Chicago Sports

Bolingbrook lost tight games to the best teams in the state last season. The Raiders fell to Lockport, the eventual Class 8A state champion, by a point. They lost to Lincoln-Way East by a touchdown.

“And we did all of that without a quarterback,” receiver I’Marion Stewart said. “We had a receiver playing quarterback. That was the difference.”

“If we had a quarterback last year, we could have won state,” Bolingbrook coach John Ivlow said.

Jayden Lawrence, a transfer from Oswego East, was expected to be the starting quarterback last season but had transcript issues and didn’t play. Lawrence is ready to go this season, and he has some competition. Freshman Jonas Williams is a future star.

“They both have cannons,” Ivlow said. “It is neck and neck right now. They can both run, but that isn’t their forte. We’ve never had two cannon arms before.”

Stewart has been impressed by Williams’ potential.

“People don’t believe me when I tell them we have a freshman quarterback,” Stewart said. “But he’s definitely going to be something special.”

Bolingbrook was a destination for talented transfers this season.

Senior running back Joshua Robinson transferred in from Montini. Senior Kaleb Miller, a standout running back at Nazareth last season, also has arrived. He’ll play receiver for the Raiders.

Those are two dynamic players added to an offense that already featured Stewart and Kyan Berry-Johnson, two juniors who are among the area’s best receivers.

“[Lawrence and Williams] will benefit from all that experience around them,” Ivlow said. “All they have to do is get it out there to them, and they will do the rest, especially with a good running game.”

The Raiders don’t have a lot of experience back on the offensive line, but Ivlow is optimistic about the group.

“I’m excited about them,” Ivlow said. “They are getting better, and they are going to be great next year.”

Safety Damon Walters, a Northwestern recruit, and linebacker Marcus Williams lead the defense. Bolingbrook returns seven starters from a defense that held the Porters to 14 points.

All signs point to the Raiders joining the area’s elite group of Class 8A teams.

“We are ready to take that big step forward,” Marcus Williams said. “It’s all about discipline and limiting our errors. Everyone needs to be locked in on every play.”

Bolingbrook has 68 players, which is a decent number but significantly fewer than some Class 8A powerhouses. The program has added numbers steadily since falling off during COVID.

“We have to stay healthy,” Ivlow said. “That’s going to be the biggest thing. The numbers are up, and that’s been great, but there are key spots where we just don’t have a lot of depth.”

Bolingbrook schedule

Aug. 26 vs. MinookaSept. 3 vs. Simeon at GatelySept. 9 at Lincoln-Way WestSept. 16 vs. SandburgSept. 23 at Lincoln-Way EastSept. 30 vs. Homewood-FlossmoorOct. 7 at LockportOct. 14 vs. Lincoln-Way CentralOct. 21 vs. Stagg

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SEATTLE — Rookies will play a lot for the Bears, and while that’s typically a trait of a season bound for nowhere, it’s also going to be exciting.

The quicker the stars of this draft class take hold of regular roles, the better for the Bears’ future. That road is rife with potholes in the short term, but it’s the quickest way for this team to get where it really needs to be.

Speaking of shortcuts, the fastest route for third-round wide receiver Velus Jones appears to be in the return game. Even among the Bears’ relatively anonymous crew of receivers, it might take a while before they trust him in the offense. But in the meantime, getting the ball in Jones’ hands on special teams is a great start.

Jones opened as kick and punt returner for the Bears in their preseason game against the Seahawks on Thursday, then got extended work at receiver with the second- and third-string offense.

His night as returner illustrated perfectly the nature of the risks the Bears will be taking and the rewards they could reap.

He took the opening kickoff — his first time with the ball in live action after missing the preseason opener with an injury — out of the end zone and hit the gas. It was all going fine until he hit the 28-yard line and Seahawks safety Marquise Blair popped the ball loose.

The Bears recovered, and ultimately Justin Fields led them on a modest drive for a field goal. But turning it over on the opening kickoff would be a nightmare in the regular season, and that liability will linger in coach Matt Eberflus’ mind as he finalizes his lineup for the opener against the 49ers.

Jones redeemed himself late in the first quarter, though, on a 48-yard punt return. He took the ball at his own 19 and raced through his blocks to set the Bears up in field-goal range at the Seahawks’ 33. They quickly turned that into a touchdown.

With question marks all over the roster and uncertainty about the offense, field-flipping plays will be necessary. And giving a high-potential young player like Jones the chance to make them, as opposed to relying on someone like veteran Dante Pettis, is worth it.

Second-round cornerback Kyler Gordon, who also missed the game against the Chiefs because of an injury, made his debut as well. Playing primarily at nickel, he was steady in coverage and blitzed to force Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith into a throwaway.

Safety Jaquan Brisker, the second-rounder who impressed last week, was out with an injury. Another rookie, sixth-round running back Trestan Ebner, exited with an ankle injury after rushing for 29 yards on nine carries.

Elijah Hicks, a seventh-round safety, made a good pitch for himself by recovering a muffed punt near the end of the second quarter for a touchdown to send the Bears into halftime up 17-0.

But Jones is the pivotal pick in this draft class, which was the first for general manager Ryan Poles and Eberflus.

It’s certainly imperative that they get it right with the second-rounders, and perhaps they found a gem in fifth-round left tackle Braxton Jones. But Velus Jones is the one who could solidify this as the foundation of the rebuild.

Poles took a calculated risk when he skipped receivers in the second round to take Gordon and Brisker. Then when he finally jumped at one, it was a 25-year-old who topped 300 yards receiving in a season just once in college.

The rookie class soaring or stumbling will count just as much on Eberflus’ record as it does Poles. It was very evident, for example, that Mitch Trubisky’s tailspin was fully a “collaboration” between general manager Ryan Pace and coach Matt Nagy.

So far, the rookies are making good use of their opportunities. It’s up to Poles and Eberflus to make sure they keep getting plenty of them — and that they’re ready.

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SEATTLE — Someone wake Matt Nagy: this play is what the Justin Fields offense is supposed to look like.

On second-and-6 from the Seahawks’ 40-yard line Thursday night, Fields crept under center, took the snap, and faked a handoff to running back Khalil Herbert. Fields used his sprinter’s speed to bootleg left, where the Bears’ best player was open in the left flat. Darnell Mooney had scooted from right to left along the line of scrimmage, using his 5-11 frame to hide behind towering linemen.

The team’s second-best pass-catcher, though, was more open. Tight end Cole Kmet, playing his first preseason game, had lined up next to the right tackle and ran an over route just past the Seahawks’ wall of linebackers. He was at the 28-yard line when Fields, who had no rushers within three yards of him, rifled a pass from the 48. Kmet caught the pass, ran for eight more yards, jumped up and unleashed a primal screen.

Fields’ lone possession of Thursday night’s 27-11 win against the Seahawks at Lumen Stadium wasn’t electric –the Bears moved 52 yards on 10 plays, aided by a Seahawks offside penalty on fourth down, and kicked a 35-yard field goal. Fields went 5-for-7 for 39 yards, an 84.8 passer rating and one rushing yard on one carry. But he led his team to points, something he couldn’t say in his debut five days earlier.

It was enough to wonder whether, despite coach Matt Eberflus’ vow to play his starters frequently this preseason, Fields will sit the finale Aug. 27 in Cleveland. If the Bears are to have even a modicum of success this season — and that might be it — Fields needs to be healthy.

No one writes sonnets about 19-yard gains against a team as bad as the Seahawks, but the Bears’ longest play of Fields’ lone drive was important for what it was –a quarterback using his athleticism to roll left, turn his shoulders and choose between his two best pass-catching options — and what it wasn’t.

It was proof of concept– and a different concept than the previous week, when the Bears’ two best plays were deep balls Fields flung to outside receivers. It’s dangerous to project grand truths out of preseason work, but this was progress by Fields and his play-caller, both of whom vowed they’d make steady gains as the preseason wore on.

Luke Getsy didn’t line up five receivers and wish Fields good luck, the way Nagy did against the Browns. Instead, the new offensive coordinator schemed open intermediate routes for his quarterback, as if to say : we know Fields can scramble and throw deep, but what about everything else?

Fields started the possession with a tight end screen to Kmet that went for 12 yards and later threw a six-yard bubble screen to Mooney. Had the Bears completed two screens on the same drive in 2021, confetti would have streamed down at midfield.

Playing one quarter plus three plays Saturday, Fields threw one pass to a projected starter. Thursday, the two pass-catchers who spent the most time with Fields this offseason, Mooney and Kmet, caught the three longest passes of the quarterback’s possession.

Entering his third season, Kmet might finally live up to the hype by catching play-action passes alone. Mooney was Fields’ favorite receiver last year, but Kmet made it close at the end of the year. In two of the final three games that Fields started and finished, Kmet was the Bears’ leading receiver in terms of both catches and yards.

WIth the Bears’ wide receiver room one of the thinnest in the sport, Fields needs his tight end.

Kmet will have to block, too.

The Bears rested veterans Riley Reiff and Michael Schofield, leaving swing tackle Larry Borom to start at right tackle and former second-round Teven Jenkins — who hadn’t played the position in a practice until Monday — at right guard.

Fields wasn’t sacked, for a change. Not counting the 2021 season-opener in which he was used as a gadget player, Fields has played 16 preseason and regular-season games. Before Thursday, he’d been sacked in all but one of them.

The Bears struggled to block for Fields nonetheless, allowing pressure on half his dropbacks.

On the second play of the game, running back Khalil Herbert failed to pick up linebacker Cody Barton, who blitzed up the middle. Fields threw the ball away. On third and-2, the Seahawks collapsed the pocket with a blitz, focusing Fields to cut his losses and lean forward for a yard. After the offside call, Seahawks defensive lineman Poona Ford shoved his way through Jenkins, forcing Fields to run right and dump the ball off to Herbert.

As long as the Bears’ offensive line profiles as one of the league’s worst, the Bears need to create ways to keep him clean. That means screens, bootlegs and draws.

If the Bears’ blockers can’t slow down their opponent, maybe the doubt created in edge rushers by those calls will.

That’s the power of play-action. And screens. And letting Fields be more than just a deep-throwing, scrambling quarterback.

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SEATTLE — The Bears beat one of the few teams in the NFL widely expected to be worse than them this season in their win over the Seahawks on Thursday. Beyond the first-team offense finally scoring and the mixed results for their rookies, here are three quick hits from the game:

Pass rush rollsThe Bears finally got their top pass-rushing combo on the field together as veteran Robert Quinn made his preseason debut alongside Al-Quadin Muhammad. Muhammad had three tackles, including a nine-yard sack.

Eberflus misses oneBears coach Matt Eberflus said he’d be using the preseason to acclimate to his new responsibilities, but he and his staff missed a perfect opportunity to challenge a call. When backup quarterback Trevor Siemian threw incomplete to Isaiah Coulter on third-and-eight in the second quarter, replay showed Coulter did, in fact, keep the ball off the turf for what should have been a catch.

Siemian stays steadyIf the Bears need to go to Siemian at some point, he has looked competent. He completed 8 of 15 passes for 48 yards and a touchdown.

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Velus Jones Jr. is fast

Chicago Bears rookie Velus Jones Jr. had a rocky start to his NFL career against the Seattle Seahawks Thursday. Jones fumbled the opening kick-off return and dropped a pass from Trevor Siemian on the Bears’ second drive.

On his second punt return of the night, Jones made some agile moves and almost took a punt return for a touchdown.

The 48-yard return was a great way to make up for the earlier fumble. He looks super shifty and speedy. Exactly what the team has needed on special teams the past few years. Jones looks like he’s going to be a dynamic returner for the Bears this season.

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Jeremy Fears Jr. is coming home.

The Joliet native will return to Joliet West for his senior year.

Earlier this month Fears announced he was planning to join Overtime Elite, an Atlanta-based basketball league. He’s changed his mind just as the school year begins.

Fears committed to Michigan State in January and is currently the No. 39 player in the Class of 2022 according to 247sports.com. His younger brother, Jeremiah Fears, is one of the top sophomores in the state and already has offers from several high-major colleges.

“His heart was set on staying home and playing with his brother,” Jeremy Fears Sr. said. “It’s going to be great to see those two play together. Every game might be standing room only.”

Fears left Joliet West after his freshman year due to uncertainty over whether or not there would be a 2020-21 basketball season due to COVID. He transferred to La Lumiere, a prep schools in Indiana, and eventually rose to prominence as one of the top players in the country.

The Tigers have several high-level opponents scheduled this season, including an opener against St. Rita in Washington, IL.

Fears has won two gold medals with USA Basketball. This summer he scored 17 points and had had six assists in the title game against Spain.

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Franmil Reyes is riding an impressive hot streak since being picked up by the Chicago Cubs.

It was announced on August 8th that Franmil Reyes would be joining the Chicago Cubs. Reyes was recently DFA’d by the Cleveland Guardians as he was having a down year. Reyes was incredibly productive as recent as last season when he collected 30 homers and 85 RBIs in 115 games.

Reyes has played eight games with the Cubs and has collected a hit in each, including six extra-base hits. Reyes continued his hot hitting against the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday as he recorded two more singles.

Franmil Reyes was struggling quite a bit this season with Cleveland. In 70 games, Reyes only had a .213 batting average and a .603 OPS. Now, in only eight games with the Cubs, Reyes has already racked up 13 hits and has been on a tear.

It seems that Franmil Reyes has found himself in a comfortable position with the Chicago Cubs. Getting a fresh start with a new team doesn’t always help struggling players, but it’s definitely been the case for Reyes. He even commented on how much confidence he has gained since joining his new team.

When the current season concludes, Reyes will still be under team control for two more seasons. The Chicago Cubs are expected to have an interesting offseason, and next season’s roster is somewhat difficult to project. Right now, Franmil Reyes is making his best case to be a part of it.

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Elvis Andrus was there for the taking and the White Sox were there with a need.

The veteran former All-Star shortstop, released by the cost-cutting Oakland Athletics Wednesday, cleared waivers and is expected to sign with the Sox and join the team when it opens an important three-game series in Cleveland Friday.

All-Star shortstop Tim Anderson is out for another five weeks with a finger injury, Danny Mendick is out for the season with a knee injury and Leury Garcia is on the injured list with a back strain, depleting the Sox shortstop depth and forcing them to play rookie call-ups Lenyn Sosa and Romy Gonzalez at shortstop in recent days.

Andrus, who turns 34 next week, isn’t the fielder he was during his All-Star years with the Rangers, and he is batting .237/.301/.378, but is a definite upgrade at a key position going into the stretch run of the season.

Andrus is in the final season of an eight-year, $120 million contract signed with Texas, but the Sox will owe him the prorated league minimum for the remainder of the season, with the A’s responsible for the remainder of his $14 million salary.

Andrus is a career .270/.326/.369 hitter with 87 homers and .695 OPS over 14, his first 12 in Texas. He was a teammate of Sox second baseman Josh Harrison last season.

The signing is expected to be announced Friday. Triple-A lefty Yoan Aybar was outrighted, creating room on the 40-man roster.

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BALTIMORE – Cubs pitcher Adrian Sampson checked over his right shoulder as he crashed the bunt up the first-base line and spotted the Orioles’ Austin Hays closing in on home plate.

Sampson wouldn’t have enough time to transfer the ball from his glove to his hand. So, he scooped up the ball and flipped it to catcher Willson Contreras all in one motion to get the out at the plate.

In the Cubs’ 3-2 win over the Orioles on Thursday, Sampson threw 5 2/3 shutout innings and recorded six strikeouts. But the highlight of his outing was a play with his glove, not his arm.

The play at the plate in the fifth inning swung the momentum from the Orioles to the Cubs. Baltimore had started to string some hits together against Sampson. Hays doubled, and Rougned Odor moved him to third base with a dribbling infield single – the kind of base hit that could have been deflating.

With one out, in a scoreless ballgame, Orioles runners stood on the corners. Jorge Mateo laid down a sacrifice bunt in a patch of grass that only Sampson could reach in time. And Sampson delivered.

After a review confirmed the out call at home, Sampson induced a pop-out in foul territory to end the fifth inning.

In the top of the sixth, Contreras launched a solo homer the opposite way to break the scoreless tie.

Contreras hit another home run two innings later, making the game Contreras’ 10th multi-homer effort as a catcher, moving him past Jody Davis into second all-time among Cubs catchers, behind Gabby Hartnett (14).

Rookie reliever Brandon Hughes was credited with his first major-league save.

Hermosillo to start rehab assignment

Cubs outfielder Michael Hermosillo was scheduled to start a rehab assignment in the Arizona Complex League on Thursday, a significant step in what’s already been a long recovery from a left quad strain. He was penciled in as the designated hitter in his first rehab game. Hermosillo, on the 60-day injured list, has been sidelined by the injury since early May.

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Lucas Giolito got knocked around by an unforgiving lineup, and the Astros kept pouring it on Thursday, delivering a 21-5 beatdown and sending the White Sox on the road with a disappointing four-game series split.

“Just a brutal day,” manager Tony La Russa said.

After the Sox scored perhaps their two most invigorating victories against the American League’s best team, they lost a one-run decision Wednesday and got pole-axed 21-5 Thursday afternoon before 24,407 fans at Guaranteed Rate Field.

There’s no shame in splitting with the Astros, especially when played without Tim Anderson and Luis Robert, but the resounding clanks of 25 hits, eight of them against Giolito (5.34 ERA) in three-plus innings, must have left a mark. Vince Velasquez and Jose Ruiz gave up five runs each and second baseman Josh Harrison, pitching the ninth, gave up four more.

Alex Bregman was 4-for-6 with two homers and a career high six RBI. Yoan Moncada homered for the Sox, their only long ball of the series.

The Sox are 3-4 this season against Houston, which beat them three games to one in the ALDS last season and made it clear they’ll be tough to get by this October, too.

The Sox allowed 21-plus runs for the seventh time in franchise history and the first time since Aug. 30, 1970 against the Red Sox (also 21). The 21 runs are one shy of the club-record 22 set July 26, 1931 against the Babe Ruth/Lou Gehrig Yankees.

The 25 hits are tied for the second-most in club history, one shy of the franchise-record of 26 set June 20, 1932 against the Jimmie Foxx/Al Simmons Philadelphia Athletics.

Now come the Guardians, the surprising AL Central Central leaders, for three games in Cleveland. The Sox trail them by 2 1/2 games and trail the second-place Twins by 1 1/2 games.

“They have a bunch of hitters that use the whole field, they’re aggressive early, shorten up and put the ball in play,” La Russa said. “They have good speed and they’ll play nine hard innings. And they do a good job of pitching. They’re tough to score against, and the manager [Terry Francona] is outstanding and I’m sure the staff is too. Be fun this weekend.”

NOTES: Luis Robert, limited to one pinch running experience since hurting his left wrist on a slide Friday, had a full workout including swings in the batting cage as he eyes a possible return to the lineup Friday.

*Left-hander Aaron Bummer, working through a lat strain and shoulder soreness, threw his second bullpen, still needs another bullpen, one or two sim games and a rehab assignment to Charlotte before he can return to the bullpen. The target is September.

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