Best Wednesday playoff game
- Thread starter Sparty Jones
- Start date
1976....Year 3 of the postseason. In the Wednesday round of the 4A playoffs (5A was for biggest schools back then) host Zion-Benton beat Woodstock 29-28.
These were not awesome teams as Z-B was easily ousted in the next round three days later. But for drama and a miracle finish, you will be hard-pressed to top the Z-B victory.
It was 43 years ago so sadly I can’t remember the details well other than the following:
Zion-Benton scored two touchdowns in the final minute (onside kick recovered) without Woodstock running an offensive play and won it with a Hail Mary pass into the end zone and a PAT kick with no time on the clock.
The lasting vision 43 years later is of the Woodstock defensive players sprawled out in the end zone in frustration and disappointment on consecutive plays .., the successful Hail Mary and then the ensuing PAT kick.
Bob Bradshaw was Woodstock’s legendary coach back then and I would guess he might say this loss was one of the most heartbreaking and frustrating of his career.
A half-dozen or so years later, Woodstock won it all, I believe with Beadshaw’s son leading the team at QB. The younger Bradshaw went on to play QB at Northwestern.
Forty-three years ago... i wish I could remember more details but I was in the jammed Z-B stands.
I am not positive but I think back then, home field in the Wednesday round was decided by a coin flip and that Woodstock had the better team on paper but suffered heartbreak in the field.
Again, not great teams, but s great finish, if this is what you were looking for.
These were not awesome teams as Z-B was easily ousted in the next round three days later. But for drama and a miracle finish, you will be hard-pressed to top the Z-B victory.
It was 43 years ago so sadly I can’t remember the details well other than the following:
Zion-Benton scored two touchdowns in the final minute (onside kick recovered) without Woodstock running an offensive play and won it with a Hail Mary pass into the end zone and a PAT kick with no time on the clock.
The lasting vision 43 years later is of the Woodstock defensive players sprawled out in the end zone in frustration and disappointment on consecutive plays .., the successful Hail Mary and then the ensuing PAT kick.
Bob Bradshaw was Woodstock’s legendary coach back then and I would guess he might say this loss was one of the most heartbreaking and frustrating of his career.
A half-dozen or so years later, Woodstock won it all, I believe with Beadshaw’s son leading the team at QB. The younger Bradshaw went on to play QB at Northwestern.
Forty-three years ago... i wish I could remember more details but I was in the jammed Z-B stands.
I am not positive but I think back then, home field in the Wednesday round was decided by a coin flip and that Woodstock had the better team on paper but suffered heartbreak in the field.
Again, not great teams, but s great finish, if this is what you were looking for.
1990 JCA vs Morris. Morris and JCA were both ranked in top 5 in state. I believe Morris was also ranked pretty high nationally. It was a beautiful day and 8,000+ showed up at Memorial Stadium to watch a Mike Alstott led JCA beat Morris 36-10
JCA / Geneseo final was 4A classic. Had a buddy that played for JCA so we went to ISU to watch them play.
The only one I really remember was the 1988 matchup of Aurora Central versus Yorkville. Not sure how many remember the story behind Robert Vaughn and Yorkville, but coming home to play against ACC was pretty special. I had a ton of friends that both went and played for ACC, as well as, knowing Robert in Jr High and friends with his brother. The ACC kids starting getting a bit personal and Robert ended up silencing the crowd with his performance on the field. Vaughn's story is one of truly good ones.
As a player I loved the Wednesday game. Junior year at JC, we beat Crete-Monee in a 3 overtime thriller when we stopped CM on a two point conversion in the third OT to win the game. My senior year in 87, we went to Bolingbrook on a beautiful Wednesday afternoon. Fell behind by two touchdowns early and rallied to beat The Brook 40-19 in route to the 5A title. Great memories. I know it will never come back, but as a player it was a great week. 3 games in 10 days.
Played against Greg Bradshaw in 83 and Woodstock went on to win state. I don’t remember thinking they’d be good enough to go all the way but they did.
1992: School was out, game was on! Great MC win!
https://4.files.edl.io/aa04/08/09/19/144717-d2c54cf2-4730-41ec-92e8-aa8c2ea3f687.pdf
Lost that year in a great battle to Bishop Mac in the Quarters.
Most of the kids were Juniors in 1992, went undefeated in 1993 for the 4A Championship
https://4.files.edl.io/aa04/08/09/19/144717-d2c54cf2-4730-41ec-92e8-aa8c2ea3f687.pdf
Lost that year in a great battle to Bishop Mac in the Quarters.
Most of the kids were Juniors in 1992, went undefeated in 1993 for the 4A Championship
Terrance Marable from that team was an absolute monster.
Tinley Park squeaks by Rich South 14-7 in a Wednesday night game during their Class 4A (of 6 at that time) state title run in 1986.
I was pretty young but remember that Yorkville team and some of the Vaughn story. Yorkville played Wilmington the 2nd round which was Wilmington’s best playoff win for a long time. Vaughn went on to play for Kansas. That might have been Yorkvilles last year in the old I8.
Yes, he did and he has become quite successful. I played in a flag football league with a few years after graduation, which was pretty cool having an all-Big 12 Dback playing in a rec league. Here's an article I pulled up today.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1993-11-21-9311210269-story.html
Best one was St. Rita traveled to St. Pats in 1988 at Hanson Stadium St. Rita was 9-0 and St. Pats was 5-4 or 6-3 but SR was on the road, does anyone know why? I don’t know the answer. Anyway, game was on Comcast or whatever it’s equivalent was back then.
Now to the game itself. SR was clear favorites but the Shamrocks pretty much had the Mustangs on the ropes all game. SR had a senior kicker but needed a 50 yard fg so they used the junior kick off kicker Brian Courtney with the bigger leg. He nailed it with a couple minutes left to make it 15-8.
St. Pats then travels 98 yards in two minutes and score a TD making it 15-14. Coach Gruber of St. Pats opts to go for 2 and the win and junior Defensive linemen Brian Hamilton (who ends up as an all-American his senior year and ND for college ball) slips in and tackles Figueroa for a loss.
The game was at night on the parking lot turf under the yellow lights of Hanson Stadium and was one of the best games I have ever seen. Anyone know why St. Rita was on the road for that one? Were Wednesday game hosts decided by coin flip or something?
Now to the game itself. SR was clear favorites but the Shamrocks pretty much had the Mustangs on the ropes all game. SR had a senior kicker but needed a 50 yard fg so they used the junior kick off kicker Brian Courtney with the bigger leg. He nailed it with a couple minutes left to make it 15-8.
St. Pats then travels 98 yards in two minutes and score a TD making it 15-14. Coach Gruber of St. Pats opts to go for 2 and the win and junior Defensive linemen Brian Hamilton (who ends up as an all-American his senior year and ND for college ball) slips in and tackles Figueroa for a loss.
The game was at night on the parking lot turf under the yellow lights of Hanson Stadium and was one of the best games I have ever seen. Anyone know why St. Rita was on the road for that one? Were Wednesday game hosts decided by coin flip or something?
#2 1993 - St L vs Andrew - an Andrew team coached by former Viking Head Coach Mike O'Neill. St L wins on a late game 4th down and long mid field hook n' ladder play (some say hook n' lateral) . St L won 20-17
#1 1976 - St L vs Glenbrook North - a 9-0 defensive battle- the cool thing about this game was that our bleachers at GBN were empty but right at game time, droves of St L students and other fans arrive in mass - ST L goes on to win State
#3 1983 St L v Romeoville - down by 3 with 2 seconds left, the Vikes take over at their own 10 - a completed pass to near mid-field ends the game, BUT, a defensive player comes in late - march off 15 yards and the Vikes get an untimed extra down, a 45 FG ties it - we move to OT and lose by 6
That's all I got!.
#1 1976 - St L vs Glenbrook North - a 9-0 defensive battle- the cool thing about this game was that our bleachers at GBN were empty but right at game time, droves of St L students and other fans arrive in mass - ST L goes on to win State
#3 1983 St L v Romeoville - down by 3 with 2 seconds left, the Vikes take over at their own 10 - a completed pass to near mid-field ends the game, BUT, a defensive player comes in late - march off 15 yards and the Vikes get an untimed extra down, a 45 FG ties it - we move to OT and lose by 6
That's all I got!.
1974 GBN at Evanston. Evanston was ranked and unbeaten. Evanston in the ten years previous had lost 6 games.
GBN won 7-6 and went on to win the first 5A state title. That was the biggest class back then.
GBN won 7-6 and went on to win the first 5A state title. That was the biggest class back then.
Last edited:
1993 - De La Salle beats Maine South 20-12 at D.
Meteors then beat Mount Carmel and Lake Forest to reach the state semis where they lost to the Brook 12-6 at D as Dan Durkin kicked four field goals for Bolingbrook.
Meteors then beat Mount Carmel and Lake Forest to reach the state semis where they lost to the Brook 12-6 at D as Dan Durkin kicked four field goals for Bolingbrook.
I was at that game. I recall Sterling had great team speed. Definitely one of the better Wednesday games I've seen.
1976 Joliet Central was ranked by papers and had to travel to meet Lake Park.
The weekend LP qualified our starting guards were both injured in an auto accident. We had to start back-ups. We went on to defeat Central 28-22. I learned (and this was very early in my 40 year coaching career) to trust that players could step in when needed. Now called the "next man up" concept. This revelation colored my coaching for the remainder of my career.
Sadly, we had to meet Joliet Catholic and Rick Thayer the following Saturday.
The weekend LP qualified our starting guards were both injured in an auto accident. We had to start back-ups. We went on to defeat Central 28-22. I learned (and this was very early in my 40 year coaching career) to trust that players could step in when needed. Now called the "next man up" concept. This revelation colored my coaching for the remainder of my career.
Sadly, we had to meet Joliet Catholic and Rick Thayer the following Saturday.
It was almost unfair to ask a defense to try and stop Rick Thayer on the 30 & 31 Buck that year.
For anybody who doesn't know what that actually means, it's just an inside trap misdirection play where the off-side OG would pull and trap the 1st guy or hole on the other side of the center. It has pretty much been JCA's bread-and-butter play throughout the ages.
1980 6A Preliminary..The Willowbrook Warriors Co-Champions (with Hinsdale South) of the Des Plaines Valley League, travel to Aurora to take on the 8-1 Upstate Eight champion East Aurora Tomcats coached by John Wrenn in a night game, and win 27-22...Down 22-21 with little over a minute left in the game and facing a 4th and long from their own 46 yard line, Warriors RB Torsten Boss breaks loose and rambles 54 yards for the winning score. The Warriors playoff run would be short lived as they would exit the dance in the next round 31-11 in Villa Park to the Conant Cougars...
Old days... Wednesday games....
Did the IHSA determine everything “random”? Parings, home field etc...?
Did the IHSA determine everything “random”? Parings, home field etc...?
Not the younger generation...but the generation before them are still strong supporters of Tomcats athletics especially football and basketball...Things changed around those parts and so did the success of the football program....they have a nice stadium now...
It was back in ‘16 and Clinton High School played DTHS. There was a ton of trash talking and extra curriculars leading up to kick-off. The game started on Tuesday and Clinton thought they won 48-46, but after going into OT, we found out on Wednesday that DTHS beat Clinton 304-227.
Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.
Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.
I believe back then it was the last team to host a home playoff game that determined home and away in the first round. And it didn't reset each year like it does now.
Last edited:
Not a "great" time, but certainly memorable.
In the late 80s, I drove from Park Ridge to Gately to see the Caravan play a CPS team on a Weds night. Somewhere downtown, the temperature dropped and the rain turned to sleet. Around 39th street, my car turned 360 degrees on the Dan Ryan and i slid my way to a stop. I expected to be hit by someone, but ...
Once I got going, I got off the Ryan and headed home. MC won the game in a blowout.
In the late 80s, I drove from Park Ridge to Gately to see the Caravan play a CPS team on a Weds night. Somewhere downtown, the temperature dropped and the rain turned to sleet. Around 39th street, my car turned 360 degrees on the Dan Ryan and i slid my way to a stop. I expected to be hit by someone, but ...
Once I got going, I got off the Ryan and headed home. MC won the game in a blowout.
Last edited:
I was a Junior when he was a Senior. Kid was a load. Glad to see he made good with his life. I remember our D Coordinator preaching all week that Vaughn wasn’t going to get 100 yards against us that year. Think they beat us 21-6 or something. Next day film session, we go over film and of course we are getting an earful. Films get over and one of my buddies, who could never miss a chance to dig up a laugh, raises his hand and says “well coach one good thing about last night, Vaughn didn’t get 100 yards, he had 200”. I think we ran sprints after films for the first time that season at that point lol
