Local individuals advance to state

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Trinity, Elmwood Park individuals qualify for state

BY MICHAEL WOJTYCHIW                                                                       October 28, 2012

BENSENVILLE — A week after scoring a perfect 15 in the regional, the St. Viator girls cross country team was out to prove it wasn’t a fluke.

The Lions did just that Saturday as they won the Class 2A Fenton Sectional title with a meet-low 22 points. Jones was the team runner-up with 58 points.

St. Viator senior Hanna Winter set a course and Fenton Sectional record, finishing in 18 minutes, 6.04 seconds, which was nearly 11.5 seconds faster than her teammate and runner-up Meghan Carroll (18:17.63). Julia Heller (Jones, 19:15.58), Sarah Curci (U-High, 19:33.56) and Shannon Cooney (St. Viator (19:41.81) rounded out the top five.

“I really wasn’t expecting this. I was just hoping to run well,’’ Winter said. “I didn’t run as well as I had hoped last week, so it was good to get this. I had no idea about the record until everybody started yelling it at the end. That’s pretty cool.”

Mather (85 points), U-High (174 points) and Fenton (180 points) rounded out the top five teams and qualified for the state meet.

Dominique LoVerde (St. Viator, 19:53.28), Jennifer Geary (Jones, 19:59.31), Katie Malek (St. Viator, 20:02.06), Julia Muller (Jones, 20:02.57) and Daisy Mora (Jones, 20:04.32) also finished in the top 10.

Trinity finished the meet in sixth place with 184 points, missing out of the team’s first trip to state by four points. The Blazers, however, will send two runners, Emily Doyle (20:25.02, 14th place) and Erin Nelson (20:58.08, 24th place) to the state meet on Nov. 3. Both runners are freshmen and they will be the first two Trinity runners to ever compete in the cross country state meet.

Elmwood Park finished one spot behind Trinity with 200 points. Senior Bre Ziegler, who finished in 15th place with a time of 20:27.59, will be the lone Elmwood Park representative at state.

Link to story: http://bit.ly/TVrBBU

Foreman wins conference title

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Foreman beats Taft, clinches Big Shoulders crown

By MICHAEL WOJTYCHIW                                                                                   10/18/2012

Foreman got all it needed on a quarterback option keeper in the second quarter, as it held on to defeat Taft 7-6 and clinch the Big Shoulders title Thursday at Hanson Stadium.  The conference title marks the first for the Hornets since 2008.

After a sloppy first quarter that saw interceptions on back-to-back plays and a third turnover just two plays later, the Hornets (7-1, 6-0) were able to get momentum off of a recovered Taft fumble. On a third-and-6 play, Foreman quarterback Perrin Groves kept the ball instead of optioning it to his running back and ran 64 yards down the left side to give the Hornets a 7-0 lead at halftime.

“The blocking by the team was really good,’’ Groves said. “They did all the work, I just ran for the score.’’

Midway through the third quarter the Eagles (7-1, 5-1) had first-and-goal from the Foreman 3-yard line, but a sack and two incomplete passes ruined any chance they had to score.

On the next possession for Taft, Javier Chavez’s five-yard run capped a 15-play drive that cut the deficit to 7-6. The Eagles would try a two-point conversion and fail. Chavez finished with 18 carries for 98 yards.

“We played through some adversity with the wind, high snaps, the rain,’’ Foreman coach Peter Grazzini said. “We tried to simulate that in practice but you can never do it like the real thing.’’

Dione Kidd led Foreman with 45 yards rushing on 18 carries.

The conference title clinches a playoff berth for Foreman, its second in a row. Taft now awaits its fate as its playoff bid depends on the Steinmetz result against Amundsen on Friday. If Steinmetz wins and doesn’t allow any points, the Silver Streaks will make the playoffs. A loss or win in which Amundsen scores any points sends Taft back to the state playoffs.

Link to story: http://bit.ly/Q5tZEO

Young Completes Three-peat

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Young holds off Ag Science for city title

BY MICHAEL WOJTYCHIW                                                                        October 14, 2012

In its quest for a third consecutive Public League girls volleyball title, Young had to overcome some obstacles before it could bring home the trophy. Continue reading →

Charlie Weis goes overboard

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Being a Missouri alum, what I’m about to do stings a little, but when it comes to people in the same profession, sometimes you have to stick up for those that share your passions.  In this case, I’m talking about Blake Schuster, a Kansas junior and sports writer for the school paper, and Charlie Weis, the Kansas head football coach. Continue reading →

Darrow Makes Debut

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Darrow all the way back

BY MICHAEL WOJTYCHIW                                                                   October 5, 2012

Sept. 26, 2011 will be a day that will always stick out in Barrington offensive lineman Mason Darrow’s mind.

That night, the fourth week of the regular season, Darrow went down with a season-ending foot injury in the team’s 37-14 win over Wheeling. Continue reading →

Freshman Friedman Succeeding

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Maine South frosh Friedman adapting on the fly

 BY MICHAEL WOJTYCHIW
After playing in 85 United States Tennis Association matches from October to July, and playing in some of the biggest tournaments in the nation, it would appear that high school tennis would be a piece of cake for Maine South freshman Leigh Friedman. Continue reading →

Leyden looks to build program

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Leyden now familiar with coach’s expectations

By Michael Wojtychiw  – Contributor                                                     September 20, 2012

FRANKLIN PARK — Knute Rockne once said, “A coach’s greatest asset is his sense of responsibility — the reliance placed on him by his players.” Continue reading →

What We Learned Week 3

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  • Geno Smith went to complete 34 of 39 passes for 411 yards, moving past Marc Bulger (8,153) to set the school record for career yards passing (8,191).  He also has thrown for 734 yards and nine touchdowns. All while only throwing nine incompletions in two weeks.  Yes, the same number of incompletions as touchdowns.  Just like RG3 last year. Continue reading →

What We Learned…Week Two

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  • Utah State broke a 12 game losing streak to in-state rival Utah.  The Aggies hadn’t beaten Utah since 1997, and not in Logan since 1996.
  • With it’s win over UConn, NC State is now 9-1 in weeks after a loss, ranging back to 2010
  • Minnesota scored 16 points in the first quarter against New Hampshire. The Golden Gophers hadn’t scored that many points in the opening quarter since 2005 (20 points vs Florida Atlantic). Last season, Minnesota only scored more points once all last season (20 points in second quarter of season finale against Illinois.
  • The last Ohio State quarterback to rush for three touchdowns in a game was Art Schlichter against Illinois in 1978.  Braxton Miller did it Saturday.
  • Penn State starts 0-2 for first time since 2001 and just the 5th time in the last 45 years.
  • Before Sam Ficken went 1-for-5 on field goals for Penn State, the last player to miss four-or-more FG in one game was Josh Zahn of UAB. Zahn was 2-for-7 at Tennessee on 9/25/2010.
  • Auburn “accumulated” -2 pass yards in the first half at Mississippi State. The Tigers are the second team this season to have negative pass yards in a half; Northern Illinois netted -1 pass yard in the second half vs Iowa last weekend. The Tigers last had negative pass yards in a half in 2005, when they had -2 pass yards in the second half vs Alabama.
  • Mississippi State’s win included numerous firsts. The victory broke a string of unsavory trends for the Bulldogs. They had lost 10 out of the last 11 against Auburn — including four straight — and hadn’t won an SEC opener since 1999.  It was also coach Dan Mullen’s first victory against the SEC Western Division’s best four teams. He was 0-12 combined against Alabama, LSU, Arkansas and Auburn until Saturday’s breakthrough.
  • Miami started playing games in 1926, but Saturday’s loss was just the sixth time that the U ever allowed 50 points in a game.
  • Collin Klein now has 5 career games with at least 3 rush TD and 1 pass TD. Since 2000, that is the most of any FBS player.
  • Marcus Lattimore records his 33rd career TD (30 Rush, 3 Rec), tying the school record by George Rogers and Harold Green.  He has played in only 22 games.
  • Clemson’s DeAndre Hopkins is the first player this season with three receiving touchdowns in a game this season, and he did it before halftime. The last player with three receiving touchdowns in a half? West Virginia’s Tavon Austin, who did so in the first half against Clemson in the Orange Bowl.
  • Second straight year the Sacramento State Hornets have beaten a Pac-12 opponent on the road in the last play of the game.  They defeated Oregon State last season.
  • Through two games this season, Notre Dame has turned the ball over just twice, eight fewer than the 10 turnovers the Irish committed at this point last season.
  • Denard Robinson finished with his 3rd career game with at least 200 yards passing and 200 yards rushing. That’s the most of any FBS player since 2000.. one more than Vince Young had.
  • Denard Robinson is the 4th player in FBS this season with multiple 50-yd Rush TD in the same game, joining Duke Johnson, Davon Johnson, and Johnathan Franklin. He is the only Michigan player to do it since at least 2004. Robinson’s longest run in Week 1 against Alabama was 9\nine yards.
  • Denard Robinson now has three career rushing TD of at least 70 yards. That is tied for the most among all active FBS players.
  • Matt Barkley passed for 187 yards and 6 TD, becoming the first FBS player since at least 2000 to have 6+ pass TD and fewer than 200 passing yards in a game.
  • If it seems that no lead is safe in college football, the schools on this list can surely relate. Texas A&M, Memphis, Kansas and Nevada all blew halftime leads on Saturday and are among the the teams that have seen the most halftime leads evaporate since the start of the 2011 season.
  • Florida stepped up its defense after halftime Saturday. Texas A&M averaged 5.8 yards per play in the first half with 28.3 percent of its plays gaining 10 yards or more. In the second half, the Aggies averaged 2.8 yards per play, and managed just one play that gained 10 yards or more. All six of Texas A&M’s second-half drives ended in punts, including four “3 & outs.” The Aggies had no punts in the first half.
  • For a second straight week, Michigan State held an opponent without an offensive touchdown.  The only two touchdowns the Spartans have allowed this season have some on interception returns.
  • Iowa State beat Iowa 9-6 for its first win in Iowa City in 10 years.
  • This was Iowa’s first loss under Kirk Ferentz when they held a team to fewer than 10 points. Before today, they had been 33-0 in such games.  Iowa State didn’t score in the second half.
  • Wisconsin’s last regular season non-conference loss came in 2003 at home against UNLV. It’s last regular season non-conference ROAD loss came in 2001 at Oregon.
  • With Wisconsin’s, Nebraska’s and Illinois’ losses to Pac-12 teams, Big Ten schools are 5-26-1 at Pac-12 schools since 1993 (the year Penn State joined the Big Ten).
  • After showing some signs of rust last week in a 35-21 victory over North Carolina State, Jimmy Hunter caught three touchdowns — the first time since 2003 that a Tennessee receiver ended up with that many in a single game.
  • Tennessee exceeded the 500-yard mark in total offense for a second straight week. The Vols hadn’t gained 500 yards in back-to-back games since 2000.
  • The win is Louisiana-Monroe’s first over a ranked team since joining the FBS in 1994, and it is the school’s first over an SEC team since defeating Alabama in 2007.  The Warhawks are 4-34 against the SEC, with their only other win coming against Mississippi State in 1995.
  • It is also the Sun Belt Conference’s first win over a top 10 team.
  • Six players ran for touchdowns as Georgia Tech (1-1) had 712 total yards, the second-highest total in school history, including 469 yards rushing. The Yellow Jackets had a school-record 768 yards in a 66-24 rout of Kansas in 2011.
  • LSU has won 39 straight against non-conference opponents in the regular season, tying a Football Bowl Subdivision record first set by Kansas State. Next weekend, the Tigers play Idaho, another non-conference opponent, and the game is at home, where LSU has won 19 straight.
  • Mississippi defeated Texas-El Paso 28-10, improving to 2-0 for only the second time in 10 seasons.
  • The Bowling Green Falcons improved to 4-0 in season openers under head coach Dave Clawson.
  • The Ohio Bobcats (2-0), who opened with a win over Penn State, have won eight of nine dating back to last season.
  • Damien Williams’ rushing total of 156 yards was the most for a player in his first game at the Sooners’ home field, and he became only the fourth player at the school to eclipse 100 yards rushing in each of his first two games. Adrian Peterson was the last to do it, in 2004.
  • Casey Pachall and Trevone Boykin combined to complete all 17 passes for TCU — the most in FBS history without an incompletion.
  • Gary Patterson was presented a crystal ball in recognition of his 110th career victory — one more than former school-record holder Dutch Meyer, who led the Frogs to their only AP national championship in 1938. Patterson is 110-30 overall with 10 shutout victories one game into his 12th season.
  • Houston and Louisiana Tech combined for 1,291 yards of offense and 78 first downs in a game that lasted four hours and eight minutes.
  • SMU intercepted seven passes and recovered two fumbles by Stephen F. Austin.
  • Northern Arizona’s win over UNLV was Northern Arizona’s (1-1) first win over an FBS team in 25 years.
  • Oklahoma State freshman Wes Lunt threw for 436 yards, fourth-most in school history and the Big 12 record for a freshman, and connected with Tracy Moore for four touchdown passes