Posts by Tim Cronin
Richards’ season ends with semifinal loss to East St. Louis
EAST ST. LOUIS – Often the end is sudden, unexpected. Great plans are made and then upended. So it was on Saturday for Richards. The Bulldogs walked into Clyde C. Jordan Memorial Stadium hopeful, knowing they were playing a fleet favorite in the East St. Louis Flyers, but believing they had a chance in the…
Read MoreKenny Jager, Christian Flutman lead Chicago Christian to Class 2A state title
NORMAL – They’ve been playing football at Chicago Christian since 1968, when the Knights, long a basketball power, kicked off with a sophomore team. The varsity squad began in 1969. The IHSA began the state football playoffs five years later. For a long time, Chicago Christian and football championship games were mutually exclusive concepts. Friday,…
Read MoreChicago Christian earns first trip to state semifinals
C.J. Cesario was happily coaching the sophomore football team at Mount Carmel in his first year back in the Chicago area when he had a chance meeting with Chicago Christian Schools superintendent Mark Hamstra. Four deep conversations later, he was Chicago Christian’s new football coach. “I said no three times,” Cesario said of the job…
Read MoreNoah Escobedo’s TD pass helps Richards advance to Class 6A semifinals
Like all quarterbacks, Richards’ Noah Escobedo would like to throw the ball more. But the junior knows that the Bulldogs’ success over the past 50-odd years has been running the ball. So he’s good with handing off to Myles Mitchell, or even going to the sidelines to be replaced by another blocker when Mitchell takes…
Read MoreLoyola rallies to end Marist’s season in Class 8A second round
The deeper you go in the playoffs, the smaller the margin of error becomes. Marist found out how small Nov. 9 on their cozy home field. The RedHawks made only a handful of mistakes in the course of 48 minutes in their Class 8A second-round game against Loyola, but those miscues cost them dearly. The…
Read MorePostseason roundup: Nazareth boys golf finishes seventh in Class 2A
NORMAL – Nazareth was in a position to win a trophy after the first round of the IHSA Class 2A boys golf championship at Illinois State’s Weibring Golf Course. Then golf happened. The Roadrunners’ team total jumped 17 strokes higher in Saturday’s near-windless second round, and that was enough for them to tumble from second…
Read MoreJoliet Catholic forces tie on final play of regulation, beats Marist in 2 OT
There were a lot of bowed heads in Marist’s post-game huddle after its Week 4 loss to Joliet Catholic. A few of them were shaking, trying to comprehend a stunning reversal of fortune. A few of them, unbowed, were looking skyward — perhaps for the answer to how the RedHawks could surrender a 10-point fourth-quarter…
Read More