A showdown between city schools
Simeon and
Morgan Park in boys basketball is always a big deal in Chicago. Get your tickets now. They won't last long.
Simeon, the defending Class 4A Illinois state champion, has a list of alums that includes Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose, New Jersey Nets forward Bobby Simmons and more recently, 2010 grad Brandon Spearman, a freshman on scholarhship at the University of Dayton.
Morgan Park‘s 2010-11 roster includes Louisville recruit
Wayne Blackshear, one of the top players in the state.
And then, there's football.
This time around, the schools' football programs won‘t play second cousins to hoops. When the Wolverines and Mustangs meet at 7 p.m. Saturday at Gately Stadium on Chicago's South Side, it will be a battle between two of the best football teams in the Chicago Public League and perhaps two of the top teams in the entire Chicago area.
Simeon, runner-up in the Prep Bowl last year to
St. Rita of the Chicago Catholic League Blue, is unbeaten after its first two games, including a season-opening win over
Mount Carmel at Soldier Field and a 50-0 victory over
Imagine College Prep (St. Louis, Mo.) last week in the inaugural City of Champions Classic played in East St. Louis, Ill. Morgan Park is also 2-0, including a stunning 16-14 win over defending Catholic League Blue champion
Providence Catholic.
As a result, not all the football noise from the Chicago area is coming only from
Wheaton-Warrenville South in the western suburbs, where the Tigers manhandled defending Class 8A champ
Maine South last week. It's coming from the inner city, where Chicago Public League teams are roughing up their opposition.
"We played them (Simeon) in the Prep Bowl last year. That‘s a good football team. They have some great players," said Todd Kuska, St. Rita head coach. "Schools are better. Public League football, they've been playing good football for years."
Among Simeon’s offensive leaders are
Horatio Banks, who rushed for three touchdowns in just six first-half touches against Imagine Academy, and
Robert Gregory who accounted for 528 yards in the Wolverines‘ win over Mt. Carmel.
Dae-Shaun Hurley, Morgan Park quarterback, combined for 255 yards of passing and rushing in a 30-17 win over Geneva.
Recruiting: Hinsdale Central lineman picks Illinois
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Scott McDowell, a 6-foot-5, 280-pound offensive lineman at
Hinsdale Central, made a commitment to Illinois. He chose the Illini over Cincinnati plus offers from seven Mid-American Conference schools, including Northern Illinois.
* Simone Law, a senior guard at
Marian Catholic who averaged 15 points and seven rebounds a game last season, verbally committed to Loyola of Chicago.
* Charnelle Reed, a guard at
Homewood-Flossmoor in Chicago's south suburbs, verbally committed to Bradley.
Five big performances…
* Ohio State recruit
Evan Spencer of
Vernon Hills scored four touchdowns, each in a different way, as the Cougars (2-0) drilled Raby, 56-0. Spencer scored on 19-yard TD reception, 12-yard run, 30-yard interception return and 48-yard punt return. The Buckeyes will love to see that coming their way.
* University of Illinois recruit
Reilly O'Toole completed 18-of-25 passes for 238 yards and three touchdowns, leading defending Class 7A state champ Wheaton-Warrenville South to a 44-7 victory over Class 8A state champ Maine South in a nationally-televised game. O’Toole has thrown for six TDs in two weeks. The Tigers (2-0) extended their win streak to 13, dating back to a loss to Maine South in Week 2 of 2009.
* Morgan Park quarterback Dae-Shaun Hurley passed for three touchdowns and rushed for two TDs in a 30-17 win over Geneva. Hurley completed 6-of-14 passes for 157 yards, including an 86-yard scoring pass to Dareil Lee-Crowder.
* Illinois recruit Josh Ferguson of
Joliet Catholic Academy rushed for 100 yards and a touchdown on just nine carries, leading the Hilltoppers to a 25-13 win over 2009 Class 6A finalist Providence Catholic. The Celtics, Chicago Catholic Blue champs a year ago, have lost their first two games.
* St. Rita running back
Jahwon Akui ran for 222 yards and four touchdowns in a 35-14 win over 10-time state champion Jefferson City, Mo., in a game played as a part of the City of Champions Classic in East St. Louis. In two games, the Mustangs have outscored two out-of-state opponents (Jefferson City and Portage, Ind.), 57-14.
3 to watch …
* Glenbard North (2-0) at Naperville North, 7:30 p.m. Friday: The opening night of DuPage Valley play begins with a battle between two unbeatens. Naperville North quarterback Matt LaCosse, a Minnesota recruit, threw for 191 yards and one TD in a 17-0 win over St. Charles East last week.
* St. Rita (2-0) at Brother Rice (2-0), 7:30 p.m. Saturday: The Mustangs, with healthy senior running back Jahwon Akui (more than 300 rushing yards in two games), have a pair of impressive wins over 10-time state champion Jefferson City, Mo., and Portage, Ind. But Brother Rice piled up 74 points in wins over Chicago Orr and Chicago Amundsen.
* Vernon Hills (2-0) at Lakes (Lake Villa) (2-0), 7:30 p.m. Friday: With two big-time recruits (Ohio State’s Evan Spencer and uncommitted DaVaris Daniels), Vernon Hills has scored 101 points in two weeks and allowed zero. This will be a big test, and the league opener, for the defending North Suburban Prairie champion Cougars. Last year this was a three-point win for Vernon Hills.
Storylines around Chicagoland:
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St. Francis, the 20th-ranked girls volleyball team in the nation by MaxPreps, has won its first six matches, including 25-19, 25-22 over St. Charles East on Saturday to win the Early Bird Volleyball Classic played in Palatine. Daiva Wise, a junior, led St. Francis with eight kills and two blocks.
* A goal by Brian Hindle, a junior, sent
Fremd to a 1-0 boys soccer win over
Neuqua Valley in the championship game of the Best of the West tournament played at Naperville Central. The Vikings are 5-0-2.
* Loyola University of Chicago will play host to a one-day boys basketball tournament, dubbed the War on the Shore, on Feb. 5. Among the Chicago North Shore teams to play will be Loyola Academy (vs. St. Patrick), New Trier (vs. Mount Carmel) and Evanston (vs. St. Ignatius). Among the college recruits playing will be Illinois recruit Tracy Abrams of Mount Carmel.
* Dan Szmergalski, a 2000 graduate of
Brother Rice (Chicago, Ill.), was named head baseball coach at the school, replacing 10-year coach Tim Lyons, who resigned after the 2010 season. "This is something I’ve always wanted. I have a passion to do this," Szmergalski told the Chicago Sun-Times.
Paul Bowker, an online and newspaper sports journalist for 25 years and the author of two Major League Baseball books, covers the Chicago area for MaxPreps. He may be reached at bowkerpaul1@aol.com