DePaul Prep Falls to Benet 39-38 in 4A Semi-final

[Preview of this week’s Inside—Booster article.]

By Jack Lydon

This one hurt. The two best high school basketball teams in Illinois faced off in the 4A semi-final in Champaign Friday afternoon. Benet Academy’s Colin Stack made a free throw with 1.1 seconds on the clock to give the Red Wings (36-1) the 39-38 win over the DePaul Prep Rams (32-4).

As close games go, never has one been closer. These teams know each other. The players know each other. The coaches are friends and relatives.  It was a shame one team had to win and one lose in the season’s penultimate show down.

“I didn’t have any pep talk, any motivational talk. You know these guys so well. They know you so well. We are down in Champaign,” Benet head coach Gene Heidkamp told his team before the game.

The Rams jumped out to small first quarter lead. The Red Wings drew even and led at the quarter. They were tied at the half. One point separated them at the end of the third.

Benet pushed the slight 4th quarter lead to six with under three minutes to play. Didn’t look good for the Rams.

After DePaul Prep’s senior center Rashaun Porter made it a four-point game, the Rams went to a full court press.

“We didn’t do [the press] well the first time we played them [in the Pontiac] so we worked on it and it worked out well for us. We didn’t want to do it too early so they get comfortable with it,” said DePaul Prep Rams coach Tom Kleinschmidt.

Catching the Red Wings a little flat-footed, the Rams trapped the inbounds pass. Rykan Woo stole the ball under the basket and instantly made it a two-point game.

More press. Rashaun Porter Porter scored inside off another steal. 38-38 with 1:11 to play.

Then another steal and the Rams had the ball and chance to win. With under ten seconds to play, Rams AJ Chambers drives to his right, collides with Benet’s Perry Tchiegne who tipped the ball away. Benet’s Jayden Wright recovered the ball. Streaking up court, Wright passed to Edvardas Stasys in the lane. Rykan Woo smartly foul him on the floor—no shooting foul which resulted in an inbounds pass.

Then there were series of five consecutive times out while the teams tried to draw up a play, defend a play, then that again, then that still another time.

“I don’t know how many times outs there were. There might have been eight,” Heidkamp said.

“He kept changing the play, so I kept changing the play. It just depended on who was taking it out and who was around the rim. We would see the set, the I would guess what they doing, then he would change it,” Kleinschmidt said.

Finally, Benet’s Jayden Wright passed the ball inbounds to seven-footer Colin Stack. Stack was fouled but missed the bucket with 1.1 on the clock but was fould.

First free throw, no good. Second free throw. Good. 39-38.

Benet wins and advances to championship game against fellow East Suburban Catholic Conference team Marist.

Rams’ senior center Rashaun Porter lead all scorers with 14 points. Rykan Woo had 11. Jayden Wright led the Red Wings with 11. Edvardas Stasys had 10.

The DePaul Prep Rams string of consecutive state Championships comes to an end. It’s been quite a procession of basketball playoff success for the Rams. Six finals appearances in the last six finals dating back to 2019. And in one of the COVID years, the Rams won the Chipolte tournament finishing the season ranked No. 1. Even more remarkable is DePaul Prep head coach Tom Kleinschmidt’s record. In twelve years as head coach at Gordon Tech/DePaul Prep, Tom’s teams have been in the finals six of those twelve years.

The Rams won the third-place game 56-46 over York late Friday evening.

St. Patrick Beats Carmel 70-43

SHAMROCKS STAY IN ESCC RACE WITH HOME WIN OVER CARMEL

SPORTS SPOTLIGHT BY JOHN MONTGOMERY 

One of the goals for varsity basketball team at St Patrick is to win East Suburban Catholic Conference basketball championship in its final season. The Shamrocks (21-4, 5-1) moved a step closer with 70-43 win over Carmel (9-18, 2-6) last Friday night. 

“Our name would be carved in gold but it would be a co-championship,” senior RJ McPartlin said after the latest victory. “It would be a tremendous thing.”

The ESCC will merge with the Catholic League next school year in basketball.

Top ranked Benet (26-1, 6-0) is going for fourth straight title, and Redwings stayed in sole possession of first place with a victory over Notre Dame. Marist (23-4,4-1) and St.Viator (18-8, 4-2) stayed alive for share of excellence in ESCC with wins as well.

“It would mean the world to me and our program to win the league in its final season,” St Patrick head coach Mike Bailey admitted. “I love the ESCC. The schools are all very similar. We have two road games left. We are treating next two games as championship week. We have to take care of business.”

There was very little drama on Friday against Carmel who has one of the state's best football players sophomore inebacker Jameer Myles on its roster. Shamrocks jumped out to a 13-2 lead before putting the Corsairs away in the third quarter by scoring 27 points. In fact the only issue for St Patrick was Shamrocks played critical conference clash without Joey Costanzo who was sick. 

Maurice Neeley led Shamrocks with 19 points while Omar Ajanovic added 17 points.

Ethan Matz led Carmel with 10 points.

Neeley is very underrated player but plays important role for St Pat's. The senior guard is point man on its defense while starting the offense for Shamrocks.

“As important as the other players are on our team he is the glue for our team,” Bailey said. “He means so much to our basketball team. He does a little bit of everything for us.”

“He is tough as nails,” McPartlin stated. ‘He is not a selfish guy. He’s a good teammate.”

St Patrick closed the weekend with a 74-42 win over Jones College Prep from Chicago PublicLeague. The victory was a milestone for Bailey who won his 700th varsity basketball game. Bailey has now won 604 games with Shamrocks in 32 seasons.

“It's a nice accomplishment,” Bailey said. “For me it is always about having great assistant coaches and players. Very blessed to have great families and basketball players in our program at St Patrick. I have a very supportive administration at St Patrick. The most important thing for me is our students and basketball players.”

The state basketball playoff pairings will released this Friday. Shamrocks will be in Class 4A at Loyola sectional with defending Class 3A champion DePaul Prep, Evanston, and Loyola. St Pat's is seeking third straight trip to the Elite Eight after finishing third in Class 3A last season.

DePaul Prep Dominates Saint Viator 36-7

By Jack Lydon

[Preview of this week’s piece in Inside—Booster]

“Every time we try to get cute defensively and try to do more, the kids make mistakes,” said DePaul Prep head coach Mike Passarella.

“So we said we want to go back to the basics and play fundamental football.”

Fundamental football is what we saw at DePaul Prep Stadium Friday night where the DePaul Prep Rams handled the Saint Viator Lions 36-7 in a Chicago Catholic League/East Suburban Catholic Conference Purple Division matchup.

There was not a whole lot of offense in the first quarter. Both teams were trying to find their legs. It was the Rams that found them first and dominated on defense. With the score 8-0 Rams after Rams’ senior running back Tyson Hicks scored on 42-yard run midway through the second quarter, with five minutes left in the half and ball at midfield, the Lions had a fourth and two. The frustrated Lions went for it. 

“I called the stunt. We knew that we could get some movement. After a couple of series that they were sliding to [Junior defensive end Hunter Wahtola] because he's kind of our big disruptive player that creates penetration,” Passarella said.

“My nose guard took up that block, I slanted right in that A gap. Once I met the quarterback face to face, I knew I was going to get that sack,” Wahtola said.

Wahtola was in the backfield so fast, it looked like the play was designed to give him the ball. Wahtola dropped Lions’ senior quarterback Joey Lampignano so quickly it took a moment to realize the play was over.

After that, it was all Rams. Responding to the stop, the Rams came up with a little trickeration.

Junior quarterback Jackson Grabinski through a long lateral pass to senior wide receiver Blake Yucan, who also happens to be the backup quarterback, who then launched a deep ball to a wide open senior wide receiver Matthew Osterman who trotted into the endzone for a 53-yard touchdown reception making the score 15-0 at the half.

The second half was Rams sophomore running back Tyson Hooks turn to shine. He had a 49-yard touchdown catch and run in the third quarter littering the field with failed Lion tacklers reminiscent of Walter Payton run. And then Hicks added a third touchdown with 3:17 left. This time for 58-yards to put the game away. Hicks with touchdowns of 58, 49 and 42 yards. 

“I think we’ve got the best of offensive line in the state. I say that a lot. They make my life easy,” said Hicks.

“I ran thirty yards before I was touched. My receivers are running down field blocking safeties forty hours down the field.”

For some icing on the cake, senior safety Luke Flom, who plays more like a linebacker, split out into the flat deep in coverage deep in the Saint Viator end of the field. Lampignano looked to his left and passed the ball. It what seemed like a lifetime, the ball sailed right to Flom with no Lion receiver even in view.

“I was ready for it. I knew the ball is coming to me. They were throwing at me all night. I don't know why but I was ready for it and it took it to the house,” Flom said.

Flom, who has missed a few games with injury this season, grabbed it like he was the intended receiver and raced it into the end zone to give the Rams a 35-0 lead late in the third quarter.

“My first game back of a lot of injuries. I knew it was coming. I got a few pass deflections, but I was ready for it and took it to the crib,” Flom added.

The Rams move to 2-4 on the season. The Lions drop to 1-5. It’s been a rough opening campaign for first year Saint Viator head coach and former Chicago Bears place kicker Robbie Gould. Gould came over to Saint Viator from Rolling Meadows high school where he coached last year.

Gould spent eleven seasons as the Bears’ kicker from 2005-2015. After being unceremoniously and stupidly dumped by the Bears, he played nine more seasons in the NFL principally with the San Franciso 49ers. Gould is the nineth most accurate field goal kicker in NFL history.

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.

Football is Here--Lots of Changes this Season

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.

ESCC v. CCL All Star Game

I have to apologize for a previous version of this blog post. My remarks about Notre Dame College Prep's gym comparing the it light to light in some other gyms were, well, unfunny and ill-considered. I wrote:

Notre Dame "has a dated fluorescent lighting system. Clearly, one ought not judge the merits of a school by the quality of the light in its gym but maybe we ought rethink that a little. The light in DePaul Prep's and St. Viator's gyms is excellent. (Just a tip for you parents with kids in elementary school.)

I apologize. I wasn't trying to insult Notre Dame. The gym is just fine. It was a humorless attempt at some photographer inside baseball reference to different qualities and quantities of light in school gyms for the purposes of taking photographs. No other purpose than that. 

I feel especially bad from causing a problem for Coach Shea Boyle who I have been lucky enough to know for years now. He has always been so gracious to me. Forgive me. 

So, with written, back to the matter at hand.

Notre Dame College Prep hosted the all-star game on Friday, April 20, 2018. It was a typical all-star game--all shooting and no defense. But fun nevertheless. Nice to see these kids have some fun without all the pressure. I didn't really have a rooting interest. I attended St. Viator, a million years ago and my brother Dan teaches there now. But my kids went to Gordon Tech/DePaul Prep and I shoot a lot DePaul Prep events as you might have noticed if you looked at my portfolio page. 

The game wasn't exactly a true all star game. It was only seniors. And not all the schools sent players--DePaul Prep, Loyola, Mt. Carmel for starters, probably others but I didn't exactly keep count. 

I included more photos than I usually do so I could include as many of the players as possible. Some images might not be up to normal publication standards. I included a photo of the referees which I do not ordinarily publish. However, I wanted to honor these refs. Two of whom I see regularly working CCL games. They do excellent jobs. For the most part, all the refs that work CCL games are very good. On occasion, some are not so good but that's pretty rare. 

I hope you like the photos.