The prep football season is over and, as always, there were plenty of surprises. The champions for the 2009 campaign were: 1A-Tuscola over Lexington 14-7, 2A-Morrison defeated Maroa-Forsyth 36-14, 3A-Stillman Valley downed Tolona Unity 52-22, 4A- Metamora slammed Geneseo 41-7, 5A-Montini nipped Joliet Catholic 29-28, 6A-Cary Grove rolled over
Providence Catholic 34-17, 7A-Wheaton Warrenville South got past Glenbard West 31-24 in double overtime and Maine South ran over Marist Catholic to win 8A.
The season was disappointing in some areas, but in general it is always fun to be involved with prep football.
I have one correction to make from last week's Brian McTague story. I forgot to put in one son's name and I listed one son twice. Brian and Cori McTague have three sons, Justin -12, Shane-10 and Nathan-5.
Sorry about that Nathan!
In checking the records of the officials from the IHSA state final games, I went over the entire list from 1974 up to 2008. Mark Cheshareck of Morris is the only referee (official) from the immediate area that has ever officiated a state final championship contest.
Mark has been involved in three championship games and they include 1997 (3A game), 1999 (3A game) and 2008 (5A contest).
I went to school and played with Mark's Father, Frank Cheshareck. "Shockie" as we called him was one of the best all-around athletes to come out of Morris High School. Frank passed away only recently and will be missed. And again, congratulations to Mark for his great job officiating.
I am constantly going over records of all area schools in all sports and checking the results of Morris games from 1979 to the present time, the Redskins have been in 9 state final games, winning three and finishing runner-up 6 times. One other figure I was able to uncover is the fact
Morris has played 14 eventual state championship teams. Here's how it unfolds:
1979- lost in title game to Mascoutha 7-6.
1980- won championship, beating Harrisburg 40-0.
1983- lost to state champ, Woodstock in semifinals 14-3.
1984- won state title over Benet Academy 31-14 to finish 13-0.
1985- Back to defend state title and returning many veterans lost to Montini 22-6. Had five players (starters) suspended for school violations. Just a note, but not included in 14 state champions list.
1987- Lost to champ Providence Catholic in first round 21-7. It was Providence's first title.
1989 -Lost in championship game in overtime to Richards 12-6. That was Richards second straight title.
1990- Lost to Joliet Catholic in round one of playoffs. Morris was No. 1 all year long and JCA was No. 2. JCA won 36-10 and went on to win state.
1992- Lost to Marian Catholic 29-22 in round two. Morris led 22-0 at intermission. This may have been one of the strongest teams Morris ever had and this was a disappointing defeat. The strange thing about this year was the fact, Marian Catholic lost their next game. The champion was Oswego. Morris had soundly defeated Oswego during the regular season 39-12. Oswego went a different route than Morris and played Geneseo in the state finals and won the title. Morris rolled over every team by big margins, but had a bad second half against Marian and lost. It can happen in sports.
1993- Lost to Marian Catholic in the semi-finals 32-15. Marian Catholic won the state title.
1994- Lost to Belvidere in championship game 28-0. Belvidere was in 4A during the year after winning the 5A title in 1993.
1997- Lost to Providence Catholic in semifinals, 34-17. The Celtics captured the state title.
1999- Lost to Joliet Catholic 16-14 in round three of the playoffs. JCA was eventual champ.
2001- Lost to Joliet Catholic 27-20 in state championship game.
2003- Lost to Joliet Catholic 14-10 in third round. JCA was champions.
2004- Lost to Joliet Catholic 17-0 in state championship game.
2005- Won state championship, beating Normal 14-9. Finished 14-0.
2006- Lost to Normal Community 31-0 in second round. Normal won state title.
2007- Lost to Metamora in state title game17-14. It has been a great run over the years for Morris. No matter if you like the Redskins or not, you have to give them credit, they have
a great program. And don't forget they had an undefeated freshman team and a sophomore squad that lost one game, a 3-0 loss to St.Rita in game two of this year. This success can be partially attributed to the Warriors and Chiefs youth programs.
This area was been blessed with some great football teams in the area. Coal City and Seneca have won championships. Wilmington is always good and had a second place finish. Minooka looks like their program is on the upswing.
We wish all area schools the best of luck in the future.
I was talking recently with Gehrig Dergo, Jr. about a future article. If you remember, he was an undefeated state wrestling champion in the early 70s. Gehrig did not really get the accolades that he deserved.
He was the first champion in Morris and I don't believe the school or the city was accustomed to honoring people such as this. That was great feat for Gehrig and he should received more recognition.
The sad part of his career came in football. He rushed for 1,000 yards as a freshman and 2,000 yards as a sophomore. He did not even go out for football his final two years. Whatever happened, it was a mistake. This man could have been one of the greatest runningbacks in the history of Morris High School. He ended up with wrestling scholarship at Illinois State University. He could have played college football. Jed waters played at ISU and he was a standout at the school until injuries hampered his advancement. Dergo could have played, and
would have been a standout. His wrestling career was hampered by shoulder problems. I will get into more details with Gehrig in the future.
For the second straight week, our guest predictor has led the pack. Jerry Belt topped the
list with eleven right and only two wrong for the week. Roger Gilbertson was 13-2 last week.
Tony "The Wonder Boy" Darin, Professor Don Neushwander and I, all had 10-3 for the week.
Nick "All Business" Vidito, last week's leader, fell off the pace with 8-5 for the week.
For the season, Tony is back on top with 100-44 record, followed by Nick at 99-45, then this reporter at 98-46, Nuesh has compiled a mark of 97-47 and the guest (minus one week) at 81/37.
The Bears were miserable again this week, being trounced by Minnesota. Chicago plays host
to St. Louis this Sunday afternoon. If they don't win that game, good bye Lovie. Most fans are on quarterback Cutler, but with that offensive line, Johnny Unitas would not have a chance.