Preview of my piece in Inside Publications coming out Wednesday:
The Harlem high school Huskies (7-3, 6-3) defeated the Amundsen Vikings (7-3, 7-0) 35-21 at Winnemac Stadium on Saturday. Huskies’ third-year head coach, Bob Moynihan, brought his team from Machesney, Illinois, (just north of Rockford) down to Chicago, expecting to take care of business against a CPS team and get out of town.
Bob is actually a high school classmate of mine. He was a legendary defensive lineman for the St. Viator Lions a few years back—okay, a few decades back—who later played college football at Southeast Missouri State.
Speaking to Moynihan before the game, he asked me what to expect.
“Watch out for #11 [Adam Muench],” I told him. “Teams have been trying to stop him all year. And Amundsen will score. You will need to run the ball,” I added.
“That we can do,” Moynihan said. And so they did. The Huskies ran the ball effectively all day. Keeping the productive Viking offense off the field.
The Huskies opened the scoring midway through the first quarter on a rushing touchdown by sophomore running back Jahmani Muhammad.
The Vikings answered on the next drive. Amundsen’s Jamarion Hemphill ran in a 15-yard touchdown at the 4:42 mark of the first quarter. The 7-7 score at the end of the first quarter was something of an anomaly for playoff games by CPS teams this year. Amundsen put up more of a fight than other similarly situated teams. Lane, Senn, Lincoln Park, Schurz, Perspectives and Bulls Prep all suffered blowouts at the hands of suburban powerhouses.
The Vikings blocked a punt early in the second quarter but could not capitalize. The also traded interceptions. Even so the Huskies rushing attack proved effective and they put up two more rushing touchdowns making the halftime score 21-7.
Despite giving up two more touchdowns in the third quarter, the Vikings never quit. Early in the fourth, Jamarion Hemphill burst up the middle and down the west sideline for a 50-yard touchdown.
The Vikings were not done. A second interception and lengthy return by Amundsen’s sophomore safety Edwin Soto set up a 10-yard touchdown by Adam Muench on a brilliantly executed sweep. Jamariam Hemphill followed with a two-point conversion. The Vikings were within striking distance at 35-21 with plenty of time left in the fourth.
It wasn’t to be. Moynihan and his Huskies did what they intended to do—run the ball and take time off the clock. The Huskies finally took a knee down at Amundsen’s goal line as the game ended.
Amundsen’s head coach Nick Olson was emotional after the game. Taking a long time to talk to his players and take some photos with his group of seniors, he thanked his players and coaches.
“I always tell the boys wins and losses are a dime a dozen. I can live with losing. I am going to win some more in life; I am going to lose some more in life. It’s how you handle it. It’s just so heart breaking because these seniors are never going to suit up for this level of football again. That’s the toughest part of it. It’s over. This team will never be the same. But they are leaving a legacy. Every year after we get in the playoffs, we have gotten better. We are not getting blown out anymore. Teams have to respect us,” said Amundsen head coach Nick Olson.
“I attribute a lot of our success to the support of our administration, the full support they have in me to run the program the way I see fit,” continued Olson.
“The assistant coaches have made all the difference this year. Those are the guys behind the success this year. This is not on me; this is on the team.”
This is if for the Vikings. They will be participating in the CPS city championship playoffs.
Harlem moves on to play Grayslake North at home in the second round of the 6A playoffs.
