Clemente coach Fred Galluzzi said that he and seven other coaches on the Public League football committee met last Wednesday to discuss which course of action to take when the Chicago teachers strike ends. Although no concrete plans were mapped out, Galluzzi said the coaches basically agreed about what they do not want to do: play a lot of makeup contests in order to get in enough games to be eligible for the state playoffs. ”Most of us were in agreement that we don`t want to play two or three games a week,” he said.
”That`s frightening. That`s really hairy. Personally, I`d just as soon forget about the state playoffs and shorten the citywide playoffs. But to tell you the truth, it`s still too early to say which route we`ll take.” Senn coach Jack Maggiore agreed that the length of the strike, now ending its third week, may necessitate that the Public League forgo the state playoffs and concentrate on the Prep Bowl. ”We`d have to cancel games, that`s obvious,”
he said. ”And if we don`t have the required number of games in (eight), we`re out. I don`t see this thing breaking.”
Sunday`s Mt. Carmel-Gordon Tech matchup, originally scheduled to take place at Lane Tech, was switched to Hanson Stadium only a few days before the game.
”Because of the strike, the Board of Education is only opening up two stadiums, Hanson and Gately Stadium,” said Gordon Tech coach Tom Winiecki.
”Of course, they`re the ones with no maintenance.” Because of the switch, Gordon, which usually plays on grass, was forced to play on Hanson`s artificial turf, which Mt. Carmel is more used to because it plays its home games at Gately. Mt. Carmel won 14-0.
Mt. Carmel coach Frank Lenti noted that two former Caravan teammates faced each other in the college opener matching Nebraska and UCLA. Frank Cornish, son of the former Bears player of the same name, lined up at center for UCLA against Cornhusker defensive tackle Mike Murray. Nate Turner, the all-state receiver on Mt. Carmel`s 5A runner-up team of last season, has been redshirted by Nebraska after receiving a hip-pointer injury in the team`s final scrimmage.
In this, his eighth year of coaching at Richmond-Burton, Randy Hofman has lost only 12 games. This season, his team is 4-0 and has outscored the opposition 171-0. Does this frighten the coach? ”Yes, this kind of start really scares me,” said Hofman, who began his coaching as an assistant at Crete-Monee.
”We`ve been blowing people out so easily that I start to wonder if we are really this good.” Of the 150 boys in the school of 300, some 50 turned out for the start of football practice. Hofman has 26 on the varsity roster, nine of them freshmen and sophomores. The coach can`t afford the luxury of keeping his younger players on the bench. Sophomore quarterback Roger Hauri has completed 28 of 39 passes for 375 yards and six touchdowns. Junior running back Chris Steadman has scored 12 times and rushed for 350 yards. ”But we`ve had such one-sided games, everyone gets a chance to play, and individual statistics aren`t that good,” says Hofman, who, after Friday`s 46-0 shellacking of Valley Lutheran, has a 66-12 record. No opponent this year has even gotten as far as Richmond-Burton`s 30-yard line. For that, you can thank a defense keyed by linebackers Steadman and Terry Pauley, end Mike Twardosz and backs Ken Radcliffe, Brock Komar and Rich Kramer. Kramer is a sophomore who started last year, and Komar is a junior. ”Now we have younger brothers playing here whose older brothers had success,” said Hofman. ”Tradition has been built at Richmond-Burton.” The school has another ”tradition,” or rather a bad habit. It has been to the playoffs five times and usually runs into Marian Central Catholic in the first or second rounds. ”They`re not far from us, so we`re always matched against them early,” Hofman said. ”Here are two of the best 2A teams in the state, and they meet right away.” Curiously, Richmond-Burton is 5-0 against public schools in the playoffs and 0-5 against parochial schools. Last year, R-B lost 35-0 to Marian Central in the opening round.
Morris got into the record books Friday with its 68-10 rout of Kaneland. The Redskins` 634 yards of total offense is third on the all-time state list, according to the Illinois High School Association. Quarterback Jason Knapp completed 17 of 27 passes for 336 yards and two scores. Back Mike Hanson gained 142 yards in 12 carries. Ray Hickey had 159 yards receiving, and Kent Pellegrini added 155 yards in receptions.
The big showdowns start this week, with all Chicagoland conferences in action. In the East Suburban Catholic Conference, St. Patrick (4-0, 2-0) is at Joliet Catholic (3-1, 2-0) Friday, and St. Viator (4-1, 2-0) plays at Marist (4-0, 2-0) Saturday. Elgin and Streamwood, both 4-0, 2-0, meet Friday at Elgin in an Upstate Eight game. Cary-Grove is at Dundee-Crown Saturday in a Fox Valley Conference clash of 4-0 squads. Because of the Yom Kippur holiday, which begins at sundown Friday, four games have been shifted to Thursday night. The biggest matchup is Buffalo Grove at Palatine, a Mid-Suburban League North Division opener between 4-0 teams. Another MSL North meeting of 4-0 squads, Fremd at Hersey, takes place Friday night. Other Thursday games are Maine South at Glenbrook North, Waukegan West at Maine West and Highland Park at Niles West. Another four games have been moved from Friday night to Friday afternoon. They are Deerfield at Waukegan East, Maine East at Evanston, New Trier at Glenbrook South (all in the Central Suburban League) and Libertyville at Niles North in the North Suburban Conference.
Central Suburban League teams divided 18 crossover games, with Deerfield of the North Division the only school to post a clean slate (3-0) against teams from the opposite section. . . . SICA South teams were 11-4 against SICA Central opponents. . . . Mid-Suburban North teams routed MSL South squads, winning 14 of 16 crossover games.
One of the Chicago area`s more underrated quarterbacks may be Warren`s Derek Shelton, who has thrown for 690 yards and seven touchdowns in four games. ”He had a pretty good season last year, too,” said Warren coach Reggie Hughes.
”Derek had about a 57 percent completion record and was only 4 yards shy of 1,000 yards after starting all 10 games as a junior. We anticipated him coming back with a little more maturity this year.” In Warren`s opening-game victory over Niles North, Shelton was 26 of 30 for 204 yards. He`s also an all-conference point guard on Warren`s basketball team and a catcher on the baseball squad.
Rolling Meadows` Kevin Quast, younger brother of Iowa linebacker and Tribune All-Stater Brad Quast, is literally stepping into his brother`s shoes this year. Kevin is wearing a pair of Iowa shoes that bear his brother`s number-35. Kevin`s jersey number is 80.
Soccer
Deerfield, ranked seventh in The Tribune poll, battled 12th-ranked Libertyville to a scoreless tie Saturday. For a team veteran coach Van Miller said could have problems on defense, Deerfield has done quite well. ”The defense has been strong,” said Miller. ”It`s been quite stingy. The kids have worked hard, and they`ve all gotten better.” Two of the keys are goalkeeper Joel Meadow, who had the unenviable task of replacing standout Tony DeFillipis in goal, and Cesar Ruffalo, who was converted from forward to the backline. ”Cesar has been terrific at sweeper,” said Miller, whose club is 7-1-2. ”He can play anywhere. It`s strange watching him stand still when you know he can run so well. And Meadows has been solid in goal. He`s so quick coming out, it`s almost scary. He gets out fast and gets the ball. He has total disregard for his body. One of our football coaches said he thought Joel would be a pretty awesome fullback if he could be taught to run around people, rather than throw the ball away from them. But I`m glad to have him where he`s at. These kids all have individual talent. It`s just that we tend to play the other team`s game. Like against Libertyville, we got emotionally charged and felt tough but didn`t play smart. That`s what we have to start doing. The future is in these kids` own hands.”
Volleyball
Oak Park, The Tribune`s top-ranked team since the second week of the season, proved its power over the weekend in capturing the Rich East Invitational. The tournament, one of the season`s most prestigious, featured eight of the top 15 Chicago-area teams. In beating Richards 13-15, 16-14, 15-2 for the title, Oak Park stopped the defending state champion Bulldogs` consecutive match winning streak at 28 and took first at Park Forest for the first time in nine years. Marianne Kelm and Sue Wohlford led the Huskies, who came back after staving off match point at 14-11 in the second game.
Hinsdale South pulled off a surprise first-place finish in the Maine East tournament, defeating powerful Hersey in three games in the title match to up its record to 15-5 and earn a spot in The Tribune`s Top 15. Hinsdale South was a late replacement for Glenbard South, which pulled out of the tournament because of a contractual error. Hinsdale South also upset Crystal Lake South en route to the title game. Hersey`s top power hitter, Amy Peistrup, was nursing an ankle injury against Hinsdale, but coach Betsy Betker was disappointed in the outcome nonetheless. ”We had to set around Amy after she accidentally sat down on her ankle early in the tournament,” said Betker. Hersey will need Peistrup for Tuesday`s big match against No. 8 Palatine. ”If we can beat them, we`ll know we have arrived,” said Betker.
Field hockey
The word is that Lake Forest, Homewood-Flossmoor, Deerfield and Oak Park are the teams to beat in next month`s mythical state tournament. The word is, too, that Homewood-Flossmoor`s Becky Treptow is unquestionably the best goaltender in the Chicago area, if not the Midwest. Although Lake Forest and Deerfield did not compete in last weekend`s Homewood-Flossmoor Invitational, H-F and Treptow established themselves as a tough combination as H-F posted three straight victories to win the title, including a 2-0 verdict over defending state champion Oak Park. It was H-F`s second victory over Oak Park in the same week. Treptow continued her near-flawless net-minding by yielding only one goal in three games, thus improving her season record to only three goals allowed in H-F`s 9-1 start. ”Becky is clearly the top senior goalie prospect in the Midwest,” said H-F coach Jim Chasey. ”I wouldn`t be surprised to see less than 10 goals scored on her all season.” In addition to her prowess in the nets, Becky is an accomplished musician on the clarinet and an outstanding student, a National Merit Scholarship semifinalist who ranks ninth in a class of 545 and holds a 3.85 grade-point average.
