Getting Prepped

According to Fremd director of football operations Mike Brown, the Class 8A quarterfinal will be played at 6 p.m. Saturday at Fremd's Hale Hildebrandt Field in Palatine.
Should be an interesting matchup between Marist's prolific Western Michigan-bound QB Mike Perish against Fremd's stingy defense led by S Jayme Szafranski, DL John Josif and crew. Will Marist benefit by going from its muddy home field onto artificial turf for its passing game? There's no doubt the Fremd fandom will be out in full force for this one.

All the preparing, scouting and previewing is almost over. Now it's time for one of the most exciting times of the high school year - the football playoffs.
As usual there are so many interesting storylines - including the fact it appears we're going to get nailed with an incredible sixth straight Friday night of bad weather. Jim Cantore of the Weather Channel might be doing live spots around the state the way things are going.
In Class 8A, can a dangerous Naperville North team extend the career of retiring coach Larry McKeon against an unbeaten Fremd team hoping this is the year it breaks through beyond the quarterfinals?
Does Schaumburg have another run in it similar to last year's to the quarterfinals when it opens against Marist and dangerous QB Mike Perish?

It's not surprising the Daily Herald's John Leusch would keep this quiet - but we've got the scoop on a well-deserved honor for one of the state's best at covering girls high school sports. John has been chosen as the Newsperson of the Year by the Illinois Coaches Association for girls softball. His dedication to covering the sport is incredible - from those bone-chilling and damp 40 degree days in late March to the 90-degree days of the state tournament in central Illinois in June.
John will be honored at the ICA's Hall of Fame banquet Feb. 21 in Bloomington.

It's been a pleasure to share a lot of laughs and fun conversations with Rolling Meadows head football coach Doug Millsaps through the years as he turned a moribund program into a perennial playoff qualifier and Mid-Suburban East contender. So when I started to hear the news about his father Henry's death after he collapsed in the stands at Meadows' game on Friday night I was hit with a feeling of tremendous sadness on what should have been another joyous evening of high school football.

There have been plenty of teams with prolific offenses to win state football titles in Illinois. Teams with leaky defenses don't end up with the ultimate prize, however.
In the wake of Prospect giving up 76 points the last two weeks and 138 in five games this season, it was time to put the crack research staff to work (OK, that would be me) to see what the likelihood was of a champion giving up close to 28 points a game.
Answer - since 1996, not even close to likely at all. The most points allowed by a state champion in that span was Downers Grove South at 280 (20 per game) en route to the 8A title in 2001. In 2005, 1A champ Freeport Aquin allowed 275 points in 14 games.
And during Prospect's 7A title seasons it allowed 105 points (2001), 167 (2002) and 153 (2005).

This has been considered by many as the year of the quarterback in the Chicago area - one of the best classes in years. Miles Osei of Prospect, Jimmy Garoppolo of Rolling Meadows, Tommy Rees of Lake Forest, Tyler Warden of Glenbard West, John Whitelaw of Hinsdale Central and Taylor Graham of Wheaton North are among the cream of this year's crop.
But those who were at Joliet Catholic on Friday night saw another quarterback make quite an impression even as his St. Viator team fell just short 31-28 in an excellent East Suburban Catholic Conference battle. Julian Sipiora is a name that may end up on more radar screens if Viator has a strong regular season and makes a deep playoff run.

Palatine will be hosting a Thanksgiving boys hoops tourney and fittingly it will be called the "Ed Molitor Thanksgiving Classic." Current Palatine coach Eric Millstone said he wanted to pay tribute to his predecessor, who led the boys program for 32 years.
Millstone said right now he has Lake Zurich, Wheaton North and Deerfield in the tourney and is trying to add one more team for this year to make it four games in five days for everyone. Millstone said he's even considering eventually expanding the field to eight teams.

As expected, Christian Liberty's first full season of varsity football has been and will continue to be a tough go - or as head coach Jim Kaulkins said - one where everyone is constantly hitting the reset button in a game most of its players are still learning at the organized level. Saw the Chargers play for the first time last Friday and it was pretty evident you can almost see the gears going in everyone's heads on the field as they try to do what comes naturally to so many high school kids who have played for years. Most of the kids are also trying to get used to the physical nature of the game as well.

Tom Nelson and Scott Tolzien were two of the top quarterbacks in the MSL and area just a few years ago. Now they're getting their opportunities to showcase their skills at the highest levels - Nelson in the NFL and Tolzien in the Big Ten. Nelson, a 2004 Daily Herald All-Area player at Hersey, found out today he had made the final 53-man roster with the Cincinnati Bengals. Tolzien, an all-area captain at Fremd in 2005, found out he can throw it around with the best of them in the Big Ten in his first collegiate with Wisconsin.
Both were not only excellent high school football players but the kind of kids you root for and are glad they're headed for bigger and better things. Both had to overcome their share of adversity at the high school and college levels to get where they are.

The landscape of East Suburban Catholic Conference boys basketball would certainly be different without St. Joseph and Gene Pingatore, now the winningest boys coach in IHSA history. So is St. Joseph looking to move elsewhere - possibly the Chicago Catholic League - after this year.
"Not at this point," St. Joseph athletic director Bruce DeSanto said Tuesday afternoon. "We're exploring other athletic alternatives but there's nothing definite at this point."