Lane's Vernon Cole Carries Champions into Second Round of Playoffs

SPORTS SPOTLIGHT BY JOHN MONTGOMERY

Not even an eight-man defensive front could stop Lane running back Vernon Cole last Friday night on Halloween in the opening round of the Class 8A state high school football playoff. Cole, who has been recovering from an ankle injury, saw limited action but rushed for 77 yards and one touchdown, added a 36-yard punt return and briefly ran a Wildcat offense in a 34-6 victory over Perspectives.

“I would have to say honestly that he is our best football player,” said Deshon Conley, Lane’s first-year head coach. “And he is a better person off the field than he is a football player.”

Cole, who was a wrestler in elementary school, didn’t start playing football until he enrolled at Lane. As a senior, he has done it all to become one of the best players in the city, rushing for 855 yards and 11 touchdowns. He also has completed two passes in the Wildcat offense. And he also plays defensive back.

“He can play college football one day,” Conley said. “Some coaches like to see him play on defense. Some coaches would like to see him play on offense.”

Cole, a 5-9, 165-pounder who won the Public League’s 165-pound wrestling championship as a junior, has his own game plan. “I want to play offense. My dream is to play for (coach) Deion Sanders at Colorado. My favorite running back is Jaymyr Gibbs of the Detroit Lions (of the NFL).”

Lane (9-1), who have never won a state football title, recorded its first playoff victory in 21 years.The Champions will try to advance to the quarterfinals when they host Oswego (8-2) at 1 p.m. Saturday at Lane Stadium.

At the same time, Lane hopes to change the Chicago Public League’s statewide image in football.Last weekend, Public League teams went 0-15 against non-city competition in the opening round of the state tournament. Phillips is the only Public League school to win a state title, 4A in 2015 and 5A in 2017. Robeson was 6A runner-up in 1982.

“We know it is going to be difficult to win a state championship because of the schools in Class 8A and the competition,” Conley said. “However, I am confident the coaching staff can come up with a game plan against any opponent. I look forward to the challenge.”

One thing opponents must prepare to defend against is Lane’s Wildcat formation. The offense made popular by former Florida quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow.

“It was my idea to use the Wildcat,” Cole said. “I told the coaches that the holes were there. It has been a big part of our playbook.”

On Friday night, Perspectives tried to contain Cole. The first half was a nightmare as Lane was shut out, then fell behind 6-0 when Perspectives’ Herman Yancy scored on a 51-yard pass interception return in the third quarter. But junior quarterback Blake Perkins, who recently earned a starting position because Conley wanted to improve Lane’s passing attack, stepped up in the second half with touchdown runs of 37 and 30 yards and a 20-yard scoring pass to Aidan Andrich.

“I told the kids at halftime that when you are ready to make plays and block, you will win the game,” Conley said.

“I think I just panicked in the first half. I just rushed myself,” Perkins said.

While Perkins and Cole are the keys to Lane’s offense, the defense has been even more effective, recording five shutouts while not allowing an offensive touchdown last Friday. Cole should know about Lane’s defense. He sees it every day in practice.

“I think this defense has to be one of the best in the city and state,” Cole said. “The record speaks for itself. I don’t think anybody can really score on us.”

Against Perspectives, the defense was led by 6-3, 280-pound senior linebacker Daniel Howard, who is committed to Iowa State, and 5-11, 260-pound junior end Kanye Williams. They will be tested this weekend by Oswego (8-2), which is averaging 30 points per game.

This has been a rewarding, turn-around season for Lane, which was 3-6 a year ago. The players have responded very positively to Conley’s coaching philosophy.

“He has a great football IQ,” Cole said about his coach. “He is a leader on and off the football field.”

So is Cole.

“Lane is one of the top three schools in the state,” he said. “It is great being a student-athlete at Lane. Balancing academics and athletics make you a better person. It is always school first for me.”

“I am very proud of him,” said Mike Smith, Lane’s head of security.

So how far can this team go in the state playoff. Old-timers argue Lane’s 1980 team that lost to Gordon Tech in the Class 6A semifinals might have been one of the best teams never to win a state championship.

What will be the legacy of the 2025 squad? Saturday’s game against Oswego should provide some answers.

Lane Earns Berth in State Football Playoffs

SPORTS SPOTLIGHT BY JOHN MONTGOMERY

Lane, you are the champions.

Lane is one of few high schools that can actually say “We Are The Champions,” in reference to the now famous 1977 song by the rock group Queen that is often played after a sports team wins a championship. Lane’s nickname was “School of Champions” with good reason as the North Side school at Western and Addison has won over 500 city championships and 16 state titles since its founding in 1908.

In the Chicago Public League, Lane has been dominant in football, baseball and swimming. Today, it is a contender in a variety of varsity sports.

For many years, the school was known as the Indians. The statue of a symbolic Indian has stood in the school’s courtyard since 1947.

“We are a true College Prep School,” athletic director Brent Bradish told me recently. “Being the athletic director at Lane is an opportunity to work at a great school.”

Unfortunately, despite its distinguished academic and athletic reputation, which reminds many people of Northwestern in the Big Ten, there were some critics, especially Native American groups and former students, who were upset with the school’s nickname and mascot. There also were some students and alumni who weren’t offended and thought the issue was overblown. It all came to a head in 2020 and 2021 with a series of protests.

As in the cases of the Cleveland Indians and the Washington Redskins, the Lane administration bowed to public pressure and voted to change the school’s nickname to Champions. Other nominees were Owl, Bison and Lightning. But Champions at the School of Champions prevailed.

In 2021, current principal Edwina Thompson summarized the issue with this public statement: “Our stakeholders have decided to stand with our name Lane Tech but continue our tradition on being School of Champions by selecting Champions as our symbol of honor.”

“We didn’t just change the nickname,” said Bradish, who grew up in the Chicago suburbs and attended Rolling Meadows High School. “It was a rebranding. The response to the new nickname has been positive.”

First-year football coach Deshon Conley agrees. “The nickname Indians was the nickname (five years ago) and I didn’t get involved with the controversy. I am just the football coach. The new nickname is appropriate. We have been called the School of Champions for years,” he said.

The first great student-athlete at Lane was three-sport star Fritz Pollard, who now is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and was the first black head coach in the NFL. Lane Stadium, one of the jewels of the Chicago Public League, has been renamed Pollard Field. Other standouts who attended Lane were Olympic gold-medal swimmer Johnny Weissmuller, the first Tarzan of the movies, former Chicago Cubs star and manager Phil Cavarretta and lineman Laken Tomlinson of the Houston Texans of the NFL.

During the 2024-25 school year, Lane thrived by winning 12 Public League varsity championships while advancing to the state finals in four sports. In Class 4A, Lane finished in the top four in boys soccer, boys swimming, boys volleyball and girls soccer. Both soccer teams lost in the state championship game.

One of the many jobs of an athletic director is to hire and fire coaches. Bradish may have scored a touchdown by promoting Conley, who was Lane’s defensive coordinator for the last four years. Conley responded by guiding Lane to the state playoff for the 29th time, more than any other Public League school. The Champions (6-1) punched a ticket for this year’s Class 8A playoff by beating Phillips 13-0 last Friday at Gately Stadium. Quite a comeback from last year’s 3-6 finish.

“I didn’t come into this season with any expectations,” Conley said. “Last year, we came in with great expectations and finished 3-6. And we had some great football players.”

This year’s squad features some great players. The offense is led by running back and two-way standout Vernon Cole, who has scored 10 touchdowns and has emerged as one of the leading players in the Public League. The defense, which has allowed only 38 points while posting four shutouts, is led by 5-11, 260-pound junior tackle Kanye Williams, junior linebacker Aiden Boywid, senior end Greg Howard and junior safety Clay Taylor.

“We have had some great turnouts at home games,” Bradish said. “It was great to start 4-0. We had a wide list of candidates (for the head coaching job). Deshon has been here as an assistant coach for four years .He has a great relationship with the kids.”

Lane, whose only setback was a 16-13 decision to Payton(6-1) will close its regular season with back-to-back home games against Westinghouse and King. Pairings for the state playoff will be announced on Saturday night October 25.

“We have won the most championships in football (in Public League history) and we have won the most championships in baseball,” Conley said. “Hopefully I can win a (Public League) championship .”

Like Champions from the past at Lane and add another championship banner.

Lane Tech defensive line. (Photo credit: Jack Lydon.)

Payton Tops Lane 16-13 for Dominance on Northside

[Preview of my article in Inside—Booster.]

By Jack Lydon

Walter Payton College Prep may be the best high school on the northside of Chicago and it might also have the best football team as well. Record wise at least, one can’t argue with that. It doesn’t get better than 5-0 on the season. The Grizzlies defeated the Lane Tech Champions 16-13 Saturday afternoon at Lane Stadium.

Pretty much everyone knows takeaways and defense produces wins. That’s what the Grizzlies did on Saturday. It might been a little coaching too.

“We knew they struggle passing the ball, so we concentrated on stopping the run,” said Payton defensive coordinator Frank Dickerson.

The Grizzlies did not completely stop the Lane’s running attack. Senior tailback/quarterback/wildcat Vernon Cole still scored two touchdowns, a four-yard keeper early in the second quarter and a 53-yard keeper up the middle late in the fourth quarter. But Payton pretty much stopped everything else.

“I saw his eyes the whole way. He was staring there. We have been watching film. The only thing he has been throwing is inside slants and inside posts. I sat back, saw the ball and it was right there,” said Payton senior safety and running back Sam Merrill.

Merrill picked out the slant pass in the middle of the field and returned to ball to Lane’s 22 yard-line. That set up a one-yard touchdown by Payton quarter back Thomas Fritchett at the 7:52 mark in the third which gave the Grizzlies a 16-7 lead.

The Grizzlies defense continued to styme the Champions throughout the remainder of the third including another interception in Lane territory this time by senior cornerback John Seward. That takeaway did not lead to points but the ensusing long Payton possession took time off the clock.

Lane rallied with Cole’s 53-yard touchdown late in the fourth to make the score 16-13. And the Champions had a chance to tie with a field goal attempt with 30 seconds to play but the kick sailed left of the uprights.

Payton’s first year coach Calvin Clark was fired up after the game.

“It means a lot. At the end of the day, we prepared for this moment. We talk about mental toughness. We’ve got mental toughness. We expect to win,” said Payton head coach Calvin Clark. This is Clark’s first year at Payton. He previously was the head coach at Sullivan High School in Rogers Park.

Lane also has a first-year head coach. Lane’s Deshon Conley was disappointed with the turnovers by his Champions.

“The scoop and score fumble was probably the deciding score of the game,” Conley said. In the first quarter, Lane quarterback Robert Suteu directed a swing pass to his right. The receiver appeared to drop the pass but it was ruled a reception and fumble by the referee standing right next to the play in the backfield.

Payton quarterback Thomas Fritchett, who also plays defensive end, scooped up the fumble, ran it in 2o yards to give the Grizzlies a 10-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

“Payton came prepared. We were a little lax today. It went against us,” Conley added.

This game went a long way to deciding the leading teams on the Northside. Both Lane and Payton came into the game at 4-0. Taft is 1-4. Lincoln Park is 3-2 but with losses to Whitney Young and Lane. Amundsen is struggling at 2-3. Payton can rightfully claim northside ascendency.

It gets no easier for the Grizzlies with Kenwood, King and Westinghouse to finishe the season. But for now, this week, Payton College Prep may be, just possibly, the best high school football team, Public League anyway, on the northside.