September 26, 2012
Predictions for the weekend of September 29, 2012
Filed under: — Dan Balash @ 8:51 am

Week 4 is now upon us. Where has the season gone already?  In 3 weeks, it will be U of I time; 5 weeks ISU.

We have a very busy weekend, so let’s get right to the predictions!

Marching Maroons Band Festival: Robinson, IL

1A A tight one between Casey-Westfield and Mt. Carmel with the edge going to Casey-Westfield. Oblong in third.
2A: Newton should get a win here followed by East Richland.
GC: Newton

 

Danville Viking Invitational: Danville, IL

1A: St. Joseph-Ogden should take first here followed by Paris Cooperative and then Georgetown-Ridge Farm in a close third.
2A: A close class. Paxton-Buckley-Loda should be able to outdo Urbana by a narrow margin. Hoopeston in third, but Coal City could be a surprise.
3A: Only two contenders in this class. Normal Community gets the nod with Champaign Central in second.
GC: Normal Community

 

Mt. Zion Marching Music Games: Mt. Zion, IL

1A: Atwood-Hammond takes first, but then it gets interesting. We have little information on Maroa-Forsyth and A&M Central will be competing for their first time ever. We’ll go with A&M Central in second, Auburn in third.

2A: McCleur North, MO will win this class. Sangamon Valley and Blue Ridge fill out second and third places, respectively.

3A: Monticello builds on a strong season with a win here over Lincoln. Mattoon in third.

Grand Champion: Monticello

 

Marching Vandals Invitational: Vandalia, IL

1A: Casey-Westfield takes their second win of the day followed by McCluer North, MO.

2A: A very close class. We believe East Richland will come out ahead of Centralia.

3A: Champaign Centennial should win by a wide margin here. Mascoutah in second.

GC: Champaign Centennial

 

Prospect Knight of Champions: Mt. Prospect, IL

1A: Elgin wins.We’ll even go so far as to say that they will sweep the captions.

2A: First and second places will be very close. We give the slight edge to Victor J. Andrew with Wheeling right behind. Wheaton Warrenville South takes third, but will be challenged by Rock Island, Batavia and Naperville Central.

3A: Lake Park wins their class for the second time this season. Lincoln-Way North takes another second place finish with Morton edging out Glenbrook South for third.

GC: Lake Park

 

Geneseo Maple Leaf Classic: Geneseo, IL

1A: A difficult class to predict. We’ll give the nod to Oregon, followed by Rockridge and then Wethersfield in third.

2A: Pekin continues a strong season with a win here. Metamora takes another second place finish with East Peoria rounding out the top three.
3A: Dunlap takes their third class title of the year with IVC close behind. Galesburg makes their season debut with a third place finish.
4A: Washington wins another first place finish which leaves Minooka in second.
GC: This will be very close between Dunlap and Washington. We give the edge to Washington.

 

McKendree Preview of Champions: Lebanon, IL

Class 1A: We feel that there were some oddities that happened 2 weeks ago in the judging regarding Johnston City’s placement.  Johnston City should take 1st here, followed by Orchard Farm and Carlyle, as they are the only 3 bands in the class.

Class 2A: Only 2 bands here.  Sparta should take 1st followed by Normandy, MO.

Class 3A: Carbondale is the first band of the day at 1:15 with the rest of the class starting at 3:15.  It probably won’t affect overall placement, but may affect point spreads.  Collinsville will win here with Carbondale in 2nd and Carterville rounding out the Top 3.
 Class 4A: This is the biggest class of the day with 6 bands competing.  Coming fresh off their Grand Champion title at Edwardsville, we think Granite City will win this class.  Seckman, Marion, and Alton will battle out for the 2nd and 3rd place spots.  We think they will go to Seckman, MO and Marion.
Class 5A: Shouldn’t be much discussion here.  Normal West will win this class fairly easily, followed by Mehlville and Highland rounding out the 3 bands.
Class 6A: One band.  Congratulations to Belleville East for sweeping the Class.
 Grand Champion:  Normal West should win fairly easily, even without being in the biggest class.

 

Olympia Marching Spartans Invitational: Stanford, IL

Class A: We think Farmington will win this class with El Paso-Gridley in 2nd.  Fieldcrest in 3rd.

Class AA: U-High from Normal walks away with their first class title of the season.  Tolono Unity in 2nd, Jacksonville 3rd.

Class AAA: Bloomington will win their second class title of the season, as well as their second Grand Champion title of the season.

 

Bands of America Regional Championships: Kettering, OH

The second weekend of BOA regionals is upon us.  After Illinois put out a nice showing last weekend (O’Fallon 5th, LWE 6th, Naperville North 11th, Belleville East 12th), Lincoln-Way West continues the Illinois representation this weekend.  We think they will make finals, along with Northmont, OH, Williamstown, KY, Paul Laurence Dunbar, KY, Rockwood Summit, MO, Marvin Ridge, NC, Dublin Coffman, OH, Bourbon County, KY, Bellbrook, OH and Centerville, OH.  We think the Centerville Jazz Band will win this regional, but watch out for Paul Laurence Dunbar or Bourbon County to win if Centerville continues to struggle as they have to begin the season.

 

St. Rita Mustang Stampede: Chicago, IL (Sunday, September 30th)

Class A: Tough class to call here.  Crete-Monee and Niles West are both making their season debuts here, and it’s a little difficult to predict what might happen here.  We think Niles West will once again win this class with Antioch not far behind.  Evergreen Park in 3rd, but watch out for Providence Catholic to make a charge.

Class AA:Thornton Fractional South makes their 2012 debut here.  Rolling Meadows and Evanston are in this class as well.  We think T.F. South will win this class, with Rolling Meadows (who is not as strong as in years past) in 2nd and Evanston in 3rd.

Class AAA: Another difficult class to call.  Huntley beat an unfinished Romeoville by almost 3 points at Stagg to start the season 3 weeks ago.  Joliet West had a good start to the season in Washington to start the season.  We think Romeoville will win this class, with Huntley in 2nd and Joliet West 3rd

Grand Champion: Romeoville will repeat as Grand Champion.

 

 

(full article)