Eagles have hard time running with the Devils, but eye a bright future
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent It was hard for a strong contingency of Sandburg football fans who were at Hinsdale Central on Saturday afternoon to feel good. After a weird 0-0 first quarter in the first-round game of the IHSA Class 8A playoffs, in which the host Red Devils were called for false-start penalties on three…
Sandburg boys eye state title as area sends army to state XC meet
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent Sandburg’s boys team and Marist’s Jake Phillips earned sectional championships on sloppy-but-manageable courses on Saturday. A weeklong rain turned many Chicago-area courses to mush, but the Eagles and Phillips soldiered through and are heading with some momentum to this Saturday’s state cross country meet at Detweiller Park in Peoria. Sandburg, which…
High School Football Class 7A Playoffs: Sophomore RBs, Ulatowski lead St. Rita in romp over Rolling Meadows
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent Kaleb Brown was all dressed up and ready to go. But he will have to wait another week before his return. The St. Rita senior star running back/wide receiver suited up for the first time since injuring a kneecap early in a loss to Mount Carmel the first game of the…
High School Football Class 7A Playoffs: Brother Rice edges Wheaton Warrenville South
By Steve Millar Correspondent Brother Rice’s offense has been virtually unstoppable all season, rolling to at least 40 points in every game it played. It’s the Crusaders’ defense, however, that is the biggest reason they survived the first round of the Class 7A playoffs. On a night when the offense struggled, the defense made…
High School Football Class 8A Playoffs: Marist rolls past Glenbard East, gets unbeaten S. Elgin in 2nd round
By Steve Metsch Correspondent Basking in the glow of a convincing postseason victory, Marist coach Ron Dawczak told his players to enjoy it for a night, then focus on their next opponent. That probably won’t be hard for the RedHawks, who — as Glenbard East coach John Walters noted — play a tough schedule every…
IHSA Football Playoffs: Brother Rice, Marist, Mount Carmel, St. Rita, Richards, Nazareth advance to second round
By Bob Bong Brother Rice was the only area team to advance to this weekend’s second round of the IHSA state football tournament after Saturday’s slate of games. They join five teams that advanced after Friday night’s action. The Crusaders moved on thanks to a 27-26 squeaker over Wheaton-Warrenville South on Saturday. No. 9 seeded…
Pro Soccer Report: Watt a finish! Red Stars to host playoff game Sunday
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent One more time. The Chicago Red Stars will play at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview for a final game when they host New York/New Jersey Gotham at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 7, in the opening round of the NWSL playoffs. The Red Stars finished the regular season with the fourth seed thanks…
5 area teams advance to IHSA second round after Friday night victories
By Bob Bong Five area football teams won their games Friday night to advance to next weekend’s second round of the IHSA state tournament. Marist scored a 42-0 upset over higher seeded Glenbard East. Mount Carmel shut out Thornwood 20-0 in South Holland. St. Rita easily defeated Rolling Meadows 42-7. Richards knocked off Simeon 28-10.…
School District 104 dedicates field to Bernabe Tovar
By Carol McGowan School District 104 commemorated the life and service of school teacher and soccer coach Bernabe Tovar with the dedication last week of a sports field in his honor. Supt. Troy Whalen hosted the event last Thursday, which welcomed a crowd of nearly 150 at Graves Elementary/Heritage Middle School in Summit. Whalen highlighted…
Sandburg to dance with Devils in first playoff game since 2015
By Jason Maholy Sports Editor Entering the final game of the regular season, Sandburg may have figured its most difficult work toward completing what once appeared to be an improbable run to the playoffs was finished. After starting the season 1-4, the Eagles needed a win in Week 9 over struggling Lincoln-Way Central to secure…
High School Football: Rice tops Marist as both powers eye playoffs
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent The buzz and postgame emotions from Brother Rice’s 40-21 victory over Marist on Friday was abbreviated. Because the heralded game was played on the final regular season weekend of the year, these area and state powers and bitter rivals quickly turned their attention to the playoff pairings announcements, which came less…
Last home game a winner for Red Stars
By Alison Moran What a way to end a season at home. It was a perfect night for a cool game of soccer, with temperatures in the upper 50s and no rain dampening the field. In front of 4,488 of the Red Stars’ faithful at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, the Chicago Red Stars defeated KC…
High School Football: Mustangs buck Spartans into offseason
By Steve Metsch Correspondent Coming into the regular-season finale, Evergreen Park knew Oak Lawn needed a victory to possibly make the playoffs. The Mustangs, most likely already in the tournament but with a chance to improve their seed, had other plans. “Not on our watch,” senior wide receiver Elijah Matthews said after Evergreen Park defeated…
High School Sports Postseason Roundup: Maia, oh, Maia — Sandburg soph finishes in top 8
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent It was cloudy. It was windy. It was rainy. Many people might describe it as a lousy day, but Sandburg sophomore tennis star Maia Loureiro wasn’t complaining. She was playing tennis. In the state tournament. She opened her state career on that crummy Oct. 21 day at Barrington High School with…
Coyne Schofield to be honored as IBAM’s Person of the Year
By Jeff Vorva Palos Heights hockey legend Kendall Coyne Schofield is picking up a huge award Friday night and it doesn’t have much to do with hockey. Schofield was named the Irish Books, Art and Music Person of the Year and will be honored at the group’s 13th Awards Gala Oct. 22 at the American…
Evergreen Park welcomes own fields of dreams and honors Sexton
By Jeff Vorva Brand new fields and a retired mayor were the stars of the show on Oct. 14. Evergreen Park High School had a grand opening of its new turfed baseball and softball fields. The fields were used in late spring, but this event was to celebrate the fields and show them off to…
Bedford Park’s Wintrust Sports Complex is a ‘one-stop’ monster
By Jeff Vorva The Wintrust Sports Complex has not even held its grand opening yet in Bedford Park, but it’s already bringing ESPN to town in July. The facility’s general manager, Wade Walsh, said the American Cornhole League will host its Final Chase at the new site and ESPN will be broadcasting the finals on…
High School Football: Oak Lawn routs Argo to keep playoff hopes alive
By Jason Maholy Sports Editor Through one half, a pivotal Week 8 matchup between Oak Lawn and Argo had the appearance of one that might be tight until the very end. The Spartans had a different idea, opening up a commanding lead by the end of three quarters and putting the game away with a…
Trinity Christian women’s soccer coach Josh Lenarz wins 300th game
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent It’s way, way, way too early to predict this, but it’s not something to dismiss. At this pace, Trinity Christian College women’s soccer coach Josh Lenarz could someday win his 600th career game. While the current NAIA record is 380 triumphs by Oklahoma City’s Brian Harvey over a 26-year span, Lenarz…
Pro Soccer Report: Red Stars battling for home playoff match
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent The Chicago Red Stars played their final regular-season game at SeatGeek Stadium on Saturday night with a 2-1 victory over Kansas City in a National Women’s Soccer League game. Is there a chance they will be back in Bridgeview for a postseason match? Even though the top four teams in the…
High School Football: Streaking St. Rita pounds Providence
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent St. Rita is still back on track. On Sept. 11, St. Rita’s football team came home after being battered around by Loyola in Wilmette, 37-7. That dropped the Mustangs to 1-2 after suffering a tight loss to Mount Carmel two weeks prior. In that game, they lost talented running back and…
High School Football: Glenbard West, Pope roll over Lyons
By Steve Metsch Correspondent Lyons will visit Downers Grove North this week for the regular-season finale, in need of a victory to become eligible for the IHSA playoffs. Joey Antonietti understands how the Lions have to approach the must-win situation. “We’ve got a playoff game,” the senior quarterback said after the Lions lost, 35-3, at…
Football Forecast: Week 8
With two weeks remaining in the regular season, Millar has a three-point lead over Vorva and Wally. All three picked Argo over Oak Lawn in this week’s GOTW and there is little variation in their picks overall, so the current leader is guaranteed to still be ahead come Week 9. Maholy and Whalen are lurking…
High School Football: Jake Maziarka runs for 4 TDs in Sandburg’s win over Stagg
By Jason Maholy Sports Editor During the week heading into Sandburg’s matchup with Stagg, Eagles coach Troy McAllister’s message to his players was to not take the winless Chargers for granted. The Eagles were coming off the program’s most significant victory since at least 2015, a 30-27 triumph over powerful Lincoln-Way East in a game…
High School Football: Kendrick Washington’s 3 TDs lead streaking Shepard past Oak Lawn
By Steve Metsch Correspondent Although it is possible handful or two of teams will get into this season’s playoffs with four wins, no team that can still get five wins is looking at that as a realistic scenario. Shepard is one of those teams looking at itself as one-and-done, and has had that mindset since…
Pappas in Dominican Republic to share success
From staff reports Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas this week is discussing how advancements in the Treasurer’s Office have increased transparency and efficiency while promoting social equity during a conference in the Dominican Republic. The Inter-American Conference on Cadastre and Property Registry brings together experts in the public and private sectors to discuss land registry…
IHSA Football Playoffs: Brother Rice, Marist, Mount Carmel, St. Rita, Richards, Nazareth advance to second round
By Bob Bong Brother Rice was the only area team to advance to this weekend’s second round of the IHSA state football tournament after Saturday’s slate of games. They join five teams that advanced after Friday night’s action. The Crusaders moved on thanks to a 27-26 squeaker over Wheaton-Warrenville South on Saturday. No. 9 seeded…
Restaurateur names new Palos Hills café for wife
By Bob Bong Walter Narsolis surprised his wife a few weeks ago when he converted one of his Fajitas Mexican restaurants into a new breakfast and lunch café and named it in her honor. “I sure surprised her,” Narsolis said. He closed the Fajitas location at 10296 S. 78th Avenue in Palos Hills near the Bridgeview…
Palos SD 118 ranks high in US News & World Report rankings
Palos School District 118 ranked high in U.S. News & World Report’s latest ranking of the top elementary and middle schools in Illinois. Schools are ranked based on their performance on state-required tests, graduation, and how well they prepare their students for high school. Palos South Middle School placed at number 83 out of 1,243 other middle schools…
Moraine Valley needs local residents to host international students
Learn about other countries while welcoming an international student into your home. Moraine Valley Community College’s International Student Affairs Department needs local residents to help integrate these students into the U.S. and provide a safe place for them to stay through the Host Home Program. Hundreds of international students from countries such as Ireland, South…
Oak Lawn-Hometown School District 123 fights bullying with Unity Day
By Kelly White Oak Lawn-Hometown School District 123 proudly celebrated the beauty of unity. The district hosted a Unity Day on October 20 in an effort to come together with a powerful message that bullying should never be part of a childhood. “It doesn’t matter how you look; it matters how you act,” Matthew Hillock,…
South suburban casino may pay off for Palos Heights
By Jeff Vorva Palos Heights will not be getting a casino, nor does it want one. The city still is a long way from getting gaming machines in its restaurants and bars, if it happens at all. Despite all of that, it still could be getting some gambling money in the future. The Illinois Gaming…
5 area teams advance to IHSA second round after Friday night victories
By Bob Bong Five area football teams won their games Friday night to advance to next weekend’s second round of the IHSA state tournament. Marist scored a 42-0 upset over higher seeded Glenbard East. Mount Carmel shut out Thornwood 20-0 in South Holland. St. Rita easily defeated Rolling Meadows 42-7. Richards knocked off Simeon 28-10.…
Pumpkin Patch Church an Oak Lawn tradition
By Kelly White Creating a feel for the fall season is First United Methodist Church in Oak Lawn. The church at 100th Street and Central Avenue is having a pumpkin patch now through Halloween. It is open every weekday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturdays 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sundays noon to 7…
Stagg students pledge to fight bullying
By Kelly White Stagg High School students strive to put a stop to bullying. For the seventh consecutive year, the school at 8015 W. 111th St. in Palos Hills, held its annual week-long Say Something program that educates students not only on preventing bullying, but also on preventing any type of violence inside or outside…
Chicago Ridge haunted drive-thru honors Jon Grabinski
By Kelly White For the second year in a row, Jon’s Way Youth Group in Chicago Ridge has created a fun, spooky and socially-distanced way to celebrate the holiday. The group of teens designed a drive-through haunted house cleverly called, The Haunted Hall Drive-Thru, at the Chicago Ridge Village Hall, 10455 Ridgeland Ave. The event…
State grant helps fund Chicago Ridge Library STEAM programs
By Kelly White For the eighth year in a row, the Chicago Ridge Public Library was the proud the recipient of the Project Next Generation Grant. Secretary of State and State Librarian Jesse White awarded $530,104 in 2022 Project Next Generation grants to 28 public libraries statewide. The Chicago Ridge Public Library, 10400 S. Oxford, Chicago Ridge, received a grant in the amount…
