6A CPS State Football Playoffs Take

Brian Jones (Safety, Sr- front) and Daron Brown (quarterback, sr) are two reasons why Morgan Park is favored to win versus Quincy. Jones leads the CPS's  best defensive backs and Brown leads the high powered Morgan Park offense.

#12 Quincy (Sr.) (7-2) at #5 Chicago (Morgan Park) (8-1) Sat. TBA 

Morgan should handle downstate Quincy. Quincy will have a hard time versus the running threat posed by quarterback Daron Brown. He is helped by a huge Offensive Line. 

Neilski's take - Morgan Park 34 Quincy 10

#15 Chicago (Harlan) (6-3) at #2 New Lenox (Providence Catholic) (8-1) Fri. 7:30 p.m. 

This game will be over by the end of the first quarter. Providence went undefeated in the Catholic Blue. The toughest conference in the state with Mt. Carmel, St. Rita, Loyola, and Brother Rice. Harlan is led by athletic junior quarterback Tashaun Johnson.

Neilski's take - Providence 49- Harlan 0

#14 Chicago (Julian) (6-3) at #3 Crete (C.-Monee) (8-1) Fri. 7:00 p.m 

Crete-Monee rolled undefeated through the Southlance conference with an average score of 41-5 for the games. Crete-Monee also defeated king, my #3 ranked CPS team, by a score of 41-0. Julian is in the lower Chicago conference. All signs are pointing to a Crete-Monee blowout. Julian is led by runnin gback Chris Williams

Neilski's take Crete-Monee - 42 Julian 6

#9 Highland Park (6-3) at #8 Chicago (Mather) (7-2) Sat. 4:15 p.m.

Mather is back in the playoffs since their last appearance in 2006 when they lost to Prospect 40-0. Expect a similar result when they play the Giants of Highland Park. Mather has speedy running back Rashaun Fox.

Neilski's take - Highland Park 42 Mather 0

#10 Crystal Lake (Prairie Ridge) (6-3) at #7 Chicago (King) (7-2)  Sat. 1:00 p.m.

King, in my opinion is the city's most improved program in recent years due to an influx of talent from the elementary football level. But this is a tough draw for King. Prairie Ridge plays for the underrated Fox Valley Conference. Do not be decieved by Prairie Ridge's 6-3 record. They are good. Prairie Ridge beat football power Morris 28-6 earlier this year and are led by 6-5 260lb DE Gregory Drain. King has up and coming star sophomore tight end Willie Allen (6-4, 290lbs). Longtime King coach Lonnie Williams has called this team potentially one of the best he has ever had.

Prairie Ridge 35 King 7

#14 Belvidere (North) (5-4) at #3 Chicago (Robeson) (7-2) Sat. TBA

This is an evenly matched game. Belvidere squeaked into the playoffs by winning their last game of the season. Robeson is one of the few CPS programs with 2 state playoff wins against non-CPS teams the past three years. So Robeson, has proven they can win in the state playoffs. Robeson won yet another conference championship. Look out for defensive back Juwane Pipkins (5-10; 165lb, jr) of Robeson. He also plays on offense

Neilski's take - Robeson 16 Belvidere North 10

#11 Riverside (R.-Brookfield) (6-3) at #6 Chicago (Hubbard) (7-2) Fri. 7:00 p.m.

My heart says Hubbard, but I cannot deny the offensive fire power of Riverside Brookfield. RB clobbered a good Robeson team 64-26 earlier this season. Hubbard is coming off a 1 point loss to #1 CPS ranked Morgan Park and a 33-0 shutout of defending city champion Lane Tech. Hubbard has a bevy of stars including running back Ronnie Oliver (5-9, 190lb, sr) - who can pull off a big run anytime he touches the ball; Jerome Laseter (5-11, 240lbs running back). This has the makings of a very exciting and high scoring game.

Neilski's take - Hubbard 40 Riverside Brookfield 38

class 4A take
class 5A take

Comments

[are u nuts?]

Neilski,

I'm with you on all your predictions, except the Dyett, Senn, and Brooks scores. Those games will be complete 'running clock' blowouts.

And, it would nice to see Simeon, Robeson, Hubbard, and MP win 1st round games.

Also, will Lane rebound next year? What happened to that program? And, will there be changes made, especially with them having a weak junior class?

[yes]

Hubbard will give RB a good game and probably win it. Robeson could also open eyes. We'll know more about Senn after their game.

As for Lane, look out for my upcoming blog post:

Can Lane bounce back?

[Anthony Roddick]

I manage to check out some of the CPS Playoff games and was somewhat surprised at the almost upsets they pulled off.

Robeson is a great team and with Juwane Pipkins they almost cleared and pulled that victory over Belvidere.

I was most impressed with the underrated King against Prairie Ridge. With two dominant All-City key players, Vince Bobbit and Gregory McKee I thought for a minute there this game could be theirs Bobbit made some great tackles and 2 forced fumbles. McKee impressed me with executing some gamechanging blocks and was nearly impossible for Prairie Ridge All-State Defensive End Gregory Drain to make a play.

Hubbard was amazing. Although many predictions of their game against Brookside favored them, I feel they even surprised the doubted of the team they actually are. With both powerful Offensive Teams like the Colts and Patriots this was an exciting match up to witness.

[Larry Stewart]

King HS vs Prairie Ridge

King had good overall game for being the underdogs. Their defense was great overall with All-City Vince Bobbit 6-0, 190, Sr. leading the way. Also, their Offensive Line powered their way to getting yards with All-City Gregory McKee 6-7, 285, Sr. leading the forefront of some key executed blocks and shutting down All-State DE Gregory Drain. This was an upset I was looking forward to, however Prairie Ridge sneaked away by a touched down (20-12).

Key Players of the Game: Jon Williams, Justin Henderson, All-City Vince Bobbit, All-City Gregory McKee

Warren vs Curie

This was a game that was expect to be favor Warren, however Curie manage to pull out of the shutout but that was when the 3rd string came in the game. Good solid execution by Warren with Tom Lindal 5-11, 185, Sr. leading Warren to the win.

Key Players of the Game: Tom Lindal, Nolan Sordyl, All-Conference Maurice Fleming

Robeson vs Belvidere

All CPS fans were looking for Robeson to emege victorious as they have showed in some previous playoff experiences. However their defense should be given alot of credit do to limiting this team to only 2 touchdowns with Wayne Davis and Dion Grace Leading the way. There were many opportunties for Robeson and Belvidere to allow this game to be high scoring, however it was only limited to 14-7 favoring Belvidere at the end.

Key Players of the Game: Wayne Davis, Dion Grace, All Conference Michael Solomon

[Hubbard Alum]

So It's Morgan Park on the bye? Hubbard should have no problems with King after losing a heart-breaker at Belvidere. I'm looking forward to the Hubbard vs. Morgan Park rematch on Monday. Maybe comcast will televise.

[Hubbard will beat MP]

Morgan Park get the bye because they won their conference over Hubbard and they went deeper in the state playoffs then Simeon. I will love to see the Hubbard Morgan Park rematch. Hubbard will beat them this time.

[Greyhound Alum]

Simeon 35 - Hubbard 14. Caught the game this afternoon and Simeon looked TOUGH. If they play with the same intensity and execution that they did today, they have a legitimate shot at beating Rita in the Prep Bowl.