NT_082318

northbrooktower.com football preview guide 2018
the northbrook tower | August 23, 2018 | 51
Games of the Week
The best area matchups for all nine weeks of the 2018 season
WEEK 1: FRIDAY, AUG. 24, 7:15
Lake Forest at Antioch
The Sequoits are coming off
of a season where they went undefeated
in the regular season,
before dropping their first round
game of the playoffs. Antioch
loses much of its offensive firepower,
as running backs Branden
Gallimore and Hunter Price have
graduated. The two combined
for nearly 200 yards per game.
While they lose a lot of offense,
the Sequoits return their top defenders
in Nico Fier and Kevin
Tamayo, both of whom had over
50 tackles last season.
WEEK 2: FRIDAY, AUG. 31, 7:30
New Trier hosts Loyola
The rivalry is back! The two
neighborhood rivals will face
off for the first time in the regular
season since 2005, a 24-21
New Trier win. The two teams
battled in the first round of
the state playoffs last season,
a game that saw the Trevians
make a furious comeback, only
to have the Ramblers hold on.
Both teams bring back a considerable
amount of starters and
this game will give everyone
a glimpse of what these teams
will look like this season. A
great early season test for the
Ramblers and Trevians.
WEEK 3: SATURDAY, SEPT. 8, 1:30
Loyola hosts Mount Carmel
The tough opening stretch of
the regular season continues for
the Ramblers, who host their
first of only three home games.
Mount Carmel dropped down to
the Catholic League Green division
this season and welcomes
in a new coach, alum and former
Northern Illinois star Jordan
Lynch. The Ramblers have
dominated the series of late but
know that the Caravan is not a
team to look past.
WEEK 4: FRIDAY, SEPT. 14, 7:30
Lake Forest at Lake Zurich
The Scouts finished 6-5 last
season and made it to the second
round of the playoffs, but
their tough opening stretch continues
with a matchup against
last year’s Class 7A runner-up.
The Bears have finished second
in the state three times during
this decade and are one of the
more consistent teams in the
area. The Bears lost some key
components from last year’s
team but still bring back a stingy
defense, led by Austin LePage,
who had a school-record 10
interceptions, and Luke Dwyer,
a North Dakota State commit.
WEEK 5: FRIDAY, SEPT. 21, 7
Glenbrook North at Maine West
The Spartans finished 5-4 last
season and just missed out on
making the state playoffs due to
playoff points. The Warriors on
the other hand, had a resurgence
last season and qualified for the
playoffs for the first time since
2002. This game is the conference
opener for both teams and
the result may end up deciding
the conference winner if the ball
bounces the right way for both
teams.
WEEK 6: SATURDAY, SEPT. 29,
1:30
Loyola hosts Montini
The game against the Broncos,
only the second home
game of the year for the Ramblers,
marks the end of a stretch
of five consecutive 2017 state
Varsity Podcast celebrates
anniversary by going back to roots
Staff report
The Varsity Podcast
celebrated its one-year anniversary
by going back
to its roots: talking about
football.
The 22nd Century Media
sports podcast went back to
its original format after a
summer of special episodes
to preview the football season
for each North Shore
area school: Glenbrook
North, Glenbrook South,
Highland Park, Lake Forest,
Loyola Academy and
New Trier. In the episode,
the guys followed a fourquarter
format of talking
about the teams in the first,
hearing from a coach in
the second (no spoilers),
played a game of Way or
No Way and finished it up
by predicting week one results
for each team. After a
year of celebrating many
different moments, host
Michal Dwojak was excited
to get back to talking
football.
“We’ve had a lot of fun
storylines this year that
didn’t only focus on what
happened on the field or
court,” Dwojak said. “But
it’s nice to get back to talking
football, even though
we’ll definitely still talk
about what’s happening in
each of the other sports in
the area.”
To find out how each
team is expected to do this
season and to listen to all
episodes of The Varsity,
visit NorthbrookTower.
com.
Residents can subscribe
to listen to the podcast on
iTunes by searching “The
Varsity by 22nd Century
Media, can follow the podcast
on Twitter @Varsity-
Podcast and like the “The
Varsity Podcast” on Facebook.
playoff-qualifying teams. The
2018 season is Montini’s first
in the Catholic League Blue, as
it replaces Mount Carmel, who
dropped down to the Catholic
League Green. Montini has
been one of the more successful
teams in the state, qualifying
for the playoffs every year since
1993, including six state titles
and two runner-up finishes.
WEEK 7: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 5,
7:30
Glenbrook South hosts Maine
South
The Hawks blew out the Titans
last year, but that was on
the road in Park Ridge. This year
GBS welcomes Maine South to
Glenview, looking to get some
revenge from last year’s 47-13
loss. The Titans start off conference
play with two easy games
against Niles North and Niles
West, two teams GBS beat by a
combined 78-7 margin last year,
so this will be the first true conference
test for the hosts. The
game also starts a three-game
stretch against 2017 playoff
teams.
2017 standings
Central Suburban League
South Division
Maine South, 11-2, 5-0
conference
New Trier, 6-4, 4-1
Evanston, 6-4, 3-2
Glenbrook South, 5-5,
2-3
Niles West, 1-8, 1-4
Niles North, 2-7, 0-5
CSL North Division
Highland Park, 5-5, 4-1
Maine West, 7-3, 4-1
WEEK 8: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 7
Highland Park at Maine West
Despite the Warriors beating
the Giants 28-16 last season,
the two teams tied for the conference
title thanks to Maine
West’s loss to Deerfield in the
regular season finale. Payback
will be on the Giants’ minds as
they travel to Des Plaines to do
what the Warriors did last year:
beat the hosts on their home
field. The game also marks the
end of a four road games in a
five week stretch and this one
might determine the champion
of the Central Suburban League
North.
WEEK 9: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 19,
7:30
New Trier hosts Glenbrook
South
The two rivals close out the
season with a game that will
most likely help or hurt their
playoff seeding. GBS hung with
New Trier for three quarters before
the Trevians pulled away
for a 28-15 win, so it wouldn’t
be shocking to see the Titans
possibly pull off an upset.
Deerfield, 5-5, 4-1
Glenbrook North, 5-4,
2-3
Vernon Hills, 2-7, 1-4
Maine East, 1-8, 0-5
Chicago Catholic League
Blue Division
Loyola Academy, 12-2,
4-0
St. Rita, 9-3, 2-2
Mount Carmel, 9-4, 2-2
Providence Catholic,
8-5, 2-2
Brother Rice, 2-7, 0-4