|
 That’s a fact.
Numbers do not
lie.
The
Railsplitters will square off Friday night against the Rochester
Rockets, the defending Class 4A State Champions.
“They’ve got a
lot of good athletes,” Lincoln Head Coach Andy McDonald said
Thursday. “They’re going to spread the field out. They’ve got good
running backs and a quarterback who likes to throw.”
That is
observation, not fact.
These are the
facts that show the Central State Eight is the best football
conference in the state of Illinois.
The CS8 is the
only conference in the state with two defending state champions.
Sacred Heart
Griffin won the 5A title last year, Rochester the 4A crown.
You have to go
back to 2008, in the Suburban Catholic Conference when Elmhurst’s
Immaculate Conception won the 2A Championship and Wheaton’s St.
Francis won the 5A title.
But it is not
just that Illinois has gone six years without dual champs in a
single conference.
Rochester High
School has won four straight state titles (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013).
Before 2013,
Sacred Heart Griffin’s last title was in 2006. But the Cyclones were
in the football final four in both 2012 and 2011.
And SHG set a
scoring record last year. The Cyclones racked-up a record 744 points
in 14 games last season. They appear to be on the same pace this
season.
“Our kids
realize (this is the toughest conference in the state) and I think
they take some pride in playing at this level each week,” Coach
McDonald said.
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But Lincoln is
struggling.
The Railers
have scored just 28 points this season, while giving up 248.
Rochester has
scored 213 and surrendered just 71.
SHG has proven
even tougher, scoring 274 points and giving up just 37.
But Lincoln
scored six points against SHG last week, accounting for 16 percent
of the points the Cyclones have surrendered this season.
If there is a
silver lining for the mighty green it is that the two other teams
who have faced the dual champions in back to back weeks have fared
better against Rochester.
Decatur
Eisenhower faced both, and lost. But the Panthers scored 28 points
against the Rockets. They scored just seven against SHG.
Springfield
High School gave up 43 points to Rochester but allowed SHG to
rack-up 49 points.
Lincoln will
face the Rochester Rockets in Rochester Friday night. Kickoff is at
7 pm.
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
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