Getting Prepped

One of the dangers of scheduling Chicago Public League teams - particularly for boys basketball tournaments - is they often seem to lose their way once they get outside the Chicago city limits and arrive late.
But better late than never - the latter the case with Orr as it pulled out of the Rockford Boylan boys tourney. That pushed Barrington's season opener from Tuesday to Friday and could cost Schaumburg one of its two scheduled Saturday games.
Tourney officials are trying to find a replacement team or schedule an additional Friday game for Barrington.

It's one of the unfortunate realities of even the high school games - coaches who don't win are likely to be looking for employment elsewhere. Such was the case a few days ago when Elk Grove football coach Tom Whalen was told he was being let go as administrators decided "to go in a different direction."

Well, here they are. The sweet 16 to make it to next weekend in Champaign for the state football championship games. For teams such as Maine South it was an expected destination since this time last year. For others such as Immaculate Conception, it wouldn't have seemed to be a realistic trip about a month ago.
The semifinal games often have the most pressure to them because it's that final step to achieve that dream of playing at the University of Illinois' Memorial Stadium. Falling that step short can be one of the toughest disappointments to take.

There is now only one hurdle left to get to Champaign. But there was a lot of memorable quarterfinal stuff Saturday....

Daily Herald Elgin-area football guru Jerry Fitzpatrick had quite a dramatic day. First he started with Cary-Grove and Crystal Lake South meeting for the eighth time since 2004 in Class 7A. Cary dominated their conference matchup 24-7 but this one was 7-7 headed to overtime.
Caught the webcast of the overtime and it was pretty cool. CL South avenged the earlier loss and now gets a shot at unbeaten Geneva and running man Michael Ratay.

I was shocked when DH cross country guru Mike Eaken called about 3:30 on Saturday afternoon. He was equally stunned to report that Conant's Jeff Thode had won the 3A state title at Detweiller Park in Peoria. Wasn't exactly something we expected...

Yeah, Thode was among the preseason title favorites. But there was that little four-day detour to the hospital about a month ago for a collapsed lung! When it comes to comeback stories this ranks right up there with any of them. Sure he came back and ran in the sectional and just getting to Peoria was an amazing story. But this is something else.

Congrats to Jeff and coach John Powers on an unbelievable, unforgettable run.

It definitely felt more like playoff weather this weekend - cold, windy, a little "wintry mix" thrown in at times depending on when you were playing. Have to say it was nice to be at two turf fields at Streamwood (Bartlett's home away from home) and Schaumburg (finally its home after spending most of the season at Conant).

Now we're down to the quarterfinals. One of the interesting debates since the expansion to 256 teams in 2001 is the merits of having 5-4 teams eligible for the field. Every year there are some who prove they don't belong. On the other hand, there are others who prove they were more than worthy of playing in the postseason.

This year's football playoffs - and other postseasons - are thankfully all about what's happening on the field.
Last year wasn't the case for the five District 211 schools (Fremd, Palatine, Hoffman Estates, Conant and Schaumburg) as a threat of a teacher's strike loomed. There was all sorts of uncertainty about whether or not coaches would cross picket lines in order to coach and whether there would be postseasons at all. The strike was finally settled two days before Fremd played Glenbard North in the football quarterfinals and girls swimmers were participating in sectional meets.
You had to wonder if all the uncertainty had an adverse effect. Fortunately, it's not an issue this year.

It's one of the things that's always bugged me about the football playoffs since the Wednesday-Saturday, first-second round format was abandoned in the mid-90s. So many teams wind up playing on Saturday afternoons and nights and there are hardly any Friday night games.
Look at this week - only 8 of the 64 second-round games are on Friday night. And once you play a couple of games on Saturday, it's pretty rare anyone goes back to a Friday and gives up an extra day of prep time. Prospect did in its 2001 and 2002 7A title runs - playing second-round and quarterfinal games on Saturdays (the last two quarters out of necessity because Buffalo Grove didn't have lights at the time) and its semifinals on Fridays.

Herald HS reporter and HS football fanatic Jeff Newton, who usually covers mostly up in Lake County, said he hadn't been to a game at Fremd in 11 years before Friday night's playoff opener. He was impressed by what he saw from the fanatical "Army of Darkness" student section that seems to take up nearly half the home stands. Their support is incredible and there's no doubt they'll be out in full force Friday night at Streamwood's Millennium Field, where Bartlett plays its home games.
If it's not the best 12th man in the state then I'd like to see who is.
How into it are they?
A couple of days before the big crosstown playoff showdown with Palatine, Fremd QB Mike Tauchman said: "They might be less focused about schoolwork than the players."

Fremd standout quarterback Mike Tauchman regularly attends school plays. He went to the opening night of "Bye, Bye Birdie" with his mom.
When he was jokingly asked why he didn't wait until Friday, he laughed and replied "I've got plans."
His plans in a 24-7 playoff win over Palatine entailed running for 70 yards on 19 carries and passing for 62 yards, punting for nearly a 41-yard average and picking off 3 passes (giving him 7 in two years against his cross-town rivals). How competitive is the kid? On the last play of the game on a jump ball at midfield with Palatine's Cody Bobbit, Tauchman emerged from their wrestling match with the football on a play that had no bearing on the result. But Tauchman said there was no way he was going to give up the ball.