Maine South, WW South chase after repeat football titles

Illinois football season begins Aug. 27; Five games not to miss.

Thumbnail image of this articles writer: Paul Bowker
By
Aug 23, 2010, 11:43am
Just one week remains before Illinois kicks off its high school football season on Aug. 27, and the storylines are already surfacing:

Can Maine South extend a two-year unbeaten streak that includes two Class 8A state championships?

Will University of Illinois quarterback recruit Reilly O'Toole lead Wheaton-Warrenville South to a second straight Class 7A title?

And which school — Mount Carmel, St. Rita or 2009 Class 6A finalist Providence Catholic — will survive the powerful Chicago Catholic League Blue? A hint will come in the Kickoff Classic tripleheader to be played Aug. 29 at Soldier Field, when both Mount Carmel and Providence will open their seasons, but not against each other.

The Chicago area is full of 2011 Division I recruits, including Illinois verbal Josh Ferguson of Catholic Academy, Ohio State verbal Evan Spencer of Vernon Hills, Boston College verbal Nick Lifka of Naperville North, Purdue verbal Michael Rouse III of Homewood-Flossmoor and uncommitted Davaris Daniels of Vernon Hills.

Five games not to be missed:
* Mount Carmel vs. Simeon, Aug. 29, Soldier Field: The Caravan is looking to get back to the top of the Catholic League Blue, and this will be a good test. Simeon was unbeaten in the Chicago Public League's Illini Red Bird last season.

* Maine South at Wheaton Warrenville South, Sept. 3: This may be the biggest game in the state this year, outside of the state title games. Maine South is the two-time defending Class 8A champion, and WW South has won two state championships in four years, including Class 7A last year. The Tigers' only loss in 2009 was to Maine South. The game is scheduled to be televised on ESPNU.

* Naperville North at WW South, Sept. 24: This game will feature a matchup of two Big Ten recruits at quarterback, WW South's O'Toole (Illinois) versus Naperville North's Matt LaCosse (Minnesota). Then, add in one of the top defensive stars for a team that is almost always dominant defensively: North's Nick Lifka, a Boston College recruit. Two years ago, a 7-6 North win over WW South on the final day of the season gave the Huskies the DuPage Conference title.

* Mt. Carmel at St. Rita, Oct. 1: Two years ago, this annual rivalry produced a record crowd of more than 10,000 at St. Rita on Chicago's southwest side. The winner of this game has a good shot at the Catholic League Blue title, but Providence Catholic and Brother Rice might have something to say about that, as well.

* North Chicago at Vernon Hills, Oct. 22: This game will be the final home regular-season contest for Vernon Hills standout receivers Davaris Daniels, who has more than a dozen scholarship offers, and Evan Spencer, an Ohio State verbal. The Cougars are 16-5 the last two years, and Daniels and Spencer could lead them deep into the Class 5A playoffs.

Recruiting: Davis headed to Kentucky
* Anthony Davis, a 6-foot-10 center from Perspectives Charter has made a verbal commitment to Kentucky, joining top recruits Marquis Teague of Pike (Indianapolis) and Michael Gilchrist of Elizabeth (N.J.). Davis, who rose quickly in recruiters' eyes this summer at a series of camps and tournaments, also had offers from Syracuse, Ohio State and DePaul. He is No. 6 on the MaxPreps.com Class of 2011 recruiting list. Davis' recruiting road did not arrive without controversy. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that his father was asking for $125,000 to $150,000 in exchange for acceptance of a scholarship offer, a charge that Anthony Davis Sr. and University of Kentucky officials deny, and is now threatening legal action.

* Central senior quarterback Hayden Daniels made a verbal commitment to Illinois, although he will probably be a receiver in college and is a reported "gray shirt" recruit, meaning his scholarship won't kick in until 2012. Daniels caught 52 passes for 815 yards last year, but is expected to play at quarterback this year. He also had scholarship offers from Buffalo, Central Michigan and Miami (Ohio), all Mid-American Conference schools, and had received interest from Northwestern and Wisconsin. Hayden, 6-foot-4 and 180 pounds, is a brother of Houston Texans tight end Owen Daniels.

* Jack Allen, a 6-foot-2, 282-pound center at Hinsdale Central, made a verbal commitment to Michigan State. He also had offers from Iowa and Wisconsin.

Storylines around Chicagoland:
* Bobby Locke, a former Whitney Young High School basketball star in Chicago's Public League, is back in the city league as head coach at Brooks College Prep. Locke won 92 games in five years as head coach in Evanston, including a third-place finish in Class 4A in 2008. Locke's team at Brooks will include Wisconsin recruit George Marshall. "I love coaching and I want to do a great job. I will give 100 percent of myself and I expect every player who laces them up to give the same effort," Locke said. Locke's job change, which was sudden, leaves Evanston without a coach, at least for now.

* Kelly Whitley and Kevin McDowell, both of Geneva, won medals in the triathlon at the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in Singapore. Whitley won bronze, the first-ever U.S. medal at the games, and McDowell won silver a day later, on Aug. 15. Whitley, who competes in cross country, track and basketball in high school, resumed her triathlon training in November 2009 after taking two years off from the sport. "It's hard to totally grasp how big this is," Whitley said. "I'm just so honored to be representing my country, to be here, to get this opportunity."

* Phil Greene, a 6-foot-2 shooting guard, is following his former coach at Julian to IMG Academies (Bradenton, Fla.). Loren Jackson was hired as an assistant coach at IMG. "When I went down there to see the facilities, it's a lot like a college. It's strictly basketball and it's going to get me ready to play at the next level," Greene told the Chicago Sun-Times. Oregon and West Virginia recently offered scholarships to Greene, joining previous offers from St. John’s, DePaul and Southern Illinois, among others.

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.

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