By Paul D. Bowker
MaxPreps.com
The road to East St. Louis clearly began back in the heat of August at an NFL stadium.
The football players from St. Rita High School, on Chicago’s southwest side, and East St. Louis High School sat around and checked each other out that day at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati. St. Rita won its game in the Burger King Kirk Herbstreit Varsity Football Series, 28-21 over Lakota West, Ohio, while East St. Louis lost 20-12 to Huber Heights of Wayne, Ohio. The Flyers haven’t lost since.
Even back on that day, there was a sense that these teams would see each other again.
“Oh, yeah, definitely,” said St. Rita senior running back and defensive back Dan Dispensa, who is being recruited by Southern Illinois, Eastern Illinois and Western Michigan, among other schools. “We said, if we’re going be in states, we’re going to face these guys and they’re going to be the toughest team we play all year, I think.”
The showdown will be Saturday in East St. Louis, and the wait just may be worth it. This is the real deal. St. Rita and East St. Louis are the No. 1 and 2 seeds, respectively, in the bottom bracket of the Illinois Class 7A playoffs.
Each team has lost just once in a high-powered season that has included East St. Louis averaging 51 points per game and St. Rita knocking off Catholic League Blue rival and Class 8A title contender Mount Carmel in front of more than 10,000 in September.
St. Rita head coach Todd Kuska labels East St. Louis as probably the best team in the state.
Yet, don’t forget that St. Rita is ranked No. 2 in Illinois by MaxPreps, and East St. Louis is No. 5. The schools share an incredible playoff history, with a combined 52 state playoff appearances and eight state championships. They are the only schools in Class 7A with nine consecutive seasons of playoff appearances.
Saturday’s winner will move on to the 7A semifinals next week to play possibly unbeaten Glenbard West, which shares the No. 1 seed with St. Rita. That, of course, would set up another No. 1 vs. No. 2 or No. 1 vs. No. 1 match-up. However, there are some who suggest the No. 1 vs. No. 2, St. Rita vs. East St. Louis matchup should be happening later in the playoffs.
“You know what? You play whoever’s there,” Kuska said. “They divided us into quadrants, and we’re the 1 and 2 teams in this quadrant. It’s the way it was supposed to work out.”
Except?
“Except it was supposed to work out we get home,” said Kuska, chuckling.
Advantage: Flyers.
No problem there. All season long, St. Rita has been the team being chased in Catholic League Blue. The Mustangs are rather enjoying a game in which they might be the underdogs.
“A lot of people see us as the underdogs and we haven’t been the underdogs all year. So it’s a pretty good feeling,” said senior linebacker Martin Hopkins, who is being recruited by Western Michigan and other Division I schools. “We get to go out there and show everyone what we’re all about. East St. Louis is a really good team. We’ve just got to prove to everyone that we’re the better team.”
For St. Rita, the day will begin early. The alarm buzzers will go off before sunrise, and they will climb aboard buses at St. Rita for the trip at 7 a.m. No big deal, says Kuska. Anticipating his team would face a trip like this is one reason why Kuska scheduled the preseason game in Cincinnati.
“And that’s why we did it,” Kuska said. “No. 1, to get the exposure for St. Rita and the (Chicago) Catholic League, but secondly, to get us used to travel. Granted, we stayed overnight there, we were there all day. …
“It’s in our mindset that, hey, we’ve done this before. We’ve gotten on a bus, traveled, gotten off, won. That’s what our goal is going to be this week, too.”
If the Mustangs think their bus is zipping quickly down Interstate-55, then wait until they line up against the speedy Flyers. It is the one thing being drilled into the Mustangs’ heads this week, not that they really need it. They saw the speed right there in person last August in Cincinnati.
“They’ve got a lot of skill,” Dispensa said. “One wide receiver is going to Illinois, the other one is signing with Texas Tech. They’re just real good. They’re fast.”
Terry Hawthorne, the Illinois recruit, and Kraig Appleton have combined for more than 1,000 yards receiving. Running back Courtney Molton is over 1,000 yards rushing.
“Everyone has one thing in mind: a state championship,“ East St. Louis coach Darren Sunkett told MaxPreps last month.
St. Rita is looking to play the perfect game. Correction: A very fast perfect game.
“A guy misses a tackle, and they’ve all got speed to score, and they will score,” Kuska said. “I’ve preached to our guys, if we miss a tackle, it’s a touchdown. If we have a turnover, it’s going to be a touchdown. They’ve got great speed on all sides of the ball at every position.”
Said Dispensa: “If we lose any kind of yards, it’s going to kill us. We have to get positive yards every play.”
A week ago, players from Chicago’s De La Salle questioned East St. Louis’s physical prowess, and the Flyers responded with a 46-3 lesson. You won’t find anybody at St. Rita wondering about the Flyers’ strength.
“They’re big up front, they’re strong up front. We like to think that we’re big and strong, too. They’re definitely the biggest front we’ve faced this year and hopefully, we’re one of the bigger ones they’ve faced,” Kuksa said.
“We have to control the line of scrimmage and I’m sure they want to do the same thing. It’s going to be a battle.”
Games to Watch
Glenbard West (11-0) at Downers Grove (7-4), 7:30 p.m. Friday: The unbeaten Hilltoppers, West Suburban Silver champs, prep for next week’s game against St. Rita or East St. Louis by playing a conference foe they’ve already beaten by 35 points this year. Glenbard West put up 56 points on Oak Park last week and have won three of its last five games by shutout.
Maine South (11-0) at Barrington (9-2), 6 p.m. Saturday: Maine South, the No. 1 seed in Class 8A and ranked No. 1 in Illinois by MaxPreps, looks to continue its march toward a state championship with Vanderbilt recruit Charlie Goro at quarterback. Goro threw for a TD, and ran for one, in last week’s 26-7 win over Loyola.
Chicago Marist (9-2) vs. Mount Carmel (9-2) at Gately Stadium, 7 p.m. Friday: The Caravan, behind Northern Illinois recruit Jordan Lynch, has rolled to seven consecutive victories. One more win, and they‘re in the 8A semifinals for the second straight year. Lynch, a quarterback, ran for 191 yards and two touchdowns last week in a come-from-behind 34-31 win over Lincoln-Way East.
Recruiting: Vogrich to Michigan
Lake Forest’s Matt Vogrich signed with Michigan in Wednesday’s early signing day for college basketball, and Glenbrook South’s Jack Cooley signed with Notre Dame.
Also, Illinois got two recruits out of the Chicago area: Sterling’s Joseph Bertrand and Warren’s Brandon Paul.
Vogrich, a guard, was also considering Stanford and Notre Dame because of those schools’ academic, as well as athletic, reputations.
Cooley, a 6-foot-9 235-pound forward, averaged 20.7 points and 11.2 rebounds his junior season.
“Jack is an intense, physical player who is a throwback kind of guy,” Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said.
Boys Soccer: New Trier wins 3A title
Goals by Ben Beaver and Chris Ritter led New Trier to a 2-1 state-championship Class 3A victory over Edwardsville last Saturday at Naperville, giving the Trevians their second state title in three years. New Trier finished the season with a 22-1-1 record and yielded just two goals in seven playoff games.
“It just came down to us wanting it more than the other team,” Beaver told the Chicago Tribune.
In Class 2A, Peoria Notre Dame defeated Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin 3-0 in the championship game. Lake View, which was attempting to be the first Chicago Public League school since 1973 to win a boys state soccer championship, lost to Sacred Heart-Griffin in the semifinals and then 4-1 to St. Joseph in the third-place game.
Volleyball: Benet Battles McAuley
The volleyball teams at Benet Academy and Mother McAuley have won more than 70 matches this year, combined, and lost just three times. Friday night, they will meet in the state tournament at Normal with the winner advancing to Saturday’s state-title match.
The only loss for Benet (39-1) was to Joliet Catholic in a tournament, which actually prevented the Redwings from playing McAuley in the championship match of the Autumnfest tournament. The long-awaited meeting will happen Friday.
“These girls have been extremely motivated to play Benet all season. Now we will finally get the match-up,” McAuley coach Jen DeJarid told the Chicago Sun-Times.
The winner of Friday’s match will play Evanston (30-10) or St. Charles East (36-4) for the title.
In Class 3A, Walter Payton will play Burlington Central in the semifinals, and Joliet Catholic will meet Breese Mater Del. Payton is the first Public League school to advance to the volleyball Final Four since 2001.
Cross Country: Naperville North Wins First State Title
Kyle Gibson placed fourth in the state 3A cross country championships with a time of 14 minutes, 23 seconds, helping to lead Naperville North to its first-ever team title. North edged York by one point, 84-85, for the championship. Jeff Thode of Conant won the 3A individual championship with a time of 14:18, while Lindsay Flanagan of Lake Park won the 3A girls’ title in 16:54.
Geneva won the 3A girls title to successfully defend its 2007 title, beating Hinsdale Central by 115 points. Kelly Whitley of Geneva placed second in 17:07 and teammate Sarah Heuer was third in 17:08.
Paul Bowker covers the Chicago area for MaxPreps. He may be reached at bowkerpaul1@aol.com
