The final week of the regular season in Illinois wound up being a blowout fest, while things in Missouri have started to take shape in district play. Here’s a look at the week that was:

A sign of things to come?

With a chance to secure just the second home playoff game in program history, the Quincy High School football team fell short in suffering a 36-0 loss to Chatham Glenwood. The Titans shut down the Blue Devils’ running attack and used their own running game to kill QHS’s hosting hopes.

QHS is just 2-2 this season against teams with winning records. The Blue Devils beat Rock Island Alleman and Fort Madison and lost to the two toughest teams on its schedule — Rock Island and Glenwood. There aren’t any gimmies for teams that have to hit the road for first-round playoff games.

If Friday’s game taught the Blue Devils anything, it’s that they’ll have to come with a complete game to survive the first round.

Perfection

No one should really be surprised with the three area teams that finished the regular season with perfect records.

Defending Class 3A champion Illini West was a gimmie and a favorite to do that every year.

Brown County has its first 9-0 regular-season ever after limiting opponents to just nine points during the regular season. (Do the math. That’s one point per game. Impressive.)

Quincy Notre Dame finished 9-0 for the second straight year and just the fourth time in program history. Even with an injury to quarterback Kramer Barnes, the Raiders didn’t miss a beat.

I can see the area being well-represented during Thanksgiving weekend in Champaign.

District doings

Mark Twain made a believer out of me after its 28-7 victory over Monroe City. Didn’t think the Tigers had a chance in that one. That win, coupled with South Shelby’s easy win over Palmyra, sets up a battle on Thursday for a district title.

Mark Twain (6-3) is playoff-bound for the first time since 1993 no matter what happens when the teams meet in Shelbina, Mo.

The other playoff surprises could come from Knox County and Scotland County. If Knox County can knock off Schuyler County next Friday, the Eagles will have their first district title since 1995. Scotland County can earn the second playoff spot with a win at North Shelby on Thursday.

Pirates keep on going

Their defense has given up more points than Brown County’s this season, but Hannibal’s been on a nice run. The Pirates secured their fifth straight shutout — and school-record tying sixth of the season — in a 28-0 victory over Marshall.

The Owls threatened several times only to be stopped by Hannibal’s Mr. Everything, Mat Sims. Sims tied a school record with three interceptions as the Pirates matched the 1941 team’s record of six shutouts. By the way, Hannibal also secured back-to-back North Central Missouri Conference titles with its 13th straight league victory.

Next week, it won’t be so easy for the Pirates (8-1) as state-ranked Jefferson City Helias comes to town. Figuring that the Crusaders beat Kirksville today, that will be for the district title. Don’t be surprised if both Hannibal and Helias win their first-round playoff games to set up a rematch in the sectional. If that happens, the winner gets to host that playoff matchup.

Next week

We’ll find out all of the particulars tonight for the seven Illinois teams that are playoff-bound.

In Missouri, several games will be played on Thursday night as schools try to get an extra day of rest before the playoffs start. Thursday offers up the Mark Twain-South Shelby and Clark County-Brookfield district title showdowns. Friday’s best bet is in America’s Hometown when Hannibal and Helias clash. Looking forward to having my first Pirate Dog in a while.

For the most part, the games we spilled ink previewing and the TV and radio talking heads spent time babbling about lived up the considerable hype. Here’s your Week 7 overview.

Big games deliver

Three of the four games on a night dubbed by one local pundit as “the best night of football in 15 years” were pretty darn good with two falling in the exceptional category.

Our Brian Shoemaker raved that Brown County’s 10-3 victory over Triopia was one of the best high school football games. He’s ever seen. People were lined up to get into the place and their wait was worth it. Now at 7-0 with a Western Illinois Valley Conference North Division crown to their credit, Brown County has its fan base thinking Champaign. You’ll bet that they’ll run into Triopia at some point again along the way. Once again, that will be some must-see football.

The other exceptional game was in Peoria, where Quincy Notre Dame pulled out a 7-6 victory over host Richwoods to clinch a tie of the Mid-State Six Conference title. The Raiders did it with defense, stopping the Knights on a two-point try with just over a minute to play and then making a key interception after Richwoods recovered an onside kick. Lots of intrigue listening to Richwoods coach Roland Brown decided to go for two points instead of the standard PAT. Tested for the first time this season, QND passed with flying colors.

The Quincy High School football team led Rock Island at half 16-13, but couldn’t hold on in dropping a 20-16 Western Big Six Conference decision on the road. This game was another good listen — thankfully the QND game ran ahead of QHS and it wasn’t too tough to move back and forth between the two. The Blue Devils hurt themselves in the second half with some silly penalties. In the postgame, QHS coach Rick Little said he and his players lost their focus a bit in the second half, which led to the penalties. This is just a momentary setback for the Blue Devils, who’ve shown they can go toe-to-toe with the big boys in the Big 6 now. Don’t be surprised if they knock off Rock Island Alleman next week and go to Chatham Glenwood in Week 9 with a chance to earn a home playoff game in the first round.

The only downer from the “big ones” was the matchup between Illini West and Pittsfield in Carthage. After a somewhat sluggish start, the host Chargers rolled to a 60-12 victory. If I had to pick one area team as a lock to make it to a state championship game, Illini West is my pick. Anything short of Illini West making another Thanksgiving trip to Champaign would shock me.

Pesky Pirates

Yes, it was against a one-win Mexico team, but Hannibal posted its third straight shutout in its 45-0 victory on homecoming at Porter Stadium. The Pirates made five sacks and had two interceptions in taking another step toward gaining its second straight North Central Missouri Conference crown. How good is this Pirates’ defense? Consider this stat: The Pirates already have as many shutouts this season (four) as they did during their march to the Arch back in 2006 when they finished second in the Class 4 playoffs. If defense wins championships, the Pirates are in a really good spot. 

Looking ahead

Week 8 doesn’t offer up nearly the schedule that we had on Friday night. District play starts in Missouri. The pick game West of the Mississippi will be at Monroe City, which plays host to South Shelby. Other than that, there is a great bunch of games. Hannibal will open district play at Kirksville, which means new Hannibal assistant Doug Baughman will face the school he was at for many years. That’s about it for intrigue though.

Looking for more?

If you want to keep up on all of the scores and more, make sure to check out the new Local Prep Zone, which is presented by Elam Heating and Air Conditioning. And if you’re into the Twitter thing, our WhigScores Twitter feed is constantly updated throughout the night with the latest scores and information. You can also get various thought from me, Matt Schuckman and Matt Goldberg via Twitter as well.

(Sorry for the delay, but a day off beckoned on Saturday when I usually do this.)

Here’s a look at Week 6 of the high school football season.

Darn Devils

I was optimistic that my hometown Galesburg Silver Streaks could give me some bragging rights around here with an upset of the red-hot Quincy High School football team, but it didn’t happen.

The Blue Devils took advantage of nearly every Galesburg mistake en route to a 27-14 victory at Flinn Stadium. Thanks to the win the Blue Devils are playoff-bound for the first time since 2003.

Now comes the tough part of the Devils’ schedule with games against perennial powers Rock Island, Alleman and Chatham Glenwood. They have enough confidence in themselves now, that it probably doesn’t matter who is on the other side of the line.

Blowout city

At least the Blue Devils and Silver Streaks gave us a close game. It was one of two competitive games on a weak slate of matchups — Pittsfield’s 26-14 win at Bushnell-Prairie City/Avon being the other.

Nothing else on the Friday docket was even close. There was Central-Southeastern’s 77-0 romp over Unity-Payson. How about nearly identical blowouts in Missouri with Scotland County beating Milan 68-6 and Clark County beating Schuyler County 68-8?

Week 6 showed us that we have a two-tier class system around here — the haves and have nots.

Looking ahead

What last week lacked in intrigue, it should more than be made up for in Week 7. There are four top-tier matchups this week:

• Can Quincy High School keep its undefeated string going at Western Big Six power Rock Island?

• How tough will it be for Quincy Notre Dame to duplicate the success it had on Richwoods’ home field when it faces the Knights instead of a Peoria Manual team it man-handled 49-0 on the same turf last week?

• Now that Brown County has been scored on, can Triopia figure out a way to stop the Hornets’ potent offensive attack when the state-ranked squads meet in Mount Sterling?

• Is Pittsfield, after a scare against BPCA, the team to finally give Illini West a run for its money when the two square off at Fuzz Berges Field?

Here’s an overview of Week 5 of the high school football season:

Hornets sting Routt

In the most appealing game on the docket, Brown County lived up to its No. 2 ranking in Class 1A by going to Jacksonville and handing Jacksonville Routt a 44-0 loss in a matchup of state-ranked teams. Tom Little’s crew has yet to give up a point this season, outscoring the opposition by a total of 269-0 this season. Impressive run by the Hornets, who look poised to put their past playoff demons behind them this fall.

Sweet victory for St. Clair

Hannibal coach Mark St. Clair on Friday became just the seventh coach in area history to reach the 100-win mark at one school when the Pirates took apart North Central Missouri Conference foe Boonville 35-0.

The Pirates did a little bit of everything. The defense pitched its second shutout of the season, limiting Boonville to 133 yards of offense. The offense did its part — both on the ground and through the air — to force a running clock midway through the fourth quarter.

After Moberly was upset by Fulton on Friday, the Pirates are the last undefeated team in the NCMC. They’ll try to take another step toward a league crown when they play at Moberly next week.

All’s pleasant in P.Hill

Two years ago, Pleasant Hill was left out of the IHSA playoffs despite having five wins. This year, the Wolves might not have to worry about playoff points thanks to their 28-20 victory over Hardin Calhoun on Friday night.

The Wolves are now 4-1 overall and are in control of the Western Illinois Valley Conference South Division race. Win the WIVC South and the Wolves are back in the playoffs for the first time since 1998.

Looking ahead

It’s a shame that Galesburg will come into Flinn Stadium next week and ruin Quincy High’s perfect start. (What did you expect from a Galesburg guy?) Other than that, the slate is void of any really intriguing matchups. I would expect a big crowd again at Flinn with some folks who routinely spend their Friday nights at 10th and Jackson taking in the proceedings with the Raiders on the road at Peoria Manual. (And though, I’ll pick Galesburg on the Are You Smarter Than the Sports Guys game, I suspect QHS will get the playoff-clinching sixth win … but it won’t be easy.

Here’s an overview of Week 4 of the high school football season:

Mystery solved?

One of the questions we usually hear when dealing with out-of-town media folks or fans usually goes something like this:

“Quincy High School is so good at basketball, why aren’t they ever any good at football?”

There’s really never been a good answer. The program has had plenty of good head coaches. The facilities at Flinn Stadium are some of the best around. With just one public high school in town, there should be plenty of talented athletes from which to choose. Yet, the Blue Devils have had little success on the gridiron, having made the playoffs just twice in the last 23 years.

That may be changing under Rick Little. In his third year with the Blue Devils, Little has the Blue Devils reaching new heights. Thanks to Friday’s 40-17 victory at Moline, QHS is 4-0 for the first time in more than three decades.

The credit for the turnaround goes equally to Little and the players. They have bought in to what he wants them to do, and his plan has worked. Little has proved that the success he had during his tenure at West Hancock was no accident.

The Blue Devils have an excellent chance to go to 5-0 when they finally return home to Flinn Stadium to face 0-5 East Moline, a team QHS hasn’t lost to since 2002.

The next great Hannibal back

Had the chance to watch a Hannibal football game from the stands for once thanks to a night off. The Pirates are beat up right now, but it didn’t matter in a 55-14 victory over Fulton to open North Central Missouri Conference play at Porter Stadium.

With several players out or severely limited because of injuries, the Pirates still managed to beat down the Hornets. With Zach Nichols limited because of an ankle injury, kicker Mat Sims had to do the punting. Thanks to some hustle by Lenny Clark, two of Sims’ punts were downed inside the Hornets’ 5-yard line. The first one led to a 16-yard interception return for a touchdown by Mark Nemes.

Nemes had a huge night for the Pirates. He scored three rushing touchdowns and ran for 147 yards. He also had a big kickoff return to set up the Pirates’ first touchdown drive. The junior not only showed off his speed, but he also has the ability to read the field and hit the holes.

The first time I saw Hannibal this year, Nemes wasn’t much of a factor in a rout of Troy. It’s obvious from Friday’s viewing that Nemes will be a staple in the Pirates’ backfield for the next two seasons. Like a factory, the Hannibal program continued to produce quality rushers year after year. Nemes looks to be the latest in that line.

Status quo

There were no real upsets or surprises on Friday night. It’s pretty obvious that we have a group of haves, a group of have-nots and very few teams in the middle. The only game with any intrigue going into the night was the Central-Southeastern at Pittsfield game. However, the Saukees defended their home turf in a 32-6 victory.

Looking ahead to Week 5 there is just one game that is a toss-up. Brown County will travel to Jacksonville Routt for  WIVC North showdown. Other than that, there doesn’t appear to be many games of intrigue on the docket.

Here’s an overview of Week 3 of the high school football season.

Super Chargers

Had a rare Friday night off, so I decided to take in a game. With QND out of town and QHS and Hannibal playing today, it came down to either Illini West vs. Central-Southeastern or Centralia at Monore City. I opted for IW-C-SE. 

Was impressed with how C-SE came out and stuffed IW on its first two drives. Like many in the stands, I thought it was going to be a game. Little did I know that Jim Unruh and his IW coaching staff adjusted nicely on the fly to whatever C-SE was doing. A big blocked punt helped set up IW for a short TD drive late in the first quarter. That blocked punt took something out of C-SE.

The game quickly turned into the Michael Lafferty show. The IW quarterback has a great arm and throws a good ball. Yes, I’m writing about an Illini West quarterback who throws the football. (And the Chargers even kick PATs now. Heck, they even tried — and made — a field goal in the third quarter. These aren’t the Carthage Blueboys anymore.) Lafferty made a play near the end of the first half where he eluded several would-be C-SE tacklers and heaved the ball down field for a bomb on the final play of the half and a 34-0 lead.

If there is a team in Class 3 that can beat IW, I’d like to see them. The Chargers were hard-hitting on defense, too. They can still run the football. It will take a combination of IW playing a really poor game against a good team in order for the Chargers to be stopped.

I’m thinking the folks in Carthage and LaHarpe can start making their Thanksgiving night reservations for Champaign, Ill.

By the way, the best $3 I spent all week was for a butterfly pork chop at the Central concession stand. Very tasty!

Runnin’ Raiders

When it came time to pick a Player of the Year in the fall sports tab, I went with QND’s Daniel Weiman. He came on strong at the end of last year during the Raiders’ playoff run. Knowing Bill Connell’s love for power football, it was a pretty safe bet that Weiman would be the benefactor of Connell’s game plan.

On Friday night, Weiman broke off a school-record tying touchdown run of 97 yards as part of a 276-yard effort in the Raiders’ 24-0 victory at Spring Valley Hall. This won’t be Weiman’s last big night, you can count on that.

A different magic number?

The general thought is that if an Illinois high school football team wins five games during the regular season, then it’s going to make the playoff field. Well, that’s not entirely true. Two years ago, Pleasant Hill won five games but didn’t have enough playoff points to qualify. Same thing happened to Western Big Six Conference member Galesburg last year.

If the QHS football team can win at winless Evansville (Ind.) Harrison today, the Blue Devils would be 3-0, leaving them just two wins from that magic number. Had a nice talk with Daniel Makarewicz of the Moline Dispatch this week. Makarewicz, a Quincy Notre Dame grad who covers East Moline and Alleman for the paper, believes any WB6 team will need six wins to make the playoffs.

When you look at QHS’s non-league schedule, it doesn’t appear the Blue Devils will get too many playoff points from those schools — each school gets a playoff point for every win teams on their schedule earn. Alton is hurting badly. The Redbirds are winless, including a 77-7 loss to East St. Louis on Friday. It’s hard telling what Mount Pleasant will give the Blue Devils in terms of playoff points. Harrison is winless and already a third of the way through it’s season. QHS isn’t likely to get anything out of Harrison. Toss in the fact that East Moline is struggling again and that all of the WB6 teams except Quincy and Galesburg were losers in Week 1 and you can see that playoff points are hard to come by.

It may take a winning record in WB6 play — or an upset of powerful Chatham Glenwood in Week 9 — to get QHS into the playoffs for the third time since 1986.

Here’s an overview of Week 2 of the 2009 high school football season:

Is this really happening?

Don’t adjust your monitor. The Quincy High School football really is 2-0, while traditional power Palmyra is 0-2.

The Blue Devils ended a five-game losing streak against Mount Pleasant on Friday with a 42-23 victory. With their fast start, the Blue Devils have a legitimate shot to make the playoffs for just the third time since 1986. The Blue Devils have a long road trip looming a week from today at Evansville Harrison. However, Harrison is 0-3 and lost to QHS last year on a rainy day at Flinn Stadium. Should the Blue Devils take care of buisness in the Hoosier State, they’ll need to figure out a way to get just two wins in their final six games. For a team brimming with confidence, that’s possible.

Meanwhile, things are tough all over in Flower City. Palmyra has been outscored 82-0 in its first two games. On Friday, Quincy Notre Dame absolutely steam rolled the Panthers for a 55-0 victory. It’s tough to see a proud program like Palmyra’s go through some tough times. Meanwhile, Notre Dame doesn’t look like it has any intentions of slowing down. Two weeks, two convincing wins for Bill Connell’s crew.

How ’bout them Bulldogs?

The most pleasant surprise from Friday was Louisiana breaking its 23-game Clarence Cannon Conference losing streak. The Bulldogs upended Highland 26-6. The Gschwender name has long been associated with the Louisiana program thanks to long-time coach Tony Gschwender. Now, it’s his son, Steve, who is coaching Louisiana. He certainly remembers the program’s glory days of the 1980s.  You can bet he’s doing everything he can to try to get the program back to prominence in the rough and tumble CCC.

Looking ahead

There are two “must-see” games in Week 3. A matchup of offensive juggernauts will take place in Camp Point, Ill., when Illini West meets up with Central-Southeastern. The visiting Chargers are averaging 69.5 points per game, while the host Panthers are putting up 62.5 per game. Many high school basketball teams don’t average that many points. 

In the Show-Me State, most eyes will be on Lankford Field in Monroe City. The host Panthers (2-0) will take on top-ranked Centralia (2-0). Centralia had little trouble with South Shelby on Friday night, so Monroe City will need to be at its best in order to move on.

Looking for more?

If you want more analysis from QND’s win over Palmyra, check out Matt Schuckman’s “Beyond The Box Score” report at his blog.

If you’re stuck at home or out at a game and wanting to know what’s going on at area games, check out our WhigScores Twitter feed. We’ll have the latest from as many games as we can information on. On Friday night, we were continuously updating scores instantly from eight different games. Following along is easy, especially if you have an iPhone or Blackberry. You can get scores sent to the palm of your hand.

Also, remember to check out our online predictions contest — Are You Smarter Than The Sports Guys. Each week, we’re giving away some Buffalo Wild Wings thanks to the folks from our local BW3. The best part of the contest — it’s free.

Week 1 of the high school and college football season is already in the book. Here’s a look at the highlights and lowlights:

What a start

Good news for the Quincy High School football team with its season-opening 16-7 victory over Alton. The win sets the Blue Devils up nicely for a run at a playoff spot. If the team can figure out a way to beat Mount Pleasant, Iowa next Friday — something the team has never done — it could contend for a playoff spot. The team has a winnable game the following week at Evansville (Ind.) Harrison. Toss in winnable games against Western Big Six teams East Moline and Galesburg and it’s feasible to see the Blue Devils getting to the magic five-win total. 

Good night in America’s Hometown

Wasn’t too surprised to see Hannibal football coach Mark St. Clair use both Charlie Fohey and Zach Nichols at quarterback in their 44-0 win over Troy. Ultimately, the Pirates’ offense might be at its best with Fohey at quarterback and Nichols taking over a role at a power runner at fullback in Hannibal’s option offense. Good effort by the Pirates’ defense, too. However, both units will be tested next week at Harrisonville, which was a 33-7 loser to Class 4 state power and top-ranked Webb City on Friday.

Trouble in Terre Haute

As expected, Quincy University’s 26-20 overtime victory over Indiana State isn’t playing well with the Sycamore partisans in Terre Haute, Ind. Don’t want to take anything away from the Hawks, but the Sycamores aren’t a very good team. When ISU gets into Missouri Valley Conference play, it won’t be pretty. Wouldn’t be surprised if Indiana State is still riding that losing streak next year when the Hawks make the return trip on Oct. 2, 2010.

Need more football?

Check out Matt Schuckman’s blog for a Beyond The Box Score look at QND’s 49-14 victory over Macomb. You can also get all of the scores, schedules, rosters and more about your favorite high school team at the Whig’s new “Local Prep Zone,” which is presented by Elam Heating and Air Conditioning.

On Friday nights, we’ll have the Zone humming with up-to-the-second scores thanks to our new Twitter feed.

And don’t forget to get in our local football prediction contest — Are You Smarter Than the Sports Guys? We put up a $20 gift certificate to Buffalo Wild Wings each week with the overall winner getting a wings feast thanks to folks at the local Buffalo Wild Wings.