MSL to NFL: Opportunistic Jimmy G Keeps Quieting Doubters
O'Hara Brothers Have Sacramento State Rolling in FCS
Jimmy Garoppolo has been good at turning doubters into believers since he was a senior at Rolling Meadows in 2009.
Jimmy G will never convert all of his critics. He certainly silenced a lot of them last Sunday with his impressive performance in leading the San Francisco 49ers to an eighth consecutive regular-season victory over the Los Angeles Rams.
Not bad for a guy his own team wanted to push aside in order to give Trey Lance the quarterback job. Lance, who struggled in a rain-soaked opener against the Bears at Soldier Field, suffered a season-ending leg injury in Week 2. Fortunately for the 49ers, Garoppolo was still around and ready to take over as the starter after playing through a right shoulder he injured in the playoffs and required surgery in the offseason.
Last week was one of the best games of his pro career as he misfired on only 4 of his 25 passes for 235 yards, 2 touchdowns and a 132.5 passer rating. It was his fourth consecutive game with 2 touchdown passes and he has completed 66.7 percent of his throws for 1,691 yards, 11 touchdowns and 4 interceptions going into a bye this week.
Last year it was 3,810 yards with 20 TDs and 12 interceptions. Then he nearly helped the 49ers reach the Super Bowl despite having to sling the ball with an injured wing. In 2019, he did start in a Super Bowl after a season where he threw for 3,978 yards, 27 TDs and 13 INTs.
No, he’s not going to make fans in the Bay Area forget Hall of Famers Joe Montana or Steve Young. But he’s also far from high-profile busts like Johnny Manziel, Jimmy Clausen or Josh Rosen.
I’m not going to pretend to be an NFL insider and understand everything that went on between Garoppolo and the 49ers in the offseason. But none of what is happening is new for a kid who saw all Division I FBS interest dry up after a strong senior year at Meadows played in some of the most wet and abysmal field conditions one could imagine.Â
One of the things that always struck me was his attitude after he committed to Eastern Illinois. As he sat in a conference room near the Meadows gym, he discussed the potential opportunities ahead of him rather than dwell on what others may have lost. In the case of some coaches it would ultimately be their jobs.
Garoppolo made the most of his chance at Eastern and then there were more questions after he was picked by New England as Tom Brady’s understudy. Ultimately, another opportunity arose when he was dealt to the 49ers and, naturally, he took advantage.
Garoppolo just celebrated his 31st birthday on Tuesday, so he’s no longer the high school kid dreaming of making it big. But Jimmy G is still continuing to prove he will get the job done whenever he’s given an opportunity.
O’Haras Help Sacramento State Tear Up FCS
The success Asher and Jace O’Hara had at Rolling Meadows is continuing at Sacramento State. They are playing big parts for a team ranked No. 2 in the Division I Football Championship Series subdivision.
The Big Sky Conference-leading Hornets improved to 9-0 with a 33-30 win at fifth-ranked Weber State on Saturday as Asher O’Hara was 10-for-13 passing for 162 yards and a touchdown and he ran for 81 yards and 2 TDs. Jace O’Hara, a junior nickelback, was credited with a tackle. The ninth consecutive victory is the school’s longest winning streak since 1966.
Asher is now 50-for-66 for 508 yards and 6 TDs passing and has 690 yards and 16 TDs rushing. He was first-team all-Big Sky as an all-purpose player last year after three successful seasons at Middle Tennessee State and a year at College of DuPage.
Jace has played in all 9 games and has 13 tackles and a sack. He played all 12 games last year at nickelback and on special teams after playing two years at COD.
Regional Football Proposal Resurfaces
The concept of switching IHSA football to a regional format resurfaced again as two officials from central Illinois submitted the proposal to change the IHSA Constitution and By-Laws. The plan would establish 8 regions for all 8 classes in the state and the top four teams in each class from each region would make the 256-team state playoff field.
A similar proposal actually passed by a 324-307 vote in 2018 to be implemented in 2021. But a proposal to rescind the format saw the regional idea rejected by a 374-241 vote (with 87 no opinions) in 2019.Â
The rationale for the format includes ending the need for schools to continually change conferences because of football scheduling and to eliminate creative scheduling to get the 5-win total typically required for an at-large playoff berth. Critics of the concept have cited an end to conference championships and local rivalries under a regional-type setup.
The IHSA Legislative Commission will review the proposals Monday and discuss them at town meetings Nov. 10-22. The Commission will decide Nov. 28 to submit proposals for a vote of the general membership in December.
Long Hoops Coaching Run Ends for Former Elk Grove Star
The start of this basketball season may seem strange to Faith Mimnaugh, the star and sparkplug of Elk Grove’s Class AA girls state basketball title in 1981. Mimnaugh retired last spring after 25 years as the head coach at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo.
"Reflecting back over the many years of coaching, I feel so blessed to have been a part of such an amazing university," Mimnaugh said in a statement. "I'm so thankful for the opportunity to share in the educational mission of the university through the leadership development lab of the women's basketball program. I'm grateful for the many people who journeyed with me through the years."
Mimnaugh was a two-time Big West Conference Coach of the Year who won a school-record 338 games. She won two Big West regular-season titles in 2011-12 and her 2013 Big West tournament champion made the program’s first NCAA tournament appearance. Mimnaugh was also a head coach at Evansville from 1993-96 and starred at Loyola. She is a member of the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association and Loyola halls of fame.
BG’s Guth Begins New Chapter at Loyola
Allison Guth, who helped lead Buffalo Grove to a Class AA basketball title in 2000, makes her official debut as the head coach at Loyola when it visits Western Michigan on Sunday. Guth spent 7 years at Yale and won 99 games in 6 years as head coach with a Women’s Basketball Invitational title.
Guth’s 17 years of coaching experience include assistant’s stints at Loyola, Northwestern and DePaul. She was hired by Loyola on April 8 and her team won its exhibition opener 73-65 over Purdue Northwest. The 2013 Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Famer was also a three-time letterwinner at Illinois.
MSL Alums Square Off Football’s Second Round
Tim Heyse (Conant) and Rob Pomazak (Rolling Meadows) competed against each other often in high school football and baseball, before graduating in 1996, and in American Legion baseball.
On Saturday, the two successful football programs they lead met in the second round of the Class 7A playoffs. Pomazak and St. Charles North topped Heyse and Hoffman Estates 25-9.
Pomazak is 71-30 with 6 playoff trips and a state runner-up finish in 2018 in 10 years with the North Stars. They are 10-1, with their only loss in the season opener to Palatine, and can break the school record for victories with a win next week over St. Rita.
Heyse is 39-21 with 4 playoff trips in 6 years with the Hawks and a state semifinal trip in 2017. This year was the first time the school won a playoff game in consecutive seasons.
Viator Hall of Famer Moynihan Has Harlem Rolling
Bob Moynihan, who was inducted into St. Viator’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2011, has been a big hit since taking over the Machesney Park Harlem football program in 2019.Â
A 24-20 win over Grayslake North gave the Huskies two playoff wins in a season for the first time and sent them to the quarterfinals for the second time. They needed only one win to make the quarters in 1977.
Moynihan is 30-8 at Harlem and last year’s team won its first playoff game since 2011. His 6-0 team in the COVID-shortened spring 2021 season won the school’s first NIC-10 title since 1997 and resulted in Chicago Bears Coach of the Year and Coach of the Week honors. Monynihan also ended a 15-year playoff drought at Zion-Benton in his final year there in 2018.
Moynihan was an all-conference football and baseball player and an assistant football coach at Viator. He was also an all-conference football player at Harper College, played at Southeast Missouri State and coached at Proviso East and North Chicago.
RIP Dave Butz
Dave Butz, who ranks among the best all-around high school athletes in Illinois history at Maine South, passed away Friday at age 72. Butz played at Purdue, was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals and spent 14 of his 16 NFL seasons as a defensive lineman with Washington. He won Super Bowl rings in 1982 and 1987.
Butz was a star in football and basketball and won the discus with a state-record of 180 feet, 4 inches in 1968. The record stood until 1980. We’ll take a deeper look at the legacy of Dave Butz in the first Way Back Wednesday feature this week.