Cinderella stories
- Thread starter johnndoe
- Start date
1986 Tinley Park. 25 players & won it all in class 4A. They moved up 1 soph for the playoffs I think so 26 players. 1982 Reavis. Lost the previous 2 years after the Defense gave up 0 points in both games. Played New Trier in their backyard at Northwestern. New Trier made fun of Reavis & said real men eat quiche. Reavis finally won it all & took off their jersies after to show shirts that said Reavis Rams football 1982 State Champs!!!
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2023 Nazareth Roadrunners.
4-5 regular season to State Champions.
4-5 regular season to State Champions.
2017 3A. 16th seed Pleasant Plains made a very unlikely journey to the finals before running into IC Catholic. The Cardinals were competitive for a half before IC pulled away.
Has any other 16th seed ever made it to the finals? Nazareth was a 15th seed last year.
Has any other 16th seed ever made it to the finals? Nazareth was a 15th seed last year.
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Not sure if they were the 16 seed or should ever be called a Cinderella, but JCA won the 2018 state championship with a 5-4 regular season record after beating a heavily favored Niles ND in week 9. JC went on the road and beat Metamora in round one and then beat a very good Montini squad in the state championship game. Huge run for the underdog Hilltoppers coming off of 1-8 and 3-6 seasons. Began the resurgence of the program under Jaws.
JCA was a 14 seed that year. They hammered everybody in the playoffs until the finals.
All... Don't know but when I saw this post I immediately thought of the Crusaders run in 2012. Cinderella..... uhh um. ☺️ People still raise he&# about them dropping into Class 2A. They were a 15 seed. Ratsy
And all the people on here crying about 5-4 & especially 4-5 teams getting in the playoffs lost their minds lol.
Not State playoffs but Mather had a couple of good runs playing competitive in the state playoffs. In 1990 I believe it was an over confident Brother Rice team got beat by them in the Prep Bowl. I was there & the kids were going crazy. I know many thoughts on the Prep Bowl but come on. Give Mather this
I don’t know if you can a program with Nazs success a Cinderella story. I think everyone knew, with the schedule they played and the talent they had, if they got in they had a very good chance to win it all.
I think if I remember right ND rested their star RB and other dinged up players to try to get healthy for the playoffs and JCA was able to take advantage and rode it all the way to a State Title. Their wins over Bucky Irving and Hillcrest then a very good Montini team, with their RB sidelined was impressive, that one fullback for JCA took over that game
First team to win state and end with a 9-5 record. Crazy run, especially after starting 0-4.
Well said. Having been on the losing end of that game, we definitely didn't respect our opponent. It didn't help that we turned the ball over 5 times, 3 of them inside Mather's 10 yard line. It was the '92 season. Class of 1993. Rangers had some tough nosed kids on that team. I vaguely recall the name Mueller as one of them.
No disrespect to Rice either. I’m not a Crusader Hater lol but you always get yours. Mather? Probably never again. It was a great game
2016 MS
Lose the 15 year conference streak
26 seed
Beat 3 undefeated teams in the playoffs
Lose the 15 year conference streak
26 seed
Beat 3 undefeated teams in the playoffs
Thinking of teams that have overcome mediocre traditions to make a great run in one or multiple seasons....
Rochester's rise to prominence (the first title or two may have been "Cinderella" esque, but now they have come full circle to a blue blood.
Riverside-Brookfield having a few ridiculously talented and successful teams in the early 00s.
Carmel in the early 00's, particularly that 2003 team.
Boylan's 2010/2011 title run
The 2011 Marmion team that Boylan beat in the title game in 2011
Marist and Brother Rice both seemed to be "also rans" throughout much of the 90s and 00s to re-assert themselves over a now extended period of time to make them true blue bloods these days.
The early years of Phillips winning big.
Lockport's title teams in 02/03 and Aurora Christian's about a decade later also established championship traditions at programs that previously had been fine, but not elite. Lockport still shows the potential to have that Cinderella run, as seen in their most recent title. AC seems to have lost its luster.
I am sure there are more that will come to mind.
Rochester's rise to prominence (the first title or two may have been "Cinderella" esque, but now they have come full circle to a blue blood.
Riverside-Brookfield having a few ridiculously talented and successful teams in the early 00s.
Carmel in the early 00's, particularly that 2003 team.
Boylan's 2010/2011 title run
The 2011 Marmion team that Boylan beat in the title game in 2011
Marist and Brother Rice both seemed to be "also rans" throughout much of the 90s and 00s to re-assert themselves over a now extended period of time to make them true blue bloods these days.
The early years of Phillips winning big.
Lockport's title teams in 02/03 and Aurora Christian's about a decade later also established championship traditions at programs that previously had been fine, but not elite. Lockport still shows the potential to have that Cinderella run, as seen in their most recent title. AC seems to have lost its luster.
I am sure there are more that will come to mind.
Forgive me for not mentioning this in my earlier post! The Bartlett freshman have to be included in this conversation!
My interpretation of a Cinderella Story, is a program that unexpectedly wins it all or gets close when nobody saw it coming. The Naz's, JCA's, regardless of seed, they are expected to win.
2018 Monticello - won 3A championship and were not expected to beat Byron's Wing T offense with the spread in cold and rainy weather. A score on a 96 yard screen, timely turnovers, solid defense, and a reverse on 4th and long and kid slides instead of scoring seals the game. Nobody expected the Sages to win that game.
2017 - Pleasant Plains defeated a really good Carlinville team, that would lose to IC in the championship the following year, then pounded Anna Jonesboro to get to state. Not many except the Sangamo faithful thought it was possible.
2007 - Galena - good program who was fortunate to win against a Tuscola team who won 27 straight with a D1 QB committed to Michigan. But a party after beating century long rival Arcola in the Semis led to several key players getting suspended and the D1 QB had nobody to throw to.
2018 Monticello - won 3A championship and were not expected to beat Byron's Wing T offense with the spread in cold and rainy weather. A score on a 96 yard screen, timely turnovers, solid defense, and a reverse on 4th and long and kid slides instead of scoring seals the game. Nobody expected the Sages to win that game.
2017 - Pleasant Plains defeated a really good Carlinville team, that would lose to IC in the championship the following year, then pounded Anna Jonesboro to get to state. Not many except the Sangamo faithful thought it was possible.
2007 - Galena - good program who was fortunate to win against a Tuscola team who won 27 straight with a D1 QB committed to Michigan. But a party after beating century long rival Arcola in the Semis led to several key players getting suspended and the D1 QB had nobody to throw to.
I’d tag the Prospect Knights as a true Cinderella type story for what they accomplished in ‘01/‘02, and then did the impossible in ‘05.
My Cinderella story is 2004 playoffs upstart LWE beat defending state champion Lockport at Lockport. The Griffin players came off the field in tears. I truly believe this game started East on a trajectory to become the powerhouse they are today.
Even though I don’t know how they ended up in 4A after they keep boosting record number of enrollment, if St. Laurence beat Rochester last season that would have been a good Cinderella story.
