SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The grass isn’t always greener somewhere else.
For Chicago’s Houston Griffith, it took 18 days in the transfer portal in January to realize that before the talented safety ultimately opted to return for his senior season at Notre Dame. Three weeks into spring practice, that turn of events seems to be playing out to the benefit of both him and the program.
“I felt like two things needed to happen for Houston: opportunity and then making the best of the opportunity,” Irish coach Brian Kelly said. “What is making the best? What does that equal? I think a lot of that has been just an awareness of the situation that he’s in and using what I think is outstanding athletic ability and applying it to the particular situation.”
Griffith, whose father, Howard, starred at Illinois and won two Super Bowl rings during an eight-year NFL career as a fullback, has underachieved so far in his college career. A four-star recruit out of IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, the former Mount Carmel standout made just two starts last season while mostly sitting behind sixth-year player Shaun Crawford.
After losing ground to fellow reserve DJ Brown down the stretch in 2020, Griffith was ready to explore other opportunities. He put his name in the transfer portal Jan. 4, shortly after the Irish fell to Alabama in the College Football Playoff semifinal.
Four days later, the Irish won a high-profile battle with LSU for former Cincinnati defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman. That timing proved pivotal.
Over the next two weeks, Freeman joined Kelly in a series of phone discussions with Griffith. The re-recruitment went better than anyone could have expected, frustration gradually giving way to possibility, both on and off the field.
The chance to complete work toward his Notre Dame degree loomed large. So did hearing the energy from a new voice in the mix — Freeman’s — after three years of failing to launch in Clark Lea’s defense.
Pass-defense coordinator Terry Joseph, who coached Notre Dame’s safeties, also moved on after the season. So it truly seemed to be a clean slate for the 6-foot, 204-pounder who decommitted from Florida State to enroll early at Notre Dame in 2018.
“I’ve never been afraid of competition,” Griffith said. “Having that conversation with coach Freeman and coach Kelly, just knowing that I got a home and it’s something they really want — me to come here and just compete — I couldn’t turn that down.”
Kelly and Freeman made it clear throughout those talks in January: The responsibility to make this reboot work ran in both directions.
“Houston and I had a conversation,” Kelly said. “There were no promises. We didn’t promise him a starting position. All we said was that we believe this is the right place for you and we want you to be here.”
In the end, that was enough to lure Griffith back to familiar turf and a newfound leadership role.
“Myself and Marcus talked to him on the phone and said, ‘We want you to be part of what we’re doing here in 2021,’ ” Kelly said. “Both of us [were] really clear that he’s part of our plans. Then [it was] him making the decision, ‘OK, if they want me and I’m part of the plans, then I’m staying at Notre Dame.’ That’s kind of how that went down.”
Both Kelly and Griffith used the term “football IQ” several times in assessing the player’s improvement this spring. No longer, Kelly said, is Griffith “using a hammer when he needed to use a screwdriver.”
All that extra film study with Freeman and new safeties coach Chris O’Leary is paying early dividends. Griffith’s devotion has carried over to the classroom, as well.
“This offseason, I’ve really challenged myself as a football player and academically to really become a student of the game and to finish up my degree,” Griffith said. “Right now my main focus is just being present where my feet are.”
The Fire have done a lot recently to set themselves up for the future. They have returned to Soldier Field, gotten their games on WGN and are trying to undo their notorious logo mistake while becoming a bigger factor in a crowded sports market.
With investments in scouting, infrastructure and young players, they also think they’ve laid the groundwork for success on the field. But what about 2021?
Their opener Saturday night against the New England Revolution begins the second season of the Joe Mansueto-Georg Heitz-Raphael Wicky era. The first year was an underwhelming failure. The remade Fire finished 11th in their conference and missed a 10-team East postseason behind two expansion clubs.
But after a somewhat quiet offseason during which they maintained that continuity will equal success, the Fire are looking for better results.
“The expectations are higher this year,” Mansueto said. “We need to make the playoffs, that’s pretty black and white, and then hopefully have a deep playoff run. We were good last year, but we need to be even better this year, and I’m confident that that will be the case.”
Indeed, the Fire will have to be better this year, and not just by a little bit.
The only reason they were even close to the playoffs in 2020 was the expanded format. The postseason is back to seven teams in each conference, meaning the Fire will have to improve in all facets. The inconsistent finishing must be more dependable, and the lapses that led to demoralizing goals need to be corrected.
The Fire picked up exactly a point per game last year, which would’ve been good for 34 points in a normal season. In 2019, seventh-place New England had 45; Montreal picked up 46 in 2018.
Will the Fire improve enough to gain at least 10 points and return to the playoffs for the first time since 2017? And what happens if they don’t get considerably better and show real improvement?
The answers to both questions are unclear, but they think they’ve gotten better just by staying intact.
Wicky, whose contract has a club option for 2022, said he’s excited the core of the team is back. Unlike last year, the Fire aren’t starting from scratch and trying to get players into the country just as the season begins. There probably won’t be pandemic-related stoppages, and Wicky wants to build off what they worked on last year.
“We said that we believe in continuity; we believe in this group,” Wicky said. “That’s also why we didn’t change too many players. I’m excited we are not starting like a year ago from scratch. Most of the players know what we want, how we operate, how we are as human beings and also as coaches, and then the other way, as well.
“We know the players better. We know the strength and the weaknesses of the players better.”
New winger Stanislav Ivanov will miss half the season with a knee injury, and it’s unclear how much the Fire can depend on fellow young newcomers Jhon Espinoza or Chinonso Offor this year as they get acclimated to a new league. Jhon Jader Duran, perhaps their most exciting signing, won’t join the Fire until 2022 after he turns 18.
That means any progress the Fire made in 2020 will have to continue, though Heitz said that was difficult to quantify.
“It was simply also the impression that they left during the games, you know, the number of chances that we created grew in my opinion, increased throughout the season,” Heitz said. “So I think overall, it was really a fact that we were better in the second half, but we have to admit we were not good enough to make the playoffs.”
The Fire’s offseason strategy left behind questions. With three designated players under contract and a pretty full roster, perhaps they didn’t have room to make more changes and bring in instant-impact talent. But at the same time, it’s fair to wonder how they’ll fare if they suffer more injuries or improvement doesn’t come.
They also won’t be able to use a pandemic, a rebuilt roster or a stop-start season as a crutch. It’s clear what they view as the bare minimum for success in 2021.
“There aren’t any excuses,” defender Miguel Navarro said. “We are focused on having a good season, and we are ready to go. We know that this year there aren’t any excuses for not getting into the playoffs.”
2021 FIRE 2020 record 5-10-8, 23 points (11th in Eastern Conference).
Key Additions RB Jhon Espinoza, M Stanislav Ivanov, F Chinonso Offor.
Key Subtractions M Djordje Mihailovic, F CJ Sapong.
Best-case Scenario The Fire didn’t add much to their roster because they believe continuity will bring success, and that’s proven true in 2021 as Alvaro Medran and Mauricio Pineda take another step forward. The late-game mistakes that cost them points in 2020 won’t be made this year because of that familiarity, while the young players add elements that were missing. Not only will the Fire make the playoffs while playing an attractive style of soccer, but they won’t have to sweat their spot.
Worst-case scenario Already beaten up from an injury-riddled preseason, the Fire’s depth won’t be enough to overcome any further injuries to key players. Because of the injuries and a lack of top-end talent, the Fire won’t be able to take advantage of a first-half schedule that’s predominantly at home, forcing them to search for points on the road later in the year. And that won’t end well, leading to hard questions about the plan put in place by Georg Heitz and Raphael Wicky.
Prediction The Fire simply didn’t do enough this offseason to make up ground in the Eastern Conference. Yes, they narrowly missed the 2020 playoffs, but that was a 10-team field. This year, it’s back to seven, and it’s hard to see the Fire leaping into the postseason. Instead, they’ll finish 10th in the East.
By now, one would like to think White Sox No. 1 starter Lucas Giolito has cemented his status as an ace. Dallas Keuchel and Lance Lynn have walked in those shoes before. Dylan Cease has obvious gifts, if not a track record to speak for them.
And that Carlos Rodon fellow? He can be kind of good, too. You know, if a no-hitter counts for anything.
Just how good is this Sox rotation? That led things off in this week’s “Polling Place,” your home for Sun-Times sports polls on Twitter.
We also asked about the Cubs’ monumentally struggling offense, certainly a less-pleasant subject. And we asked — just for fun — which would be the biggest dream experience for a sports fan: to belt three roundtrippers, light the lamp three times or mess around and get a triple-double.
Commented @fuduran, “Hat trick: 99.9% certainty your team will win. Three homers: 85%-ish. Triple-double: 51%?”
Your guesses are as scientific as ours. On to the polls:
Poll No. 1: In the wake of Carlos Rodon’s no-hitter, which best captures your take on the White Sox’ pitching rotation?
Upshot: Clearly, respondents are riding the brakes a bit. But Giolito spun a gem his last time out. Lynn already has a shutout under his belt. Rodon one-upped both of them. This is a rotation that has enviable balance, with three righties and two lefties and an array of individual pitch arsenals. The ceiling for this group is World Series-caliber high, which doesn’t guarantee a thing about how it’ll all play out.
Poll No. 2: In light of their futility at the plate thus far, which best captures your take on the Cubs’ offense?
Upshot: Small sample size, only two weeks, “that’s baseball” — line up the excuses and the apologist rationalizations. Fact is, these Cubs are going where almost no collection of Cubs hitters has gone before. Yes, in a bad way. If the bats don’t come around soon, a negative storyline will set in earlier and louder than it has with any Cubs team in memory. Hey, no pressure.
Poll No. 3: For one night, you’re a superstar. Which accomplishment are you picking?
Upshot: “I don’t watch baseball,” wrote @Jbird_H. “But I’d like to smash three dingers in a game, thank you.” It doesn’t sound so bad at all. Then again, some of us have never donned ice skates. Some of us peaked on the diamond at, oh, 11 or so. Some of us were 6-3 entering high school and, dang it, why did we only get wider, but not a millimeter taller, from there? But we digress.
The man was struck in the chest and face and transported to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said.
The Cook County medical examiner’s office identified him as Jawon L. Ward, a resident of Englewood.
The woman, 44, was shot in the shoulder and back and was taken in good condition to the same hospital, police said.
Early Saturday, a man was critically hurt in a shooting in Morgan Park on the Far South Side.
The 25-year-old was riding in a vehicle about 2:45 a.m. in the 11800 block of South Marshfield Avenue when a male in a silver or white SUV fired shots, police said.
He was struck in the chest, arm and hand and driven to Franciscan Health in Olympia Fields where he was listed in critical condition, police said.
A 25-year-old man was shot Saturday in Fifth City on the West Side.
He was driving about 12:20 a.m. in the 300 block of South Kedzie Avenue when a male inside of a passing dark-colored Nissan Rogue fired shots, police said. The man was struck in the back and drove himself to Mt. Sinai Hospital where he was listed in fair condition, police said.
About 20 minutes earlier, a 20-year-old man was injured in a shooting in Park Manor on the South Side.
The man was walking just after midnight in the 7100 block of South Michigan Avenue when he heard shots and felt pain, police said.
He was struck in the hand and brought himself to Jackson Park Hospital where he was listed in good condition, police said.
Avoid shopping or making important decisions from 10 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. Chicago time. After that, the moon moves from Gemini into Cancer.
Aries (March 21-April 19)
Today you might feel so fanatical about something, you want to coerce other people into agreeing with you. Lighten up. Don’t be pushy about your views even if you’re excited about them. Life is short and the world is wide.
Taurus (April 20-May 20)
You might be obsessed with something. It might be an idea that you can’t get out of your mind even if it isn’t particularly profound. (That’s the maddening part.) It’s got a Vulcan vise grip on your mind!
Gemini (May 21-June 20)
When you’re talking to a friend or a group, you might be obsessed with something, which makes you want to persuade others to agree with you. Because they might not agree with you, you will find this frustrating. Be smart. Let it go.
Cancer (June 21-July 22)
Listen to yourself today because you might hear yourself going overboard trying to convince someone about something. If their body language indicates they’re not interested, drop the subject. Give up. If you continue to try to convince them, they’ll be annoyed. “These are not the droids you’re looking for.”
Leo (July 23-Aug. 22)
There are many important issues in the world today, and you might be excited about something that you want to express to someone. However, the odds are that you are obsessed with this idea (even if it’s a good one). Don’t come on like gangbusters. People will listen to a whisper.
Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)
You might be excited about financial matters and shared property today, especially inheritances. This is why you’re obsessed with your point of view. It’s also why you want someone to hear what you have to say. Speak your peace but you don’t have to pound it home.
Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)
You’re a great debater. Today, however, you might feel it’s most important thing in the world for someone else to see your point of view or come to your way of thinking. Sadly, this is not true. Everyone has different ideas and opinions. You have to accept this.
Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)
Because you might see better ways of doing something, especially at work or related to your health, you want to share your reforming ideas with someone. You might want to teach them. However, if someone doesn’t want to listen, then lighten up. Stop the tirade.
Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)
You might be excited about a creative concept or something to do with sports or with kids. Whatever it is, it’s crowding out all your other thoughts and you are slowly becoming obsessed by it. This is out of balance. (And you know it.)
Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)
It’s easy to become obsessed with an idea, especially about your home or your family. Because you value family so much, you want to be heard. You have something important to say! Hey, if others aren’t interested, drop it. Don’t go off the deep end.
Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)
Today it’s easy to become obsessed with an idea or a song in your head like “I Shot the Sheriff.” (Sorry about that.) Instead, use this intense mental focus to study or learn something new. Then you can put this compulsive thinking to good use.
Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20)
Try to keep an open mind on financial matters today because it’s easy to be preoccupied with something to do with cash flow, shopping or earnings. Even if this issue is minor, you can’t shake it. Keep it to yourself and spare others.
If Your Birthday Is Today
Actress Lee Si-young (1982) shares your birthday. You are a fascinating combination of being spiritual and calm, and then, suddenly impulsive and excitable! Nevertheless, you give all important decisions much thought. You are also a faithful friend. This is a powerful time for you because you can expect kudos, promotions and accolades in the next year! People will applaud your efforts. Time to take a bow.
6 p.m. Vaccinations return to Loretto Hospital, but the city will run things this time
Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
Coronavirus vaccinations will resume next week at Loretto Hospital in city-run clinic, the Chicago Department of Public Health announced Friday.
The new vaccination site will be focused on serving residents of the hospital’s Austin community, according to a health department news release.
On March 18, the health department had halted the delivery of vaccines to Loretto, 645 S. Central Ave., after reports surfaced that the hospital had vaccinated 72 ineligible workers at Trump International Hotel & Tower.
5:45 p.m. Stuck outside U.S. during pandemic, burst pipe floods suburban home, and Allstate won’t pay
The COVID-19 pandemic has messed with people’s lives in countless ways, but I hadn’t heard anything quite like the travails of Floyd and Betsy Rogers.
It’s a complicated story, so settle in.
The Rogerses are retirees.
He’s 78 and used to work at IBM before retiring early to help his brother operate a now-defunct garden center. She’s 79 and went back to school for her Ph.D. after her daughters went away to college, then worked for a time as a consultant retraining industrial workers.
The Rogerses have lived since 1975 in a two-story frame home near Glen Ellyn where they raised two daughters.
Younger daughter Becky Ackermann is a paleoanthropologist at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, where she lives with her husband Kurt and their 11-year-old son, the Rogerses’ only grandchild. Their older daughter died of a blood clot in 2002.
Like many people their age with their only surviving child and grandchild far, far away, the suburban couple make annual visits to their daughter’s family in Cape Town, over time gradually extending their stays to months at a stretch.
That’s where they were in February 2020, scheduled to return that April, when Betsy Rogers broke her pelvis, requiring a long, difficult rehabilitation during which she could not be on an airplane.
That meant they were still in South Africa when the pandemic struck.
4:30 p.m. More than twice as many Illinoisans vaccinated than infected with COVID-19, as city prepares to expand eligibility
Public health officials on Friday announced Illinois’ second-most productive COVID-19 vaccination day yet with 166,885 doses going into arms statewide.
Nearly a quarter of all Illinoisans are now fully immunized against the coronavirus after Thursday’s shot effort, which came a week after the state set a record with almost 176,000 administered doses.
Illinois is now averaging about 130,000 shots per day as Chicago vaccine providers prepare to expand eligibility to all residents 16 and older starting Monday.
A federal pause on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine means there won’t be as many appointments available as officials might have thought a week ago, but the state has downplayed that obstacle. J&J doses only account for about 8% of Illinois’ vaccine supply.
Most appointments at city-run sites will go ahead as scheduled next week after shuffling around some doses, according to the Chicago Department of Public Health.
Mass vax sites at the United Center and Chicago State University will use Pfizer doses instead of J&J, as will the off-site Walgreens clinics that are scheduled to distribute doses at houses of worship this weekend, officials said Friday. The city’s program for homebound residents has switched to Pfizer, too.
3:45 p.m. Michigan’s worst-in-the-nation COVID-19 outbreak is starting to affect automotive production
DETROIT — Michigan’s worst-in-the-nation COVID-19 outbreak is beginning to slow auto production, with a major Ram pickup truck plant reducing its output because of a high number of absent workers.
About 10% of the production work force at the Stellantis (formerly Fiat Chrysler) assembly plant in Sterling Heights, north of Detroit, either tested positive or is on quarantine, a person who has been briefed on the situation said Friday. That is equivalent to about 600 workers, said the person, who asked not to be identified because neither the company nor the United Auto Workers union is releasing details.
The 5-million-square-foot plant has about 7,450 hourly workers, but not all of them are on the assembly lines. To try to stem the shortfall, the company has pulled workers from a pickup factory in nearby Warren, Michigan, that has been forced to shut down by the global shortage of semiconductors
2:50 p.m. How to politely ask whether someone has gotten the COVID-19 vaccine
Have the people you know and might be around been vaccinated? Many of us aren’t quite sure how to ask.
It’s a seemingly simple question whether you’re asking before going on a date with someone new or planning a long-awaited hangout with friends. But it can feel uncomfortable to ask.
Partly that’s because of polarizing opinions the pandemic has prompted.
“Not everyone places the same value on being vaccinated,” says Lynn F. Bufka, the American Psychological Association’s senior director of practice transformation and quality. “There are people who are quite clear that they do not want to be vaccinated.”
1:05 p.m. Bulls’ Zach LaVine expected to miss several games in coronavirus protocol
Coby White appears to be lost in his bench role.
Lauri Markkanen looks like he already signed elsewhere.
Patrick Williams seems to have gone headfirst into the rookie wall.
Factor in two embarrassing losses in less than a week to the last-place Timberwolves and the tanking Magic, and, well, there’s seemingly no way things could get worse for the Bulls.
Then Thursday hit.
A noon practice was quickly cancelled after Zach LaVine entered the NBA’s health and safety protocol with a positive coronavirus test, according to a source.
The hope is LaVine only will be out a handful of days, but with the Bulls scheduled to play five games in the next seven days and with only 18 games left in the regular season, that could be the difference between holding on to the final play-in spot or sitting in a lottery position and praying for lottery luck.
12:15 p.m. US setting up $1.7B national network to track virus variants
WASHINGTON — The U.S. is setting up a $1.7 billion national network to identify and track worrisome coronavirus mutations whose spread could trigger another pandemic wave, the Biden administration announced Friday.
White House officials unveiled a strategy that features three components: a major funding boost for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state health departments to ramp up coronavirus gene-mapping; the creation of six “centers of excellence” partnerships with universities to conduct research and develop technologies for gene-based surveillance of pathogens; and building a data system to better share and analyze information on emerging disease threats, so knowledge can be turned into action.
“Even as we accelerate our efforts to get shots into arms, more dangerous variants are growing, causing increases in cases in people without immunity,” White House coronavirus adviser Andy Slavitt told reporters. That “requires us to intensify our efforts to quickly test for and find the genetic sequence of the virus as it spreads.”
10:45 a.m. After contracting COVID-19, ex-Chicago Outlaws Motorcycle Club boss Orvie Cochran gets early prison release
After Outlaws Motorcycle Club boss Orville “Orvie” Cochran survived a shooting outside the biker gang’s South Side clubhouse in 2000 — he slipped on some ice and fell, thus avoiding a hail of bullets — a former friend described him as “- – – damn lucky.”
Cochran’s luck still hasn’t run out.
Arrested in 2017 after being on the run for 16 years to avoid racketeering charges, he caught a break on his sentence. And now — after contracting the coronavirus in prison — Cochran has gotten a federal judge to free him from prison six months early.
The judge ordered a “compassionate” release for Cochran, who had asked for that even before getting infected because, he said, he was afraid he would and had health problems that could make COVID especially dangerous for him.
9 a.m. What is a COVID-19 vaccine passport, and will you need one?
What is a COVID-19 vaccine passport, and will I need one?
“Vaccine passports,” or vaccine certificates, are documents that show you were vaccinated against COVID-19 or recently tested negative for the virus. They could help you get into places such as stadiums or even countries that are looking to reopen safely.
The certificates are still being developed, and how and whether they’ll be used could vary widely around the world. Experts say they should be free and available on paper, not just on apps, since not everyone has a smartphone.
In the U.S., federal officials say there are no plans to make them broadly mandatory. In some states, Republican governors have issued orders barring businesses or state agencies from asking people to show proof of vaccination.
8:30 a.m. Pause on Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine won’t affect United Center appointments, city’s top doc says
Appointments at the United Center’s COVID-19 mass vaccination site will go on as scheduled next week with Pfizer doses being administered instead of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine that’s been shelved nationwide, officials said Thursday.
The city’s most prominent mass vax site has been doling out Pfizer since it launched a month ago in a parking lot across the street from the Near West Side arena.
That’ll still be the case Monday, which is when the federally run site had been scheduled to switch to J&J doses — until a handful of extremely rare blood clots tied to that vaccine prompted a temporary suspension this week while experts investigate.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency will provide additional Pfizer doses in its place, meaning plans won’t change for anyone with a United Center appointment, according to Chicago Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady.
“Everybody who has an appointment from Monday on at the United Center can keep that appointment. You do not need to do a thing. You will just receive Pfizer instead of Johnson & Johnson,” Arwady said during an online Q&A.
The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 3,581 new cases of the disease were diagnosed Wednesday among 105,661 tests to keep the state’s average testing positivity rate at 4.2%.
About one quarter of Illinois residents have been fully vaccinated so far, with 138,538 doses administered Tuesday. The state also reported 3,536 new cases and 31 more deaths.
Staff member of state House Speaker Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch tests positive for COVID-19. The staff member was tested Monday as part of the Legislature’s required protocols to return to in-person work in the Capitol.
There will be no playoffs in this pandemic-shortened season, but it might feel otherwise to Loyola.
The No. 1 Ramblers are navigating their way through the state’s toughest schedule — six straight ranked opponents — with matchups materializing only days in advance against opponents they’ve rarely seen, if ever.
Loyola passed another test in an unusual Friday afternoon home game, shutting out No. 25 Phillips 30-0 behind another dominating performance from running back Vaughn Pemberton and the defense.
Playing only every other series, Pemberton nonetheless piled up more than 100 yards of total offense: 10 carries for 92 yards and a touchdown, and one catch for 11 yards.
Aidan Brownlee scored on an end-around, and quarterbacks JT Thomas and Jake Stearney each threw a touchdown pass for Loyola (5-0).
Phillips and Hillcrest were last-minute schedule additions when the Ramblers’ original week four and five opponents were unavailable. Had they not stepped in, Loyola would have had three weeks off before playing Marist in the regular-season and CCL/ESCC Blue finale.
“When we got Phillips scheduled, we were all really happy,” Pemberton said. “I got the Hudl message from coach (John) Holecek when I was in my bed. I was like, ‘Oh! I’m playing a game.'”
There was a bittersweet aspect to the game, Pemberton said. Besides being the seniors’ last home game, it came days after tight end James Kyle announced on Twitter his football career was over because of health issues.
“We don’t take any of these for granted,” said Pemberton, who like his teammates wrote Kyle’s uniform number (81) on his wrist.
Holecek didn’t take playing for granted either.
“Very nice of Hillcrest and (Phillips coach) Troy (McAllister) to pick us up,” he said, “Both (coaches) said, ‘This helps our program.’
“What was I going to do, take two weeks off to get ready for my week six (game)?”
Loyola’s defense was paced by linebacker Braden Mullen, who had an interception and a sack, and lineman Brandon Svets, who had two sacks.
The Ramblers’ edge in experience and preparation showed against Phillips (2-1).
“I feel bad for these guys because they just got started,” Holecek said of the Wildcats. “CPS tied their hands completely. We had 20 (contact days) in the summer, 20 in the fall and then starting in January a little bit. We can do a lot more than these guys can do.”
That’s the goal every time the Ramblers step on the field in this six-game season, according to defensive back Marty Auer.
“We think we’re the best team in the state,” he said. “We have to prove it one more week.”
The Ramblers couldn’t look past anyone given their loaded schedule. But it’s safe to say the finale at Marist always was in the back of their minds.
“This team beat us at home twice last (season) so we have something to prove,” Auer said. “Yeah, it is our Super Bowl.”
Top-ranked Loyola dominated Phillips on Friday in Wilmette. The 30-0 score tells that tale.
The Wildcats showed up hoping to win, of course, but COVID-19 has taught all of us not to take what used to be everyday events for granted.
High school sports, at their core, are about providing special moments for kids to remember for the rest of their lives. They’re about getting a chance to play with your friends, in front of your family, and to represent your community.
Chicago Public Schools high school students have missed out on so many of those moments since COVID-19 hit, countless things all of us were able to experience during our senior years.
That’s why the game Friday, despite the score, was so important for Phillips coach Troy McAllister and his kids. They picked up a moment to remember: a day they went and got hammered by the best football team in the state, with an opposing student section chanting at them and their parents watching from the stands.
”I was fired up [when Coach told us he had scheduled the game] because we have a Public League schedule, and everybody knows CPS teams aren’t the best,” Wildcats senior Vontrell Chairse said. ”As a team, we wanted a tough task. And I feel like we came out and put our hearts on the field. There’s just little things we need to clean up, and then we will be better.”
Chairse is a Toledo recruit. Just a few weeks ago, it looked as though his senior season would be made up of a handful of blowout games against Public League teams, possibly without any fans in the stands.
”We would do this 100 times out of 100, to have this opportunity to come here and give the kids this experience,” McAllister said. ”We get to send our seniors off with a non-CPS game where they get a true high school experience of playing a top team in the state. And for our young guys, they get to see how important hitting the weight room is and how it makes you a better team.”
The challenges Phillips overcame to become the first Public League school to win a state title in 2015 are well-documented. COVID-19 only has added to the list.
The Wildcats haven’t had access to their weight room since the pandemic began. Some schools, including Loyola, have been practicing and hitting the weight room for more than a year, preparing for this season.
”It’s pretty clear they’ve been in the weight room, and we haven’t had access to one,” Chairse said. ”They did their job; hats off to them. We got to play the best team in the state, and you can’t ask for more than that. It was a great opportunity.”
Phillips has high expectations for junior quarterback Tyler Turner. He was 7-for-21 for 104 yards with one interception and was sacked five times. Junior Avante Savage caught four passes for 84 yards.
”That was awesome,” Turner said. ”I took some hits, for sure, but it was fun. A great competition and a great learning experience.”
Turner’s father, Nate, was a star at Nebraska and played for the Bills in the NFL. He was there to watch his son.
”He got beat up pretty good,” Nate Turner said. ”A couple of those Loyola guys look like they should be in the NFL. They were coming, and we didn’t have an answer for them. Tyler was ducking and dodging.
”But the future is bright. It was awesome for the kids to be out here and play the No. 1 team in the state and have this moment. They will learn from it and move forward.”
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Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times