Evanston interim coach Elias George has denied reports that 14 players, including six starters, were suspended from the team in connection with a drinking incident. ”That`s untrue,” said George, who acknowledged that two players had been suspended for two weeks because of that incident. Evanston principal Salvatore Pascarella said another ”five or six players” didn`t play in Evanston`s 34-3 victory Friday over Maine East because they violated
”other training rules.” They are expected to play this week. ”Even the players who didn`t play against Maine East were practicing with the team all week,” said George.
Offensive guards seldom get attention, but Palatine coach Joe Petricca singles out 6-foot, 200-pound Ted Stein as a big reason the Pirates are 5-0 after their 23-0 victory Thursday over defending Class 6A champion Buffalo Grove.
”Ted was blowing their tackle off the line all night,” said Petricca.
”Guards can be smaller, slower tackles, but not in our system. We pull the guards a lot in our offense, so Ted not only has to be strong, he must be fast.”
The Mid-Suburban North race will probably go down to the final week, and four of the league`s six teams could wind up in the state playoffs. ”The percentages are against any team going through the league undefeated,” said Fremd coach Joe Samojedny before his squad lost 12-6 in overtime to Hersey.
”Who knows, you might even see a champion with a 3-2 record.” Fremd (4-1)
has its chance to get back in the hunt when it meets Palatine Saturday. . . . Other top games this weekend include Deerfield (5-0, 1-0) at surprising Waukegan West (4-1, 1-0) Saturday in the Central Suburban League North. Evanston (3-2, 1-0) is at Maine South (3-2, 1-0) Saturday in the Central Suburban South. Marist meets St. Patrick Friday night at Hanson Stadium in an East Suburban Catholic Conference battle of 5-0, 3-0 teams. Morris (5-0, 3-0) plays at Oswego (5-0, 3-0) Friday in the Little Seven. Marian Catholic visits Homewood-Flossmoor Friday in a nonconference clash of undefeated south suburban powers. Sandburg (5-0, 2-0) travels to Stagg (4-1, 2-1) Friday in SICA North action. Downers Grove North (4-1, 3-0) plays at Oak Park (5-0, 2-0), and hard-luck Glenbard West (3-2, 1-2) is at Lyons (4-1, 2-0) Saturday in critical West Suburban Conference Silver games. And Immaculate Conception
(5-0, 3-0) visits Providence on Saturday (5-1, 3-0) in a West Suburban Catholic showdown.
The biggest Chicago-area success story of the season is Streamwood, which has had only one winning season in the 10-year-history of the school. Now the Sabres are 5-0 after a stunning 26-0 romp Friday over previously undefeated Elgin.
Downers Grove North`s Brian Montgomery had 160 yards in 15 carries and scored on runs of 81 and 37 yards in Friday`s 15-12 victory over Glenbard West. . . . Momence`s Scott Newberry had 197 yards in 19 carries and 3 TDs in a 35-12 victory over Watseka.
Tom Thayer of the Bears would have been in Philadelphia Friday night, but with the NFL players on strike, the former Joliet Catholic star spent the evening on the sidelines at Joliet Memorial Stadium, watching his alma mater go down to defeat in its homecoming game against St. Patrick. . . . St. Pat`s coach John Urban lauded his defense after Friday`s 13-6 victory. ”Our whole defense is exceptional. Their quarterback (Jon Voss) had something like a 60 percent completion rate, and their backs are both super, and we held them off.
(Linebacker) William Freeney is a big-play man, and he proved it tonight.”
. . . Homewood-Flossmoor`s ”run-and-shoot” passing offense is more than just quarterback Jeff Lesniewicz throwing 40 passes a game. Friday night, for example, the Vikings ripped Thornridge 36-3 and Lesniewicz wasn`t even the top yard-gainer for the winners. That honor belonged to junior back Percy Willingham, who ran for 112 yards in 15 carries and scored 2 touchdowns.
Soccer
Palatine coach Aleks Mihailovic, who played professionally with the Washington Diplomats and Jacksonville Tea Men, has a theory about high school soccer becoming physical. ”It`s because we`re teaching kids to be defensive minded, which is the last thing we need in America,” he said. ”Everybody`s getting to a 4-4-2 formation, which is primarily defensive and used for fast-break attacks. I think that`s why play is rougher and injuries occur. We`re not teaching skill play as much as we used to. The world saw the 4-3-3 go out the door and copied.” In a 4-3-3, there are four defenders, three midfielders and three forwards. A 4-4-2 employs one less forward and adds a midfielder. The 4-4-2 became popular in the 1982 World Cup, when Italy used it to gain a championship.
Palatine is a surprising 9-4-1 despite a rash of injuries. With a starting 11 consisting of two seniors and nine juniors, injuries are something the Pirates can ill afford. ”Having key players out hurts a young team,” said Mihailovic. ”It`s been hard, but we`ve tried to keep them together.” Out are midfielder Mark Layne, who has knee ligament damage and may return in two-three weeks; midfielder Steve Turek, who injured leg muscles and hasn`t played all season; and sweeper Craig Cocalis, who underwent reconstructive knee surgery and is lost for the season.
Tennis
In a big upset Saturday at the Shepard Doubles Invitational, junior Katherine Farmer and sophomore Chloe Dallaire of St. Ignatius defeated 1986 sectional champions seniors Connie Chen and Michelle Dalton of Andrew 6-3, 6-2. ”It was quite a surprise,” said Shepard coach Glenn Simms. ”This is a good tournament to test out the doubles. Throughout the year, a majority of attention is paid to singles players, so I put this tournament together.”
The Homewood-Flossmoor Invitational had a first and a family feud. The first: Freshman Laura Dvorak, Lyons` No. 2 singles player, defeated teammate and No. 1 player Simone Lacher 6-4, 6-3. The feud: Iffy and Ngozi Okorafor are sisters and teammates at Homewood-Flossmoor but found themselves on opposite sides of the net in a match Saturday. Iffy, a sophomore and H-F`s top player, defeated Ngozi 6-2, 6-4. ”They didn`t want to play each other,” said H-F coach Jim Trudeau. ”It`s bound to happen sooner or later, and they know that. That doesn`t mean they like it.” . . . H-F`s doubles team of senior Sonia Kacker and sophomore Tina Suk (13-5) defeated Thornwood`s previously undefeated Laura Baron and Chris Bottom twice in two days. One confrontation was in a dual meet, the other in the finals of the H-F tournament, where Kacker and Suk won 6-3, 7-6 (7-3).
Swimming
New Trier leads the latest state rankings compiled by Swimming in Illinois magazine. The rest of the top 10 is Naperville North, Deerfield, Hinsdale Central, Glenbrook North, Homewood-Flossmoor, Evanston, Wheeling, Oak Park and Andrew. The second 10 is Naperville Central, Bloomington, Moline, Palatine, Schaumburg, Champaign Central, Springfield High, Barrington, Lyons and Buffalo Grove. The rankings reflect championship format scoring and not necessarily dual-meet strength.
Cross country
Moline edged Schaumburg 23 to 25 for the title at the Crete-Monee Pow-Wow Saturday. Lake Park was third with 42. Andy Homoly of Sandburg won the individual title by covering the 2.9-mile course in 14:00.9. Mike Billish of Brother Rice was second in 14:02.
York used a fine display of pack running to breeze to the title at the Peoria Spalding Invitational. Despite not having an individual in the top five, the Dukes outscored runner-up Rockford Guilford 46 to 137. Matt Shull of York was sixth in 15:13, with teammates Mark Bilut seventh in 15:16, Chuck Mattis eighth in 15:17 and Al Cabat ninth in 15:23. Mark Scheirer of Metamora covered the 3 miles in 14:31 to take first place.
Golf
Regina Dominican underscored its status as the favorite for the state girls`
championship Saturday by winning the Champaign Invitational by 28 strokes. Regina shot 342 to 370 for runner-up Edwardsville, 376 for Naperville North and 386 for Homewood-Flossmoor. Regina also swept the first four individual places. Katie Fitzgerald and Liz Poden tied for first at 10-over-par 84, with Dorian Zimmer and Sally Mazzucchelli at 87. Kelly Rourke of Regina, Becky Fuglestad of Naperville North and Dana Rasmus of Bloomington were next at 88. Volleyball
Lyons Township coach Marge McKee insisted early last week that her unranked team was one of the best in the Chicago area. The Lions proved her right throughout the week, beating Riverside-Brookfield and Hinsdale Central before hosting its own quadrangular Saturday. The LT winning streak hit nine after beating West Chicago, Oak Lawn and Lockport in two sets each to earn a spot in the top 10. ”Records aren`t the only thing that indicate a strong team,”
said McKee before the sweep week. ”We`ve played some top-ranked teams like Homewood-Flossmoor and Hinsdale South and beaten them earlier.” Lyons (15-4) is led by setter Donna Ballarini-who runs the 5-1 offense-and outside hitters Cindy Parrish and Galina Fouks, who had 20 kills at the weekend meet. . . . It was a week of upsets for some of the area`s other top teams. Besides Lockport`s loss to Lyons Township, West Aurora, Joliet St. Francis and Hersey were also dealt defeats.
Miscellaneous
Josephinum High School, in conjunction with the Ray Meyer family, will host a dinner to mark the dedication of the Marge Meyer Athletic and Convocation Center at the school. The dinner will be at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the White Eagle Restaurant, 6839 N. Milwaukee Ave. Reservations are $50 a person. Notre Dame basketball coach Digger Phelps will be master of ceremonies. For information, call Sister Delphine Wedmore at 276-4194.
