Sunday Slam: Barrington, Wheaton South Met in Last Normal State Football Final Matchup
Area Big Ten Football Award Winners; Barrington's Rife Receives Baseball Honor; MSL Contingent Enters Illinois Badminton Hall of Fame
The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) announced this week that the football state championship games are going back to Normal on a five-year contract starting in 2023.
They were held at Illinois State University’s Hancock Stadium from the start of the playoffs in 1974 until 1998 - with the exception of the Class 5A and 6A games at Northwestern’s Dyche Stadium from 1980-84. When ISU wanted to host a then Division I-AA (now Football Championship Subdivision) playoff game in 1999, the title games were moved to Champaign and the University of Illinois’ Memorial Stadium.
After alternating yearly between U of I and Northern Illinois University’s Huskie Stadium in DeKalb since 2013, the title games will be back in a renovated Hancock for the first time since Wheaton Warrenville South put on an incredible offensive display to beat Barrington 42-14 for the 6A crown in a battle of unbeaten teams.
Wheaton South gave a preview of the sleepless nights ahead for many high school defensive coordinators with the proliferation of spread offenses. In 1998, most passing attacks were still traditional two-back, two-receiver, one-tight end sets. But the school that produced legendary running back Red Grange steamrolled its opponents with a four-wide, one-back air attack that maximized the Division I abilities of quarterback Jon Beutjer and receivers Jon Schweighardt and Eric McGoey.
Barrington came to ISU with its most successful team in school history as coach Al Kamradt had six Daily Herald All-Area players in quarterback Scott Sagehorn, running back-linebacker Dan Pohlman, receiver-defensive backs Kyle Derickson and Tim Meyer, nose guard Pete DeBord and defensive back Joe Butera. It had pulled off dramatic wins in the second round against Leyden and in double overtime in the semifinals against Naperville North.
Wheaton South came to ISU in a class all by itself as the only opponent to get within 2 touchdowns of one of the greatest teams in state history was DuPage Valley Conference rival Naperville Central in the regular season and playoffs. Beutjer, who played at Iowa and Illinois, broke the national record for touchdown passes and still holds the state mark at 60.
A tough and stingy Barrington defense couldn’t stop the Tigers. A 20-mph wind couldn’t stop precise fade route TD passes right into it from Beutjer. He threw for 6 TDs - four to Illinois-bound McGoey and two to Northwestern-bound Schweighardt - and 490 yards. They had 583 of their 611 yards of total offense after three quarters en route to the fourth of their seven state titles.
Barrington did produce a trivia question going into next year’s return to Hancock Stadium. The last player to score a touchdown in a state championship game there was Brandon Watts when he raced 45 yards with a teammate’s fumble to the end zone in the fourth quarter.
Big Ten Football Honors
Big things are ahead for Northwestern junior Peter Skoronski. The 6-foot-4, 315-pound junior offensive tackle from Maine South was named a Walter Camp All-American, the Big Ten Conference’s Rimington-Pace Offensive Lineman of the Year and a repeat first-team All-Big Ten selection.
Skoronski was also a finalist for the Outland Trophy awarded to the nation’s best interior offensive or defensive lineman. He is projected as a first-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft and Pro Football Focus (PFF) graded him as the top pass protector in college football with only 6 quarterback pressures allowed in 480 pass-blocking snaps.
Also up front, Illinois sixth-year senior offensive tackle and Prospect grad Alex Palczewski was voted second-team all-Big Ten by the media and third team by the coaches. The Big Ten record-holder for starts with 64 can tie the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision record if he starts in the ReliaQuest Bowl on January 2 against Mississippi State. Palczewski’s 428 pass-block snaps without allowing a sack is the most of any Big Ten tackle, according to PFF. He also has the Illinois offensive line in the hunt for the Joe Moore Award and he received the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award for the Illini.
Barrington had two honorees in Iowa sophomore defensive end Lukas Van Ness and Northwestern senior wide receiver Ray Niro III. The 6-5, 275 Van Ness was second team all-Big Ten by the coaches and media and had 34 tackles and 6 sacks. Niro caught 5 passes (2 touchdowns) and made 6 special teams tackles and was NU’s Sportsmanship Award winner.
Minnesota senior safety Tyler Nubin of St. Charles North was also second team all-Big Ten by the coaches and media. Nubin led the Golden Gophers in interceptions (4) and was third in tackles (55) despite missing the regular-season finale with a broken hand. Nubin, who starred on St. Charles North’s 2018 7A state runner-up coached by Rolling Meadows grad Rob Pomazak, announced last week on Twitter he is returning to school for his final year of eligibility.
Purdue quarterback and Stevenson grad Aidan O’Connell tied for second-team all-Big Ten quarterback by the coaches and third team by the media after leading the Boilermakers to the Big Ten West division title. O’Connell also was Purdue’s Sportsmanship Award winner.
Nazareth product J.J. McCarthy, who led Michigan to the Big Ten title and No. 2 national ranking, was the second-team quarterback by the media and third team by the coaches.
Barrington Baseball Assistant Rife Honored
Barrington High School has been a significant part of Tim Rife’s life. Rife is a 1974 graduate who returned to his alma mater in 1989 to teach and coach.
Rife, who will be entering his 33rd season as part of the baseball program, was selected by the National High School Baseball Coaches Association (NHSBCA) as the 2022 Assistant Coach of the Year for the Upper Midwest Region. Eight assistant coaches from across the country received the NHSBCA award and were honored during its annual convention last weekend in Fort Myers, Florida.
Rife was an all-North Suburban Conference baseball and football player at Barrington and he has been an assistant in the baseball program for Kirby Smith, Jim Hawrysko and Pat Wire. He also received the Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Association Assistant Coach of the Year award in 2013. Rife taught AP US History and Sociology before retiring from teaching in 2015 but also continues as a boys golf assistant coach.
Tim Funkhouser of Edwardsville was the Upper Midwest Coach of the Year and Jim Hall of Lockport was inducted into the NHSBCA Hall of Fame. Hall’s 1997 Lockport team lost to Schaumburg in the Class AA state championship game but won a state quarterfinal rematch in 2005 en route to a state title.
Three MSL Ties to Inaugural Illinois Badminton Hall of Fame Class
The Illinois Association of Badminton Coaches (IABC) was formed in the summer of 2021 and honored its first Hall of Fame Class of 2022 at last spring’s state meet. Kathy Crandall (Palatine coach), Gena (Weber) Fite (Arlington player, Wheeling coach) and Jeanine Konkolewski (Hersey player/coach, Rolling Meadows coach) were inducted along with three-time state champion Erin Hois (Downers Grove South) and two-time state champion coach Bob Tengstrand (Thornton Fractional North).
Crandall won four state championships during her Palatine coaching tenure from 1975-92. The 1985 title was the school’s first in its history and was followed by titles in 1986, 1989 and 1991. Her teams also finished second twice and third twice.
Konkolewski played badminton in the Girls Athletic Association at Hersey. After coaching at Rolling Meadows from 1979-84 she returned to her alma mater to coach from 1985-2021 and had teams finish second and third in the state.
Fite was a three-time medalist as part of the Arlington dynasty under Mary Lou Hundt which won the first five state team titles from 1977-81. Fite also had tremendous international success, coached at Wheeling from 1988-95 and is in her second stint as coach at York.
The IABC 2022 award-winners included Rolling Meadows’ Ken Mills as IABC and MSL Coach of the Year, Schaumburg’s Katie Van Grondelle as Assistant Coach of the Year and Hersey as the sportsmanship award winner.
The IABC website also has an all-state team, team previews, results and rankings. IABC president Scott Llorens, the head coach at Glenbard East, said one of the goals of the association is to bring the badminton community together. You can learn more at www.ilbadminton.com.
RIP Broadcasting Legend Floyd Brown
Floyd Brown, a distinctive part of Chicago broadcasting for 54 years, passed away Friday at age 92. Brown worked for WGN Radio and TV from 1971-99 and was part of the TV coverage of the state basketball tournament coverage at the famed “Tournament Central.” He was also part of the broadcast coverage team for first state football playoffs in 1974.
Here is the 1978 Class AA state basketball championship game between Lockport and St. Joseph and Isiah Thomas. Brown handles the pregame introductions of the teams at Assembly Hall in Champaign and then handled the postgame interviews with Lockport after it won the state title. Yeah, the video isn’t exactly HD quality but it’s still pretty cool.
Salute to Hersey Grad Roberts
Ethan Roberts, a 2021 Daily Herald All-Area pick at Hersey, is off to a big start as a freshman at Army. Roberts is averaging 11.7 points and 4.5 rebounds with 21 3-pointers in the Black Knights’ 5-5 start.
Roberts came off the bench the first two games but started and played 37 minutes in a 96-94 overtime win over Siena where he had 22 points on 8-for-12 shooting and 4 rebounds. On Wednesday, he had 16 points and shot 4-for-6 behind the arc in a 63-62 win over NJIT.
O’Hara Part of Record-Setting Performance
Rolling Meadows product Asher O’Hara played a big part in NCAA FCS history for Sacramento State in its 66-63 quarterfinal loss to Incarnate Word on Friday night. The 129 points set an FCS playoff game record. O’Hara threw for 158 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 87 yards.
Lake Zurich’s Gagliardi Trophy Finalists
Lake Zurich’s Evan Lewandowski and Joey Stutzman were among the 15 semifinalists for the 2022 Gagliardi Trophy presented to the most outstanding NCAA Division III football player. They were not among the four finalists announced last week.
Lewandowski threw for 2,356 yards and 18 touchdowns at Wisconsin-Whitewater and Stutzman rushed for 1,189 yards and 5 touchdowns at Wisconsin-LaCrosse. The trophy is named after the late John Gagliardi, who retired from Saint John’s (Minnesota) in 2012 with a college football record 489 victories.