Chicago Public League Sports Blog

Down Cycle

2 football seasons ago Amundsen was playing in the Illini conference and riding high after what I feel is one of the biggest upsets in recent CPS history by upsetting Morgan Park. Since then, they have crashed to earth. They have since been demoted to the Chicago Big Shoulders conference where they posted a disapointing 1-7 record. On the plus side, they played in some competitive games last year and look to bounce back this year.

Here are some football teams which showed me some down cycle signs last year and if they are not careful could go further down the abyss of the down cycle.
These teams aren't on the list 100% because they had awful records, but because of the combination of poor records and I had more expectations of them when the season started.

(last year's record)(last year's conference)

Amundsen (1-7)(Chicago Big Shoulders)
Prosser(0-8)(Chicago Big Shoulders)
Little Village(0-8)(Chicago Great Lakes)
Senn(0-8)(Chicago Second City)
Carver(2-6)(Illini Heartland)
Julian(1-7)(Illini Land of Lincoln)
Fenger(1-7)(Illini Land of Lincoln)
Harlan(1-7)(Illini Land of Lincoln)
Kelvyn Park(3-5)(Inter-City 1)

All the teams listed above (and more) could be listed as disappointments. However, the biggest fall of them all could be Fenger. They went from CPS semi-finalist two years ago to a 1-7 record last year including getting schlacked by 2-6 Julian and shut out by 1-7 Harlan 40-0.

Prosser will hopefully find some relief playing in the Inter-City conference this year after playing what could be one of the worse offensive displays of football in CPS history. The Falcolns scored only 6 points the entire season in a winless season that included a 54-0 loss to Inter-City conference Pritzker and a 64-0 pounding by Marshall. Luckily, Prosser did not have to play conference champion Foreman last season due to the teachers strike.

The good news for these teams (if there is any good news) is that this coming football season, most of them will be playing in a lower level CPS conference where the competition is hopefully more to their level. 

In the CPS, things can change around rather quickly for the better and the worse. All it takes is an AD to hire one good coach and the program can be turned around fairly quickly and go on an up cycle. On the other side, if a school loses a good coach or if they lose all their major talent to graduation, the program can quickly crash.

Neilski's Group C Individual Watch List

The Group C CPS Indoor track championship consisted of 22 schools. Group A and B have 12 schools each. So, Group C schools account for about 50% of the school in the CPS. With Group C schools consisting almost half of all CPS schools with track teams, there is bound to be some talent in Group C.


Lazyrick Middlebrooks(jr) of Chicago Bulls College Prep finished 2nd at last year's city frosh-soph meet and made it to this year's Outdoor Leaderboard with a time of 52.6 in the 400.

Lazyrick Middlebrooks(jr) of Chicago Bulls College Prep- Outside chance to score at the city meet in the 400.
Martin Brackett(sr) of Clark- 11.1 hand time in the 100 meter this year. I want to see an FAT time on him before making a judgement of his speed.
Paris Hilliard(so) of Clark- Has fastest 100 meter hand time for a freshman of sophomore in the CPS with a time of 11.1
Sharvon Johnson(so)  of Phillips. Tied with Hilliard for the fastest 100 meter hand time for a freshman of sophomore in the CPS with a time of 11.1. Won the frosh-soph 100 at the North Lawndale Relays.
Miguel Tapia(sr) of Amundsen. Has the fastest Group C runner on the 1600 leaderboard. Too bad he is a senior. Amundsen has not scored at the city meet in a very long time. If he can somehow shave at least 10-15 seconds on his mile time, he has an outside chance of making the 1600 meter finals in the city meet.
Vidal Thomas(sr) of Kelly. This talented jumper is the only CPS jumper to high jump 6 feet, long jump over 20 feet, and triple jump over 40 feet outdoors so far this year. He could be a one man wrecking crew for Kelly at the city meet.

Others
Brandon Lane(so)- Phillips- sprints
John Romero III(fr)- Kennedy- sprints
Kendall Morris(so)- Phillips- sprints
Ben Satterfield(jr)-Phillips- sprints
Jonathon Doresey(fr)- Bulls- 400
Charles Billinsley(fr)-Bulls- 400
Saul Salinas(sr)-Hubbard- distance
Brian Quinonez(so)- Kennedy- middle distance
Alex Bermudez(so)- Little Village- distance
Victor Taylor(jr)- King-sprints
Manjaro Jackson(sr)- Gage Park-sprints
Thichin Spencer(jr)- Englewood-sprints
Christopher Thompson(jr)- Austin- throws
Johnny Daniels(jr)- Foreman- throws
Ladell Fleming(sr)- Julian- throws
Marshaun Bouie(sr)- Clark- jumps

 

 

Reader Says: "Give Some Love to Nick Flowers of Amundsen"

Nick Flowers(jr-G) and his close to 20 ppg has led Amundsen to a
16-6 overall record, a 8-1 Blue-North conference record, and a
promotion to the higher profile Red-North conference next year.
(KW photo)

I got this email from a CPSFan.com reader:

Hey this is student  from Amundsen H.S. in i see you do all these
stories about all these basketball school,well Amundsen has a
diamond under the dirty his name is Nick flowers he only a JR in
he is the best guard in the blue in to me one of the best guards on
the north side i want everybody to know about him he is a force
to be mess with here are some pictures of him in the attachments
he almost avg.20 points as a JR in still  getting better i can"t wait to
see how he does in the Red next year so can you please mention him. 

Uplift and Amundsen finished 1-2 in the Blue-North and next year
will replace Senn and Steinemtz who finished in the bottom 2 of
the Red-North.

Julian's Ladell Fleming; Amundsen's Desroy Maxwell committs to NIU

Desroy Maxwell (OL/WR, 6-3, 240lbs, sr) was a one man wrecking crew for Amundsen.

Northern Illinois University received oral comittments from Desroy Maxwell of Amundsen and Ladell Fleming(6-1, 210lb, LB) of Julian.

Maxwell, who plans to major in Engineering, said he wants to go to a winning program. Maxwell, in my opinion is one of the best overall players in the CPS. He was a one man wrecking crew on all facets of the game. He was a tackling machine on defense, an incredible receiver on offense, and is one of the city's best kickers. He hit a 40+ yard field goal that was instrumental in Amundsen' stunning upset of Morgan Park earlier this year.

Ladell said he likes the family feeling at NIU. Ladell had a team high 115 tackles from a much improved Julian program.

“He’s an aggressive, sideline-to-sideline type of linebacker,” Julian coach Jason Richardson said. “He’s just a smart player who makes plays. He was really flying under the radar. I think if he had got out earlier he would have got some really big offers. I think he’s a steal. - from ESPN.

Both will be nominated in my upcoming Illini-conference player of the year poll.

Who is in danger of falling to Chicago Conference

Senn worked so hard last year to make it to the Illini conference. Now that they are in it, they are winless in the Illini-Heartland and must win next week against Hope to stay in the Illini.

The last place team in any Illini-conference will be demoted to the Chicago Conference. So with one conference game to go, who is in danger of getting sent down?

Illini-Heartland
Senn and Hope are winless in conference play. The two face off this Thursday at Stagg Stadium. The winner will stay in the Illini for at least one more year.

Illini-Land of Lincoln
Clark lost a 28-26 heartbreaker to Raby yesterday. Previous to the game Clark and Raby were winless in conference play. Unless Clark can somehow come up with an upset with over suddenly hot Julian and Dae Shaun Hurley in the last conference game this Friday, Clark will get sent down to the Chicago.



Illini-Prairie State
Amundsen and Bogan play this Saturday at Winnemac. Bogan is winless in conference. Amundsen has the biggest win of the year, when they beat Morgan Park. But that win won't mean much to the players if Amundsen can't beat Bogan.

Illini-Redbird
CVS and Whitney Young play this Friday at Rockne. If Whitney Young wins, CVS is sent down to the Chicago. If CVS wins, Lane Tech, CVS, and Witney Young will all have a 1-4 conference record (assuming Lane loses to Simeon) and all kinds of tie breakers will come into play to determine who is in last.

Armagedon at Morgan Park

The Unthinkable Happens as Amundsen Stuns Morgan Park 15-13!


Amundsen and stud player #7 Desroy Maxwell (center- the tall guy).

I featured this game earlier this week. In that article, I said that "Amundsen has a slight chance at an upset."  At the same time I still favored Morgan Park. I knew Morgan Park was down this year and Amundsen was up. When I wrote that the thought of Amundsen beating Morgan Park was unthinkable. Seeing that 15-13 score still DAZZLES my mind.

The difference was Desroy Maxwell(sr). Maxwell, a do everything player for Amundsen, used his powerful leg to kick a 46 yard field goal at the end of the first half that turned out to be the difference in this game.  Maxwell, who was born in Jamaica played soccer growing up. He tried football when he came to the states and has developed to one of the best overall players in the CPS.

Meanwhile, the Morgan Park boo birds will now be out in full force on new coach Jeremy Gold. Losing to Providence and Simeon is one story but to lose to Amundsen is unthinkable for a storied program like Morgan Park.

Amundsen vs Morgan Park

This is not your typical run of the mill Amundsen team. Amundsen has #7 (center) Desroy Maxwell - one of the top if not the top overall player in the CPS.

Conference play opens this week. While every teams' opening game in conference play is important, the one that seems to be getting some serious attention is Morgan Park versus Amundsen this Saturday at Gately.

The entire Morgan Park football program is on life support due to the big coaching change. Longtime coach Lexie Spurlock was let go last spring and has since been replaced by CPS outsider Jeremy Gold. This move caused a lot of emotions. To further exacerbate things, Morgan Park has started 0-3 under Gold. Yes, they played one of the toughest schedules in the state, but it is how they lost that is getting to people. It does not help Gold's cause when you lose 47-7 to Simeon.

The roster size at Morgan Park is also smaller than it has been in year's past. The good news for Morgan Park is that Morgan Park has some talent. Sophomore running back Desmond Earls(so) is one of the top sophomore running backs in the city. He picked up 55 yards on 11 carries against Simeon. He'll do a whole lot better than that against Amundsen.

As for Amundsen, their 47-7 loss to Bloom last week was a disappointment. Despite that, I think this is their best team they have had in a long time.

Quarterback #10 Patrick McCoy(sr) is experienced and much improved over year's past. They have 3 serviceable running backs. #2 John Riley(sr) brings the speed and will have most of the carries, #34 Chris Price is bigger and brings the power, and #22 Enrique Rosa(sr) - a Lane Tech transfer - showed me some quickness and versatility.

Amundsen's biggest weapon is #7 Desroy Maxwell(sr). Maxwell does it all for Amundsen. He plays linebacker and is by far Amundsen's leading tackler and sacker. He also plays wide receiver and kicks for Amundesen. I saw him make a 40+ yard field goal in a game. Maxwell is very active, quick, and can absolutely kick. It has to do with his soccer background as he grew up playing soccer in Jamaica until he moved here with his family at the age of 11.

Amundsen will have the best player on the field in Maxwell. They also have an experienced senior led team. Key for Amundsen is if they can stop Earls and if their line can play in the trenches against a bigger and faster Morgan Park line.

Despite the turbulence at Morgan Park, I am still picking them to win this game by a score of 40-24 or 37-21 type game.

I feel Amundsen, has a slight chance of an upset. But they have to play a perfect game. They cannot have turnovers which has been a chronic problem for them.

CPS Sports Notebook

Mather Boys Varisty Basketball Coach Out! -It is not 100% confirmed yet, but sources tell me that Glen Heffernan is out as the boys varsity basketball coach at Mather and that Mather is looking for a new coach. Last year, Heffernan led Mather to one of its best seasons ever with a win at the Luther North Tournament, and a CPS quarterfinal berth!

New Lane Tech Girls Golf Team-  Lane Tech has finally started a girls golf team. I say finally because as far as I know Lane Tech has never had a girls golf team. I may be wrong, but I never heard of a girls golf team at Lane. They played a match versus Taft the other day and got beat by the much more established Taft program.

Amundsen Boys Soccer on the Rise - Amundsen has seemingly come out of nowhere to become a CPS soccer power. So far they are 6-0-1 with wins over Lane, Juarez, Taft, and a tie against Curie.

Pictures Now- Amundsen vs Maine East

Photo Album

Maine East Cheerleaders

Amundsen 35 - Maine East 0

Amundsen dominated this game.  For the first half the game was played almost entirely on the Maine East side of the ball. Amundsen scored in the first quarter on a 4 yard touchdown run by quarter back Patrick McCoy(sr)  to give Amundsen an 8-0 lead. Amundsen struck again in the 2nd quarter when McCoy connected with wide receiver Desroy Maxwell (sr, WR/LB/K/P) on a 12 yard fadeaway to the corner where Maxwell had  an incredible one arm catch.

Maxwell, one of the top football players in the CPS, also showed he can kick. He made 2 field goals and barely missed on a third. The first made field goal was in the quarter; it was about 37 yards.

However, as lopsided as teh scre was, it should have been worse. Amundsen had two turnovers and a missed field goal in the second quarter - all within the Maine East 25 yard line.

Maine East's best scoring opportunity came to start the 2nd half when they recovered an onside kick. A big run by full back Mike Kuzebski(5-11, 170lbs, jr) gave Maine East 1st and and goal on the 4 yard line. However, the Amundsen defense held them on downs.

I got a chance to catch Amundsen for the first time this year. They have promise, but they have to cut down on their turnovers. They can overcome turnovers against Maine East but not against Hubbard or Morgan Park.

The biggest reason for promise this year for Amundsen, is #7 Desroy Maxwell. Maxwell is what you call a once in a lifetime palyer for Amundsen. He is big, strong, fast, and athletic. Best of all he dominates on all phases of the game. As a middle linebacker, he makes countless tackles. As a receiver he is clearly an offensive and physical threat. And he can make filed goals and kick off's. Much more on Maxwell in afuture post.

I asked running back John Riley(sr, RB/DB) and captain Kwasi Vaughters (sr,DE/FB/TE) on how they think they will do in conference play.

"We'll do well in conference... we can beat Bogan," said Price.

"We almost got Hubbard last year.... we can get them this year," said Vaughters.

 
Amundsen quarterback Patrick McCoy(sr) and running back John Riley(sr) congratulate each other after a successful two point conversion gave Amundsen an 8-0 lead.