A Little Extra: Wauconda's Sets Tempo Offensively
Familiar Faces on Grayslake Central Sideline; Galvin Makes Soldier Field Flyover; Gregory in New Role With Suns; Shafron First-Year AD at Grayslake Central
An up-tempo football offense is typically associated with a passing game.
Not so with Wauconda, which showcased a “hurry-up” running game in its 44-6 win last Friday at Grayslake Central. The Bulldogs didn’t attempt one pass during first-quarter touchdown drives took just 3:21 (10 plays, 78 yards) and 3:35 (11 plays, 51 yards).
Wauconda senior Porter Stanton called it “a little tiring but so much fun” for himself and offensive linemates Liam Carney, Martin Corona, Anthony Medrano and Eric Alvarado. Their other first-half scoring drives took just 2:10 (7 plays, 69 yards), 3:38 (7 plays, 81 yards) and 1:59 (10 plays, 80 yards).
“They’ve come along very well,” Wauconda coach Chris Prostka said of the offensive line. “We’re committed to what we’re doing this year. Last year we were still a little spread formation. Now we’re under center and running the ball and doing play-action passing. The kids have really bought into it which is great.”
Wauconda senior quarterback Logan Olsen appreciates what his line has done for him. Olsen eventually got his opportunities to throw and made the most of them at 12-for-15 for 206 with 2 touchdowns to Luke Sickmeir and one to Cole Korycanek.
“When we have the line that can drive and punch people in the mouth it’s great,” Olsen said. “I kind of joke that I don’t get hit so I’m fine on Saturday. I give them all the credit.”
And Stanton said no one is having more fun than his group of linemen as the Bulldogs (5-1, 4-0) headed into Thursday’s Northern Lake County Conference showdown at defending champion Antioch (5-1, 4-0). Stanton said the work the starting and reserve linemen have put in with their coaches has made a big difference.
“We’ve definitely come further from where we started,” Stanton said. “We’re a lot better and everyone has progressed.”
And they’re prepared because Stanton said “almost every week we throw in something new just in case” When Grayslake Central was twice called for encroachment penalties as Rocco Garcia set up to kick extra points, the Bulldogs changed it up and Olsen threw 2-point conversion passes to Sickmeir and Jacob Hawley.
Prostka also liked the way the Bulldogs didn’t get trapped in a potential trap game.
“Tonight was all about playing Grayslake,” Prostka said. “Their quarterback (Brady Carlson) was hurt (torn ACL), which is disappointing to hear, and that’s a proud coaching staff over there. Without a doubt we were preparing for a good football team and we played really well.”
Familiar Faces Look for Big Finish at Grayslake Central
Grayslake Central coach Brent Pearlman, who won three state titles at Prospect, got a number of familiar faces to join him on the sideline for his second season. They include offensive coordinator Tony Wolanski, line coach Steve Polley, Eric Shinhoster, former Wheeling standouts Jaden and Amani Dennis and former Fremd player and assistant coach Richie Cordova. Reggie McClure, who played at Palatine, is in his second year on the staff.
Grayslake Central went 4-5 last year and at 3-3 needs to win two of its last three to make the postseason. They finish with Grant on Thursday, Round Lake and Antioch.
After last Friday’s 44-6 loss to Wauconda, Pearlman emphasized he has great kids and believes they can get it done. That was exemplified by the way the Rams continued to play in the final quarter and had junior Nick Norberg throw a touchdown pass to Isaiah Allen on the final play.
“We’ve got to find positives, and I’m not sure where to find them, but we’ve got to find them,” Pearlman said. “We had a nice catch (by Allen), maybe we’ve got to build off that. We definitely need to regroup with 3 games left. We can still get there.”
Pearlman said having coaches like Wolanski and Polley, who were big parts of Meadows’ turnaround in the late 1990s under Doug Millsaps, and Shinhoster, who was part of Prospect’s title turnaround, are a big reason to put the Rams in position to play in the postseason.
“Especially with this coaching staff, we have high expectations,” Pearlman said. “We’re slowly adapting but not quite quick enough.”
Grayslake Central did suffer a big setback in a Week 4 win over North Chicago when senior quarterback Brady Carlson tore his right ACL. Carlson, who still hopes to play in college, had surgery and was supporting his team on the sidelines on crutches.
Carlson also shared an interesting family connection to Pearlman. Carlson’s dad Eric was a two-year starting quarterback at Hersey who threw for more than 1,300 yards in his senior year in 1993. One of Eric Carlson’s underclass coaches was Pearlman, who was just getting his sideline career started.
Galvin Flying High over Soldier Field
Mack Galvin, who was one of the best tennis players in Mid-Suburban League history at Rolling Meadows, is now serving the country as a member of the U.S. Air Force. Galvin was part of the flyover of Soldier Field before Sunday’s Bears game against the Carolina Panthers.
Anthony Como, who teaches English at Meadows and also coached basketball there and at Wheeling, was able to get on-field video and photos of Galvin. Como is part of the Bears’ game day crew who helps with the coordination of TV commercial breaks and a week earlier got to see former Meadows star quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo with the LA Rams.
Galvin won four MSL titles at No. 1 singles, was a four-time state qualifier and finished fourth in the state as a senior in 2016 with a 39-2 record. He also received the Tom Pitchford Sportsmanship award before going on to a solid playing career at the Air Force Academy.
Brian Gregory in New Role with Phoenix Suns
Brian Gregory, who led Hersey to the Class AA boys basketball Elite Eight in 1985, was hired in June by the Phoenix Suns as the Vice President of Player Programming. Suns owner Mat Ishbia was a freshman walk-on guard when Michigan State won the 2000 NCAA championship and Gregory was an assistant coach for Tom Izzo.
“Brian’s expansive coaching and development experience uniquely positions him to assist our coaches and players,” said James Jones, Suns president of basketball operations and general manager, in a statement after Gregory was hired.
Gregory spent 19 years as a Division I head coach at Dayton, Georgia Tech and South Florida. He also played with Hall of Famer David Robinson when Navy made the NCAA Elite Eight in 1987.
The Suns first two regular-season games will be Oct. 23 vs. the LA Clippers and Oct. 25 vs. the LA Lakers. Rolling Meadows’ Cam Christie was a second-round pick of the Clippers and his brother Max has been with the Lakers the last two seasons.
Wheeling’s Shafron Running Show at Grayslake Central
Running is nothing new for Dave Shafron as he was part of Wheeling’s cross country success in the 1990s and was also a coach at Niles North.
Shafron is doing a different type of running now in his first year as Grayslake Central’s athletic director. He had been the boys head cross country coach and boys track distance coach at Niles North since 2013.
Shafron ran at the Class AA state cross country meet as a junior in 1996 when Wheeling took eighth place and Jorge Torres won the first of three state titles. That was the nucleus of a team that finished third in 1997 and won the state title in 1998. Shafron also ran at Harper College and was part of a 1,600-meter relay team that finished sixth in the NJCAA Division III national meet.
Hoffman’s Pegler Honored by Big 12 Conference
Hoffman Estates 1983 graduate Kurt Pegler, who has covered sports in central Illinois at WMBD-TV in Peoria since 1987, was recognized with the Big 12 Conference Service Award. The yearly award is voted on by the 11 athletic directors in recognition of contributions to the athletic programs of the Big 12 Conference.
Pegler called it “a really nice honor” during one of his broadcasts and on Twitter X said, “Thank you Big 12 Conference. As a sportscaster, I’m really humbled by this.” The Big 12 consists of four schools from Peoria, three apiece from Bloomington-Normal and Champaign-Urbana and Danville.
Pegler started at WMBD, a CBS affiliate, as an intern in 1987 and was hired full-time in 1990. He has received numerous other broadcasting awards.
Remembrances
Tom Kleinschmidt Sr., an area fixture as a high school and college basketball official for 50 years, passed away on Oct. 7 at 77. Kleinschmidt is an Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Famer as an official who worked three boys state tournaments. His son Tom starred at Gordon Tech and DePaul University and has won boys state titles the last two seasons as the head coach at DePaul Prep.
Darl Kriete, a longtime golf, basketball and football coach at West Leyden and Leyden, passed away Oct. 7 at 90. Kriete was the only boys golf coach in West Leyden history from 1960-81, according to the Des Plaines Journal & Topics’ Dion Martorano.
Phil Theobald, who had a long career as a sportswriter and sports columnist at the Peoria Journal Star, passed away Oct. 4 at 83. Theobald was inducted into the IBCA Hall of Fame in 2000 and covered high school sports, Bradley basketball, Notre Dame football, Major League Baseball and the Chicago Bears.
Barrington Boys, Girls Continue State Golf Success
Barrington’s golf success continued as the boys qualified for the state tournament for the 30th time and the girls qualified for the 20th time. Both teams also won regional titles - the 24th for the girls and the 21st for the boys.
Prospect’s girls also won a 10th regional title.
For an updated look at the history of the MSL boys and girls in the state golf tournaments check out the MSL Golf page.