Talking with ‘Edgy’ Tim: The wild West Suburban Silver, spoiler alerts and much more

We’re back again to talk with “Edgy” Tim O’Halloran.

The Rivals prep football expert sits down with Daily Herald columnist Kevin Schmit to discuss the wild West Suburban Silver race, IC Catholic Prep’s shot against Loyola, Maine South’s challengers in the Central Suburban South and a spoiler alert in the Mid-Suburban East.

Let’s get to it.

Kevin Schmit: York’s overtime victory over Downers Grove North left three Silver teams — the Trojans, Glenbard West and Lyons Twp. — with one loss and the Dukes a game behind. How many conference champs will there be in the Silver?

“Edgy” Tim: Seven ... no, I’m kidding. I still think Downers North finds a way. I think them and probably Glenbard West as co-champs.

Glenbard West-York should be interesting this week, especially after last week. Obviously DGN against Lyons will be interesting. And then Week 9, West and North should both win easy against the Provisos.

York’s last two games are tough with Glenbard West and Lyons. Lyons is at Downers North and at York. I think those two definitely have a tougher path. That’s what I’m thinking.

KS: Does unbeaten Class 3A power IC Catholic Prep have a shot this week against unbeaten 8A power Loyola? Or is the enrollment disparity (Loyola has 1,905 students to IC’s 277, according to ihsa.org) simply too big for the Knights to overcome?

ET: You’re talking a pretty big discrepancy in enrollments. I saw Loyola on Saturday and they are probably once again about 90 with their roster.

I think they can hang if they buy into it, but I don’t know how bought in either side is going to be. Are they going to hold kids out? Loyola is just going to steamroll anyone in front of them. But IC, do you want to risk getting kids hurt this close to the playoffs?

If this was a Week 1 nonconference scheduled game, like they both wanted to play, it would be a much better indicator than now. IC is undefeated, and there’s pride there. But I just don’t know what’s going to show up.

Talentwise, they’re both very good. To me it becomes a numbers and a depth issue. The size of that Loyola sideline is overwhelming.

KS: All four teams in the Central Suburban South have at least five wins, but Maine South keeps rolling along. Can Evanston or Glenbrook South beat the Hawks the next two weeks?

ET: Maybe Glenbrook South. They haven’t given up a lot of points. But they also have their two toughest games remaining, New Trier and Maine South.

And it’s the same with Evanston, (playing) Maine South and New Trier. So that needs to shake out a little bit. I think the eye-opener was Glenbrook South beating Evanston 33-9 mid-year. And then Evanston losing to Highland Park was a bit of a head-scratcher.

Maine South has just rolled in that conference for so long, it’s hard to bet against them.

KS: Everyone’s looking ahead to the possible Week 9 unbeaten showdown between Hersey and Prospect in the Mid-Suburban East. Can Buffalo Grove play a spoiler this week against Prospect?

ET: I’ve only been waiting for this for seven weeks (laughs). I’m as guilty as anyone for kind of building up the hype for Week 9.

I mean, BG is always a solid team. But you’ve got to be able to put up points on both these teams because they’re just going to try and outsprint you. They’re both putting up a tremendous amount of points, which seems to be a trend throughout the state.

KS: Where are you going this weekend?

ET: It is the “Edgy” Tim world tour of the West Suburban Silver.

I am going to Lyons at Downers North on Friday. Hopefully they still have the cartoon of me on their play card. And then I’m going to Duchon on Saturday to see Glenbard West and York.

I’ve got to see York now that they beat Downers North.