Chicago Public League Sports Blog

Harlan at Richards 7 on 7

Richards High School 28th Year of 7 on 7 football June 22, 2013 (12 great teams)

Here is the list of teams-( loaded with talent)
1. Oak Lawn Richards.
2. Lincolnway East.
3. Chicago Mt Carmel
4. Chicago DelaSalle
5. Chicago Marist
6. Hinsdale Central
7. Loyola
8. Chicago Brother Rice
9. Sandburg
10.T.F. South
11. Chicago Christian
12. Chicago Harlan

For some this is the only 7 on 7 they attend, This will be held at the Admin. fields at 107th and Kilpatrick, Oak Lawn, IL.starting at 9:00 AM Sat- June 22- 2014 -

2013 Richards Bulldog Passing Tournament

June 22, 2013

9:00 a.m.

 

Schedule	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4
Field 1	Marist/ Loyola	Marist / Chi Chr	Marist / HC	Marist / Mt Carmel
Field 2	HC/ Chi Chr	HC/ Loyola	Chi Chr/ Loyola	HC/ Sandburg
Field 3	Br. Rice/Sandburg	Br Rice/ DLS	Br Rice/ Harlan	Br Rice/ LWE
Field 4	DLS/ Harlan	Sandburg/ Harlan	DLS/ Sandburg	DLS/ TF South
Field 5	LWE/ Mt Carmel	LWE/ TF South	Mt Carmel/ TF South	Chi Chr/ Harlan
Field 6	HLR / TF South	HLR/ Mt Carmel	HLR/ LWE	HLR/ Loyola

Taft vs Whitney Young

The pressure will be on the Whitney Young coaching staff to win this game and go back to the Illini Conference.

The IHSA is set to release the official football conference alignments and schedules at around July 3, 2013.

One game that is already being talked about will be the highly anticipated matchup between Taft and Whitney Young.

These two teams have seldom played each other since 2000 because for most of that time Taft and Whitney Young have been in different football conferences. The last time I remember these two school playing against each other was in 2006 when Whitney Young beat Taft 25-24 when they were both in the Illini Red Bird Conference. That defeat helped in sending Taft to a last place conference finish that year and get sent back to the Chicago conference.

This year, Taft and Whitney Young will both be in the Chicago Big Shoulders Conference. They are expected to be the pre-season conference favorites- with Steinmetz still in the picture.

This game will be especially big for Whitney Young more so than Taft. I say this because Whitney Young is a team that historically has been and definitely want to play in the Illini Conference. The Illini is the top conference in the Public League. Whitney Young was sent down to the lower Chicago conference because they finished last in the Illini- Red Bird last season.

Usually, the winner of a Chicago conference accepts the bid to go to an Illini conference. However, Taft has declined to do so when they won their Chicago Big Shoulders conference two of the past 3 years. So, Whitney Young must beat Taft if they want to win conference and then take care of the rest of their conference foes (which is not a 100% certainty). If Whitney Young does not beat Taft, they face the prospect of having to face Taft again next season in the same conference.

The bottom line is that this game is huge and will undoutably be one of the game to watch this upcoming football season.

28th Harold Washington All-Star Football game

The 28th Harold Washington All-Star Football game is this Sunday at 6:00pm at Gately Stadium. The Chicago Public League Football Coaches Association has 100 players facing off in a North-West vs South All-Star Game that should be a great time for all of those involved in the game and the stands. We also plan  to honor all of the CPS coaches who are members of the IHSA hall of fame.

Football Previews Page Fall 2013

This page will be updated over time

Teams
Harlan....
Steinmetz....
Harper...

Conferences
Inter-City 1...

Harper...Forced Respect

Sandillo Wright(jr, 6-1, 170lbs, CB/P) played multiple roles for Harper last season including corner back, punter, and rushed the ball for 579 yards.

There are only two teams that can say they have made the final 4 in the CPS football playoffs for the last two years. One of them is Simeon. The other is Harper. Harper made it to the finals 2 years ago and to the semi-finals last year.

If they are to make another run in a CPS final 4, they will have to do it without 2 graduated standout players in Antonyio Barton and Lorenzo Herbert. The pair rushed for over 1,000 yards each and were defensive studs.

Harper does return a couple key players. Earl Taylor(5-11, 220lbs, DL/OL/LB)  and Sandillo Wright(jr, 6-1, 170lbs, CB/P. Taylor is an agressive defensive player for Harper. He is Harper's top returning tackler and had 10 pancake blocks, 10 tackles for loss, and 7 sacks last season. Wright is listed as a corner back but also punts and can rush the ball.

Taylor and Wright will keep the Harper defense strong. Harper gave up only 20 points to offensive powerhouse Simeon last year, held Lane Tech to 14 points in a 46-14 CPS playoff win, and gave up only 6 points to Dunbar in a 26-6 Harper win over Dunbar.

The biggest question mark will be on the offensive side of the ball. It will be hard to replace Barton and Herbert, who both averaged over 100 yards rushing last year. Harper will need to see continued development from returning starting quarterback David Harvey(6-0, 175lbs, jr, QB). Harvey did managed to throw for over 1,000 yards last season despite having 2 stud running backs.

Harper's defense led by Wright and Taylor should keep them in games. If they develop enough of an offense, you could see Harper as a strong contender to win conference along with Brooks and have another deep run in the CPS playoffs.

Harper opens with TEAM Englewood to start the season.

Kowalczyk,Steinmetz - Not To Be Overlooked

Anthony Kowalczyk(sr to be; 6-3, 230lbs, ILB/TE/P) will be a force on all phases of the game this year for Steinmetz.(BR photo).

With all the talk last year about Foreman and Taft last season, people almost forgot about Steinmetz as they had a great run to end the season to take 2nd in conference ahead of Taft and make the state playoffs. At state they drubbed Chicago Big Shoulders Conference champion Foreman 26-12 to win a rare state playoff game for Steinmetz

This year, most of the pre-season Big Shoulders talk seems to be revolving around Taft and new to the conference Whitney Young. People feel that those two teams will decide the conference champion. Much more on those two teams in future articles.

But what about Steinmetz? They were a bit overlooked last year during the pre-season and it seems to be heading that way again.

If Steinmetz is to make another run, they will have to do it with a bunch of new players at key positions as they graduated their their starting quarterback Michael Harris and their starting running back Dominic Masciopinto. Harris and Masciopinto was the offense for Steinmetz last year as they accounted for over 73% of their offensive yards.

Steinmetz does return  Anthony Kowalczyk(sr to be; 6-3, 230lbs, ILB/TE/P). Kowalczyk contributed heavily last season for Steinmetz. He is their top returning tackler, played tight end, and even punted the ball for Steinmetz. He will play a major role for Steinmetz again this year. At 6-3,230lbs and a good physical specimen, he is one of the top players in the conference.

Schedule

Steinmetz opens with Kelvyn Park in a game which they will be heavily favored. They also have a pre-conference game against Glenbrook North.

The key conference games for Steinmetz will be against Taft and Whitney Young.

 

 

Inter-City 1 Conference

Unofficially here is the make up of the Inter-City 1 football conference for Fall 2013

Senn
Farragut
Phoenix
Marine Military
Douglas
Clemente
Kelvyn Park
Prosser

The goal of an Inter-City conference team is to win conference and move up to a state playoff eligible Chicago Conference. Roosevelt won the Inter-City 1 conference last year and will play in a Chicago Conference.

The team that came in second was Phoenix Military Academy. Phoenix Military Academy is one of the more obscure and lesser known CPS schools. That could change if they can get over the hump and win this conference. Only a 24-20 setback to Roosevelt prevented Phoenix from having a perfect season last year and more punishingly denied them of a promotion to the Chicago Conference. The Firebirds ended last season with a 7-1 record. That does not make them the hands down conference favorite. The previous year they were 2-7 and how they do this year largely depends on how many of their key players return from last season.  But because they came so close to winning it all last year, they will definitely be a team to watch this season.

Another team to watch is Clemente. The Wildcats were dominating in all their wins last year as they compiled a 6-2 record. Their only two losses came to Morgan Park and a 1-0 forfeit to Roosevelt last year. They missed playing Phoenix last year due to the strike. If Clemente goes back to the same form as they did last year, they could take conference. Clemente does not play Morgan Park this year  in the pre-conference schedule but they do play Dunbar.

Senn and Prosser are newcomers to this conference after being demoted last year from the Chicago Conference. Both have fairly large enrollments and just by size and numbers alone could beat teams in this conference. I know it is unscientific, but Prosser had some tough looking guys on their track team. If any of them play football and play it well, Prosser may stand a chance in this Inter-City Conference.

Based on their performance last season I don't see Douglass or Farragut being a factor at all in conference play except for who does not finish in last.

Marine Military and Kelvyn Park are the other two members in this conference. Kelvyn Park blew it's best chances to get out of the Inter-City when they had Brian Carter as a premier running back. Without a talent like Carter, Kelvyn Park seems to have gotten back to obscurity.

Neilski's pre-season Inter-City 1 conference predicted finish

1. Clemente
2. Phoenix
3. Prosser
4. Senn
5. Kelvyn Park
6. Marine Military
7. Douglass
8. Farragut

No Morgan Park vs Simeon Football Game This Season

Morgan Park to Face Harlan
Simeon Will Play Defending State Champions Crete-Monee

If Simeon and Morgan Park play each other this fall, it will not be during the regular season because they are not on each other's regular season schedule. The exact reason is not specified, but I'm sure the off the field crowd incident in football last season and the shooting death that resulted after the Simeon Morgan Park basketball game was a factor in deciding to cancel the game.

Since at least the mid 1990's Morgan Park and Simeon have always played each other during the regular season. For most of that span, Morgan Park and Simeon were in the same conference and thus played a regular season conference game. Since they relaigned Public League football conferences in 2009, Morgan Park and Simeon have been in different football conferences. So they played each other in week 3 for a non-conference game.

This year, they decided not to play each other.  Instead, Morgan Park will play Harlan from the Illini-Land of Lincoln Conference. Harlan was 1-7 last season. Meanwhile, Simeon travels to Crete where they will play the defending class 6A state champions Crete-Monee.

Simeon beat Morgan Park last year in the CPS championship and I have them ranked 1-2 in my way too early pre-season football rankings.

Harlan Looking to Bounce Back

Harlan is looking to bounce back after a 1-7 season last year (GC photo).

I felt Harlan was better than their 1-7 record last year which included two losses to forfeit. They played tough non-conference games against Richards and Quincy and played conference co-leaders within 1 score.

So what will fans expect from this year's Harlan team?

It starts with the return of starting quarterback Daniel Johnson(6-2,185lbs). Johnson is not the most accurate quarterback but he did manage to throw for 650 yards last year with 9 touchdowns. He also led Harlan last year with 646 yards rushing.

Arvid Peck(5-9,175lbs, sr to be) will have a lot of carries this year for Harlan. He ran for 445 yards last year on 63 carries for a 7 yard average. Peck is also Harlan's top returning tackler.

The fate of Harlan this coming season will be on the continued development of Johnson and Peck.

New to Harlan's schedule this season will be a week 3 non conference game against Morgan Park. That game will give an indication of how strong Harlan will be. Harlan coach Keith Brookshire was a former assistant coach at Morgan Park.

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.