Chicago Public League Sports Blog

Holiday Tournament Scores

Sam Rarick(6-6,C) and Gordon Tech dominated Taft 63-34 at the Luther North Holiday Tournament. Senior guard Jerry Davis lit up Taft with 27 points. The lopsided win puts Gordon squarely in the driver seat to win the tournament.


@York
Waubonsee Valley 47 Lane Tech 28
Lane Tech played tough against #3 seed Waubonsee Valley. Lane led 20-19 at the half but only managed 8 points the 2nd half and eventually fell 47-28. Lane was led by Admir Suljic's 14 points. Lane Tech has lost 6 in a row. They face UIC College Prep next.

@Dekalb
Thornridge 63 Schurz 58

@Proviso West
Dunbar 55 Foreman 46
Lincoln Park 66 Ellison 47

@Luther North
Gordon Tech 63 Taft 34
Luther North 2 Mather 0 (forfeit)

Simeon vs Brother Rice - Prep Bowl Blogging

Simeon 14 Brother Rice 12 - OT
Simeon wins the first Prep Bowl for the CPS since Morgan Park won in 2007.

overtime
Brother Rice scores a touchdown but 2 point conversion fails. Simeon 14 Brother Rice 12 - OT

Elcee Burke 1 yard QB sneak for a TD. 2 point conversion Simeon 14 Brother Rice 6

4th quarter
1:21pm Simeon misses potential game winning field goal as time expires. Jon Gardner 23 yard field goal attempt hits post.

1:19pm Sharoid Roach 50 yard reception puts ball on BR 10 yard line.

1:14pm Jabari Winston has 3rd interception to stop BR potential game winning drive.

1:10pm Simeon 23 yard field goal attempt is blocked. BR defense has now stopped Simeon twice on first and goal inside 7 yard line.

1:02pm Brother Rice stops Simeon on 4 consecutive plays inside the Brother Rice 6 yard line. 

3rd quarter
12:55pm Jabari Winston gets his 2nd interception of the day for Simeon and returns the ball 45 yards to the BR 6.

12:50pm Kendall Moore(sr-OL) of Simeon recovers a Burke fumble in the end zone to tie the game. Missed extra point. Simeon 6 Brother Rice 6

12:44pm- Reggie Spearmon(sr, LB) is making a strong case for CPS defensive player of the year with his stellar defense. He has at least 2 sack and big tackles.

12:41pm - Simeon fumbles the ball on the BR 30 yard line - stopping a long Simeon drive.

2nd Quarter

12:07pm- Brother Rice scores a 13 yard touchdown with 4 seconds remaining in the half. Brother Rice 6 Simeon 0

11:45am - Simeon punt only goes 13 yards. BR starts on Simeon 35. Wind a major factor in this game. BR has yet to get a first down except on the fake punt. Simeon only has 2 first downs.

11:40am- Brother Rice gets a first down on a fake punt. Simeon stops Brother Rice on 4th down in the Red Zone. Simeon junior lineback Chris Jones(6-2, 235lbs, jr,LB) looks like a defensive star for Simeon.

1st Quarter Highlights
11:32am Brother Rice intercepts a Simeon pass at the BR 31 yard line. 3rd Simeon turnover in first quarter. Simeon has a dangerous return man in Darnell Cockrell(jr, DB/WR).  Simeon 0 Brother Rice 0

11:26am Simeon defense playing well. The Wolverines stop Brother Rice 3 times after 3 BR possession within 38 yard line of Simeon. Simeon has not allowed a single BR first down in 3 posessions. Simeon sophomore Maurice Burton(6-1,250lbs, DE, so) is playing well. Very quick player.

11:18am- Simeon intercepts BR pass at their own 1 yard line.

11:17am  - A few minutes into the game and Simeon already has 2 turnovers. Brother Rice deep in Simeon territory.

 

Brother Rice vs Simeon

Simeon plays Brother Rice in the Prep Bowl.

The CPS has not won the Prep Bowl in years. Can this be the year for a CPS win? Simeon is the #1 team in the Public League and for the most part has rolled through CPS competition. Outside of the CPS has been another story. They struggled against Bloom in the state playoffs and got lambasted by Loyola and Mt. Carmel.

This time they face Brother Rice. Brother Rice is not a state caliber team like Loyola who advanced to the state semi-finals or Mt. Carmel who play in the finals. Brother Rice was 7-5 this year and placed 4th in the tough Catholic Blue-North.

That is why I feel Simeon has a chance to win this game. Wheter they will or not we will find out.

 

 

Simeon vs. Mt. Carmel

Simeon plays Mt. Carmel in the 2nd round of the state playoffs.

These two south side football programs are very familiar with each other. They have played each other many times during the years including the state playoffs. Surprising to some, Simeon has actually played well against Mount Carmel in some years. In 2010, Simeon came up with a big 47-41 win over Mt Carmel on opening day at Soldier Field.

But what about this year? What are Simeon's chances? Simeon will have to play a near perfect game just to keep it close. (By close, I mean within 20 points). Simeon is lucky to even be in this position, as they barely made it past Bloom in the first round of the state playoffs. What made the Bloom game so close was not really Bloom, but Simeon mistakes. Bloom scored a touchdown on a Simeon mistake. Simeon drive down the field a couple times but turnovers and penalties stalled their drives and was almost fatal.

Even against Simeon's big regular season win over Lane, I could not help but notice all the penalties Simeon had. These types of mistakes won't cut it against a Mount Carmel team that is ranked #2 or so in the state and is a favorite to make the state finals.

I will say this Simeon is confident. Physically, Simeon has the players and athletes to run with Mount Carmel. The difference in this game will be execution. Simeon has a good enough defense to keep Mount Carmel from running up the score. Simeon only gave up 20 points to #1 ranked Loyola. But if their offense turns the ball over and if their team makes too many penalties, Mount Carmel will get the ball in good field position and it will feel much colder outside to Simeon fans.

Denzel Ward, Formerly of North Lawndale Commits to Michigan

North Lawndale had a good debut season in the Chicago Second City Conference.

Denzel Ward(6-9, 285lbs, jr, OL) of Hales comitted to play football for the University of Michigan. The 6-9 junior played basketball for North Lawndale last season before deciding to transfer to Hales. Ward helped Hales to a 13-0 upset of Cahokia last Friday to help propel Hales to the state playoffs.

NLCP was in the inter-city conference last year. North Lawndale had a great debut season in the Chicago Second City Conference this year. Thee finished in 3rd with a 5-2 conference record.  Can you image how much better North Lawndale would have been with the services of Ward?

Pictures Now- Lane Tech Larry Gnapp XC Invite 2012

Photo Album

Varsity start

Lane Tech Assistant Coach Tony Jones points at you!

Loyola girls JV traveled from Wilmette

Hungry Kids

Marist fans representing at Soldier Field Saturday (Robert Thornton photo)

The CPS used to have 3 representatives at the Pre-Season Prep Bowl at Soldier Field. This year, they only had one (Whitney Young)- and I don't think they call it the Pre-Season Prep Bowl anyomore, if they do they shouldn't use that name. Replacing the two CPS teams this year were St. Patrick's and Marist.

Meet organizers did the right thing. There are only so many years that you can witness CPS teams getting crushed with only a few upsets. Also, generally low turnout for CPS teams, I'm sure was a factor. But the biggest factor, I'm sure is the disapointing if not embarrasing general performance by the CPS in football.

So why is it that Catholic League Schools generally do better than CPS schools in sports overall ?

In can't be location. Marist, Brother Rice, Mt.Carmel, and St. Rita are all in the city. I'm not buying any race theories. Predominantly black suburban schools regularly thump CPS schools. Case in point Proviso West 40 - Hubbard 0; Gary West 58 Lindblom 6; Thornton 56 Orr 8; etc..

I asked one colleague his theory. He said that Private School parents and kids are hungrier. He explained how a private high school cost money to go to. The parent could send their kid for free at a Public School. Instead, they willing dish out and in many cases scrap to find thousands of dollars to send their kids to private school. The fact that they have to pay for something and not get something for free shows what kind of character their families have. This he said is the biggest factor. By contrast public school kids are used to getting things handed to them: free lunch, reduced bus fair, free schools, free summer camps or after school programs, free this free that.

One group of people had to work hard for everything. The other group get things handed to them. In the long run, which group creates more success?

 

Simeon to Face State Runner up Loyola Academy in Week 1

The #1 ranked CPS football team Simeon opens their season at class 8A state runner up Loyola Academy. What are their chances against this behemoth? I will say, that Loyola loses quite a bit to graduation same with Simeon including QB Robert Gregory now at Purdue and Jordan Diamond now at Auburn. But the talent never seems to dry up at Simeon as a new batch of impact players including at least 4 Division I college prospects:

Aaoron Banks(6-3,200lbs, S)- Simeon
offers: Bowling Green, Illinois State, Miami(OH), North Dakota, Northern Illinois, Western Michigan

 Reggie Spearmon(6-2,219lbs,LB)- Simeon
offers: Ball State, Houston, Indiana, New Mexico, Northern Illinois, Toledo, Western Kentucky, Western Michigan

Kendall Moore(6-5,265lbs, OT)- Simeon
offers: Illinois, Inidiana, Iowa State, Miami(OH), Western Kentucky, Western Michigan

John Gardner(6-4,200lbs, TE)- Simeon
offers: Western Michigan

Here is a scouting report of Loyola Academy from MWittman:

LOYOLA ACADEMY:

A heartbreaking loss to what's that school prevented LA from claiming the 8A title last year.  With that distant memory, so goes quite a few key players, tons of experience and Malcolm "Dream" Weaver.  LA is replacing quite a few people on both sides of the ball.  On the defense, LA returns Ford and Goodwin, both impact players from an impressive defense.  On offense, the Ramblers will look to replace a back in Palivos, a qb in Weaver and a wrs in Dowdle and Hayes. Hayes and Dowdle will be tough to replace as will Palivos, but the qb position is somewhat safe with Peter Pujals.  Pujals was frequently on the field as a wr last year and got time in relief of Weaver.  LA faces the task of finding replacements for a high number of players last year; they are looking to start new players on both sides of the ball.  This, however, is not the first time this has happened.  In 2009, LA was facing the same daunting task and managed to make it to the semi-finals.  this year, however, LA is replacing most of their offensive firepower.  Lower level players must contribute, particularly on the line where LA lost the most personnel. 

The main concern is the line:  LA replaces three, possibly four offensive lineman, but does have at least on experienced lineman in Goodwin on defense.  LA's balanced offense will ease pressure on what could be questionable line play.  The qb position returns not a starter, but Pujals has a bit of experience, which will help him avoid being thrown into the mix.  The biggest question marks on offense are three untested linemen and credible receivers.  On defense, I'll take John Holecek's mind to be an adequate substitute for inexperienced players. 

 

 

Peter Schaible of St. Rita Transfers to Jones

Jones Lands All-Catholic League Cross Country Runner Schaible

Jones has been boosted by the transfer of Peter Schaible(so) of St. Rita. A very reliable source cofirmed to me the transfer.

Schaible was the only sophomore named to the All-Catholic League Cross Country team last fall. Schaible qualified for the Class 2A state cross country and Class 2A state track meet as a runner for St. Rita. He finished with the 20th best time in the 3200 meter run at the state track meet with a time of 9:55.82. Schaible also finished 5th at the Catholic League meet with a time of 9:50.08. Schaible finished 52nd overall at the state class 2A cross country meet with a time of 15:44 for 3 miles.

I expect the addition of Schaible to have a big impact at Jones. Jones returns all 7 of their cross country runners that finished 7th in the state for class 2A.  Schaible should be able to break into their top 5- top 7 for sure.

Simeon to open vs state runner up Loyola Academy

We will know right away how good Simeon is. A source told me that CPS champion Simeon will open vs Catholic League Blue (the top conference) champion Loyola Academy. Loyola had an undefeated regular season last year and rolled opponents all the way to the 8A state finals before losing a close 21-17 game to Bolingbrook.

I'm assuming the Simeon Loyola game will be at Soldier Field for the Pre-Season Prep Bowl.