Week 9 Rockford football predictions: Who will win big games for Rochelle, Forreston?

Matt Trowbridge (33-3 so far predicting NIC-10 and Rochelle results) and Jay Taft (43-8 picking Big Northern Conference and NUIC games) are back to make their Week 8 predictions for Rockford-area high school football games.

Here are our predictions:

Belvidere (1-7) at Harlem (5-3)

A win will give Harlem at least six victories for the 15th time in 16 years. Harlem junior Jahmani Muhammad needs 62 yards rushing to top 1,000 for the second time. No player in NIC-10 history has ever had three 1,000-yard seasons. Prediction: Harlem 28, Belvidere 7.

More: Week 8 NIC-10 football stats: Leonard Spates, Javius Catlin moving up the most

Guilford (3-5) at Belvidere North (6-2)

North scored 34 points or more in each of its first six games, including a 35-34 loss to Boylan, but has been held to 7 and 17 points the last two weeks. The Blue Thunder need to get their offense rolling again headed into the playoffs. They probably will. Prediction: Belvidere North 35, Guilford 13.

Freeport (2-6) at Boylan (7-1)

Freeport has struggled to run this year, relying on a good receiving corps and QB Payton Woker, who has 1,1224 yards and 17 TDs in his first year as a starter. But he also has a league-high 15 interceptions. Expect Boylan’s aggressive defense to add to that total. Prediction: Boylan 42, Freeport 7.

Hononegah (8-0) at Auburn (5-3)

Auburn is solid in almost every area. Passing. Running. Catching. Defending. Maybe less so on special teams. Hononegah is flat-out excellent in every area. Including special teams and needs a win to wrap up sole possession of the NIC-10 title, ahead of Boylan. Prediction: Hononegah 35, Auburn 7.

Rochelle (6-2) at Richmond-Burton (7-1)

Both teams are 5-0 in the Kishwaukee River/Interstate 8 Blue — is that the worst, or at least longest, name for a conference ever? Rochelle has won its five league games by a combined 200-19. The Rockets by a combined 229-27. Their three combined losses have all been to undefeated teams from larger schools. Rochelle is probably even better than its 6-2 record indicates. Maybe even good enough to hang with the Rockets, who are 13-3 in the playoffs the last four years. Prediction: Rochelle 27, Richmond-Burton 26.

Jefferson (0-8) at East (3-5), noon Saturday

Call this the Record Bowl, with East senior Javius Catlin needing 161 yards to break the NIC-10 career rushing record of 3,615 yards by Harlem’s Brenton Shaw. It has been a tough year for Jefferson, which lost star junior quarterback Sebastian Bracius to an injury before the season started. The J-Hawks have developed a solid power running game but have struggled on defense. Their best hope to stop Catlin is to play keep-away with their own running game, but Catlin can break away at any time. Prediction: East 28, Jefferson 14.

Lena-Winslow (8-0) at Forreston (7-1)

Forreston fell 6-0 to Durand/Pecatonica in the rain last week, but this is still a big game for both teams. While they are assured a Class 1A playoff slot already, they both want momentum headed in, and this is a nice matchup to give the victor just that. If Forreston can find a way to earn its first win over the Panthers since a 22-20 win in Week 9 of the 2021 season, it would be a huge boost to their postseason confidence. However, Le-Win has proven to be untouchable so far this year, outscoring teams 392-69 so far. Prediction: Le-Win 38, Forreston 28

BNC, NUIC stats: Oregon's Logan Weems stretches for 1,000 yards rushing

Byron (8-0) at Stillman Valley (5-3)

Stillman Valley won the last meeting, a 15-7 double-overtime shocker to open the season last year. But both teams have gone in slightly different directions since then. And although Stillman Valley did bounce back with back-to-back wins over Genoa-Kingston (20-12) and Winnebago (27-14) in the past two weeks to all but secure a playoff spot, they are a different team without starting quarterback Braden Engel, lost last month to a season-ending injury. Prediction: Byron 51, Stillman Valley 32

Durand/Pecatonica (7-1) vs. Belleville Althoff Catholic (7-1)

This game will be played at a neutral site at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, and it could be an airshow. Unless, of course, it's played in a downpour, like last week, and the aerial attacks are grounded. Althoff won three state titles from 1980-1989, finished second in the state in Class 2A in 2012 and second in 4A in 2015. They reached the quarterfinals seven straight seasons from 2011-2017. To earn momentum heading into the playoffs this year, they will face the likes of Du/Pec and junior QB Cooper Hoffman, who leads the NUIC with 1,414 yards throwing and 19 TD passes and is fourth in rushing with 480 yards and 10 TDs. Prediction: Du/Pec 44, Althoff 33

North Boone (6-2) at Dixon (7-1)

North Boone has won four in a row, but the only team with a winning record in that stretch was Stillman Valley, to kick it off in Week 5. Dixon, on the other hand, was undefeated headed into its blowout at the hands of Byron last week. The Vikings did not attempt a pass in the game last week as they rolled over Rockford Christian 42-13 in the rain, but QB Jack Christensen (1,194 yards passing with 14 TDs) and WR Chris Doetch (388 yards receiving and six TD catches) will most likely need big games to pull this one out. Prediction: Dixon 36, North Boone 34

Stockton (4-4) at Galena (2-6)

Stockton came up big with a win over Dakota last weekend and will need to get another one here to ensure a playoff spot. It will. Look for a big game from Karl Hubb (third in the NUIC with 516 yards and five TDs rushing) and co. in another must-win situation. Prediction: Stockton 28, Galena 16

Lutheran (4-4) at Genoa-Kingston (4-4)

The Crusaders can become playoff eligible with a win this Friday, but the same holds true for the Cogs. Lutheran just beat Oregon 22-14, and G-K beat Oregon 20-14 earlier this season. This is a tight matchup, but Lutheran has Gavin Sanders (second in the BNC with 770 yards and 16 TDs on the ground) second in the league in rushing and getting hot again at the right time. Prediction: Lutheran 38, G-K 34

E/PC (2-6) at Dakota (3-5)

Dakota has a slim chance of making the playoffs if it can get its fourth win, which must be their battle cry this week. They should get it. Prediction: Dakota 36, E/PC 13

Winnebago (1-7) at Rock Falls (1-7)

This will be a nice chance for Winnebago to finish with a bang, and show what it's got in the finale. Led by fullback Logan Olson (530, 3 TDs) and halfback Supreme Muhammad (483, 8 TDs), Winnebago will roll. Prediction: Winnebago 39, Rock Falls 26

Fulton (5-3) at West Carroll (0-8)

Finally, one easy game to pick. West Carroll is down this year and has been shut out six times. Prediction: Fulton 33, West Carroll 6

Oregon (4-4) at Rockford Christian (0-8)

Oregon needs this one, and it's Rockford Christian's last chance at a win this season. Led by Logan Weems, who leads the BNC with 928 yards rushing and 13 touchdowns, Oregon will prevail. Prediction: Oregon 41, Rockford Christian 31

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Predicting conference title games in Rockford-area football