Getting Prepped

Fremd's Mike Donatucci didn't become the winningest coach at a Mid-Suburban League school or schools with Friday night's playoff win over Palatine by just rolling out the footballs. There's no question he's had some talented players, but getting his 116th career victory to pass Conant's Dave Pendergast is a testament to how he's built one of the state's most consistent programs.
The Vikings have now been in the playoffs 14 straight years. They've won six straight outright or shared MSL West titles.
Donatucci's defense put on a clinic Friday night in coming within 47 seconds of shutting out one of the area's most powerful offenses. Naturally, they got the points back after Palatine recovered an onside kick when Zenon Kolakowski returned a pick 64 yards to the end zone.

Well, the first weekend of the football playoffs is in the books and the field has been cut to 128. Here are a few of the highlights from what happened...

Congratulations to former Hoffman Estates star and Huntley coach Marty Manning ... oh, wait, that wasn't basketball on Friday night. It certainly was amazing - Huntley beating Batavia 70-63 in a Class 6A first-round game that easily, I mean easily, smashed the state playoff scoring record for a game by 27 points.
When I heard the game was tied at 63-63 I couldn't believe it. When I talked to reporter Brian Schaumburg on the phone to use some info (there was no shortage of that) for my Friday night WBBM radio report he sounded exhausted. Even on WBBM after I was done, sports guy Marc Grote was still raving about the game on the air.

Going into Week 9 - one interesting twist for the final regular-season poll in football. For example, a team that has been ranked all year in 8A but drops to 7A for the playoffs gets ranked in 7A.

8A
1. Maine South
2. Naperville North
3. Bartlett
4. Bolingbrook
5. Lincoln-Way East
6. St. Rita
7. Mt. Carmel
8. Loyola
9. Hinsdale Central
10. Glenbrook South

7A
1. WW South
2. East St. Louis
3. Geneva
4. Glenbard West
5. Carmel
6. Rockford Boylan
7. Machesney Park Harlem
8. Belleville West
9. Prospect
10. St. Charles East

6A
1. Rock Island
2. Cary-Grove
3. Springfield Griffin
4. Bloomington
5. Normal
6. Lemont
7. Joliet Catholic
8. Oak Forest
9. Peoria Richwoods
10. Antioch

5A
1. Metamora
2. Montini
3. Nazareth
4. St. Francis
5. Washington

It's become the most anticipated night of the high school sports season - Selection Saturday as the 256-team football playoff field and pairings are announced. It's become a big event for TV, radio and the internet throughout the state with teams hosting friends and families for parties to see who they're opening up with.
Some teams expected to be here and others will enjoy their surprise trips. This will be a nerve-wracking week for teams with 4-4 records to get the fifth win to qualify with an at-large berth. And for teams that played weaker schedules, they'll be scrambling to find results of games involving schools they may have never even heard of to see if their position has been enhanced.

The more than 6,000 that filled Chic Anderson Stadium for Friday's Fremd-Palatine cross-town clash included Bob Umpleby, who was dubbed "Superfan" by Bob Frisk. Umpleby used to live in the area and was a fixture at local HS events before moving to Quincy a few years back.
Umpleby, who is 82, still tries to make some of the bigger games in the area and we were pleasantly surprised to see he made the long trek from western Illinois to Palatine. The game definitely made the trip worthwhile.

8A
1. Maine South
2. Naperville North
3. Bartlett
4. Bolingbrook
5. Lincoln-Way East
6. St. Rita
7. Mt. Carmel
8. Loyola
9. Brother Rice
10. Hinsdale Central

7A
1. WW South
2. East St. Louis
3. Geneva
4. Glenbard West
5. Carmel
6. Rockford Boylan
7. Machesney Park Harlem
8. Belleville West
9. Prospect
10. St. Charles East

6A
1. Rock Island
2. Cary-Grove
3. Springfield Griffin
4. Bloomington
5. Normal
6. Lemont
7. Joliet Catholic
8. Oak Forest
9. Peoria Richwoods
10. Danville

5A
1. Metamora
2. Montini
3. Nazareth
4. St. Francis
5. Washington
6. Cahokia
7. Sterling
8. Marian Central Catholic
9. Decatur MacArthur
10. Geneseo

4A
1. Bloomington Central Catholic
2. Driscoll
3. Aurora Christian
4. Breese Mater Dei
5. Quincy Notre Dame

Less than two weeks before Selection Saturday, the announcement of the state football playoff pairings, which has become one of the biggest nights in the high school sports season.

Here's a look at the prospects for the Mid-Suburban League, St. Viator and Leyden with the current record and probable playoff points. The probable points are based on what's likely to happen with the qualifying or potential qualifying team's opponents the last two games. Five wins are needed for an at-large berth in the 256-team field but no guarantee for inclusion (see Barrington last year).

WELCOME BACK
Barrington (6-1, 43-46 points)

8A
1. Maine South
2. Lincoln-Way East
3. Bartlett
4. Naperville North
5. Loyola
6. St. Rita
7. Mt. Carmel
8. Fremd
9. Brother Rice
10. Hinsdale Central

7A
1. WW South
2. East St. Louis
3. Geneva
4. Glenbard West
5. Carmel
6. Rockford Boylan
7. Machesney Park Harlem
8. Fenwick
9. Crystal Lake South
10. St. Charles East

6A
1. Rock Island
2. Cary-Grove
3. Springfield Griffin
4. Bloomington
5. Normal
6. Lemont
7. Joliet Catholic
8. Oak Forest
9. Peoria Richwoods
10. Danville

5A
1. Metamora
2. Montini
3. Nazareth
4. St. Francis
5. Marian Central Catholic
6. Decatur MacArthur
7. Washington
8. Cahokia
9. Sterling
10. Geneseo

4A
1. Bloomington Central Catholic
2. Driscoll
3. Aurora Christian
4. Breese Mater Dei
5. Quincy ND

Won't be long before basketball is upon us. Unfortunately for Schaumburg senior Blake Mueller, his wait will be longer for the second straight season. A torn ACL suffered a few weeks ago that required surgery will likely keep him out until some time in January. The 6-foot-5 Mueller, who was a key varsity contributor as a sophomore, missed a big chunk of time last season with a torn ACL but returned and had a huge game in a sectional semifinal win over Highland Park.

My disappointment of the Sox getting KO'd in 4 games by the Rays (maybe they still are the Devil Rays, 6-6-6 runs in all their wins) was tempered by the fact they lost to a better team and also seem to have a lot of quality people in the organization. One of them is former Buffalo Grove star Tim Bogar, who had a nine-year big-league career and is in his first year with the Rays after a successful stint as a minor league manager.