Was there one game that put your school on the map?

[4Afan]

Is there any one big win that really catapulted your school into a successful program for years to come?

For Morris, it would be the 1979 semifinal win at Geneseo. Geneseo was the 3 time defending 3A champion and an absolute unit under legendary coach Bob Reade. 1979 was their first year with Larry Johnsen as coach and were 49-1-1 over the last 4 years going into the game. Morris went into Geneseo with 3rd year coach Dan Darlington making their first ever playoff appearance, back when you had to win your conference to make the playoffs. Morris stunned Geneseo 14-8. They went on to lose a heartbreaker to Mascoutah in the championship 7-6.

 

[greatgig13]

CG beating Morgan Park in the 2004 7A semifinals to head to their first finals appearance.

 

[BataviaDogs1]

Win over CG in 2006.

 

[Snetsrak61]

Nailing down just one is definitely tough. I'd say the 2011 regular season W against Joliet Catholic though. First W against JCA was defining for them. That was ultimately one of two decisive games that led to Naz's first ESCC title. That year they then beat a good Cary Grove team in Rd2 before falling to eventual state champ Prairie Ridge in the quarters (and PRs only loss that year was to CG). Before that year I think the total playoff victories in program history was like 4 or 5. They had flirted with a run to quarters in 07, but that was the first year that really solidified that everything Racki was doing there had taken hold and a long term program was built that could compete for titles one day. 3 years later they captured their first title.

 

[rocketnation]

After a devastating 41-40 road loss to Metamora in the 2009 semifinals that was decided on the last play of the game, Rochester won the 2010 semifinal rematch with the Redbirds at home 50-17. A week later, the Rockets won their first state title.

 

[colin2229]

Aurora Christian 2008 4A quarterfinals win over Driscoll ending their run.

Driscoll was so devastated by the loss they closed their school and program. 😉

That team put the program on the map. Took out Plano (back to back champs), Coal City and Richmond Burton as well before falling to Bloomington Central Catholic in the finals.

Aurora Christian was 1A just a couple seasons prior.

 

[doctor_d]

Maybe not state wide, but the game that turned the corner for Reents in my opinion was 1996 @ Coal City. Coalers (along with Seneca to a degree) had dominated the conference for near a decade. Wilmington rolled them 33-13. They haven’t missed the playoffs since.

 

[colin2229]

Maybe not state wide, but the game that turned the corner for Reents in my opinion was 1996 @ Coal City. Coalers (along with Seneca to a degree) had dominated the conference for near a decade. Wilmington rolled them 33-13. They haven’t missed the playoffs since.

Wilmo vs Driscoll the state wide one?

 

[eagles2k3]

CG beating Morgan Park in the 2004 7A semifinals to head to their first finals appearance.

Early days of streaming. I watched this and couldn’t understand why MoPo kept going deep. They must’ve thrown 25 vertical routes from Demetrius jones to any receiver. Ugly ugly game that I thought MoPo would easily win.

 

[lweastdad]

2001 last game of the season. Win and you arer the first new team in history to make the playoffs. Sandburg is the opponent.

LWE scores a touchdown with no time left on the clock. Zvonar goes for 2 for the win and its good.

Started a playoff streak that continues 22 years later.

 

[Silver Rain]

MC over ESL in the '88 championship game, the first of a four-peat, and it went on from there.

 

[doctor_d]

Wilmo vs Driscoll the state wide one?

Hard to say. They went to semis in 02 and were runners up in 03. I think they were already considered “established” by 2004. Judging by the amount of people at that Driscoll game, I think many other people thought it would be good, so I’d say they were. I personally thought Wilmington was going to win that one.

 

[DeanOfSelection]

MC over ESL in the '88 championship game, the first of a four-peat, and it went on from there.

MC over ESL in the '88 championship game, the first of a four-peat, and it went on from there.

MC is a tough one with the history it has. In the Lynch Regime , for me it is the week 3 win at LA in 2018. LA had won the last 8 of 10.

 

[Silver Rain]

MC is a tough one with the history it has. In the Lynch Regime , for me it is the week 3 win at LA in 2018. LA had won the last 8 of 10.

Yes, that was a good game. Odeluga was a star on defense, snagging, I think, a pair of interceptions. The rest of the defense, including Dave Lenti's son, played Loyola tough in the red zone.

 

[JCHillmen]

MC is a tough one with the history it has. In the Lynch Regime , for me it is the week 3 win at LA in 2018. LA had won the last 8 of 10.

Agree that it is tough for any of the most established 10-20 programs to pick just one game.

I like how you chose an era. For JC, I think the revival after a rather middling mid to late 90s was JC's 1999 week 1 victory over MC by a score of 10-7. I think that helped merge the realization that there was a lot of talent in the program with the expectation of winning championships once again. It served as a springboard after 8 years of no titles. And to do it with an absolute defensive gem of a game with a big field goal against a defending state champion was a definite arrival moment.

Then again in 2018 after over a decade of no championships and a few really down years (and even the first 8 weeks of 2018 still being a rough stretch) I think the program got another "arrival" win by defeating a team that was just better than them in Montini in the state championship game.

I think those two moments catapulted the program into eras of success.

 

[McCaravan]

MC over ESL in the '88 championship game, the first of a four-peat, and it went on from there.

I’ll go two weeks before when they beat the #1 ranked HF that was labeled an unbeatable team in such a dramatic way it’s still unbelievable to some.

 

[Wilmatucky]

Hard to say. They went to semis in 02 and were runners up in 03. I think they were already considered “established” by 2004. Judging by the amount of people at that Driscoll game, I think many other people thought it would be good, so I’d say they were. I personally thought Wilmington was going to win that one.

'04 CC game in week 9. Two undefeated teams for the conference title. CC goes on to be the 4A runner up.

That being said, I don't think Wilmo had a defining game so much as they did 2 great players. Anderson and Wilkins in back to back year going D1 defined the program.

 

[forlouann]

Aurora Christian 2008 4A quarterfinals win over Driscoll ending their run.

Driscoll was so devastated by the loss they closed their school and program. 😉

That team put the program on the map. Took out Plano (back to back champs), Coal City and Richmond Burton as well before falling to Bloomington Central Catholic in the finals.

Aurora Christian was 1A just a couple seasons prior.

I thought the 2007 Aurora Christian team was just as talented as the 2008. I was surprised when they were knocked out of the playoffs

 

[DeanOfSelection]

I’ll go two weeks before when they beat the #1 ranked HF that was labeled an unbeatable team in such a dramatic way it’s still unbelievable to some.

Really the Quarters through the 6A title that year all are on the same par: winning vs Chicagoland #1 HF, winning at Rita for first time since 1967 in semi both teams 12-0 and beating #1 in state East St Louis.

 

[corey90]

I have 2 games that put LWE on the map.
2004 LWE vs defending 8A state champion. East wins a close playoff game in Lockport.

2005 LWE vs Maine South. East wins its first 8A state championship in double overtime. East finished the season 14-0 and ranked #9 in the country USA Today.

 

[penlight]

Agree that it is tough for any of the most established 10-20 programs to pick just one game.

I like how you chose an era. For JC, I think the revival after a rather middling mid to late 90s was JC's 1999 week 1 victory over MC by a score of 10-7. I think that helped merge the realization that there was a lot of talent in the program with the expectation of winning championships once again. It served as a springboard after 8 years of no titles. And to do it with an absolute defensive gem of a game with a big field goal against a defending state champion was a definite arrival moment.

Then again in 2018 after over a decade of no championships and a few really down years (and even the first 8 weeks of 2018 still being a rough stretch) I think the program got another "arrival" win by defeating a team that was just better than them in Montini in the state championship game.

I think those two moments catapulted the program into eras of success.

Your looking at it in eras is the only way to look at the program fairly and I agree with you that those games were turning points in the program. In that vein, I would add that as they played nearly every from 1920 until 1981, any victory over Lockport was special as they were the only “local” opponent until 1951 when games with Joliet Township began. After ’51 & ’52 losses to the Steelmen, the 1952 victory in the first undefeated season since 1926 had to be one of the defining victories in the pre-Gillespie era.

The 1965 team that rallied for 19 points in the 4th Quarter for a 19-10 victory of Top 10 State Ranked Niles Notre Dame en route to Gillespie’s first undefeated season and the Hilltoppers’ first Suburban Catholic Conference Championship also established a high bar and high expectations.

 

[Silver Rain]

Really the Quarters through the 6A title that year all are on the same par: winning vs Chicagoland #1 HF, winning at Rita for first time since 1967 in semi both teams 12-0 and beating #1 in state East St Louis.

Yeah, that team tore a hole in the playoffs.

 

[4Afan]

For JC, I think the revival after a rather middling mid to late 90s was JC's 1999 week 1 victory over MC by a score of 10-7.

And JCA got lucky that Morris missed the FG in '99 😉

 

[colin2229]

I thought the 2007 Aurora Christian team was just as talented as the 2008. I was surprised when they were knocked out of the playoffs

07 had a better shot at a state championship. Rather surprising AC wasn’t able to throw the ball on Plano in the semi’s and came up short 14-8.

 

[doctor_d]

'04 CC game in week 9. Two undefeated teams for the conference title. CC goes on to be the 4A runner up.

That being said, I don't think Wilmo had a defining game so much as they did 2 great players. Anderson and Wilkins in back to back year going D1 defined the program.

Agree that Damien and Brady got them publicity, but that CC game was huge at the time. CC was top dogs in the league and had won a 3A title a couple years prior. We knew Wilmo was good in 96, but going into CC and putting it to a solid team like that was a statement.

 

[SiuCubFan8]

For Saint Francis I’m gonna go a little different. Not a win from state championship year in 2005 but when they broke ICs pretty damn long winning streak in 2019. SF had been a mess and that was McMillen’s first real good team announcing they were good. I think IC has only beat them once, last year, since that game.

 

[CCfan]

Hard to say. They went to semis in 02 and were runners up in 03. I think they were already considered “established” by 2004. Judging by the amount of people at that Driscoll game, I think many other people thought it would be good, so I’d say they were. I personally thought Wilmington was going to win that one.

They most certainly were the better team that night. The maybe it was, maybe it wasn't a fumble that somehow bounced from the middle of the line all the way out to a Driscoll corner back. Driscoll fails to send someone to cover a wide out and the the Cats couldn't grab the pass and the game. Many great plays all night. As good as Driscoll was at the time, they were as lucky as it is possible to be to win that one. Definitely one of the best games I've ever seen.

 

[crusader_of_90]

A couple stands out for Althoff—the 4A 1980 state finals after losing to the winners in the playoffs the year before. Althoff just joined the IHSA after playing in the Bi-State league until 1978.

Then the 1986 win over Granite Ciy the week after they broke ESL's nation-leading winning streak. (Later, that team pissed away the semis hung over and high after a night in a Rock Island hotel.)

The 1989 team's mid-season win over Paducah Tilghman - reminded us we can play with the biggest of big boys after losing the opener by a score to Hazelwood East, which was top 5 in the nation at the end of the season.

 

[Wilmatucky]

Agree that Damien and Brady got them publicity, but that CC game was huge at the time. CC was top dogs in the league and had won a 3A title a couple years prior. We knew Wilmo was good in 96, but going into CC and putting it to a solid team like that was a statement.

I was too young to recognize specifics like that. However, I do remember going to a game one year in CC and they had cardboard yellowhammers being held up in the stands.

Also, CC won 2A not 3A.

 

[RichieRebel]

I have 2 games that put LWE on the map.
2004 LWE vs defending 8A state champion. East wins a close playoff game in Lockport.

2005 LWE vs Maine South. East wins its first 8A state championship in double overtime. East finished the season 14-0 and ranked #9 in the country USA Today.

An outsiders perspective… the one that made realize LWE is LWE was the noncon Providence game. Thought it was ‘07ish maybe. I could be remembering wrong, just remember seeing on the back page of the Trib and thinking “wow that’s a huge win for them”

 

[corey90]

An outsiders perspective… the one that made realize LWE is LWE was the noncon Providence game. Thought it was ‘07ish maybe. I could be remembering wrong, just remember seeing on the back page of the Trib and thinking “wow that’s a huge win for them”

If you’re talking the very first time they played each other it was 2005. LWE beat Providence 28-3. Providence scored a field goal with like 30 seconds left in the game. I believe It was the first game of the season.

 

[CCfan]

I was too young to recognize specifics like that. However, I do remember going to a game one year in CC and they had cardboard yellowhammers being held up in the stands.

Also, CC won 2A not 3A.

I also remember going to games at Becker field with a house nearby sporting their own yellow hammers fastened to the home. It seems as if it was a very common theme at the time. It has faded away dramatically since the rise of Wilmington football. the entire town has had much more pride with this occurrence. Coach Reents and crew should give themselves a hearty pat on the back for all they've done for the entire community.

 

[RichieRebel]

If you’re talking the very first time they played each other it was 2005. LWE beat Providence 28-3. Providence scored a field goal with like 30 seconds left in the game. I believe It was the first game of the season.

Yes! That was the game IMO that shifted the powers in New Lenox area. Provy coming off of a state championship

 

[Wilmatucky]

I also remember going to games at Becker field with a house nearby sporting their own yellow hammers fastened to the home. It seems as if it was a very common theme at the time. It has faded away dramatically since the rise of Wilmington football. the entire town has had much more pride with this occurrence. Coach Reents and crew should give themselves a hearty pat on the back for all they've done for the entire community.

99% of us don't care about about the nickname.

 

[eagles2k3]

IC has a few.

Beating Montini in 2002. No one knew if they were for real until they beat them on their way to a state title.

Beating Marmion in 2008 40-38 to clinch a spot in the playoffs on their way to their 2nd state title.


I’m sure there are more recent ones but I haven’t been following as closely in recent years.

 

[guerinfbfan]

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2000-10-14-0010140176-story.html

@Quags57 can probably back me up on this one but for Holy Cross it would have to have been the win over Brett Basanez and St. Viator in 2000.

 

[all4theillini]

Is there any one big win that really catapulted your school into a successful program for years to come?

For Morris, it would be the 1979 semifinal win at Geneseo. Geneseo was the 3 time defending 3A champion and an absolute unit under legendary coach Bob Reade. 1979 was their first year with Larry Johnsen as coach and were 49-1-1 over the last 4 years going into the game. Morris went into Geneseo with 3rd year coach Dan Darlington making their first ever playoff appearance, back when you had to win your conference to make the playoffs. Morris stunned Geneseo 14-8. They went on to lose a heartbreaker to Mascoutah in the championship 7-6.

The following year (1980) was wild in the Little 7

4a Morris beats 4a Plainfield
4a Plainfield beats 3a Geneva
3a Geneva beats 4a Morris

Each end up 6-1 in conference.
Geneva & Plainfield stay home
Morris goes on to win the 4a state title.

 

[4Afan]

The following year (1980) was wild in the Little 7

4a Morris beats 4a Plainfield
4a Plainfield beats 3a Geneva
3a Geneva beats 4a Morris

Each end up 6-1 in conference.
Geneva & Plainfield stay home
Morris goes on to win the 4a state title.

Do you remember what the tie breaker at the time was? I'm picturing all 3 coaches flipping coins in a diner like in Friday Night Lights 🤣

 

[Huskie2015]

Montini Catholic High School - first time ever in the playoffs - 1981. They beat a heavily favored Lisle team 22-8.

 

[Huskie2015]

Not my school - Phillips in Chicago. In September 2013 they came out to the suburbs on a Saturday afternoon and beat Naperville North on their home field. That game definitely caught everyone by surprise. Went on to appear in 3 state championship games between 2014 - 2017, winning 2 of them.