 1984 movie "Sixteen Candles."

So the Titans should win today and improve their record to 2-2. Next week they will probably lose at New Trier. Victories against Waukegan and Niles West should be followed by a loss to Maine South and a season-ending win over Evanston. That would put the Titans at a very respectable 5-4 on the year, good enough to qualify for the post-season. But 5-4 teams usually draw strong 9-0 or 8-1 opponents (like Loyola or Stevenson) and get knocked out in the first round.
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While I don't expect any upsets today, Eddie, my bookmaker, er, risk manager (I keep making that mistake), tells me to watch out for Elk Grove Village. They're ranked No. 18 in the Sun-Times poll and beat Fremd last week, 29-22. Quarterback Nick Meyer was 10 of 18 for 178 yards, passing for two touchdowns and running for another. Meanwhile, the Grenadier defense came up with four interceptions in the game. Can Elk Grove linebacker Joey Bishoff contain star Saxon running back Shepard Little, who ran for four touchdowns and caught a fifth against Rolling Meadows last week?

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