Chicago Sports

An open tight end is often the sign of a good offense. But Cole Kmet was so wide open on a downfield pass route in the third quarter against the Lions on Sunday that the anticipation threatened to make the easiest catch a little difficult. If there’s such a thing as being too wide open, this was it.

But Kmet had a bigger problem as Justin Fields’ pass hung in the air and the Soldier Field crowd anticipated a big play.

He lost it in the sun.

“The sun at that time was right in that vision, so I lost it for a couple of seconds and warlike, ‘Where is this thing at?'” Kmet said. “There’s a slight shade coming in and you kind of see it peek through the sun. My baseball days playing center field probably helped out in that situation.”

The Bears’ third-year tight end made the catch at the Lions 17-yard line and — with no defender within 10 yards of him — easily completed a 50-yard touchdown that gave the Bears a 24-10 lead with 2:43 left in the third quarter.

“I think it just set up nice,” Kmet said. “We obviously saw through the game that they were overplaying a little bit. We run a lot of those movements with Justin. Justin really likes those types of pass plays — get him out of the pocket. I was able to kind of nod the safety over. Little bit and the come fall across his face — and it turned out to be a big play.”

Kmet’s 50-yard touchdown was his second in less than five minutes of game time. He previously had scored on a six-yard pass from Fields that was just as well-conceived and well-timed, with Kmet feigning a blocking play and breaking free to get open and make it an easy throw for Fields for the touchdown.

Fields’ record-setting running has been the obvious key to the Bears’ offensive surge under coordinator Luke Getsy — 555 rushing yards in the last five games, 9.0 yards per carry and franchise-record touchdowns of 61 and 67 yards. But Kmet’s production arguably has been the next biggest indicator of the progress of Getsy’s offense. After scoring two touchdowns in his first two seasons under Matt Nagy — both of them in his rookie season of 2020 — Kmet has scored five touchdowns in his last three games.

Kmet’s numbers still are relatively modest. He has 23 receptions for 274 yards (11.9 average). His average of 27.4 yards per game is actually less than it was last season in Nagy’s offense (36.0 — 60-612).

But in Getsy’s offense he looks like a weapon. And he’s becoming a bigger factor as the offense grows. Kmet had no receptions and just two targets in the Bears’ first two games this season. He’s had 13 target in the last two games, with nine receptions for 115 yards and four touchdowns.

“Opportunity, execution,” Kmet said when asked about the difference. “I’m the one on the receiving end as it’s happened the past three weeks. Being able to have a guy like Justin [where] you don’t know run or pass, that’s a big deal for me.’

All the hard work Kmet did to establish a foundation as a blocker — a focus during his two seasons in Nagy’s offense — is paying off. Not only is he an effective blocker, but it makes it easier to sell on a pass play.

“All the blocking I do in-line and being able to release off of that and do some of the things off of the runs we have, [that’s] really helped e out a lot, too,” Kmet said. “And then you just get good matchups against guys. I’m 6-6 going up against a [defensive back] body — that’s usually going to turn out pretty well.”

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Blackhawks’ Tyler Johnson took part in training, Monday, fueling the news he might be back in action in a week.

Forward, Tyler Johnson could be back on the ice for the Chicago Blackhawks in a week. The 32 year old, who has been sidelined since Oct. 25 with a left ankle sprain, was a full participant in the team’s Monday morning practice.

After Johnson suffered the injury, the Blackhawks listed his return timeline at 4-6 weeks. He resumed skating last week, taking the ice prior to Blackhawks’ practices ahead of a West Coast road trip. Now, Johnson is back at practice three weeks into his timeline.

He old wouldn’t put a specific return date on his recovery timeline but was unwilling to officially rule himself out next week. Still, the news does mean that Johnson’s total games missed will reach at least 12, having already been sidelined for the previous eight contests.

The veteran forward got off to a nice start prior to going down with the injury. In six games, he scored six points (two goals, four assists) as a fixture of the Hawks’ second line.

The Blackhawks have a busy week ahead with four games in the mix and it’s not clear exactly when Tyler Johnson will return to game action, but fully participating in practice Monday is a positive news .

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Good afternoon. Here’s the latest news you need to know in Chicago. It’s about a five-minute read that will brief you on today’s biggest stories.

This afternoon will be partly sunny with a high near 41 degrees. Tonight will be mostly cloudy with a 50% chance of snow and a low near 33. Tomorrow will bring snow, possibly mixed with rain, and a high near 37. Snow accumulation of less than one inch is possible.

Top story

Injured St. Ignatius hockey player recalls ‘crash, bang’ of semi striking team bus in Indiana. ‘We all stayed together and prayed’

Colin McGrath was resting on his friend’s shoulder on the St. Ignatius College Prep hockey team’s bus Saturday evening after a tournament in Indiana.

“All of a sudden I hear a crash, bang, and I blacked out,” said McGrath, a player on the school’s junior varsity Wolfpack team.

A semitruck had plowed into their bus as the team returned to a hotel from dinner in Warsaw, about 50 miles south of South Bend. McGrath woke up on top of his friend, shattered glass was strewn everywhere.

“I picked up my friend and some pedestrian came and opened the emergency door for us,” he said. “After that it was just walking, freaking out, just getting out and figuring out what was happening and getting everyone safe.”

McGrath was seated in the rear of the bus, near where the truck struck it.

“If I was one row back, it would’ve been a lot worse,” he said.

Sixteen students were hurt and three of them were taken in “very critical” condition to Fort Wayne Lutheran Hospital, police said.

McGrath suffered a dislocated shoulder and swollen jaw, he said. His left arm was in a sling as he returned to class Monday morning, wearing his Wolfpack hockey jersey.

The crash happened around 8 p.m. Saturday. The school’s junior varsity hockey team had competed in a tournament at Culver Military Academy. Felony DUI charges were pending against a semi driver who police say ran a red light and crashed into a bus carrying 23 students and two hockey coaches.

One of the seriously injured students was discharged from a hospital Sunday evening, school spokeswoman Kristyn Hartman said Monday. Two other students were expected to remain hospitalized for three to five more days, she said. Ten others on the bus were uninjured, police said. All were taken by another school bus to Lutheran Kosciusko Hospital, where officers notified relatives, police said. The students are 14 to 17 years old. The seriously injured players will require more surgery for internal injuries, McGrath said.

McGrath was eager to leave the hospital and reunite with his team.

“I didn’t want to be there because I wanted to be with my teammates. We all stayed together and prayed,” he said

David Struett and Allison Novelo have more on the harrowing crash here.

More news you need

A downstate man who assaulted a police officer during the Jan. 6 insurrection is being held in the Sangamon County Jail following a wrong-way crash last week on I-55 that killed a woman, authorities say. Shane Woods, 44, of Auburn, is being held in lieu of $2 million bail, authorities said.Cook County prosecutors today asked for more time to decide on whether to prosecute R. Kelly on sexual abuse charges involving four Chicago-area women. The next hearing in the case has been set for Dec. 13.Mauyak, a female beluga whale that had lived at Shedd Aquarium for a quarter of a century, has died, aquarium staff said. “She was a very independent whale, extremely playful and was an attentive mom to her calves,” a Shedd official said.On the cusp of the 2022 holiday movie season, Sun-Times critic Richard Roeper has previewed his most-anticipated upcoming films. The list includes films like “The Fabelmans,” “Avatar: The Way of Water,” “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” and more.

A bright one

Photographer, historian team up for unique portraits of Chicago’s ‘antique skyscrapers’

They are domed or stepped back or crenelated, like castle towers. With illuminated clocks or fierce gryphons or flying buttresses. Urns and eagles, ladies liberty and neon signs.

In Chicago, there is the azure blue of the American Furniture Mart, whose windows seem to float against perfect summer skies. Or the white summit of Mather Tower, a reminder that the top four stories started crumbling and were lopped off, only to have the city eventually force the owner to helicopter in a replacement. The glittering gold crown of the Carbide and Carbon Building.

Chris Hytha, a 25-year-old Philadelphia photographer, calls them simply “Highrises” on his sleek online project presenting stunning high-resolution photographs stitched together from close-up drone shots of grande dame buildings across the country. Historian Mark Houser calls them “antique skyscrapers” and covers them in his self-published 2020 book, “MultiStories: 55 Antique Skyscrapers & the Business Tycoons Who Built Them.”

Not just a valentine to lovely old structures, the book is a scholarly attempt to puff off the dust and view them afresh — and the book put Houser on Hytha’s radar.

The two teamed up and visited Chicago in August and shot 16 buildings. While Hytha was taken with their image, Houser focused on their history.

“We don’t appreciate that these iconic buildings were disruptive high technology,” Houser said. “They radically changed every city in America, not just Chicago and New York.”

Hytha sells his photos in a variety of ways: as “Architecturally Annotated Prints,” 13-by-19-inch images including information Houser has dug up, limited signed editions of 100 for $100 apiece. In group posters for $20, or iPhone wallpaper for $10.

The big money, though, is in NFTs, non-fungible tokens — digital collectibles that have shaken up the art world. Since April, Hytha has sold 65 NFTs of high-rises, for about $500 to $1,000 each. Though as with all NFTs, they also trade on an aftermarket, where these unique, unreproducible bundles of code have sold for five to 10 times what Hytha got for them.

Neil Steinberg has more with Hytha and Houser here.

From the press box

Your daily question?

Based on architecture/design, what is your favorite Chicago building? Tell us why.

Send us an email at [email protected] and we might feature your answer in the next Afternoon Edition.

On Friday, we asked you: What’s your favorite hidden gem in Chicago?

Here’s what some of you said…

“The captured submarine at the Museum of Science and Industry. My absolute favorite exhibit in Chicago! If you haven’t been since third grade, time to go back!” — Vana Kikos

“OZ Park, it has all the statues there. Of course, my favorite, tin man, is right on the corner.” — Debra Marlin

“The National Museum of Mexican Art is definitely a gem. Good time to visit too. Is one of my favorites.” — Kathryn Eret Kinder

“Manny’s Deli the best corn beef pastrami sandwiches~” — Kathy Juarez

“The Martin Luther King Roller Rink and Bowling Alley on 76th and Racine. The only one of its kind in Chicago. An oasis of peace and fun in a troubled area.” — Timothy Thomas

“Maggiano’s Little Italy. Absolutely wonderfully delicious.” — Karla Cashen

“The Lodge on Division.” — Larry Parham

“Garden of the Phoenix in Jackson Park.” — Nicky Weiner-Swank

“Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art.” — Jane Borton

“Seminary Co-op Bookstore — stacks and stacks of beautiful books on the South Side. And the Alfred Caldwell Lily Pond on the North Side — a great place to read a book.” — Craig Barner

“Jimmy’s Hot dog stand on Grand and Pulaski.” — Ricki DellaBianca

“Pequod’s Pizza. Best I’ve ever had.” — Misha Kieren

“For me The 63rd Street Beach on summer afternoons by the drummers.” — Klever Coleman

“Belmont Harbor.” — Maureen Rhoda

“JuJu’s Vintage. Would live in this store if I could.” — Nicole Boylan

“Northerly Island and 12th Street beach.” — Sarah Villegas

“My favorite hidden gem in Chicago is the Peace Garden at Buena and the Lakefront Trail — it has gardens, a statue, a water garden and a small waterfall in the warmer months.” — Gene Tenner

“The William W. Powers State Recreation Area in Hegewish. It’s beautiful!” — William Helmcke

Thanks for reading the Chicago Sun-Times Afternoon Edition.Got a story you think we missed? Email us here.

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Jay Leno has suffered “serious burns from a gasoline fire,” the comedian revealed in a statement to Variety and Deadline Monday.

“I am ok. Just need a week or two to get back on my feet,” he said.

People reported earlier Monday that the comedian, 72, canceled a performance at The Financial Brand’s Forum 2022, a conference in Las Vegas, as a result of a “serious medical emergency.”

“His family was not able to provide us very many details, but there was a very serious medical emergency that is preventing Jay from traveling,” an email sent to Forum 2022 attendees on Sunday and obtained by People stated. “All we know is that he is alive, so our prayers go out to him and his family tonight.”

USA TODAY has reached out to Leno’s representative and The Financial Brand for comment and further details.

Leno has been open about his health challenges in the past, speaking with USA TODAY in 2019 about managing his high cholesterol, which he was diagnosed with over two decades ago.

Leno said he urges people to seek out qualified physicians rather than taking advice from “your idiot friend down the street who says, ‘oh, my uncle had that.’ “

“Go to a doctor, and find out what (medicine) you should take and maybe augment that with laughter,” Leno said. “Laughter (alone) is a terrible medicine, it doesn’t do anything. It’s amusing and fun, but as a medicine it just sucks.”

Leno hosted “The Tonight Show” from 1992 to 2014. In fall 2021, he began presiding over a nationally syndicated revival of “You Bet Your Life,” the comedy game show made famous more than a half-century ago by legendary comedian Groucho Marx.

“I’m thrilled to be hosting the latest version of ‘You Bet Your Life,'” Leno said in a statement in September 2020. “One of my favorite things to do is talk to regular people and draw humor out of them. This is a comedy show wrapped in a game show that allows me to do just that.”

Read more at usatoday.com

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Three University of Virginia football players killed in an on-campus shooting were remembered Monday by their head coach as “all good kids.”

Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr., and D’Sean Perry were juniors returning to campus from a class trip to see a play Sunday night when authorities say they were killed by a fellow student.

The young men were also members of the Virginia football team, journeying through periods of transition in their careers — whether it was bouncing back from a season-ending injury, changing positions on the team or transferring in from another school.

“They were all good kids,” head football coach Tony Elliott said early Monday afternoon. He said he would talk about the victims “when the time is right.”

A couple hours later, teammate Aaron Faumui spoke briefly through tears to reporters as he struggled to make sense of the loss.

“I don’t even know what to say right now,” said the college senior who plays defensive tackle. “I just want to say they were three young great men.”

The grief was felt widely, reverberating through football programs across the country — in part because college athletes can move around more with the easing of transfer restrictions. Players from Wisconsin to Utah and Washington state mourned because they had played at Virginia.

“Can’t put into words the physical and mental pain that comes with losing not just teammates, but brothers,” tweeted Wayne Taulapapa, a running back who transferred from Virginia to the University of Washington. “You were never just football players, but rather examples of great and honorable young men.”

The shooting happened just after 10:15 p.m. Sunday as a charter bus full of students returned from seeing a play in Washington. University President Jim Ryan said authorities did not have a “full understanding” of the motive or circumstances surrounding the shooting.

Police on Monday captured a university student, Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., 22, whom they say is suspected of shooting the three football players and wounding two others. Jones had once played on the football team, but had not been a member of the team for at least a year, police said.

Davis was a 6-foot-7 wide receiver from Dorchester, South Carolina. He finished the 2020 season ranked No. 2 in the nation and No. 1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference for average yards per reception, among many other accolades.

An undisclosed injury sidelined Davis for 2021 season but he returned this year, starting six of the first seven games. In the season opener against the University of Richmond, Davis caught four passes for 89 yards, including a 56-yard touchdown. He was on a watch list for 2022 Comeback Player of the Year.

Perry was a linebacker from Miami, Florida. In September, Perry told the Daily Progress he was called to the Cavaliers’ football offices where linebackers coach Clint Sintim said he needed Perry to move from linebacker to defensive end.

Perry told the newspaper it was “no problem at all. It was a smooth transition.”

“Honestly, I feel like I can do both (linebacker and defensive end),” Perry said. “And I prepared myself well to work in space and pass rush during the offseason. … So, both positions I’m very comfortable with and I’m just trying to help the team win.”

Perry appeared in seven games this year and made seven tackles.

Chandler was a wide receiver from Huntersville, North Carolina. He recently transferred from Wisconsin. His accomplishments for the Badgers included a 59-yard kickoff return and 18-yard rush in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl against Wake Forest in 2020.

“Once a badger, always a badger,” Jim Leonhard, the University of Wisconsin’s interim head football coach, tweeted Monday in the wake of Chandler’s death.

“He had a lasting impact on his teammates, even after he left UW, which is a testament to the type of person he was,” Leonhard wrote. “His personality was infectious and he was a joy to be around. Our team is hurting for him and his family.”

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Colin McGrath was resting on his friend’s shoulder on the St. Ignatius College Prep hockey team’s bus Saturday evening after a tournament in Indiana.

“All of a sudden I hear a crash, bang, and I blacked out,” said McGrath, a player on the school’s junior varsity Wolfpack team.

A semitruck had plowed into their bus as the team returned to a hotel from dinner in Warsaw, about 50 miles south of South Bend.

McGrath woke up on top of his friend, shattered glass was strewn everywhere.

“I picked up my friend and some pedestrian came and opened the emergency door for us,” he said. “After that it was just walking, freaking out, just getting out and figuring out what was happening and getting everyone safe.”

McGrath was seated in the rear of the bus, near where the truck struck it.

“If I was one row back, it would’ve been a lot worse,” he said.

Sixteen students were hurt and three of them were taken in “very critical” condition to Fort Wayne Lutheran Hospital, police said.

McGrath suffered a dislocated shoulder and swollen jaw, he said. His left arm was in a sling as he returned to class Monday morning, wearing his Wolfpack hockey jersey.

The crash happened around 8 p.m. Saturday. The school’s junior varsity hockey team had competed in a tournament at Culver Military Academy.

Felony DUI charges were pending against a semi driver who police say ran a red light and crashed into a bus carrying 23 students and two hockey coaches.

One of the seriously injured students was discharged from a hospital Sunday evening, school spokeswoman Kristyn Hartman said Monday. Two other students were expected to remain hospitalized for three to five more days, she said.

Ten others on the bus were uninjured, police said. All were taken by another school bus to Lutheran Kosciusko Hospital, where officers notified relatives, police said. The students are 14 to 17 years old.

The seriously injured players will require more surgery for internal injuries, McGrath said.

McGrath was eager to leave the hospital and reunite with his team.

“I didn’t want to be there because I wanted to be with my teammates. We all stayed together and prayed,” he said.

Members of the team have been visiting the hospitalized players, he said. The whole team plans to visit them again sometime this week, McGrath said.

The students were returning from dinner when the crash happened, according to school officials. The bus driver was turning left off U.S. 30 when the semi driver went through a red light and struck the rear of the bus, flipping the bus on its side, police said.

The semi driver continued west and was stopped less than a mile away after driving off the road and into a ditch, police said. Police officers on the scene “detected a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage on his person and in the cab of the semi,” according to police.

Police said they already were responding to calls reporting a semi driver “swerving into other lanes and driving at excessive speed” before being alerted that the driver had crashed into the school bus.

The driver, 58, from Brooklyn, New York, was in custody and facing charges of driving while intoxicated and causing great bodily harm.

In an email to parents Sunday, the school said it was “happy to share that coaches were able to speak with all three students who remain in the hospital. They say they were heartened to hear the young men ask about their brothers on the team.”

Hockey director and varsity head coach Spencer Montgomery thanked the police and emergency crews who responded. “They were timely, organized and put the health of our boys at the forefront,” he said.

A Mass for the team will be held at the Church of the Holy Family at 3:30 p.m. Monday. The school said students will also be provided with counseling.

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For the first time in the history of the franchise, the Chicago Bears are relying on their offense to keep them competitive in games, while their defense has become an absolute sieve.

The Chicago Bears have scored 29 points in three consecutive games and have lost primarily because the defense has struggled to stop anyone.  There have been signs late in games that the Chicago Bears defense is up to the task but overall they’ve been the primary reason the Bears are on their current three-game losing streak.

Up front there have been some plays made by Justin Jones as a defensive tackle for the Chicago Bears, he is the team leader in tackles for a loss with seven on the season.  Once a game it seems Jones makes some penetration into the backfield to drop the running back for a loss or disrupt the play enough for it to be stopped for a loss.  Justin Jones however never generates the level of consistency you want from a top-level defensive tackle.

At the defensive end spot, the stats are in and the Bears are getting no zero pass rush from their defensive ends.  In fact in one stat the Bears are the absolute worst in the league at getting off of blocks to make plays.

Since the Robert Quinn trade Trevis Gipson and Dominique Robinson have been completely shut down on the edges from getting any pressure on the QB.  Of the defensive line starters, only Jones and Gipson have registered even a single QB hit each over the last two games.

After starting the season with 1.5 sacks against the 49ers Robinson has been completely shut out.  While Gipson notched two the following week against the Packers, he hasn’t had another sack since.  Clearly, the Bears are going to be in the market either in the draft or free agency for defensive line help.

Right now both Gipson and Robinson are backup players at best, and Gipson may not survive the cut down to 53 after training camp next year.  Robinson a rookie will be given time to develop his game, but it may be a stretch to think he’ll be starting in 2023.

This begs the question, will Chicago Bears fans be okay with Ryan Poles’ first two draft picks in the 2023 draft being defensive players?  Clearly, the draft is lining up to be heavy with top players on the defensive line representing among the top-10 players in the draft.  So the Bears may find themselves by grabbing need and value with a defensive line selection in the first round.

For More Great Chicago Sports Content

Follow us on Twitter at @chicitysports23 for more great content. We appreciate you taking time to read our articles. To interact more with our community and keep up to date on the latest in Chicago sports news, JOIN OUR FREE FACEBOOK GROUP by CLICKING HERE

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For the first time in the history of the franchise, the Chicago Bears are relying on their offense to keep them competitive in games, while their defense has become an absolute sieve.

The Chicago Bears have scored 29 points in three consecutive games and have lost primarily because the defense has struggled to stop anyone.  There have been signs late in games that the Chicago Bears defense is up to the task but overall they’ve been the primary reason the Bears are on their current three-game losing streak.

Up front there have been some plays made by Justin Jones as a defensive tackle for the Chicago Bears, he is the team leader in tackles for a loss with seven on the season.  Once a game it seems Jones makes some penetration into the backfield to drop the running back for a loss or disrupt the play enough for it to be stopped for a loss.  Justin Jones however never generates the level of consistency you want from a top-level defensive tackle.

At the defensive end spot, the stats are in and the Bears are getting no zero pass rush from their defensive ends.  In fact in one stat the Bears are the absolute worst in the league at getting off of blocks to make plays.

Since the Robert Quinn trade Trevis Gipson and Dominique Robinson have been completely shut down on the edges from getting any pressure on the QB.  Of the defensive line starters, only Jones and Gipson have registered even a single QB hit each over the last two games.

After starting the season with 1.5 sacks against the 49ers Robinson has been completely shut out.  While Gipson notched two the following week against the Packers, he hasn’t had another sack since.  Clearly, the Bears are going to be in the market either in the draft or free agency for defensive line help.

Right now both Gipson and Robinson are backup players at best, and Gipson may not survive the cut down to 53 after training camp next year.  Robinson a rookie will be given time to develop his game, but it may be a stretch to think he’ll be starting in 2023.

This begs the question, will Chicago Bears fans be okay with Ryan Poles’ first two draft picks in the 2023 draft being defensive players?  Clearly, the draft is lining up to be heavy with top players on the defensive line representing among the top-10 players in the draft.  So the Bears may find themselves by grabbing need and value with a defensive line selection in the first round.

For More Great Chicago Sports Content

Follow us on Twitter at @chicitysports23 for more great content. We appreciate you taking time to read our articles. To interact more with our community and keep up to date on the latest in Chicago sports news, JOIN OUR FREE FACEBOOK GROUP by CLICKING HERE

Read More

Colin McGrath was resting on his friend’s shoulder on the St. Ignatius College Prep hockey team’s bus Saturday evening after a tournament in Indiana.

“All of a sudden I hear a crash, bang, and I blacked out,” said McGrath, a player on the school’s junior varsity Wolfpack team.

A semitruck had plowed into their bus as the team returned to a hotel from dinner in Warsaw, about 50 miles south of South Bend.

McGrath woke up on top of his friend, shattered glass was strewn everywhere.

“I picked up my friend and some pedestrian came and opened the emergency door for us,” he said. “After that it was just walking, freaking out, just getting out and figuring out what was happening and getting everyone safe.”

McGrath was seated in the rear of the bus, near where the truck struck it.

“If I was one row back, it would’ve been a lot worse,” he said.

Sixteen students were hurt and three of them were taken in “very critical” condition to Fort Wayne Lutheran Hospital, police said.

McGrath suffered a dislocated shoulder and swollen jaw, he said. His left arm was in a sling as he returned to class Monday morning, wearing his Wolfpack hockey jersey.

The crash happened around 8 p.m. Saturday. The school’s junior varsity hockey team had competed in a tournament at Culver Military Academy.

Felony DUI charges were pending against a semi driver who police say ran a red light and crashed into a bus carrying 23 students and two hockey coaches.

One of the seriously injured students was discharged from a hospital Sunday evening, school spokeswoman Kristyn Hartman said Monday. Two other students were expected to remain hospitalized for three to five more days, she said.

Ten others on the bus were uninjured, police said. All were taken by another school bus to Lutheran Kosciusko Hospital, where officers notified relatives, police said. The students are 14 to 17 years old.

The seriously injured players will require more surgery for internal injuries, McGrath said.

McGrath was eager to leave the hospital and reunite with his team.

“I didn’t want to be there because I wanted to be with my teammates. We all stayed together and prayed,” he said.

Members of the team have been visiting the hospitalized players, he said. The whole team plans to visit them again sometime this week, McGrath said.

The students were returning from dinner when the crash happened, according to school officials. The bus driver was turning left off U.S. 30 when the semi driver went through a red light and struck the rear of the bus, flipping the bus on its side, police said.

The semi driver continued west and was stopped less than a mile away after driving off the road and into a ditch, police said. Police officers on the scene “detected a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage on his person and in the cab of the semi,” according to police.

Police said they already were responding to calls reporting a semi driver “swerving into other lanes and driving at excessive speed” before being alerted that the driver had crashed into the school bus.

The driver, 58, from Brooklyn, New York, was in custody and facing charges of driving while intoxicated and causing great bodily harm.

In an email to parents Sunday, the school said it was “happy to share that coaches were able to speak with all three students who remain in the hospital. They say they were heartened to hear the young men ask about their brothers on the team.”

Hockey director and varsity head coach Spencer Montgomery thanked the police and emergency crews who responded. “They were timely, organized and put the health of our boys at the forefront,” he said.

A Mass for the team will be held at the Church of the Holy Family at 3:30 p.m. Monday. The school said students will also be provided with counseling.

Read More

Colin McGrath was resting on his friend’s shoulder on the St. Ignatius College Prep hockey team’s bus Saturday evening after a tournament in Indiana.

“All of a sudden I hear a crash, bang, and I blacked out,” said McGrath, a player on the school’s junior varsity Wolfpack team.

A semitruck had plowed into their bus as the team returned to a hotel from dinner in Warsaw, about 50 miles south of South Bend.

McGrath woke up on top of his friend, shattered glass was strewn everywhere.

“I picked up my friend and some pedestrian came and opened the emergency door for us,” he said. “After that it was just walking, freaking out, just getting out and figuring out what was happening and getting everyone safe.”

McGrath was seated in the rear of the bus, near where the truck struck it.

“If I was one row back, it would’ve been a lot worse,” he said.

Sixteen students were hurt and three of them were taken in “very critical” condition to Fort Wayne Lutheran Hospital, police said.

McGrath suffered a dislocated shoulder and swollen jaw, he said. His left arm was in a sling as he returned to class Monday morning, wearing his Wolfpack hockey jersey.

The crash happened around 8 p.m. Saturday. The school’s junior varsity hockey team had competed in a tournament at Culver Military Academy.

Felony DUI charges were pending against a semi driver who police say ran a red light and crashed into a bus carrying 23 students and two hockey coaches.

One of the seriously injured students was discharged from a hospital Sunday evening, school spokeswoman Kristyn Hartman said Monday. Two other students were expected to remain hospitalized for three to five more days, she said.

Ten others on the bus were uninjured, police said. All were taken by another school bus to Lutheran Kosciusko Hospital, where officers notified relatives, police said. The students are 14 to 17 years old.

The seriously injured players will require more surgery for internal injuries, McGrath said.

McGrath was eager to leave the hospital and reunite with his team.

“I didn’t want to be there because I wanted to be with my teammates. We all stayed together and prayed,” he said.

Members of the team have been visiting the hospitalized players, he said. The whole team plans to visit them again sometime this week, McGrath said.

The students were returning from dinner when the crash happened, according to school officials. The bus driver was turning left off U.S. 30 when the semi driver went through a red light and struck the rear of the bus, flipping the bus on its side, police said.

The semi driver continued west and was stopped less than a mile away after driving off the road and into a ditch, police said. Police officers on the scene “detected a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage on his person and in the cab of the semi,” according to police.

Police said they already were responding to calls reporting a semi driver “swerving into other lanes and driving at excessive speed” before being alerted that the driver had crashed into the school bus.

The driver, 58, from Brooklyn, New York, was in custody and facing charges of driving while intoxicated and causing great bodily harm.

In an email to parents Sunday, the school said it was “happy to share that coaches were able to speak with all three students who remain in the hospital. They say they were heartened to hear the young men ask about their brothers on the team.”

Hockey director and varsity head coach Spencer Montgomery thanked the police and emergency crews who responded. “They were timely, organized and put the health of our boys at the forefront,” he said.

A Mass for the team will be held at the Church of the Holy Family at 3:30 p.m. Monday. The school said students will also be provided with counseling.

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