Slowly but surely, Curie is learning how to win again.
The Condors were one of the Public League’s top football programs earlier this century, advancing to the IHSA playoffs 11 times from 2005-19 and winning 41 games between 2014-17.
But before first-year coach Jarve Lewis-Bey arrived this fall, Curie had only four victories in the previous four seasons, going winless twice.
The Condors dropped their first three games this year, including 16-12 to Dyett and 12-6 to still-unbeaten Sullivan. But they remain alive in the playoff hunt after winning for the third time in four weeks, 30-0 over Mather in Week 7 at Winnemac Stadium.
Curie (3-4, 3-2 Public League White North) had a pair of pick-sixes against the Rangers (5-2, 4-1). Gabriel Taylor Jr. returned an interception 40 yards for a score just before halftime to put the Condors up 12-0 and Saquan Commings ran an interception back 90 yards to close the scoring with 4:56 left in the game.
“There was a play before (when) they threw it that way, but I was trying to pay attention to the outside,” Commings said. “The middle was wide open.”
What did he think when he saw the path to the end zone wide open? “Touchdown.”
Commings was the point guard for Curie’s JV basketball team that won the Public League title last season. He was hoping to help the football team enjoy some success as well.
“I wanted to come out because I thought I would be a good two-way athlete,” Commings said.
He’s one of a couple basketball players also on the football roster.
“They put in some work and it’s paying off for us,” Lewis-Bey said.
Antonio Henry ran for two TDs and Dennis Calloway threw a 54-yard touchdown pass to Markeith Taylor for Curie’s other scores.
“That’s the good thing about having multiple backs,” Lewis-Bey said of Henry and Darius Townsel. “If they key on one back, or if one back is not doing well on that day, the other one steps up. And that’s exactly what happened. I’m not saying that Darius didn’t have a good game, but Antonio just played better. So we fed him a little bit more.”
Curie had two more regular-season games left against Lake View (2-5) and Urban Prep-Bronzeville (2-4). If the Condors win out, they’ll be back in the IHSA playoffs, and they have an outside chance to qualify even with a split. Either way, Lewis-Bey likes the chance to play meaningful late-season games.
“It’s fulfilling, yet still it’s heartbreaking because they should have played like this last week (in a 24-6 loss to North Lawndale),” he said. “(It’s) just getting these kids to understand that if you work hard and you put the work in, you will be rewarded. So this was their reward for a hard week of work.”