The following are posts related to specific shoots. And other things that I cannot stop myself from writing about.
Before last night’s historic beatdown of Fenwick, DePaul Prep honored its senior football players before their last regular season football game.
At halftime, DePaul honored its Cross County team seniors as well.
Here are photos from the introductions.
The biggest win in school history for DePaul Prep? It’s not Gordon Tech’s State Championship in 1980 but it sure feels like the biggest win for the new DePaul Prep Rams in ten years of being DePaul Prep.
The DePaul Prep Rams (4-4, 1-1 in CCL/ESCC Red) beat the Fenwick Friars (4-4, 1-1 in CCL/ESCC Orange) 44 to 43 in double overtime Friday night at DePaul Prep.
In talking to some fans before the game, I asked, “How is Fenwick?’
“It’s Fenwick, but it not Fenwick Fenwick,” I was told.
The Rams had a chance. And they believed. What’s new about this year is that they can score. They have big-play players. And they score a lot. In their last five games, they have scored 38, 28, 36, 35 and 44 points. I don’t know what Rams’ junior quarterback Fernando “JuJu” Rodriguez did over the summer but whatever it is, somebody should bottle it. His play at quarterback has improved 100%. His throws are on time and on target and the Rams are scoring.
Rams’ senior running back Titus Bautista provides the perfect counter-punch to Rodriguez big arm. Recievers Bradon Peevy, Michael Bloom and Jack West catch the ball and they are only juniors.
Even so, the Rams struggled in the first quarter playing the entire quarter in their own end. They gave up two early field goals and a touchdown falling behind 12-0. But actually it didn’t feel bad. The Rams can score quick and that they did.
On the first play of the second quarter, a perfectly executed screen pass to Bautista flipped the field position bringing the Rams from deep in their own end to the Fenwick redzone. A couple play later it was 12-7.
After having given up a field goal to the Friars with 6:14 to go in the fourth, the Rams trailed 23-29. They took over at their own 21 after Michael Bloom’s kickoff return. With third down and five on their own 26, a quick hitch from Fernandez to junior wide receiver Braden Peevy, then a lateral out to Bautista who sprinted out of the backfield and down the sideline to Fenwick’s 40 yard-line.
A fourth and five scramble by Rodriguez down to the 28-yard line kept the Rams alive. A couple plays later, another fourth down, still from the 28-yard line. This is the Rams’ shot. After coming so close against Providence, after giving late scores against Marian Catholic and being unable to score on a game ending driving, could the Rams make it happen? After years of incremental improvements and confidence building, could this be the hump the Rams get over?
With 4th and 10 and the game, the season and the future on the line, they stood there looking to the sideline for the play. The play clock ticked down; the Rams took the play and lined up. With Rams’ head coach Mike Passarella running down the sideline calling for a time out, the side judge blows his whistle as the Rams snap the ball.
Time out.
Back out on the field. 4th and 10 from the 28. The ball placed on the far hash mark. Senior wide receiver Michael Bloom split out to Rodriguez’s left. Junior Bradon Peevy to his right. Junior running back Nick Martinez in the slot left next to Bloom, junior Jack West in the wideside slot next to Peevy.
Will we look back on this play as the turning point for the football program, or will the losing continue?
Martinez goes in motion to wide side. Bloom launches up field and dips in toward the post, then bolts straight up the sideline past the Fenwick corner like he was standing still.
The offensive line pushes the four Fenwick pass rushers outside and Rodriguez moves up in the pocket. Fenwick’s stud defensive tackle Nate Marshall breaks back up the middle to meet JuJu and stop the pass. Rodriguez lets it fly. Bloom slows up to get the ball. He catches the game tying touchdown in the endzone just before the Fenwick corner can break up the pass.
Huge. Great call. Clutch throw. Tremendous catch. Touchdown Rams!
The game is tied.
Of course, Fenwick gets a tremendous push up the middle and blocks the Rams extra point. Still tied with 2:03 to play.
Fenwick moves the ball into DePaul Prep territory and with two seconds on the clock, the Friars line up for a 40-yard field goal.
No good. To overtime we go all tied at 29.
Rams have it first from the 10 yard-line in the South end. They score, adding a PAT. Rams 36, Friars 29.
Now the Friars. They score adding a PAT. Double overtime. Rams 36, Friars 36.
Now the Friars have it again. They score adding the PAT. Friars 43, Rams 36.
I never doubted the Rams would score again. They had come too far. But how long could this go on? Titus Bautista around the right end on the first play. Friars 43, Rams 42.
Mike Passarella never hesitated. As soon as I looked back toward the sideline, after Bautista scored, Passarella was raising two fingers. They were going for two points to win the game.
Fenwick called a time out to talk it over.
Two-point conversion attempt from the 3. Peevy split right. Bloom split left. Three backs in the backfield with Rodriguez. Shot gun snap to Rodriguez who gets immediate pressure from his left. Peevy ducks inside into double coverage then slips back toward the sideline. Rodriguez, with a man on him, throws to Peevy breaking to the sideline. TOUCHDOWN. (2-point conversion really.) Rams win. Rams win!
The DePaul Prep Rams defeated Fenwick 44-43 drawing even on the year at 4 wins and 4 losses and chance to make the playoff with a win at DeLaSalle next Friday.
A huge win for a DePaul Prep Rams football team that hasn’t had much to celebrate in recent years. Bill Jeske didn’t know how long it has been since the Rams beat Fenwick. 20 years maybe. Former athletic director Paul Chabura confirmed that the last time DePaul Prep/Gordon Tech beat Fenwick was in 2000 in a Prep Bowl playoff.
“Final was 24-6. Scott Baum was the coach. The Rams came close a few times but that was the last win,” Chabura wrote.
The Rams have improved no doubt. The culture is back. The program is bursting at the seams. They just needed that turn the corner win.
The skies parted literally and figuratively for DePaul Prep football Friday with a huge signature Catholic League crossover win against the Fenwick Friars.
I guess we will have to see if it is the turning point it feels like.
Watch the game for yourself on You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WE0YCfXubw
With 38 seconds left in the first half from the Lion 45 yard-line and the score DePaul Prep 17, Leo 14, the Rams called a play they had practiced all week and that they intended to open the game with. The old “hooking ladder.” A hook by the wide out and a lateral pass to the running back out of the backfield and up the sideline to the end zone.
It worked to perfection. The finest execution of the play that I have seen in my 100 years of watching football.
Rams’ junior quarterback Fernando “JuJu” Rodriguez tossed a quick short pass, a hook, to junior wide receiver wide receiver Nicholas Hathcoat drawing up the Leo free safety. Hathcoat gathered it in, and with a Leo defender draped all over him, pitched the ball to senior running back Titus Bautista sprinting out of the backfield. Bautista grabbed the perfectly placed pitch at full speed and dashed up the sideline. No one had any chance at all to catch him.
Leo was done after that. They had nothing left for the second half. Beaten physically and mentally, the game spiraled into penalty after penalty after penalty.
Rams 38, Lions 14.
DePaul Prep improves to 2-2 on the year and will face No. 14 ranked Providence at home next Friday.
The DePaul Prep Rams edged the Leo High School 14-12 on September 16, 2022, to improve to 3-1 and win the two team CCL/ESCC Red Division. A nice win for the Rams against a very tough Leo team with a lot of heart.
Most times when I take photos I just do the best I can in the moment. I can usually tell if the photos will be any good. Sometimes—rarely—when I open photos I have taken, I am surprised at what I find, surprised how much I like the photos. This is one of those times.
My thanks to Pat Mahoney and the other designers and benefactors of the as yet unnamed DePaul Prep Stadium. The light is wonderful—truly outstanding. Thank you.
A proper article about the game will follow. I wanted to get these photos up by themselves first.
I hope you like them.
“Last year, we didn’t know how to win yet,” said fourth year DePaul Prep head football coach Mike Passarella.
“Not a push over anymore,” Passarella continued. “Everyone is taking us seriously this year.”
The DePaul Prep Rams are coming off a disappointing 2-7 season after being on the cusp of turning around the program.
“The goal is to win a playoff game,” Passarella said. That will take at least three more wins. Those wins are out there. Since the closing of St. Joseph, DePaul Prep has played three non-conference games instead of the usual two games to open the season. The Rams have added Chicago Hope Academy this year. Chicago Hope could be another win. And with a victory of over Marian Central Catholic, plus an upset victory over the “mighty, mighty” St. Viator Lions (a play on the St. Viator fight song) and with the strength of schedule points and our Rams probably make the playoffs.
The Rams schedule has changed significantly. Ridgewood and Lena-Winslow are out. Amundsen and Chicago Hope Academy are in. Plus, this year there are only two teams in the CCL/ESCC conference’s Red Division—DePaul Prep and Leo. Marian Central Catholic in Woodstock left the conference and went independent but remains on the schedule.
Circle September 16th on your calendar. The Rams take on the Leo Lions for the CCL/ESCC Red Division championship game. With just two teams in the division, this game will decide who’s champ. Leo and DePaul Prep are developing quite a rivalry in the recent months. DePaul Prep defeated Leo in the 2A basketball super-sectional to earn a trip to Champaign for the 2A state basketball finals.
The future is definitely bright for the DePaul Prep’s football program. The school’s enrollment has just dramatically increased in recent years. This year’s enrollment is up to 1086. With construction of a new wing of classrooms beginning shortly on the campus, enrollment is expected to top out at 1400, roughly the same as St. Ignatius. The Rams are currently 3A for football but an enrollment of 1200 will soon put bump DePaul Prep up two classes into 5A.
Along with the jump in enrollment comes a whole new crop of athletes. The Rams plan the start a sophomore quarterback, Fernando “JuJu” Rodriguez. Also, on offense is senior offensive lineman Emmett Jeske, son of former head coach and Gordon Tech legend, Bill Jeske. Junior offensive tackle Eric Timbo is expected to impress and land some offers from NCAA Division One schools.
At the skill positions, junior wide receiver Lavelle Hardy returns to lead the receiving corps. Hardy is also expected to receive Division One offers and score a lot of touchdowns. Senior wide receiver (and varsity basketball player) Henry West, in his first year of football, will also play wide out. Senior Shane Leonard will also play in Coach Passarella’s receiver heavy spread offense spread offense.
Gordon Tech legend Gary Anish, Jr., has been elevated to defensive coordinator. His defense will be led by senior defensive ends Oliver Vigorest and Dane Barkley (also a basketball player). Defensive standouts junior middle linebacker Griffin Horne and Danny Kelly as well has junior cornerback Jonathan Perez will lead a young and talented defense.
The season starts tomorrow at 7:00 p.m., with a home game against Walter Payton College Prep. Should be a fun game between two teams on the rise.
The disappointment was palpable on his face. Disappointment twinged with a healthy bit of anger.
DePaul Prep’s varsity football coach Mike Passarella spoke to me a few minutes after talking to his team in the wake of the 41-7 loss to St. Viator on Friday, September 10, 2021.
“The biggest thing was defensively we missed a lot of tackles. Offensively, we did not move the ball. Three and outs. We keep going backwards. We put our defense in a tough spot. We had a good game plan. We just didn’t really execute it,” said Passarella.
“You could tell that we can play, but when it gets close, we just can’t compete,” Passarella continued. “We have not learned how to win. That’s the one thing we have to work on, just that growth.”
That’s basically true about the game as a whole but the first half but the first half was close. One had feeling that the game could go either way with St. Viator leading 13-7 when the teams went into the locker rooms.
The DePaul Prep Rams (2-1, 0-0 in ESCC Red) won the coin toss and elected to receive the ball. That showed me an aggressiveness and confidence that many teams give up these days preferring to get the ball opening the second half. The Rams took the ball but their opening drive stalled near midfield.
The St. Viator Lions (1-2, 0-0 in CCL/ESCC Purple) worked the ball down the field with their first possession. Junior running back Jake VanBooven took a handoff at the four yard-line around the right end and scored giving the Lions an early lead.
The Rams answered quickly on the next drive with a 73-yard pass from Grant transfer senior quarterback Chris Perez up the right sideline to sophomore wide receiver Lavelle Hardy. Perez hit Hardy in stride, and no one was near enough to stop him. Perez impressed the opening games of the season with impressive wins over Walter Payton College Prep and Ridgewood High School particularly throwing the deep ball.
Late in second quarter the Lions answered with another touchdown from VanBooven making the score 13-7 at the half.
St. Viator head coach Dave Archibald was on the opposite side from Passarella on the field and on the season. Archibald’s Lions lost two non-conference openers to tough teams. The opened against very strong 3-0 South Elgin team that handled the Lions 48-7. Last week the Lions lost a close game to Morgan Park 30-22.
“I told our guys we are a young team in ways. If we keep climbing, we have wins that we can get on this schedule. Tonight was a great momentum [builder] where they gained that belief in themselves. When we play the way we are capable of playing, we are going to be able to contend and win some big games,” Archbald said.
The early difference in the game was Viator’s Jake VanBooven. “Jake is a phenomenal athlete. He had an injury last season. The first couple weeks for him were weeks where he was growing in confidence. Tonight he showed his best performance as a running back. He is nowhere near his ceiling. You will only see him get better and better.”
The game turned in the third quarter. St. Viator’s VanBooven added a third rushing touchdown. The Rams’ Perez threw a late pick-six to St. Viator’s Sr. linebacker Carson Eggebraten. The Lions started passing and added two more fourth quarter passing touchdowns to put the game out of reach.
I could feel Coach Passarella’s disappointment because he apologized to me before the game for what his Rams were about to do to my alma mater. Having seen the growth in his program over the last few seasons and the amazing growth of DePaul College Prep, I believed him.
The Rams are close. They just need to take that final step and, in Coach Pass’s words, “learn how to win.”
League play begins next week with Leo. The season is young.
At the strange abrupt end to the COVID football season, I photographed the DePaul Prep Rams football game against the St. Joseph Chargers. It was the last ever football game for St. Joseph High School. The school administration announced earlier that week that the school would close at the end of the school year.
DePaul Prep defeated St. Joseph 44-0, on April 23, 2021. Three early interceptions of St. Joe’s replacement quarterback doomed the Chargers. The Chargers fought hard but the Rams dominated the undermanned Chargers in all phases.
It was an emotional game. I spent a lot of time photographing from the St. Joe’s sideline. I wanted to document the last game as best I could. I have been going to St. Joe’s basketball and football games in 1977 when I was a freshman at St. Viator. Joe’s was in the ESCC then. I distinctly remember Isiah Thomas playing as a senior in St. Viator’s Patrick Cahill Gym when Isiah and legendary coach Joe Pingatore were on their way to a state championship.
Fast forward to recent years when my son Dan played football and basketball at Gordon/DePaul; I have seen many games against St. Joe’s.
It’s always sad when a school closes, especially a Catholic school. I have also liked and respected the people at St. Joseph. I wish them well.
As for the photos, I apologize that it took me so long to get these up. I was writing stories for the Inside Publications in the Spring and I just did not have enough time to do that and photograph non-story games.
A DePaul Prep player inquired about the photos and I realized although I have processed them some time after the game, I never posted them to my website. So here they are better late than never.
I hope you like the photos.
I didn’t realize what a football, soccer and lacrosse stadium can mean to as school. It is literally the front yard of the new DePaul Prep campus.
The Rams had their first football game at the new stadium last week on Holy Thursday. The team has improved. The kids have bought in. They were driving for a tying touchdown with a minute to go but came up short 27-20 against Marian.
I have no doubt that the Rams will be back in the Gordon Tech type football glory in years to come.
These are the photos. I hope you like them.
As we were coming out of the depths of the COVID shutdown, I started planning for high school sports again. DePaul Prep was moving into a new school building and building a new football stadium. I thought I would, and still will, fully document/photograph the first game and the first season in the new stadium.
When the Governor and the IHSA moved the bulk of high school sports to the Spring, my plans changed. The Fall practices were a chance to take some photos, see the new state-of-art DePaul Prep stadium and have the players and coaches get used to having me around so I am not such a distraction when play begins.
I would like to thank DePaul Athletic Director Pat Mahoney and Head Coach Mike Passarella for graciously inviting me in and for being so accommodating. And a special thanks to the young men who carry on the proud tradition of Gordon Tech/DePaul Prep football.
As always, Go Rams!
These are some of my photos.
“This season is going to be different for the DePaul Prep Rams.” That was how I was going to start this piece before the IHSA’s announcement Wednesday. Now, that opening sentence seems an unfunny understatement.
I originally planned this article as a preview of the historic upcoming season football. New stadium. New uniforms. New school building. Friday night games. But all our plans are constantly overtaken by events, so here we are.
On Wednesday, the IHSA announced that football is classified a “higher risk” sport and its season has been postponed until Spring. Practices can begin on February 15, 2021. The season will have seven games running from March 5, 2021, to April 16, 2021. There will only be time for two weeks of playoffs after that. So no big state tournament. The format has yet to be announced.
The IHSA issued a new plan for all interscholastic competition for this coming school year. All the details of the plan is a little beyond our purpose here but can be found at the IHSA website.
DePaul Prep head football coach Mike Passarella has been making preparations over the summer for the upcoming season as the guidelines evolved. Summer camp practices have been underway at Horner Park which are now basically over. No further practices are anticipated until September when the IHSA will allow a further 20 days no-contact practices.
“I am really happy the IHSA thought outside the box and didn’t just shut everything done,” said Passarella. “I have been preaching to the boys to do their part. Be smart and we will have football this year.” At the moment, it looks like that may still happen, just in the Spring.
Perhaps the biggest changes, other all this COVID business, are the new school campus and the new home football stadium. This writer feared that football might be on its way out as a high school sport at DePaul. Well, with the prominence of the football field and stadium in the center of the new campus, we don’t have to worry about that. Having such a beautiful new stadium clearly signals a commitment to football and surely will attract prospective students who want to play football.
The Rams will also have new helmets and uniforms. The helmets will be white. The familiar ram horns will be replaced by the new “D” logo in keeping with the rebranding by the school. The rebranding retired the Gordon Tech (Tennessee) orange in favor of a “Chicago flag” blue and red color scheme.
Last year’s team posted a record of three wins and six losses including a brutal six game Catholic League losing streak. Last season was the first for the newly combined East Suburban Catholic Conference and the Chicago Catholic League. The realignment into six divisions didn’t help the Rams improve their record.
This year’s schedule will only be conference games: Carmel, @Leo, St. Laurence, Marian Catholic, @Providence, @Joliet Catholic and St. Joseph. The schedule is tough. Even so, the future is bright. Thirty-four freshman have come out for football. The school’s overall enrollment is on track to basically double in coming years. A new stadium, a commitment to football and increased enrollment will bring improvement. Basketball came ramming back to prominence; football is not far behind.
In addition to the new school, new stadium, new practice rules and new uniforms, DePaul Prep Athletics’ website is getting a makeover. Moving away from 8to18.com, assistant athletic Director Sammy Colon has been spearheading development of the revamped athletics portion of the school website, https://www.depaulprep.org/athletics/home.
The new website will exist directly on the school’s website and boast an updated interface with photos and easy reference to schedules. il.8to18.com/DePaulPrep is still up but presumably will not be kept current. It is still valuable resource for finding results from previous season for those looking for blogging about high school sports, which is always important.
With football moved to the spring, I guess that makes this basketball season . . . . . . . Nice!
The St. Laurence Vikings defeated the DePaul Prep Rams 48-0 this afternoon (Sept. 28, 2019) in Burbank.
The Vikings had seven first half touchdowns: a punt return, a fumble recovery, an interception return and at least two on offense. I lost track of the two of the TDs. Frankly, the Vikings were just bigger, faster and stronger.
The Vikings starting running back, (#28, sorry I dropped my roster), is the real thing. He is as good a running back as I have seen this year. At one point in the first quarter, the Rams had him stopped but he refused to go down. It finally took six or seven Rams to bring him down.
Rams senior quarterback Zach Burhans had some nice on-time throws with some zip for completions and first downs. Unfortunately, he had just as many that late wobblers that went for interceptions or incompletions. At one point I heard DePaul Prep’s first year head coach, Mike Passarella, yelling to Zach, “You gotta play with confidence.” When Zach puts it all together, watch out, he can be very good.
I like what Coach Passarella is doing on offense and defense. His plays are well designed and well suited to his personnel. He calls good plays in good combinations. Despite having to pass, he doesn’t abandon the run.
The defense is on the field a lot. The tackling leaves something to be desired but the boys are not out of position. Even being undersized at almost every position, there is plenty of fight in the defense. The team seems well prepared. But just doesn’t have the horses.
Marian Catholic next Friday’s away game is another Red Division foe. The 3-1 Spartans should prove another tough test.
The Leo Lions defeated the DePaul Prep Rams 20-18 yesterday (Sept. 21, 2019) at DePaul’s home field at Chicago Academy.
Leo jumped out to an early 6-0 lead in the first quarter on the speed of senior quarterback Tobias Sample. Semple took a keeper around need end on a long touchdown run early in the first quarter.
The Leos followed up with a balanced run/pass drive late in the first quarter capped by a ten yard run up the middle by Lion’s junior running back Jalen Jackson, making the score 14-0, with a two-conversion.
The Rams struggled on office much of the first half as the defense adjusted to contain Sample and Johnson despite the loss of senior defensive tackle Graeme Phillips to an elbow injury.
In the second half, the Rams offense moved the ball as senior quarterback Zach Burhans connected on an early fourth quarter pass to a senior wide receiver Layton Hopkins bring the Rams within one score at 14-6.
But on the very next possession, Tobias Sample reprised his first quarter run with a 81 yard keeper around the right side to make the score 20-6.
No quit in the Rams. With 6:05 remaining Zach Burhans connected on a perfectly thrown 55 yard touchdown pass again to Layton Hopkins to make it a one score game again at 20-12.
After holding Leo, the Rams got the ball back and, with the aid of penalties by Leo, moved the ball down field for a potentially game tying touchdown and two point conversion. On a quarterback sneak, Zach Burhans moved the ball to the half year line only to twist his ankle and be forced to come out of the game for the fourth down play because of the stoppage.
Backup sophomore quarterback Anthony Martinez came off the bench cold for the all important 4th down play. Again Rams head coach and play caller Mike Passerella went to the quarterback sneak. Martinez took the ball and bounced outside the tackle reaching the ball over the goal line on his first play under center for a touchdown.
For the game tying two-point conversion, Passerella called a fade to the wide out in the left corner of the end zone. The pass to Rams senior wide receiver Cole Ceravolo was broken up by Lions’ defensive back Khalil Blakes. The conversion failed.
The Lions held the 20-18 lead. And there it would end as the Lions ran out the clock with a couple first downs.
I have been to a bunch of blow out games this season. This game was certainly the most entertaining I have seen. While disappointing for the Rams, they proved there is no quit in this team.
DePaul Prep Rams move to 2-0 on the 2019 season with Friday afternoon’s 32-12 win over the talented Sullivan Tigers.
It’s game day. Start of the high school football season. I have basically taken a month off since the last of the summer basketball tournaments, but I’m back and so is football. Big changes this year so let’s get into it.
Opening night.
The area’s top teams are starting with out-of-state opponents. Sun-Times #1 Nazerath and #2 Loyola play out-of-state. The highest ranked City of Chicago teams, Simeon and Phillips also have out-of-state games to start the season. Opening the season against out-of-state opponents is just dumb. Who cares about that? But don’t get me started.
The marquee matchup of the evening, in Chicago at least, might be #14 Mount Carmel v. Curie at Mount Carmel’s new Barda-Dowling Stadium on campus at 64th and Dante. It should be fun to see Mount Carmel with a true home field. I might have to head down to that one.
We have Lane v. Lake View to entertain us this afternoon in what I am christening the 47th Ward Bowl. Both schools are located in Chicago’s premier neighborhood and the athletic programs at both are on the rise. My alma mater, St. Viator takes on Prospect this evening. Hersey was the usual opening week nemesis back in my day. Now it’s neighboring Prospect High School to open the season. The Lions should have their paws full.
Chicago Catholic League and East Suburban Catholic League Combine for Football.
This football season is gonna be different. The Chicago Catholic League and the East Suburban Catholic Conference have combined for football—again. The CCL and ESCC have formed one combined conference with 24 teams in 6 divisions. Basically, all the Catholic high schools that play football in the Chicagoland area will be in what amounts to one large conference with six mini-conferences inside based upon the school size, football participation numbers and program success. Here is a link to the combined schedule: click here. According to the press release on the ESCC website, there was a unanimous vote in favor of the combination by all the principals of the CCL and ESCC schools.
As explained to me but DePaul Prep’s Athletic Director, Pat Mahoney, the ten member ESCC was have difficulty with some larger schools having successful programs and others struggling to compete. The larger fourteen school CCL, which was divided into four divisions based upon enrollment, football participation and programs success was able to split into divisions that provided a chance for the smaller schools to be competitive.
Older readers among you may recall they tried this before. From 1996 to 2002, the CCL and ESCC combined into the “Metro Catholic Conference.” The difference between then and now is that the Metro Conference required member teams to play a full schedule of conference games. There was no room for regional or historic rivalries. And no room for traveling out-of-state for games either. The new arrangement has fixed that. The new CCL/ESCC will have only seven conference games. Each team can schedule two non-conference games.
I am looking forward to the new arrangement. It should give some the smaller Catholic school a chance at six wins and some playoff births.
DePaul Prep Football Preview.
Frequent viewers to this channel will recall that much of my coverage has been on DePaul College Prep teams. Big changes on this front as well.
Long time head football coach and Gordon Tech state championship team member, Bill Jeske, is out as coach of the Rams. Bill lead the Rams to much success during his tenure even with the challenge of declining enrollment at Gordon and declining participation in football on Chicago’s northside.
But Bill is not gone. He is staying on as freshman football coach. Something of Gordon remains.
Taking over for Bill as varsity coach is Michael Passarella. Coach Passarella comes from a stint as a game analyst with the Cleveland Browns, an assistant and offensive coordinator at the College of DuPage and as an assistant coach at a high school in Texas.
“Coach Passeralla has brought a new enthusiasm to the program. The kids are excited about football. We have increased participation. Winning six games and making the playoffs is not outside the realm of possibility this year,” Pat Mahony told me.
He might just be right. This year’s DePaul schedule is tough but doable. DePaul Prep Rams look to rebound from last year’s winless season. The Rams lost to Marmion, Chicago Hope, Leo, Fenton, Wheaton, St. Joseph, St. Ignatius, DeLaSalle, St. Rita and St. Laurence.
With the maturing of a young team lead by talented senior quarterback Zach Burhans and Sr. WR Michael “Mikey” Flynn, the Rams will surprise some people.
The CCL/ESCC schedule provides some significant changes as well. The Rams will take on Roosevelt (2-5 in 2018), Sullivan (6-5), Carmel (4-5), Leo (3-7), St. Laurence (4-7), Marian Catholic (1-8), Providence (5-5), Joliet Catholic (10-4 and 5A State Champion) and St. Joseph (1-9). Hopefully for the Rams, the addition of two CPS teams and the addition of Marian Catholic to the Red Division will give the Rams a fighting chance at a winning record. Carmel, St. Laurence, Providence and especially, Joliet Catholic will be long shots. Upset one of those teams, handle the rest, and there you have it—the IHSA playoffs. Once you’re in, who knows. Just ask Tom Kleinschmidt. The Rams basketball team won 3rd in state last year. Maybe the Rams football team could find itself in DeKalb come Thanksgiving. Just saying.
Preps Coverage.
In other news, Mike Clark took over for Beth Long covering football in the Sun-Times. We will be well served by the professional in-depth coverage by Mike Clark. Michael O’Brien will continue his coverage as well. It’s great to see the Sun-Times dedication to prep sports coverage. Michael O’Brien and Joe Henricksen do such a great job on basketball. Michael and Mike will be great working on football.
It seems the Chicago Tribune has completely abandoned covering high school sports. I looked at the Tribune website high school sports page. The last story published was from July. Embarrassing. There is such a void in coverage out there; a million stories to tell; a million photos to publish.
There you have it. My first long form blog post. It’s not exactly journalism. Not exactly commentary. I will try to do more. Throw in some news, analysis, commentary and photographs. Hope you like it.
Dissappointing seasons came to an end for both the DePaul Prep Rams and St. Rita Mustangs on Saturday (Oct. 20, 2018) with a 40-0 whitewashing of the Rams by the Mustangs. I had high hopes for the Rams at the beginning of the season. They had some athletes, a little bit of size. I thought they could pick up some quality wins. It wasn’t to be.
I saw St. Rita twice. They gave a good game to a very good Brother Rice team. 3 and 6 is a surprising record for such a good team.
Both programs will bounce back. On to basketball.
Hope you like the photos.
The DePaul Prep Rams faced the De La Salle Meteors at DePaul’s new home field, Chicago Academy, 3400 N. Austin. The noon game at that field makes for good photos. It didn’t work out too well for the Rams. The gave up the first 40 points then scored the final 22. De La Salle just proved a little to big and fast for the Rams.
It was a great day to take photos. I noticed that the autofocus setting was reacting really slow. I need to work on adjusting the setting. Canon autofocus is so good. I must have work on that. Small issue but I can do better. The settings are so robust there is a better why.
Football is winding down. Playoffs are coming up. Looking forward to that.
Hope you like the photos.
