Chicago Public League Sports Blog

Kennedy and Solorio at Argo Invite

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Inter-City Report

There are 4 Inter-City Conference in the Chicago Public League. Here is my take on two of of them after two non-conference games.


Inter-City 1
Phoenix MIlitary is the only undefeated school in the Inter-City 1 (PMA photo) in this conference that also has Douglas, Marine Military, Kelvyn Park, Roosevelt, Clemente, and Farragut. Phoenix has wins against Chicago conference schools Manley and Senn. It is still too ealry to say that Phoenix is the favorite to win conference. Conference play begins next week for all of the Inter-City 1 schools with the exception of Roosevelt. The big opening conference game to watch next will be Clemente vs Marine Military. Clemente was in the Chicago conference next year and Marine Military played strong at times last year, so we'll see who comes out on top.

Inter-City 2
Kennedy is 2-0 and Urban Prep West Garfield is 1-1 after two non-conference games. The rest of the teams (Gage Park, Dyett, Chicago Military-Bronzeville, Hirsch, and Juarez) are winless after two weeks. Urban Prep-West Garfield's win was a forfeit, so only Kennedy has won on the field. That is why, it looks like Kennedy is the pre-season favorite along with Urban Prep West Garfield. Do not overlook Urban Prep-West Garfield (UPWG), they had a 6-3 overall record and a 4-1 conference record last season. UPWG is a running team and return the teams starting quarterback Raheem Barnes(QB/DB, jr), leading rusher Benjamin Reed (RB/LB,sr), and leading receiver Michael Taylor(WR/DB, jr). Kennedy and UPWG face off in week 4.

 

Pictures Now - Kenwood vs Brooks football game

Photo Album

Cleveland Clark(sr, RB, #5) shows his quickness against Kenwood.

Dakota Starks(WR, 6-0) of Brooks just misses a completion attempt for a big gain. He made it up on the next play with a 50 yard touchdown reception for a touchdown.

Week 2- Thursday Scoreboard

Brooks Dominates Kenwood 43-6. Brooks quarterback Ahmad Bradshaw(sr) ran for 3 touchdowns on runs of 20 yards, 25 yards, and 19 yards and added a 50 yard touchdown pass to Dakota Starks(jr) to lead the romp over upstart Kenwood. Brooks kicker Jesus Miranda(jr) hit two field goals. The Brooks defense was stout for almost the entire game. Kenwoods only score came on an 80 yard screen pass that went for a touchdown late in the 2nd half. Brooks led 20-6 at the half. In the 2nd half it was all Brooks. Both team are now 1-1 to start the season. Brooks plays a big game next week against downstate Rock Island at Gately. My opinion of Brooks has raised even more after their perfromance today. This is a legit team.

Brooks 43 Kenwood 6
Fenger 26 Hawkings 20
Kennedy 40 Kelvyn Park 19
Bogan 1 Lincoln Park 0 (forfeit)
Lindblom 12 Urban Prep-Bronzeville 6
Harlan 13 Westinghouse 10

Week 2 Thursday - Schedule

Thursday
Chicago (Brooks) vs. Chicago (Kenwood) at Eckersall Stadium (Thu.) - Brooks by 10
Chicago (CICS/Hawkins) vs. Chicago (Fenger) at Stagg Stadium (Thu.) - Fenger by 40
Chicago (Kelvyn Park) vs. Chicago (Kennedy) at Rockne Stadium (Thu.)- Toss up
Chicago (Lincoln Park) vs. Chicago (Bogan) at Gately Stadium (Thu.) - Bogan by 21
Chicago (Lindblom) vs. Chicago (Urban Prep Charter/Bronzeville) at Lane Stadium (Thu.)- Lindblom by 9
Chicago (Westinghouse College Prep) vs. Chicago (Harlan) at Gately Stadium (Thu.) -Harlan by 6

Game of the day: Brooks (0-1) vs Kenwood(1-0)
4:15pm, Eckersall Stadium
What a match up. Brooks has been the talk of the state after their near upset of 2011 state semi-finalist Kaneland. In that game Brooks led 24-6 in the 3rd quarter before finally falling 25-24. 2012 was the year that Brooks fans have been talking about for years. I wrote an article two years ago to look out for Brooks in 2 years. Brooks has 4 year starting quarterback Ahmad Bradshaw(sr), massive lineman Dequan Sain(sr, OL, 6-7), Khalil Simmons(sr, S), and running backs Cleveland Clark and Josh Smith.

Meanwhile, Kenwood is an equally story of its own. I started the season with almost no pre-season expectations for Kenwood because they graduated so much talent from last year. But after their 30-24 upset over suburban TF North, my eyes quickly opened on Kenwood.

My feel is that Brooks will have too much for Kenwood and they won't make as many mistakes as TF North. But if Kenwood happens to spring an upset, the talk will immediately turn from Brooks to Kenwood.


Westinghouse Warriors

Westinghouse(0-1) vs Harlan(0-1)
Any time a mid-level Chicago conference team plays an upper level Illini conference team, the Chicago Conference team always has a bit of chip on their shoulder. In this case Westinghouse is a team itching to say they belong in the Illini conference. The best way for Westinghouse to prove they belong is to actually beat an Illini conference team. They'll have their opportunity against Harlan.

Westinghouse has the talent to be able to run with Harlan. They have 6-5 quarterback Eugenio Dejesus(sr), talented running back James Graham(sr), and lineman Dequan Smith(sr, 6-4, 265lbs).
All of them are pre-season Chicago conference players.

Harlan is led by Division 1 College recruit Kijana Evans(6-3, 290lbs, sr, OL).

Both teams are looking for their first win after good efforts in week 1 losses to suburban teams.

Kenwood Scores Upset Over TF North

Mikhail Naugles(5-7,145lbs, sr, RB) of Kenwood

Kenwood 30 TF North 24

After an opening day of football in which the Public League gnerally had some poor results (some embarrassing) the Kenwood Broncos was one of the few bright spots, as Kenwood upset TF North 30-24. TF North is not a slouch. This is a program that beat teams like Hillcrest, TF South, and Bremen as they made the state playoffs last year. Meanwhile, I was not expecting too much out of Chicago Windy City Conference Kenwood - who graduated a boat load of talent from last year including Philip Martin - now at Toledo University.

The star for Kenwoods win was underrated running back Mikhail Naugles(5-7,145lbs, sr, RB. Naugles, who is also a wrestler had 198 yards rushing and two TD's in the upset. One of his TD"s was a 94 yard score that gave Kenwood a 15-8 halftime lead.

We'll know more about Kenwood after they face Illini conference Brooks next Thursday.

Lanphier Invitational -Results

Wesley Mills(sr) of Kenwood - 11.63 in the 100, 23.21 in the 200.

Results

Kenwood Girls Win Group A

Dhiaa Dean of Kenwood anchored the girls 4x800 (10:26.43) and also won the open girls 1600 meter run (5:46.59). -- ROBERT L.THORNTON News Photography Network.com

Girls Group A Team Results

              Women - Varsity - Team Rankings - 13 Events Scored
===============================================================================
    1) Chicago (Kenwood)           66
    2) Chicago (Brooks)           54   
    3) Chicago (North Lawndale Ch  52        
    4) Chicago (Simeon)           49   
    5) Chicago (Northside)         44        
    6) Chicago (Payton)           38   
    7) Chicago (Perspectives Char  23        
    8) Chicago (Mather)           19   
    9) Chicago (Lindblom)          18        
    9) Chicago (Morgan Park)      18   
    11) Chicago (Whitney Young)     14       
    12) Chicago (Lane)              8   

Finish line of the girls 400 meter run. Cameron Petigrew of Payton attempts to assist Shamier Little of Lindblom amid all the other exhasuted runners. The girls gave it their all in a very hot Univeristy of Chicago Field House. This was the race of the day. Petigrew edged out Little with a blazing time of 56.47.

First Look- Whitney Young and Kenwood at U-High

Whitney Young freshman Alex Pei- 57.0 in the 400

U-High Invitation Only Meet A-Results

Whitney Young and Kenwood got in their first indoor meet of the season at U-High.

• The most eye opening time was Whitney Young freshman Alex Pei running a 57.0 in the 400 meter run. As far as I know, that is the fastest freshman 400 time indoors for the CPS in two years. It looks like Whitney Young has a new talent to work with.
• Whitney Young sophomore duo of Jonas Schmid-Querg(so) and Michale Perez(so) ran a 5:03 and a 5:05 in the 1600 meter run. Schmid-Querg is a new name, Perez was the sophomore city cross country individual champion last fall. For Whitney Young to find a new sophomore to run faster than Perez speaks volume of his talent.
• Charlie Wiley(sr) of Kenwood runs a hand timed 52.0 in the 400. The 400 meter looks like it  going to be the deepest it has been in years for the CPS. By outdoors, Wiley looks to improve on his 50.80 he ran at last year's Robeson Sectionals.

Results Page

2012-Indoor Leaderboard

Top 2 Shot Putters Return for the CPS

CPS Shot Put Preview

Philip Martin(sr) of Kenwood returns. Martin had a CPS spring 2011 season best throw of 49-11 in the shot at the Robeson Sectional. He is pre-season threat to score at the state meet.

CPS Shot Putters to Watch (distance thrown last year- class is last years class)

49-11	Phillip Martin(jr)	Kenwood	Robeson Sectional
47-1	Vaugh King(jr)	Curie	CPS Finals
44-5	Michael Fort	Calumet	Luther North Invite #2
42-1	DeQuan Smith(so)	Westinghouse	CPS Finals
41-6	Tarik Abufsham(jr)	Lincoln Park	Niles West Sectional
40-0	Jim Daniels(jr)	Whitney Young	CPS Finals
39-0	Destry Cross(so)	Harlan	CPS Invite 2

 

The top 2 shot putters in the city are Phillip Martin(sr) of Kenwood and Vaughn King(sr) of Curie. Martin threw the CPS's season best mark last year but King is the defending city champion. Both are also all-city football players. Martin accepted an offer for Toledo and King has an offer from Western Illinois. Sometimes football players concentrate on football their senior year. I hope that is not the case with these two and they put in some quality time in track.

The best 1-2 shot put punch in the city believe it or not could come from Payton. Payton returns Omar Reyes(sr) and Ed Harvey(sr). Reyes is a returning all-city performer and qualified for state last year. Harvey steadily improved last year. He started out throwing about 35 feet, then by the end of the year he got up to 39 feet. With another jump of improvement this year, you could see two Payton shot putters in the city finals.

Mather has a couple of promising throwers in Jarell Smith(sr) and 2011 frosh-soph city champion Shaquille Welch(so).  Welch won the frosh-soph title last year as a sophomore. WIth improvement, both could be 40 feet plus throwers.

Do not count out anyone from Lane Tech. Lane graduated city discus champion Kyle Mitchell. However, Lane has a new throwing coaching that I am hearing good things about. He is a Lane grad and coached throwers at Lake Forest High School.