Nazareth has gotten off to slow starts each of the past two seasons, but in both years went on to win IHSA Class 5A state championships. Roadrunners coach Tim Racki challenged his Roadrunners to start the year strong by winning games earlier in the year. “Making history for being one of the worst teams in…
Read More
A rare matchup between back-to-back state champions saw two of the state’s top quarterbacks combine for 11 touchdown passes and ended as an historic night for a program familiar with making history. The quarterback duel and the game both went to Mount Carmel, which rode the arm of senior signal-caller Jack Elliot to a 56-33…
Read More
Nazareth 42, Kenwood 15 Nazareth senior quarterback Logan Malachuk threw for 275 yards and six touchdown passes as the Roadrunners (2-0) trounced Kenwood, 42-15, in a non-conference matchup in LaGrange Park. Malachuk, who has been under center the past two seasons as nazareth won back-to-back state championships, did that damage despite completing only nine passes…
Read More
Marist, which was ranked 22nd in the nation by maxpreps.com, lost to Lincoln-Way East, 25-20, 25-17, in the semifinals of the Mizuno Crimson Classic at Plainfield North. The RedHawks recovered to beat Oak Park-River Forest in the third-place match. Sandburg finished 12th in the 32-team tournament, while Riverside-Brookfield was 14th and Nazareth 20th. Marist’s Taylor…
Read More
A balanced ground game and the play of Logan Malachuk led Nazareth to a comeback victory over a familiar foe on opening night of the 2024 season. Malachuk threw for 359 yards and two touchdowns, including a redemptive game-winning score with 3:46 to play, and the Roadrunners topped Kankakee, 37-30, in a non-conference matchup in…
Read More
CONFERENCE: Chicago Catholic League/East Suburban Catholic Conference Green HEAD COACH: Tim Racki 2023 RECORD: 9-5 2024 OUTLOOK: After two years of making IHSA history with less-than-sparkling regular-season records and spectacular postseason runs that resulted in Class 5A state championships, veteran coach Tim Racki is ready to tighten things up the first nine games of the…
Read More
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent Three players from the area were selected in the 2024 Major League Baseball draft, which took place July 14-16. Pitcher Ryan Smith, who graduated from Nazareth in 2021 and ended up at Illinois-Chicago, was taken by Houston in the ninth round of the draft. Smith, who underwent Tommy John surgery while…
Read More
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent The IHSA’s annual posting of the coming season’s football schedule always gets people talking. This year is no exception. Tears for Fears meets David Bowie as there are changes, changes and more changes; fans might need pencils and scorecards to keep track. As a public service, we here at Southwest Regional…
Read More
By Xavier Sanchez Correspondent After a stirring upset of unbeaten Nazareth to win the Class 4A Reavis Sectional championship, Mount Carmel’s bid for a trip to the state finals ended with a 3-2 extra-inning loss to Providence in the supersectional round. Celtics shortstop Jackson Smith’s single off Matt Murphy drove in Eddie Olszta with the…
Read More
By Xavier Sanchez Correspondent After back-to-back Class 3A state titles in 2022 and 2023, Nazareth jumped to Class 4A this season and did not miss a beat. The Roadrunners cruised to 37 straight victories heading into their sectional championship matchup with Mount Carmel. The Caravan scored two late runs in a tight contest and advanced…
Read MorePrep News
Football notebook: Marko Franco gives Back of the Yards a boost
Mark Morgan had a plan when he took over as Back of the Yards football coach in the fall of 2021. The Bobcats hadn’t fielded a team in two years, skipping the spring 2021 pandemic season. Getting the program back on its feet took some heavy lifting. Back of the Yards went 1-7 and 2-7…
Postseason roundup: Nazareth boys, girls both advance to state golf
Nazareth boys golf coach Dave Reed didn’t see this coming. A sectional championship? That happened only twice in school history, in 2009 and 2013. Plus, the Roadrunners had not qualified for state as a team since 2019. Heading into this season, there were no sectional expectations. During regional play, the Roadrunners grabbed the last sectional…
Pro soccer report: Red Stars clinch playoff spot; Fire names new coach
If the Red Stars had their choice, they would rather have beaten Gotham on Sept. 12 to secure a spot in the National Women’s Soccer League playoffs. Instead, the Red Stars suffered a 2-0 loss to the defending NWSL champions at SeatGeek Stadium, and 24 hours later clinched a spot in the playoffs when Washington…
Saquan Commings’ pick-six highlights Curie shutout of Mather
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…
Universal hires Mustafa Sulaiman as boys basketball coach
Mustafa Sulaiman wasn’t looking for another job, but one came looking for him. Sulaiman is a familiar figure in Chicago-area prep basketball circles as the creator of the Xposure Runs podcast and the Chitown Showcase for uncommitted players trying to raise their recruiting profile. Now he’s also the head coach at Universal. Sulaiman was hired…
Dominic Pisciotti, Mack Long rally Lyons past Downers North
One of the primary takeaways for Lyons coach Jon Beutjer from a dramatic 21-20 comeback win over Downers Grove North in Week 7 was seeing how his team reacted to adversity. Not only were the Lions (7-0, 5-0 West Suburban Silver) trailing 20-0 at halftime, they also committed four turnovers in the first half and…
AJ Powell does it all for Evergreen Park in win vs. Reavis
Anything you can do, chances are AJ Powell can do better. The 5-foot-9, 150-pound senior demonstrated that in a 21-13 Week 7 win against Reavis in South Suburban Red action. Playing running back and cornerback, Powell rushed 11 times for 83 yards. On defense, he had 9.5 tackles and two interceptions. Powell also blocked an…
Aldermen push back on mayor’s school board appointments and budget strategy
A new City Hall dispute emerged on Oct. 7 as Mayor Brandon Johnson’s appointment of six temporary Chicago school board members drew criticism for bypassing City Council involvement. In response to the mayor’s appointments, Aldermen Raymond Lopez (15th), Marty Quinn (13th), and Silvana Tabares (23rd) reacted negatively to the mayor’s plan to fund Chicago’s public…
FOP officials share Chicago policing concerns with UBAM
Two Fraternal Order of Police officials from Clearing shared insights about law enforcement at the state and local level at the Oct. 9 United Business Association of Midway meeting. Tamara Cummings, general counsel for the Illinois FOP, and John Catanzara, president of the Chicago FOP (Lodge 7)—former classmates at St. Rene School—were the guest speakers…
Community, officials rally for new Southwest Side police district
Neighborhood residents and local officials supporting the division of the Chicago Lawn (8th) District came out in force for a rally Saturday outside the former National Guard Armory at Midway Airport, which they hope will house a new police station. Police directed traffic as large crowds crossed 63rd Street to attend the 11 a.m. gathering…
Football notebook: Marko Franco gives Back of the Yards a boost
Mark Morgan had a plan when he took over as Back of the Yards football coach in the fall of 2021. The Bobcats hadn’t fielded a team in two years, skipping the spring 2021 pandemic season. Getting the program back on its feet took some heavy lifting. Back of the Yards went 1-7 and 2-7…
Postseason roundup: Nazareth boys, girls both advance to state golf
Nazareth boys golf coach Dave Reed didn’t see this coming. A sectional championship? That happened only twice in school history, in 2009 and 2013. Plus, the Roadrunners had not qualified for state as a team since 2019. Heading into this season, there were no sectional expectations. During regional play, the Roadrunners grabbed the last sectional…
Pro soccer report: Red Stars clinch playoff spot; Fire names new coach
If the Red Stars had their choice, they would rather have beaten Gotham on Sept. 12 to secure a spot in the National Women’s Soccer League playoffs. Instead, the Red Stars suffered a 2-0 loss to the defending NWSL champions at SeatGeek Stadium, and 24 hours later clinched a spot in the playoffs when Washington…
Saquan Commings’ pick-six highlights Curie shutout of Mather
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…
Universal hires Mustafa Sulaiman as boys basketball coach
Mustafa Sulaiman wasn’t looking for another job, but one came looking for him. Sulaiman is a familiar figure in Chicago-area prep basketball circles as the creator of the Xposure Runs podcast and the Chitown Showcase for uncommitted players trying to raise their recruiting profile. Now he’s also the head coach at Universal. Sulaiman was hired…
AJ Powell does it all for Evergreen Park in win vs. Reavis
Anything you can do, chances are AJ Powell can do better. The 5-foot-9, 150-pound senior demonstrated that in a 21-13 Week 7 win against Reavis in South Suburban Red action. Playing running back and cornerback, Powell rushed 11 times for 83 yards. On defense, he had 9.5 tackles and two interceptions. Powell also blocked an…
Jack’s back: Elliott leads Mount Carmel past Joliet Catholic
Welcome back, Jack. Senior quarterback Jack Elliott missed Mount Carmel’s loss to Brother Rice in Week 6 with an injury. But he was back in the Caravan lineup for Week 7 against Joliet Catholic in Chicago. How much of an impact did Elliott have in Mount Carmel’s 35-21 triumph over the Hilltoppers? A significant one.…
