Lincoln Park Survives Payton; DePaul Prep Falls to Benet; Amundsen Drops Lane Tech

[Preview of my article in this weeks’ Inside—Booster]

By Jack Lydon

The high school football regular season is in the books. Lincoln Park finished 8-1 with one of the the best records on the Northside. With a 6-3 record, DePaul Prep had its best season in thirty years stretched back into the Gordon Tech era. Amundsen continues its winning ways in recent years with a 5-4 record. All three teams’ season will continue with games in the IHSA Playoffs.

The Lincoln Park Lions (8-1) survived a late charge Walter Payton College Prep (5-4) winning 14-7 Saturday afternoon at Winnemac Stadium earning a #8 seed in the 7A IHSA football playoffs.

Lincoln Park jumped out to 7-0 lead on Payton with 2:15 left in the first quarter but stalled after offensively after that. Payton’s offense was just as toothless through three quarters of the game. But with 8:19 remaining in the game, the Grizzlies faked a punt and connected on a 21-yard pass for a first down on Lincoln Park’s 25-yardline. With 2:58 remaining, Payton connected a fourth down touchdown pass to tie the game at 7-7.

On the very next play, the Lions answered. Junior wide receiver and basketball player, Jayden Dickerson, in his first year ever playing football, took the kickoff for 72 yards to the Payton 8-yardline. The huge play, symbolic of the Lions’ Cinderella season, all but sealed the Lions victory. A few plays later, the Lions pushed the ball into the endzone for a 14-7 victory.

The Lions are the surprise team of the year. “I don’t think anybody expected us to do what we’ve been doing. I am pretty sure that if you took a poll before the season started, everybody would probably pick us to finish last, Lincoln Park head coach Andres Flores said.

Lincoln Park draws a playoff game against #8 seed Hoffman Estates Hawks (6-3) from the Mid-Suburban West conference. This is an interesting match-up for the Lions. A top team from CPS facing a fourth-place team from a good suburban conference. The Hawks’ losses this year came at the hands of Fremd, Palatine and Barrington—all ranked in the Super 25. The Lions will have their work cut out for them. But they will host the game, probably Saturday afternoon at Lane Stadium.

Lions head coach Andres Flores likes his underdog status. Before the brackets were announced, Flores said, “that suburban team is probably going to be licking their chops . . . We have been underestimated all year and our athletes have shown up all year. I know people are probably overlooking us despite the record. I think we will match up fine with whoever we get in the first round.”

On Friday evening, the 6-2 DePaul Prep Rams travelled to Lisle to face Benet Academy in the game that would decide the CCL/ESCC Purple Division. The Rams gave up five turnovers, two of which went for Benet touchdowns and came away short with a 31-24 loss.

“You can’t win football games when you have five turnovers,” said DePaul Prep head coach Mike Passarella. “And two of them went for scores.”

Despite the five turnovers, there is no quit in these Rams. The Rams tied the game at 17 each with 4:33 remaining in the game, only to give up an 80 touchdown on the very next play from scrimmage run by the Redwings.

The Redwings added another pick-six to push their lead to 31-17. No quit in the Rams. Fernando “Juju” Rodriguez connected on a 40-yard bomb to Justin Sterner to make the score 31-24. It wasn’t to be. The Rams came up short falling to 6-3 on year and losing their chance for Purple Division championship.

“We struggled today on a number of fronts. Miscues, penalties on the offensive side, big plays on the defensive side, You’ve got to take advantage of what’s given to you and we just didn’t do that tonight which is not like us,” said Passarella.

Even with the loss, the Rams are still in the playoffs. They earned the #9 seed in 4A and will play #8 Dyett Eagles (7-2), possibly next Friday at Gately Stadium. The Rams and the Eagles had no common opponents. The Eagles did not pay any ranked teams and their losses came against conference foes Corless and King.

The Amundsen Vikings (5-4) defeated the Lane Tech Champions (3-6) on Friday afternoon 14-7, earning themselves a playoff berth. It was the first time the Vikings defeated in the ten years that Amundsen head coach Nick Olson has been coaching the Vikings.

The Vikings lead the Champions 7-0 at the end of the first quarter and added another after a long drive late in the second quarter taking a 14-0 lead into the halftime break. Amundsen burned six minutes off the clock after intercepting Lane’s replacement quarterback on the first drive of the second half.

Lane’s usual starting quarterback Noah Mayra reentered the game halfway through the third quarter. Moving the Champions steadily down the field, Mayra rifled an eighteen-yard touchdown pass to fellow senior wide receiver Julian Vickery to get Lane back in the game 14-7.

The Vikings run game and defense proved too much for the Champions to overcome. Reggie Mitchell ran the ball for first downs and the defense intercepted Mayra midway through the fourth and recovered a Champions’ fumble with 1:13 on the clock lock up the victory and a playoff berth.

Vikings’ head coach Nick Olson was a bit emotional after the game. “We are graduating 15 seniors, this is a special group for me,” he said.  

The toughest playoff draw has to go to Amundsen. The Vikings will play Geneva (8-1) from the DuKane Conference, who are currently ranked #5 in Michael O’Brien’s Super 25 rankings of area schools.

“This will be the best team we have played all season. We are well aware of that. Once you get in the playoffs, everybody is good,” said Amundsen head coach Nick Olson.

“We are gonna just try and do what we have been doing all year and that’s trying to run the ball, stay ahead of the chains and keep the ball away from their offense.”

Amundsen’s Reggie Mitchell scores touchdown against Lane Tech.

DePaul Prep Wins GCAC Championship with Win over Resurrection

The DePaul Prep girls’ volleyball team defeated Resurrection in two sets at DePaul’s Tom Winiecki Gym and clinched the Girls Catholic Athletic Conference championship.

This is DePaul Prep’s first GCAC championship since 2014.

As for the photos, I have photographed a number of volleyball matches this season. I was looking for new places to shoot from. I don’t know if they worked or not. You be the judge.

DePaul Prep Comes Back to Defeat Carmel 25-22

Preview of this week’s Inside—Booster article:

By Jack Lydon

DePaul Prep just keeps winning. The Rams 25-23 come from behind win over Carmel Catholic on Friday lifts the Rams to 6-1 overall and 2-0 in the CCL/ESCC Purple division. This is the best record in DePaul Prep football’s eleven seasons. The best record for 32 years reaching back into the Gordon Tech era when Tom Winiecki was the coach. In 1992, the Rams finished 10-1.

If you were in the DePaul Prep stadium Friday during the first half of the game, you wouldn’t have been thinking about that. The Carmel Corsairs (3-4) are extraordinarily talented. Their quarterback Trae Taylor is a high major division 1 college prospect. He is among the most gifted quarterbacks in the state even as a sophomore. Both their lines are huge and talented. Carmel won two games in the playoff last year. Frankly, the Rams were not the favorite and it showed in the first quarter.

The Corsairs moved right down the field with the opening kick. Sophomore running back Michael Pierre scored on a 33-yard run up the middle. Trae Taylor added a 3-yard touchdown run with 5:07 left in the half making the score 13-0. Maybe the Rams luck had run out.

“I was nervous. I will tell you that. I had a little anxiety going on,” DePaul Prep head coach Mike Passarella said of the early Carmel lead.

With time running down in the first half, it felt like the game might be slipping away. It was fourth down and one from the Rams own 29-yard line. The decision was made to go for it. A nineteen-yard gain later and a big first down, the Rams were looking to score.

“We are a slow starting team. It’s something we’ve got to work on. We know that we’ve got it in us,” said junior wide receiver Matthew Osterman after the game.

“We knew since Monday. We knew since the start of the season. Let’s keep working. Let’s keep going. The game’s not over. The clock has not hit double zeros. We just gotta keep going,” the confident Osterman added.

Rams’ senior quarterback and three-year starter Fernando “JuJu” Rodriguez connected with Rams wide receiver Justin Sterner on perfectly thrown post route right down the middle of the field for a 25-yard touchdown. The Rams were right back in it.

Carmel was not done in the half. They moved right down the field in the 44 seconds remaining and added a 42-yard field goal that hit the upright and fell throw to make the score at half time 16-7.

This group of Rams can play from behind.

“They are not 16-7 better than you,” Passarella told his team at half time. “You are shooting yourselves in the foot. You are making mistakes. Not communicating out there. Go out there and execute. We made zero adjustments. We just lined up and played football the way that we practiced all week long and knew we could.”

The second half was a different story. It felt like a boxing match. Each teams had their drives. The Rams senior wide receiver Bradon Peevy scored on a five-yard pass from Rodriguez midway through the third.

After a gutsy onside kicker recovered by the DePaul Prep, Rams’ sophomore kicker Emmett McCue added a 42-yard field goal of his own.

“I really tried to focus in, focus in on where I need the ball to go. I got it to where it needed to be,” McCue said. The Rams had a 17-16 lead with 5:59 left in the third.

Carmel’s run/pass offense was just too much. With 8:16 left in the game and the clock ticking down, the Corsairs and their talented quarterback and running back methodically moved the ball toward the south endzone. With 3:12 on the clock, Pierre darted ten yards up the middle to retake the lead 22-17.

 “We were both gassed on both sides of the ball. You saw what they did. They drove the ball right down on that last score. We were gassed. We weren’t getting off the ball,” said Passarella.

 With a big stop on the two-point conversion attempt, the Rams come off the field with a surprising confidence. We’ve got the ball and three minutes; no problem.

Rodriguez and his Rams took the field at the 20-yard line after a touchback. JuJu wasted no time is gashing the Corsairs with a couple fifteen-yard passes in the middle of the field. Then a couple determined runs by senior running back Nick Martinez as the clock continued to run.

“[Nick Martinez] is another three-year guy that we trust with the ball in his hands. He is going to make things happen and that’s what he does. He is patient. He lets his blocks develop. He hits the acceleration when he needs to. He makes things happen. He keeps drives alive,” said Passarella.

The dinks and dunks and the runs seemed to slow the Corsairs’ defense. With second and seven from the 20-yard line, JuJu dropped back to pass.

“It was actually a broken play. The cornerback . . . just left [Osterman] open, didn’t guard him. I tried getting it off as fast as I can, just throwing it out to him and letting him make a play. Honestly, I could not even tell you what the play call was. I just saw him. He saw me. So I snapped it and through it out to him and he scored,” said Rodriquez.

Rams’ junior wide receiver Matt Osterman made a great catch with an interfering defender draped all over him for the winning touchdown. His fifth touchdown of the season. This historic season.

Carmel wasn’t done. They put up a tremendous effort with under a minute on the clock but great defensive plays by the Rams would keep them out of field goal range and a chance to tie.

DePaul Prep basketball has become a top basketball program in the state with two state championships in a row. The boys’ cross-country team has a state championship. The girls’ volleyball team has become a top program in recent years. Why not football?

Several football observers I spoke to before the game thought that DePaul Prep would end up in 4A when the classes are officially announced after the season. 4A has a number of top teams in the state but not many. Rochester, IC Catholic and St. Lawrence were the ones that came to mind.

With the Rams officially in with six wins, it is not inconceivable that they could advance beyond an anticipated home game against an area school. An anticipated 8-1 or 7-2 record would likely bring a game against a downstate team or an area powerhouse team.

But the season is not over. It’s not the playoffs yet. St. Francis is next. Then Benet.

DePaul Prep Defeats St. Viator 39-23

The DePaul Prep Rams went out to Arlington Heights on Friday evening to face the St. Viator Lions, the mighty, mighty Lions, in a big CCL/ESCC Purple showdown. The Rams dispatched the St. Patrick Shamrocks a couple games ago. Friday was the second of the games against Purple opponents. Benet will the last regular season game.

I said to Coach Mike Passarella after the game, “Every game this year I say to you that this is the biggest game you have coached at DePaul Prep.”

He let out a big laugh. The joy in it was palpable. It’s only a slight exaggeration. This is certainly the best season the Rams have put together in nine years. Bill Jeske was the coach then and he lead the Rams into the playoffs with a 5-5 season and a playoff appearance against Elmwood/Brimfield.

The Rams played the Lions basically even for three quarters but dominated them in the fourth and came away with a 39-23 win in convincing fashion.

This year’s Rams are 5-1 with their only lost coming to 8A defending state champions Loyola Academy.

They plan to win. The prepare to win. They expect to win. The is no quit in these Rams. They don’t lose heart if they give up a big play or fall behind. They play four quarters.

This program has turned. They, their coaches and their fans are winners.

But now the games only get bigger. I will have a chance to repeat my question to Coach Passarella about being the biggest game of his tenure after the next game.

Carmel Catholic in Mundelein is next. When I was in high school at St. Viator, Carmel was not much of a threat. I don’t think we ever lost to them. These are not your father’s Corsairs. Although they lost last night to Montini, Carmel is good and the Rams will not be the favorite.

As it happens, it looks like I will be available to cover the game. The game is at DePaul Prep. Come see the biggest of the DePaul Prep era, until the next game.

Amundsen Falls to Simeon 30-14

[Preview of my article in Inside—Booster this week.]

By Jack Lydon

Amundsen had one slip away. A few big plays by Simeon early in the fourth quarter proved the difference. Amundsen dominated quarters one and three. Simeon dominated quarters two and four. The Simeon Wolverines (5-1) defeated the Amundsen Vikings (3-3) 30-14 on Thursday evening at Gately Stadium.

After the Vikings took the opening kickoff, on the first play from scrimmage, Vikings’ junior running back powered up the middle 56 yards for a touchdown. Simeon did not know what hit them.

The Vikings held Simeon after the Wolverines failed to connect on some deep passes. The Vikings took over on their 41-yard line. The Vikings went back to Reggie Mitchell. The junior again took the ball through the middle of Simeon’s defense. This time for 31 yards down to the Wolverines 23-yard line. Add in a few more runs and Mitchell had 102 yards in the first quarter. The first quarter was all Amundsen.

The second quarter went to the Wolverines. Senior quarterback Kaleb Sims scored on fourteen-yard keeper with 3:03 left to bring the Wolverines even 6-6 after the two point conversion attempt failed. The Wolverines added another touchdown late in the half with a 45-yard catch and run by junior wide receiver Cornell Conely. The two-point conversion was good. The score at the half was 14-6 Simeon. 

The third quarter was all Amunden. Literally. The Vikings’ first and only drive last almost all but a minute and a half of third. A fourth and goal ten-yard touchdown pass from Gjeka to Vikings’ sophomore wide receiver Shea O’Conor and a two point conversion brought Amundsen even 14-14 to open the fourth.

The speed of Simeon proved a little too much. A couple big plays by the Wolverines added two touchdowns and two two-point conversions. Simeon sophomore running back James Bell scored from four yards out early in the fourth. Bell added another TD with five minutes left on a 30-yard run to give the Wolverines a 30-14 lead.

Of the big plays that gashed the Vikings late, head coach Nick Olson said, “That’s been our Achille’s heal all year. I think it was second and goal from the thirty-something. We gave up the deep pass down the middle. Our defensive coordinator was calling it out, ‘hey they are going to go across the middle.’ But poor execution. We’ll get back to practice. We’ll have to figure out how to overcome that. We’re three and three. We are still in control of our own destiny. We’ve got three great team ahead of us. We have got to just focus on going 1-0 every week.”

After six games, the season is coming into focus. Obviously, each team is different every year. This year’s Vikings squad is very talented. Elmir Gjeka has always been a leader. Now he has matured into an excellent passer. Junior running back Reggie Mitchell has emerged as a dominant runner capable of taking over games. But the Vikings are not at full strength as they have been in recent years. The Payton game slipped away. Now this Simeon game was winnable but got away.

Excuses are not what Olson does. Only after being asked about his team’s injury plagued season, Olson said, “I have been coaching for ten years. I have never had a year like this. It just seems like every week we are missing four or five key guys. Minor injuries, thank the Lord, but enough to keep them from playing.”

“Every game we have played this year is winnable. We are just not making the plays when we need to. A few plays go the other way and we are right there. There is no quit here at Amundsen. We are not going to quit. We are going to get back to work. We are going to focus on Whitney Young.”

Lincoln Park Edges Lane Tech 3-0 in Overtime

[A preview of my Inside-Booster article for this week.]

By Jack Lydon

Ugly isn’t the only word to describe Lincoln Park’s 3-0 overtime win over Lane Tech at Lane Stadium Friday. Painful, dreadful, tedious, boring, even shocking all work well. Neither team could do anything. Neither run nor pass. Penalties. Turnovers. Even a muffed punt. One team kicked the football just slightly better than the other. That proved to be the different.

The Lions improved their record to 5-0 putting them atop CPS’s Red Division. To do it in this fashion didn’t seem to bother Lions’ head coach Andres Flores.

“I don’t think they crossed the 50 [yard line] did they,” Flores said. “The defense has been playing lights out. We just play a different game every week. Whether it is the offense scoring a bunch of points or if it is the defense picking up the slack or the special team on PAT, we find a way to win this year. I think we blocked [Lane’s field goal to tie] with ten people. Which is the crazy part.”

The game started slow and slowed down. The Champions have been throwing more this year than they have in recent years. But that was not to be today. The wind and the Lions’ pass rush saw to that. There was a strong north wind blowing off Addison Street right in Lane’s face as they started the game working south to north.

Wind or no wind, the Lincoln Park defensive line completely controlled the line of scrimmage. Champions running backs struggled to even get to the line of scrimmage. Lane senior quarterback Noah Mayra was pressured on every pass play, sacked multiple times, intercepted twice and fumbled twice. Lane really struggled.

The only scoring in the game came in overtime. Lincoln Park lost the OT coin toss and ended up with the ball first. Starting at the ten-yard line, the Lions first three plays went nowhere. Two runs and an incomplete pass brought the Lions down to fourth and goal from the four. Flores sent in his kicker to attempt a field goal.

This was something of a controversial call. Even if the kick is good, all Lane would have to do is score a touchdown to win.

“[Lions’ junior] Noah Weiss is a great kicker. I trusted my defense. Defense has been lights out all year. Tonight they played a hell of a game again. I was a little worried because [Lane] can run a little bit. I felt that we bottled them up and shut them down. Hat's off to Lane, but it was our night,” Flores said.

Good decision. Weiss sent the ball through the uprights for the only score of the game. It would have been good from 40 yards.

Lane’s offense entered and took the ball at the 10. On first down, a three-yard gain to the seven. On second down, an inexplicable read option by Noah Myara was swallowed for a three-yard loss back the 10. On third and goal from the 10, Mayra tossed a fade pass to the right side of the endzone that had no chance to be caught.

Fourth and goal from the 10, Lane head coach Dedrick Dewalt sent in the kicking unit to tie the game and force another overtime. The dominant Lincoln Park defensive line would have none of it. A host of Lions collapsed the Lane offense line and blocked the kick to win the game.

Midway through the season, it’s clear that Lincoln Park is the class of the CPL northside teams. In recent years, Taft and Lane have been the top teams on the northside. Amundsen has busted into the top with winning records and playoff appearances. This year the Lions are king of the northside jungle. Okay, Taft is good too having lost only to an 8A school, Stevenson, on the road. Amundsen has two losses and Lane has three losses.

Lincoln Park has a 5-0 record includes wins over Phillips, Lane, Lindblom, Comer and Clark Co-op. The Lions will not face any top southside teams like Morgan Park or Whitney Young this season. Noble/Johnson, Westinghouse, Amundsen and Payton remain for Lincoln Park.

Asked if they can “win out,” Flores said, “We’ll take it one game at a time.”

“We’ve got Payton on the last game of the season. We have had a rivalry [with Payton] for a couple years back and forth. Last year they beat us. Year before that we beat them. They are a good team. Well coached.”

DePaul Prep Volleyball Defeats Fenwick in Straight Set

The DePaul Prep girls volleyball team continues its winning ways improving to 12 and 1. The Rams handled the Friars in straight sets.

That’s not all. This was head coach Caroline Gajzler’s 100th win as a head coach. 100 wins in just five years as a head coach. It’s a remarkable accomplishment. Well done coach.

DePaul Prep Handles St. Patrick 41-0

[Preview of this week’s Inside Booster article]

By Jack Lydon

The DePaul Prep Rams took apart the St. Patrick Shamrocks 41-0 at DePaul Prep on Friday evening. The Rams improved their 4-0, 2-0 in the CCL/ESCC Purple division. This game against the Shamrocks, 2-2, 1-1, also in the Purple, took on the added significance because it was a division game.

It was a busy evening on the west end of Roscoe Village. DePaul Prep hosted St. Patrick, the only other Catholic high school on the Northside. Lane hosted Whitney Young at Lane Stadium at the same time just a few hundred yards north of DePaul’s field. Parking was difficult to come by.

Before the game, the DePaul Prep fans, coaches and staff I talked to were tightlipped about what to expect.

“They’re good. And big,” a couple people told me.

Another observer told me, “DePaul 20-13.”

“They can run the football, but they haven’t played anyone that can pass the ball like we can,” one coach told me.

It didn’t take long for the Rams show exactly how well they can pass the ball. And score. Less than two minutes into the game, Rams senior quarterback Juju Rodriguez hit senior wideout Justin Sterner on a twenty-five-yard touchdown.

Not long thereafter, Rams’ senior running back Nick Martinez added another touchdown with a 37-yard for a touchdown. 14-0.

Rams’ senior wide receiver Braden Peevy scored a four-yard touchdown with 6:55 left in the second quarter to make the score 21-0. The Rams were rolling.

Then with nine seconds left in the half, Rodriguez connected with junior wide receiver Matthew Osterman on a 23-yard post route at the back of the north endzone for a fourth touchdown and a 27-0 half time lead.

To some extent, that was expected. The Rams and Juju, a three-year starter, can pass the ball and score. What was not expected was the way the Rams defense controlled the Shamrocks. St. Patrick’s strung together a couple first downs in the first quarter but never threated to score in the first half. The Rams defense held on every possession and forced punts. The Shamrocks offensive line is huge. The Rams defensive line stopped the run. The closest the Shamrocks go to scoring as a 52-yard field goal attempt late in the game that was on target but a came up few yards short.

It felt like the Rams were just taking-care-of-business. St. Patrick had a winning record. They are big and skilled. Yet the Rams handled them on offense and defense.

I remember interviewing Rams head coach Mike Passarella several years ago. He said something to me after a tough loss that stuck with me. “We haven’t learned how to win yet.”

The Rams have learned how to win.

“I think it started last year. It started with us losing a game against Providence [Catholic in New Lenox] by a couple points. Then we beat Fenwick in double overtime. We learned how to compete, how to stay in games and how to finish games. When I started here, it was a rough go in the beginning. Then every year it was a steady climb. We grew up last year,” Passarella said.

When one learn how to win, I guess it just feels like taking care-of-business. Check off another game on the schedule.

But the goal of the season is to get into to the playoffs. The Catholic school super football conference, a combination of the Chicago Catholic League and the East Suburban Catholic League, doesn’t make it easy to get to the playoffs. To be assured a playoff spot, the IHSA requires a 6-3 record. Getting six wins in the CCL/ESCC is tough for every team. You just don’t play teams at your level. You play teams from the higher divisions of the conference.

The Rams face Loyola next week from the Blue Division. Loyola has lost one game in the last three seasons. The Rams will play St. Francis (Wheaton) from the Green Division. The Rams will play Carmel Catholic from the White Division. Very good teams with winning programs. And then there are St. Viator and Benet Academy, historically successful programs and new rivals in the Purple Division. To make the playoffs, the Rams have to find two wins in those five games against teams from the upper levels of the Catholic League.

Asked what he is going to change to get ready for Loyola, Passarla said, “Honestly, nothing. Our practice is going to be the same during the week. The kids know that when we are on the road, it’s a business trip. This is the first group that has the ability to flip the switch and be engaged. They want it.”

They turned a corner. They learned how to win.

“Yup, this group is hungry. This senior class wants to be the first class to bring us back to the playoffs for the first time in a decade,” Passarella concluded.

DePaul Prep Defeats Rosary in Two Sets; Improves to 6-0

The DePaul Prep Rams women’s volleyball team handled Rosary Tuesday evening at the Tom Winiecki Gym in two sets. The Rams have improved to 6-0 on the year and 1-0 in the GCAC.

Maybe the Rams were just taking care of business. Just going through the matches on the schedule. They were playing within themselves. Doing what they do.

But maybe, just maybe, it was more. The were down two of the best players, Ava Wilson and Maisy Erlenbaugh, who were out sick. Now it’s true that Rosary is a little down this year with a 3-8 record. But the Royals did beat the Rams last year.

Maybe this is a unique and special Rams squad that is working into an historic season. We won’t know for a while. There are still 29 matches to play and very good squads. (I originally wrote thirteen but I left out tournaments.)

But maybe. Just saying.

Amundsen Handles Hyde Park 41-18

Amundsen Vikings head coach Nick Olson was not happy after this the 41-18 win over the Hyde Park Thunderbirds on Saturday afternoon. He thought his team took the Thunderbirds too lightly; that the were not ready as they could have been.

I don’t know. The Vikings rallied after and early interception and touchdown by Hyde Park. The Vikings came back and handled the Thunderbirds scoring 41 unanswered points.

The Vikings looked good to me. Junior running back Reggie Mitchell had 156 years rushing and five touchdowns. Quarterback Elmir Gjeka looks confident and in command of the offense.

Coach Olson knows his team better than I do. I believe him when he says that they weren’t as ready as they could have been, but his team handled a pretty talented Hyde Park squad. The Thunderbirds were gassed early in the game but they have some players and they will win games this year despite the 0-3 start.

Amundsen is good. They are going to win a lot of games.

DePaul Prep Throttles Marian Catholic 20-7; Improves to 3-0

Preview of this week’s article in the Booster.

DePaul Prep defeated Marian Catholic 20-7 Friday in Chicago Heights. The Rams improved to 3-0 for the first time in the DePaul Prep era.

DePaul Prep had Marian playing their game. The Rams knew Marian Catholic could run the football. Spartan six foot, 173 lbs, junior tailback Kyle Scott was a load, and fast. Early in the game, the Spartans strung together a couple first downs in each of their first quarter possessions. The Rams stiffened, forcing the Spartans to throw the ball.

An ebullient head coach Mike Passarella gushed about his squad. “Stop the run. That was the game plan,” Passarella said. “They moved the ball on us. I said, ‘let’s just play base football . . . Let’s get after them.’ We are confident in what our guys can do. They know their business,” Passarella said after the game.

“We wanted to force them to throw.”

And they did. Except the Spartans throw the ball to the Rams. Two early interceptions thrown by Marian quarterback senior Joey Baranski killed the Spartans drives without ever moving deep into DePaul Prep territory. Multiple illegal formation penalties contributed to the Spartans troubles. The Rams committed penalties of their own contributing a slow, mistake plagued half for both teams.

It wasn’t until the end of the first half before either team put together a scoring drive. With 3:27 left in the half, having moved the ball down to the Marian Catholic eleven-yard line, Rams’ senior quarterback Fernando “Juju” Rodriguez, a three-year starter, rifled a pass to junior wideout Matthew Osterman at the goal line in the middle of the field. Osterman caught the pass in a crowd for the first score of the game. The PAT gave the Rams a seven- point lead.   

 The Spartans took the subsequent kick but again throw an interception. The Spartans through a total of four interceptions in the game. The Rams took their 7-0 lead into the half.

 The second half was a different story. The Rams took the kickoff and moved right down the field. Halftime adjustments on the offensive line led to Rodriguez being able to connect with Osterman and Rams’ senior running back Nick Martinez for big gains. The drive culminated with a 25-yard strike to senior wide receiver Justin Sterner early in the third quarter.

Rodriguez added a touchdown late in the third quarter on a two-yard quarterback sneak up the middle. Marian blocked the extra point attempt making the score 20-0 at the end of the third.

The Spartans scored on a 73-yard pass reception touchdown that was mostly run-after-the-catch with 1:18 left in the game against the Rams’ second team defense but the game was decided at that point.

This was a huge game for the Rams. They haven’t started a season with three wins since the Gordon Tech days. The Rams move closer to making the IHSA playoffs which takes six wins to be assured a playoff berth. The Rams finished last year’s the regular season 4-5 and missed the playoffs

DePaul Prep started this season with two convincing wins over Deerfield and Marian Central Catholic, 35-28 and 35-7 respectively. The Rams moved up a division in the combined Chicago Catholic League and East Suburban Catholic League. Moving from the lowest “Red” division into the Purple. The CCL/ESCC Purple includes Benet Academy, St. Viator and Northside rival St. Patrick.

The Rams will face St. Patrick next Friday at home. After that will be Loyola at home. The Ramblers lost a shocker at St. Francis 35-21 on Friday. A playoff berth is by no means assured for the Rams. Only tough games remain on the schedule. After Loyola is St. Viator, Carmel, St. Francis and Benet.

Sparked by last year’s huge upset win over Fenwick at home and squad loaded with experience and talented seniors, including expected Division One talent of senior wide receiver Braden Peevy and sophomore offensive tackle Carlos Rios, the Rams football program is on the rise.

“I am excited for [the rest of reason]. This is kind of what we wanted. The goal is to continue to build up the program. We talked about it a few years ago. Where we wanted to go and what we wanted to do. We never wanted to stay down in the Red. We wanted to move up. If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best. I am excited for it. This is what it is all about,” Passarella said.

Lane Survives Late Charge by TF South 21-20

The plodding lackluster contest became an unlikely thriller with three quick touchdowns, a made two-pointer and a missed two-pointer all in the final three minutes of the game. The Lane Tech Champions (1-1, 0-0) traveled to Lansing, Illinois to take on the Thornton Fractional South Red Wolves and survive a late comeback by the Red Wolves to win 21-20 Friday night.

Let’s just say that until the final three minutes, this game was not exactly football at it finest. Both teams were plagued by mis-queues, injuries and penalties, and the occasional dustup too. The ineptitude both squads displayed gave way to clutch plays at the end.

Down late 14-6 late in the game, there was no quit in TF South. With three minutes left, Red Wolves’ senior quarterback Nicholas Ford launched a deep ball up the far sideline. Sophomore wide receiver Amari Dukes caught it in stride for a 63-yard touchdown to bring the Wolves to within two points. What looked like an eventual Lane win suddenly was one play away from a tie.

With the game on the line, Ford found his other wide receiver David Nkwogo at the back of the endzone for the two-point conversion to tie the game.

The Lane sideline was stunned. I think the TF South sideline was a little stunned too but cheered and danced all the same.

With 2:35 left on the clock, Lane Tech fielded South’s kickoff and returned it to their own thirty-three-yard line with time to take the lead.

This is not the three yards and a cloud of dust Lane Tech Champions of recent years. On the very next play, senior quarterback Noah Mayra took the shotgun snap and quick rifled a strike down the middle to junior wideout (and baseball player) Alex Lagges. Lagges shock a couple tackles and raced up the Lane sideline for the go-ahead score. The PAT made it 21-14 Lane. 

“This year we have some pretty good skill [players]. That was just a double post to the middle of the field and Alex [Lagges] took it 80 yard (67 actually) for a touchdown,” Lane Tech head coach Dedrick Dewalt said.

“I had the post on that,” Champion’s Alex Lagges said of his winning touchdown after the game. “I just trusted that my quarterback Noah [Mayra] was going to see it, read it. That’s what he did. That’s what we do. Great play call by my coach. He saw the middle was open. We knew if we got the shot, we could make things happen.”

One play and the Champions had the lead back with 2:16 on clock. But still plenty of time left for South. But no time outs for the Red Wolves. A couple plays for small gains took time off the clock. Then Red Wolves QB Ford scrambled and found senior wide receiver Tariq Meggs-Hood underneath the coverage who sprinted up the Lane sideline to the Lane 45-yard line.

With time ticking down to 35 seconds, Ford dropped back and launched a perfect strike to senior RB/WR Christian Streeter at the goal line for another unlikely touchdown against a prevent two deep zone defense to make the score 21-20. This time the South faithful believed it and stadium erupted.

TF South head coach Bob Padjen, never hesitated. They were going for it. Win or lose, the extra points try would decide the game.

With no time outs, the Red Wolves would need run the play quickly. Padjen called a cut back run up the middle from an overloaded and decoy formation. But the quarterback audibled to a Philadelphia Eagles style “tush push” run up the middle from the three-yard line. Initially, it looked like it was working but the Champions defensive line stiffened and stopped the Wolves a half-yard shy of victory.

The Champions move into Chicago Public League play. CPL has created a 16 team Red Division super-conference. Lane will not have to face Kenwood and Simeon this season but will have to face Morgan Park. The games against Whitney Young, Taft and Amundsen give the Champions a chance to prove undeniable mastery of the Northside. Stay tuned.

DePaul Prep Edges Lane in Volleyball Match

The DePaul Prep Rams girls volleyball team edged Lane Tech 2-1 in an early season rivalry game. The Rams move to 3-0 on the season with wins over Lincoln Park, Wheaton Academy and Lane Tech.

The Lane Tech Champions have a very talented squad, including standout freshman Sophia Polec.

The Rams took control of the first set early and handled the Champions. But there was no quit in the Champions. Despite falling well behind early in the second set, the Champions rallied late and took the set.

“They came out really competitive and they are always hungry to beat us; they are a rival. They definitely were the most aggressive team serve-wize that we have faced this season. That’s the hardest that we have had serves coming at us in a match so far this season. We had to adjust our back row,” said DePaul Prep head coach Caroline Gajzler.

Adjust they did. The Rams jumped out the their customary quick start and held off the talented Champions to take the final set 25-20.

“This is the strongest start that we have had in five years,” said Gajzler. “I told the girls that the sky is the limit for them. We have a lot of starters back from last year. We have 11 seniors on this team. I have never had this big of a roster—18. We are very deep on our bench. They are all very deserving of a spot on this team.”

It’s early in the season. Still tons of volleyball to play. But it’s a short season. IHSA playoffs in mid-October. Stay tuned.

DePaul Prep Drops Wheaton Academy in Straight Set, 25-17, 25-16

The DePaul Prep Rams girls volleyball team defeated Wheaton Academy in straight sets, 25-17 and 25-16, last evening at DePaul’s Tom Winiecki Gym. The Rams were in control from the start and looked every part of a championship team but I am getting ahead of myself.

Head coach Caroline Gajzler and her staff have the Rams playing at a high level early this season helped by a very deep bench. It looks like every player on the team could start.

As for the photos, I think the ISO was too high. One does not get a good feel for that in the camera’s small electronic viewfinder. 8000 was too much. I ended up having to use the noise reduction. It’s good but makes the photos are little too cartoonish. Don’t worry, I will get it dialed in.

Michelle Obama's Speech at the DNC Last Night.

“OK. We got a big night ahead. Thank you all so much. Thank you so much. OK. There you go.

Hello, Chicago! Yeah. All right. Something wonderfully magical is in the air, isn’t it? You know, we’re feeling it here in this arena, but it’s spreading across this country we love. A familiar feeling that has been buried too deep for far too long. You know what I’m talking about. It’s the contagious power of hope.

The anticipation, the energy, the exhilaration of once again being on the cusp of a brighter day. The chance to vanquish the demons of fear, division and hate that have consumed us and continue pursuing the unfinished promise of this great nation, the dream that our parents and grandparents fought and died and sacrificed for.

America, hope is making a comeback.

Yeah. But, to be honest, I am realizing that, until recently, I have mourned the dimming of that hope. And maybe you’ve experienced the same feelings, that deep pit in my stomach, a palpable sense of dread about the future.

And for me, that mourning has also been mixed with my own personal grief. The last time I was here in my hometown was to memorialize my mother — the woman who showed me the meaning of hard work and humility and decency, the woman who set my moral compass high and showed me the power of my own voice.

Folks, I still feel her loss so profoundly. I wasn’t even sure if I’d be steady enough to stand before you tonight, but my heart compelled me to be here because of the sense of duty that I feel to honor her memory. And to remind us all not to squander the sacrifices our elders made to give us a better future.

You see, my mom, in her steady, quiet way, lived out that striving sense of hope every single day of her life. She believed that all children, all — all people have value. That anyone can succeed if given the opportunity. She and my father did not aspire to be wealthy. In fact, they were suspicious of folks who took more than they needed. They understood that it wasn’t enough for their kids to thrive if everyone else around us was drowning.

So, my mother volunteered at the local school. She — she always looked out for the other kids on the block. She was glad to do the thankless, unglamorous work that for generations has strengthened the fabric of this nation. The belief that if you do unto others, if you love thy neighbor, if you work and scrape and sacrifice, it will pay off. If not for you, then maybe for your children or your grandchildren.

You see, those values have been passed on through family farms and factory towns, through tree-lined streets and crowded tenements, through prayer groups and National Guard units and social-studies classrooms. Those were the values my mother poured into me until her very last breath.

Kamala Harris and I built our lives on the same foundational values. Even though our mothers grew up an ocean apart, they shared the same belief in the promise of this country. That’s why her mother moved here from India at 19. It’s why she taught Kamala about justice, about the obligation to lift others up, about our responsibility to give more than we take. She’d often tell her daughter, ‘don’t sit around and complain about things. Do something.’”

I typically don’t write about politics on this blog. But I do warn readers that this blog will contain things that I cannot stop myself from writing about. I reproduce the entire text of the speech here because I can. I found and read the entire text of the speech, at the price of giving the New York Times my email address, so I could respond to a dopey post of Facebook saying that the Obamas have more than they need so why don’t they give it away. Presumably, to discredit them, their support of Kamala Harris and the content of their speeches at last night’s DNC.

What Michelle Obama said was “[her parents] understood that it wasn’t enough for their kids to thrive if everyone else around us was drowning.” She said give back. Help. Volunteer. Do the unglamorous work. Love your neighbors. DO SOMETHING.

I agree with Mrs. Obama and the Former President’s admonition in his speech to treat those who oppose us with the dignity that we wish they would extend to us. I hope I was courteous in my Facebook retort to the cleaver poster. I thought it was important to expose his false and mean spirited argument. And I don’t think it will hurt to cannot encourage others to love their neighbors at least once on the blog.

Michelle Obama at the 2024 DNC. Photo credit CBS News.

2024 Ridgewood Live Event

I just love this event. I love being able to watch two games at the same time. Ridgewood Coach Chris Mroz and his staff do such a great job. And there are so many teams. It seems unworkable but they make it work so well.

My focus is always more toward teams than individual plays. I am there to see preview of teams. And I get to see players that I won’t get to see during the season.

So—my impressions from the weekend in no particular order.

Lemont and Gabe Sularksi are good. No surprise there; just a lot more evidence. Lemont is not a team that run into often. I have seen plenty of Gabe Sularski at Benet. He is an excellent player and will lead Lemont to big season.

Marco Gonzalez leads Brother Rice. The Crusaders will be a new team. I didn’t see enough to make much of a judgment.

Lane is Lane. Nick LoGalbo always has his group ready. Too bad we can’t bottle and sell their energy; we would solve global warming. No Shaheed Solebo for the Champions but everybody else is back. Dalton Scantlebury impressed in his matchup against Rich Township and their premiere big man Al Brooks. Dalton will lead this senior heavy group. Probably the best CPL team on the Northside but can they make a deep run into the City Championship and 4A?

St. Laurence will be a top team in the Chicago Catholic League. Solid all around.

Homewood-Flossmoor may have graduated Gianni Cobb but there doesn’t seem to be much of a drop off. One of the three best teams that I saw over the weekend.

DePaul Prep is the second of the three best teams that I saw at Ridgewood. The addition of Whitney Young transfer Rykan Woo helps. And it’s not like the two-time defending state champs need a lot of help. Favorite in the Chicago Catholic League. Too early to talk about the favorite in 3A but . . .

Maybe the biggest revelation for me was St. Ignatius. The Wolfpack came into last season highly ranked and struggled with an extremely difficult schedule. That adversity seems to have turned into energy and determination. Matt Monroe’s group was just hitting everything. Phoenix Gill looks like he is ready for the NBA. Not an exaggeration. He looks ready to play in the NBA. Two well known observers that I spoke to said Gill was the best player they saw at Ridgewood. He was the best individual player that I saw.

That Wolfpack are not just Gill. Nico Harris, Chris Cittaro, Chris Bolte impressed. These guy can shoot. And then there are Will Horton, Alex Anaya and, of course, Ryan Cavanagh. It seems like St. Ignatius always has an Irish kid on the team. Gotta love that. (Plus I think he is my friend Tim Cavanagh’s son so that’s even better.)

I got a chance to talk to Mount Carmel’s Phil Segroves about his Caravan. The loss of Angelo Ciaravino and Lee Marks leave big holes to fill. And by “big,” I mean points from Ciaravino and size from Marks. The Caravan looked like there were still figuring it out but Coach Segroves suggested the may be adding some more pieces. They will be top CCL team.

I saw the end of Loyola v. Bolingbrook. That was the only Loyola I saw. They beat Bolingbrook. I wish I could have seen more. They have to be in the CCL conversation until I have reason not to assume that Tom Livatino’s team will be there. They have been there every year. They are until they are not.

And then there is Benet—the third of the three best teams that I saw. Even with Sularski going back to Lemont, the Redwings look like they are even better. Blake Fagbemi looks even better than last year. Colin Stack looks more confident in the paint. Jaden Wright, Mac Doyle and Daniel Pauliukonis fill out the lineup. Heavy favorite in the ESCC. Possible No. 1 to open the season.

Finally, I got over to Wright Junior College to see Sean Conor’s Antioch Sequoits only to learn that a cousin of mine, Logan Lennon, a freshman, is one of the Sequoits. I know of only two descendants of my grandparents, Irish immigrants John Lydon and Delia Geraghty to play varsity high school basketball—my son Dan Lydon and Logan Lennon. So that is something a little special for me.

Well I guess that’s it for a while. We will be going back to football season now.

Here are some photos from the weekend.

Riverside-Brookfield Summer Shootout 2024

The Riverside-Brookfield Summer Shootout this past weekend was a good look at teams in advance this year’s upcoming tournament. I mostly cover the Chicago Catholic League and the Chicago Public League so I wanted to get a look at as many of those teams as I could. But I could only be there on Friday.

I got a look at DePaul Prep in games against Lake Zurich and DeLaSalle. The Rams have plugged in junior guard/wing Rykan Woo, a transfer from Whitney Young. The Rams return Makai Kvamme, AJ Chambers, Rob Walls and Rashawn Porter. They should pick up where they left off.

The Lane Tech Champions also looked like they picked up where they left off. Despite losing Shaheed Solebo to graduation, the Champions return Dalton Scantlebury, a top player in the 2025 class. The returning group of seniors, Braydon Rosenkrantz, Drew Bartoli, Mike Remotigue and Zach Mazanowski. Despite a close lose to Simeon in their first game, the Champions looked good.

The St. Ignatius Wolfpack looked very good against East St. Louis. Returning top player Phoenix Gill looked bigger, stronger and faster. A new group of starters, make this pack of wolves appear especially dangerous in the coming season.

I saw DeLaSalle against DePaul Prep. Meteors coach Gary DeCesare will have this talent group ready. They looked good but not good enough against the Rams.

I saw the first half of St. Laurence against Glenbard West. Jason Opeka had his Hilltoppers playing their 1-3-1 defense that was giving the talented group of Vikings, lead be returning EJ Mosley, some trouble. I didn’t get a good chance to see much of what Roshawn Russell and this Vikings will have in store for the league this winter. I asked one observer about St. Laurence. He said, “We’ll see.”

I also got a look at El Paso-Gridley. A newcomer to the R-B, the Comets look to show off their top performer Jonah Funk. The 6-9 forward didn’t dominate and played on the perimeter more that I expected. The 2-A Comets were overmatched in the game I some them play against DeKalb. It’s difficult to say how well the Comets will fair this season even with Funk. But I got a look at Funk, he will dominate the Comets conference opponents. I intend to get down to El Paso at least once this year to see Funk play, if he stays in El Paso.

I also got a look at Lou Adams’ Rich Township squad. I figured it was only a matter of time before Adams working Rich into a top team. That time appears to have arrived. Look for Rich to make a splash.

I got a look at Benet. The Redwings look special even without one of last year’s top contributor, Gabe Sularski. Sularski a couple court’s over after returning to his home town Lemont team. Sularski had a couple chippy exchanges with Whitney Young’s Antonio Munoz in their matchup.

Whitney Young is, well, Whitney Young. They will be very good as usual—maybe special. Antonio Munoz looks itching to get after a state title.

So those are my impressions of Friday. Here are a few photos from the day.

Riverside-Brookfield Summer Shootout

For me at least, R-B is the start of basketball season. I know there are AAU weekends and other “live” events, but the Riverside-Brookfield Summer Shootout is the best of all worlds. Top teams, top college coaches, top players, a look at new line-ups for top teams. It’s great to catch up with coaches, players, parents, reporters and even a few photographers.

I know football interrupts the season but R-B sparks the excitement, football sustains it and the Thanksgiving tournaments sets it free. So get ready for another sprint through the season.

We don’t have to wait long our beloved DePaul Prep Rams light it up at noon against the Lake Zurich Bears were 22-9 last season, finishing fourth behind Warren, Lake Forest and Stevenson in the North Suburban conference. I confess I didn’t know the first thing about Lake Zurich. I had no idea what the mascot was. I had to look it up. Twenty wins in a hard conference makes a tough team. It will be fun to see the new Rams line-up against at team I never considered before today.

The Benet against Bolingbrook—two top programs face off at 12:55. DePaul Prep again against Chicago Catholic League rival DeLaSalle Academy at 1:50.

Our El Paso Gridley Titans make an appearance for the first time (I assume) at R-B. The Titans, a 2-A school from Central Illinois about 30 miles north of Bloomington, travel up here presumably to showcase their top player Jonah Funk. Except Funk is reported to be moving to Metamora and will play there this season.

I think of El Paso mostly as a football school. My brother-in-law Mike Souhrada took the then El Paso Comets, before the combination with Gridley, to a state tittle football game 22 years ago. My nephew Jared Souhrada played on the basketball team a few years later.

After that we get a preview of Loyola, East St. Louis, Kenwood, Warren, Mount Carmel, St. Ignatius, Rich Township, Lane Tech, Simeon and St. Laurence.

It’s gonna be a busy afternoon and evening in Riverside-Brookfield. More fun than should be allowed in one evening.

Get there early. Parking is a . . . ..

Here are few photos from last year’s R-B.

The Day That Saved the World

Eighty years ago today, soldiers and sailors of the United States, Britain and Canada went ashore on the beaches of Normandy, France and saved the World.

Okay. There is a lot of overstatement there but there is more truth than not. The Battle of Normandy and its D-Day landings were the penultimate battle of the war that ushered in a prolonged era of relative peace.

Everyone should watch the second scene of Saving Private Ryan when Captain Miller’s (Tom Hanks) Ranger unit lands at Omaha Beach. That is what the soldiers faced for about four hours on Omaha. It’s hard to watch.

The men who landed, and lived, made their way up the bluff in scattered small groups silencing German machine guns, howitzers and mortars as Navy destroyers came right up the beach and knocked out the big guns. By midday, the tide was turning. By evening, the beach was in securely in American hands.

Elsewhere, the Americans on Utah were ashore and advancing inland. Same with the Canadians and British. It would be a while before the outcome of the battle was clearly evident, but it was never actually in doubt. Allied air supremacy pretty much assured victory but not the price of victory.

The day is a metaphor, a symbol for the whole endeavor of the war. The whole titanic struggle of good versus evil distilled into one day.

I could go on, and on, and on, and on about the things that happened that day and in the days after. My wife could certainly attest to that. She graciously agreed to sit through a day long symposium on D-Day with me and my sister in April. I reread three books and rewatched two movies just to get back up to speed.

My father was in the U.S. Army in World War II and served in SHAEF Headquarters as an officers’ pay clerk. I have studied World War II much of my life. I am sure that is because of his influence.

We owe so much to the bravery, foresight and determination of those men. We owe our lives and our prosperity to them.

I, for one, will be thinking of that today, June 6th, the 80th Anniversary of D-Day.

Robert Capa iconic image of D-Day

DePaul Prep Wins Sectional Championship with 2-1 Victory over St. Pat’s

The DePaul Prep Rams defeated the St. Patrick Shamrocks 2-1 in a well-played exciting game fitting of the stage. The student defeated the teacher in the IHSA 3A Clemente Sectional championship game.

When Sammy Colon was an 8th grader, Chris Haas went to his grade school and played catch with him eventually getting him into Gordon Tech. Sammy, a four-year starter for Chris at Gordon, came back to work at DePaul Prep as an assistant athletic director and an assistant varsity baseball coach. Chris moved on to become an athletic director himself and Sammy graduated into being the Rams’ baseball head coach.

Shamrocks’ junior right-hander Elias Alvarado had the Rams well in hand for the first four innings. No runs, one hit, no walks and three strike-outs. The defense behind him was solid.

Rams’ senior lefty James MacMillan was rolling too. Despite giving up three well hit singles in the top of the second, MacMillon rallied to set done the Shamrocks only giving up one run.

“We knew [Alvarado] was running out of gas a little [after four innings]. We started taking it one inning at a time. We put some balls in play and none of them were falling. We just needed to keep working on him, riding out at-bats and we would get an opportunity,” Colon said.

I wasn’t far from Sammy who was coaching third base. I could hear what he was saying to the bench. In the bottom of the fifth, he was fired up. He knew it was now or never to make a move, score a couple runs and win the game. He was all business.

To open the frame, the Rams got a huge lead off infield hit of the pitcher’s glove from senior Carter Levine. It was the ember the Rams needed to spark the inning. Levine, who to that point had the Rams only hit off Alvardo, legged out the hit. Colon had alerted Rams’ Owen Rog before the at-bat that if Carter got on, Rog would run for him.

Rog scrambled out to first base in place of Levine who had done his part. Rams’ third baseman junior Charlie Pribyl was at the plate.

“I didn’t put the bunt down initially but then I went to it. That put a lot of different things in peoples’ heads. I think Haas thought for sure we were bunting there to get the one run. It’s funny that Rog was at first base. Typically, he is our starting center fielder. We had a bit of an injury with the arm but the legs still worked so I was confident in stealing the bag there,” said Colon.

On a 2-0 count, after Pribyl showed bunt, Rog bolted for second; a good throw was late. Rog was in at second.

With two on and no outs, senior left fielder Aiden Ball ball squared around to bunt and worked a walk to load the based. Four innings in, Alvarado seemed a little gassed, struggling to find the plate. Rams hitters were in no hurry to swing at pitches outside the zone.

With the bases loaded and no one out, sophomore Joey Sachetti worked a walk on a three and two count to bring home Rog from third and tie the game.

“Big walk by Joey Sachetti in the nine spot who typically does not start for us, a sophomore that we called up from JV. That was a big at bat for us,” Colon said.

Back to the top of the line up, with one out, Rams senior infielder Benny Espinosa hit a fly ball to right field scoring Pribyl from third.

Rams up 2-1.

“Benny Espinosa doing what he does best. He has been our rock all year long. He stepped up big,” said Colon.

“Ya, [Alvarado] got a little gassed. He got a little rattled when he hit [Pribyl] on the bunt attempt. He throw a one hitter. They got the two runs he had no hits. It was just one of those things. I thought we hit the ball. We had six or seven hits.” But just one run.

James MacMillon’s performance was just as impressive as Alvarado’s. Six and a third innings giving up just the one run despite giving up five hits and three walks. Timely strike-outs and solid defense on balls put in play was the recipe for success.

Shut down closer Gavin Glibowski closed the door on the Shamrocks in the top of the seventh.  

Sammy Colon was emotional after the game.

“There wasn’t much conversation [with Chris Haas] before the game. It’s emotional for this game. He means a lot to me. As a coaching mentor, as a friend. He found me in the rough in the high school team at Gordon. He means a lot to me. It’s very emotional to play him. We didn’t talk a lot before the game. I had to keep my mind on beating him. But afterwards, we will go hang out. We will talk about this game forever. So, it’s fun,” Sammy said after the game.

Chris Haas took over baseball coaching from legendary Gordon Tech skipper Red Miller in 2003.

“I get emotional too. I love him. It was hard [to talk before the game]. I went up to him. Those kids, Luke Oblen, Griff Horne, Klein, Latko; those are still my guys. It’s bittersweet. I love those kids,” Chris Haas said after the game.  

“I love Sammy to death. He was a four-year starter for me in high school. I went to his grammar school everyday for a week at lunch. I played catch with him and talked about coming to Gordon. I love him. I wish him the best of luck.”