Simeon Career Academy vs Kenwood Academy Post Game Analysis

<span style="font-weight: 400;">The fall of 2021 has been a great year of football for the city of Chicago. There has not been a clear cut front runner in the city all season long, and we’re approaching the end of the regular season this weekend. Going into last weekend, Kenwood Academy was an undefeated team in Chicago that people believed was possibly the best football team the city had to offer. Their opponents, Simeon career academy, had other plans after a tough loss to the Morgan Park Mustangs. In this article, I highlight a post-game analysis of the Simeon Wolverines victory over the Kenwood Broncos. </span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Kenwood Academy (7-0) matched up against Simeon Career Academy(3-4) at Lane Stadium on October 16, 2021. This is a conference rivalry that goes back a long time. This was Kenwood’s first game in two weeks, due to a forfeit from Curie the week before. On the other hand, this was a game that Simeon needed in order to have a chance at the conference championship, but also in order to get into the IHSA playoffs. This game was one of my games to watch coming into the season, because of the sheer talent on each team’s roster and staff. Along with some bad blood from a cross-town conference rivalry. The game did not disappoint! There was back and forth scoring, QB positions changes, raw emotion, etc. Ultimately, it came down to the last play where D1 prospect [player_tooltip player_id="20843" first="Malik" last="Elzy"] had a game-sealing interception to propel the Wolverines into the playoffs while also potentially messing up Kenwood’s plans for who they could originally be seeded against. Below are some of the standouts from this 38-26 hard-hitting matchup. </span> <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Standout Players:</strong></span> <span style="font-weight: 400;"><em><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="20843" first="Malik" last="Elzy"]</strong></em>: Malik is a division 1 talent that lined up primarily at receiver and corner this game. He started off the game with 2 first-half receiving touchdowns and 60+ yards. This was all while being followed by another D1 talent in [player_tooltip player_id="20883" first="Jalil" last="Martin"] for the Broncos. Malik made big plays with not only his hands but also his tackling and pass coverage skills. It became evident of his will to lead his team to victory with the 55 yards pick six to win the game. Malik finished the game with 3 total touchdowns, 6 receptions, and 90 yards receiving. </span> &nbsp; <span style="font-weight: 400;"><em><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="20844" first="Andre" last="Crews"]:</strong></em> Andre plays RB and CB for Simeon. He’s a dynamic player who simply would not let Kenwood win. Andre’s first half was held in check. You could tell it was due to the game plan of coming out to pass the ball, while also adjusting to the speed and tone that this game had to offer. In the second half, Andre illustrated patience and elusiveness with his ability to get to the edge in the run game. As an RB who usually likes to find cutback lanes, Andre allowed his offensive line to open up lanes for him. He had 2 fourth quarter touchdowns and finished with a final stat line of 95 yards rushing with 2 rushing touchdowns. </span> &nbsp; <span style="font-weight: 400;"><em><strong>Shauntrell Meeks-Scott:</strong></em> Shauntrell was a strong impact player at QB for the Broncos. He helped bring a spark to the Bronco’s offense in the second half. Shauntrell is a quarterback with a strong arm who has the ability to make most throws when he can set his feet. With the pressure down two scores, Shauntrell was able to deliver in the air and on the ground. One explosive play was a 50+ yard touchdown through the air to teammate Khalil Tate. Another was on the 3-yard line when he put his head down to grind out yards for a touchdown. Shauntrell will be a player to watch this weekend and potentially once we get into the playoffs. </span> &nbsp; <span style="font-weight: 400;"><em><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="20883" first="Jalil" last="Martin"]:</strong></em> The Division 1 CB/WR with multiple power 5 offers showed his true potential as this game became more intense. The long corner got beat deep a couple of times by Simeon’s Elzy. After the first quarter, he started to settle into the defense doing what he does best. With quick feet and reaction, Jalil starting making plays on the ball in and around the line of scrimmage and with the ball in the air. His second-half performance in coordination with the rest of his defense gave his team the chance to regain the league by playing sound defense and starting to get the better of [player_tooltip player_id="20843" first="Malik" last="Elzy"] at receiver. </span> <hr /> <b><i>For more IHSA football, follow @prepredzone &amp;  @prepredzoneIL! 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