First of all, the last two of my Magnificent Seven (actually Awesome Eight) went down to defeat in the Second Round. (I got a little distracted by my last-minute trip to Minnesota. Thanks for all the kind wishes; looks like the storm has passed.)
No. 8-seed Hersey (9-1) fell to No. 9 Lincoln-Way Central (9-1), 21-7, and No. 10 Buffalo Grove (9-1) bowed to No. 7 East St. Louis (9-1), 40-18. Kudos, though, to all eight teams that made the playoffs after what was in some cases a multi-season drought.
Second, two of the three Lincoln-Way teams, Lincoln-Way West and Central, that could have played each other in the 7A semis both lost on Saturday. That leaves only No. 1 Lincoln-Way East (12-0), which has a rematch with No. 5 Maine South (11-1), this time at home. (Sounds like the Game of the Week, doesn't it?)
If the Hawks should happen to win that contest they could face No. 6 Loyola (11-1) in a rematch from last year's 8A championship game which Maine South won, 27-17. (The Park Ridge squad came from behind to defeat my dark horse team, No. 13 Naperville Central (9-2), 39-28. Sounds like it was a heck of a tilt.)
The Ramblers, meanwhile, will travel down to No. 26 Edwardsville (9-3) on Saturday to take on this year's Cinderella team.
Speaking of Loyola, with two rounds to go we find ourselves in a situation where the three remaining Catholic League Blue teams -- No. 18 Mount Carmel (9-3) and No. 13 Providence (8-4) are the other two -- could conceivably win the 8A, 7A and 6A titles. Wouldn't that be something?
(To be fair, two East Suburban Catholic Conference schools, No. 17 Benet (9-3) and No. 2 Nazareth (11-1), could win 7A and 6A, too.)
But first the Caravan has to get past No. 3 Lake Zurich (12-0) and Providence would have to defeat Nazareth. Mount Carmel, you may recall, blanked the Bears, 30-0, in the 2013 7A championship. If the South Siders do win they could face Benet in a 7A final featuring another couple of dark horses.
Nazareth won the 5A title in 2015 and the 6A crown in 2014, while Providence captured the 7A title in 2014. I'm not sure if these two Catholic school powerhouses have ever played, but it sounds like they've been circling each other for a few years now.
Finally, we have two undefeated teams, No. 1 Phillips (12-0) at No. 2 Sterling (12-0), in the 5A semis. It has to be hard to win twelve straight games only to watch the championship on TV, but one of these two programs will have to. Oh, well.
Enjoy the games! (I'll be in New York at Night of Too Many Stars.)
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