September 18, 2012
Predictions for the weekend of September 22nd, 2012
Filed under: — Dan Balash @ 10:42 pm

Week 3 is upon us.  There are some very intriguing matchups at all shows this weekend, including a Lincoln-Way North/Hersey/Warren Township/Marian Catholic/Prospect showdown at the Chicagoland Marching Band Festival, Downers Grove South travels to Indiana and meets up with the defending Indiana Class A State Champion, and BOA season starts this weekend, with several Illinois bands traveling to Louisville, Kentucky.  Let’s get to the predictions!

Bands of America Regional Championships: Louisville, Kentucky

Truly a difficult show to predict.  This could go to one of several Kentucky bands, it could go to Ben Davis from Indiana, or it could go to O’Fallon or Lincoln-Way East.  If this season is anything like last year, expect the unexpected.  North Hardin won last year.  This year, we think Lafayette, Kentucky will win this title, with other finalists being (in no order): Adair County, KY, North Hardin, KY, O’Fallon Township, Lincoln-Way East, Ben Davis, IN, McGavock, TN, Milford, OH, Central Hardin, KY and Naperville North rounding out the top 10.  We think Belleville East will be the first or second band out of finals, unfortunately.

Penn Kingsmen Carnival of Bands: Mishawaka, IN

We’re only going to predict Class A for this one, as Indiana can be a bit difficult to predict at times.  Some great bands in Classes B-D, including Concord, Goshen, DeKalb, Northridge, Fairfield, Leo and Knox.  Back to A:  We think Homestead will win this class by 1-3 points, with Downers Grove South in 2nd, and Carroll, IN in 3rd.

Limestone Marching Rockets Field Competition: Bartonville, IL

1A: Watseka should take their second win of the season here followed closely by Farmington. Olympia rounds out the top three.

2A: Eureka and Metamora face off again and the outcome should be no different, with Eureka winning again. Streator in third.

3A: Dunlap takes another victory over Pekin this week. IVC will try to beat out Pekin as well after a surprisingly slow start to the season, but will settle for third.

4A: Batavia, Normal West and Washington will fight for the top three spots. We believe that Normal West will be the victor followed closely by Batavia in second and then Washington in third.

Grand Champion: Normal West will take the trophy, but Dunlap may be on their heels.

 

Chicagoland Marching Band Festival: Wheeling, IL

1A: Lincoln-Way West takes another first place followed by Lakes Community in second. Richmond-Burton should get third, but Providence Catholic will put up a strong showing for third.

2A: Lincoln-Way Central continues to build momentum here while Waubonsie Valley takes second. Wheaton Warrenville South should round out the top three, but Glenbrook South and United Township will both make solid attempts.

3A: A great class here, with 5+ potential ISU finalists.  Marian Catholic and Prospect will be racing for first. We belive that Marian Catholic will win by a narrow margin. Lincoln-Way North in third.

GC: Marian Catholic

 

Tiger Ambush Classic: Edwardsville, IL

Some interesting match-ups in this, the 5th Anniversary of the show, including the 2nd of back to back meetings between Carterville and Salem.

Class 1A – Salem and Winfield have historically done well in this class, however Salem is now bumped to 2A.  We feel Winfield will take this class followed by Northwest and Wesclin.
Class 2A –  It’s like deja vu here, as this class is comprised of all bands who were at Murphysboro last week.  Speaking of the host band last week, Murphysboro should win here. Salem and Carterville will fight it out again for 2nd and 3rd.  With their later performance slot and historical success at this show, we think Salem will take 2nd here with the possibility of sneaking away with a caption or two as they have won Percussion the last 2 years at this show in their class, and colorguard 2 of the last 4 years.  Carterville will take 3rd.
Class 3A – This is a toss up as we haven’t seen a few of these bands yet.  Windsor came out at O’Fallon and placed 3rd in a competitive 1A class.  We feel they will get the win here, followed by Mater Dei and Robinson.  A couple of interesting facts about this class:  Robinson is under new leadership, and Centralia performs as the 1st band of the day due to homecoming.
Class 4A – With Belleville East and O’Fallon out of this show due to BOA Kentucky, most bands got bumped up a class (e.g. Salem, Centralia, Hillsboro, Seckman, etc…)  One thing is for sure, Tiger Ambush Classic will finally have a new Grand Champ after O’Fallon won it the last 2 years.  We think Granite City is going to take this class followed by Effingham, which had a surprising and strong showing last week at O’Fallon, and Hillsboro will round out the Top 3.  Watch for Effingham to possibly take a couple captions.  Granite City will win Grand Champion here as well, making it 4 of 5 years the Grand Champion at this show has come from the Metro-East.
Sage City Invitational: Monticello, IL
Class B:
1) Paris Cooperative
2) Sullivan
3) East Richland
Class C/D:
1) Tri-Valley
2) Atwood-Hammond
3) Oblong
Class 2A:
1) Champaign Central
2) Mattoon
3) TF North

Grand Champion: Champaign Central

Dwight Harvest Days Parade and Field Show: Dwight, IL (Sunday, September 23rd:)

4 bands in competition in field class, with Marengo and Coal City being the only ones in consideration for Grand Champion due to doing both parade and field show.  We’re not sure why Sandwich is competing in exhibition here.
Class B: Coal City makes their return to the competitive field this season after not competing in 2011.  Westmont competes for the first time in recent memory, as they have never show up on our score records dating back to 2000.  We thinkCoal City will win this one.
Class A:  Marengo and Lincoln Community both met in this class in 2010.  Lincoln won this class then over Marengo by .7, and we think they’ll repeat that again. Our pick: Lincoln Community
Grand Champion: Really tough call here, but we’ll give it to Marengo by a slim margin.

Best of luck to all bands this weekend!

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