By Woodrow Carroll At the start of the football season, there was a general consensus that the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL) would be in the playoffs. It was apparent sound thinking, given that the Bears had made the playoffs in 2018 and were viewed on the
Teams at Benet Academy in Lisle won an impressive three State championships recently in Fall sports.
North Central College in Naperville celebrates Saturday at the school the national D-III playoff championship won Friday evening.
Team championships ordinarily are the results of building programs, unless pure talent taketh over and run away with the prize. North Central College football strength was diminished, continually, until head coach John Thorne arrived in 2002 from Wheaton Warrenville South High School and now-defunct Wheaton Central High School in the
By Woodrow CarrollTucson, Ariz. Maybe it’s Tucson, Ariz. premature to give the Mid-American Conference (MAC) a pat on the back for the way the Conference started this season’s bowl games. Still, it was a nice surprise. Two bowl games Friday kicked off the 2019-2020 run of 40 games for the
By Bobby Narang The North Central College football team made history Friday. The Cardinals, hailing from Naperville, captured the program’s first championship, by defeating Wisconsin-Whitewater in blowout fashion, 41-14, in the Division III national championship game in Shenandoah, Texas. The Cardinals, 14-1, made their first trip to the Amos Alonzo
Oswego East High School’s Sam Schultz beats West Aurora players to the hoop Friday.
By Craig Lynch Sam Schultz was a driving force in Oswego East High School’s 56-36 dismantling of Rockford Auburn in the first round of the 16-team Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic Monday afternoon. He came off the bench to play 10 minutes and scored 15 points. He pulled down five rebounds
Aurora University’s Bailey Vance, 12, shoots over North Central College’s Connor Raridon, 32, Wednesday, Dec. 11
Scoring early and often against the last remaining undefeated Division III team, the North Central College football won an historic 45-14 victory over the Muhlenberg College Mules Saturday to clinch North Central’s first trip to the Stagg Bowl. The Mules boasted the Nation’s third-ranked scoring defense entering Saturday’s game at
By Bobby Narang Nearly one month into the season, Elmhurst area boys basketball teams are playing at a high level. After winning 29 games and reaching the Class 4A sectional semifinals, last year, York is having another strong season by winning five of their first six games despite losing four
Aurora Central Catholic High School’s Danny New, 20, drives to the basket Friday.
By Woodrow Carroll My having had the good fortune and good health to cover 41 college football bowl games through last season, it is enjoyable to look back on how it all started for me. It was the 1991 Copper Bowl in Tucson, Ariz. that this writer covered his first
The Oswego High School girls bowling team went to Town and Country Lanes in Joliet to compete in a field full of the best teams across the State at the annual Strikefest Tournament with Plainfield North High School the host. The Panthers struggled in game one with a team score
Competitive sports by definition lives by the mantra that many are called and few are chosen. North Central College’s football team will play Friday evening in the Stagg Bowl, in its first D-III football National championship game in school history. The long, winding, road to Shenandoah, Texas actually did not
Thursday, Dec. 12 Northeastern Athletic Parkview Christian at Westminster Christian, 7:30 Non-conference Mooseheart at Elgin Academy, 6 Friday, Dec. 13 Chicago Catholic crossover Leo at St. Ignatius, 7 Marmion at St. Laurence, 7 Montini at St. Joseph, 7 Mount Carmel at De La Salle, 7 Providence at DePaul, 7 Providence-St.
Oswego High School’s Connor McCance, left, dives for a loose ball with West Aurora’s Kevin Balfour Friday.
By Bobby Narang Nazareth Academy High School junior football quarterback J.J. McCarthy enters the offseason full of motivation. By his own admission, McCarthy, a University of Michigan recruit, encountered his first experience of adversity, following a 37-13 loss to Mount Carmel in the Class 7A State championship game at Northern
By Craig Lynch Quarterback Broc Rutter has started all four years for North Central College. The graduate of Neuqua Valley High School in Naperville has led the Cardinals’ run through the Division III playoffs this season to Saturday’s semifinal game at 11 a.m. at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pa.. Rutter
