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After years with no postseason action, Reavis, St. Laurence are back in the playoffs
The year I began covering high school sports, 1974, was the year the IHSA's second-most-popular tradition besides March Madness - the state football playoffs - was born.
The birthplace of the state championship games was Illinois State University.
(Brett Roseman/Daily Southtown)
For many of those early playoff seasons, one of the roads well-traveled on the way to Normal was down 79th Street in Burbank.
Reavis and St. Laurence were among the perennial contenders for state supremacy. Reavis coach Dennis Wierzal and St. Laurence coach Tom Kavanagh were among the most celebrated in the state.
In 1976, Kavanagh's Vikings won the Class 5A title, while Wierzal's Rams also made the playoffs and had a memorable 8-2 campaign. Over the next 12 years, both schools would qualify for state eight times (Reavis won it all in Class 6A in 1982). They did it in the same season four times, including 1987.
That was 20 years ago. It hadn't happened since - until now.
Both teams are competing in this year's Class 7A field. Reavis, appearing for the first time since 2003, will host Glenbard West at 6 p.m. Saturday. St. Laurence is back for the first time since 1996 and has a date at state powerhouse Wheaton-Warrenville South at 7 p.m. Friday.
Burbank is back on the football map, baby. Where ya been?
There has definitely been a change in demographics in Burbank over the past 20 years. The majority of residents in the 1970s were white, and they were mostly blue-collar. Many of those families have spread out into the far south or southwest suburbs. Today, many Reavis students are from immigrant families with no historical connection to football.
Would they rather play soccer, which wasn't even a high school sport in 1976? Or some other sport? Or no sport at all?
"I don't know for sure, but one thing I think, a lot of the parents don't relate to the role that sports play in the community," Reavis coach Jim McDonough said. "Because they're from different countries, they don't understand that whole, 'Look, well, I played football here when I was in high school, and now my kid plays football.' That may have been a factor in the situation."
St. Laurence coach Jim Grannan, who was a starter on the 1977 Vikings team that finished 10-2 and advanced to the state semifinals, lays a lot of the downturn on the fact that the pipeline from area Catholic grammar schools isn't as productive as it used to be.
"When I go back, we had St. Thomas More and St. Dennis," he said. "Now both of those schools are closed. We had Queen of the Universe, St. Nick's (Nicholas) and St. Turibius, which don't have football teams anymore. The only ones left in Midway are St. Renee, St. Syms (Symphorosa), St. Dan's (Daniel the Prophet) and St. Mary Star of the Sea.
"One of the reasons that our numbers are picking up are that we have our buses going out to Orland, the Paloses, Crestwood. That's where we're getting kids from now that we haven't before."
The last Vikings team to finish with a winning record was the last playoff squad, which was 6-5 in 1996. Since then, the program has been a cumulative 34-67.
When Grannan took over as head coach in 2003, St. Laurence was coming off two miserable seasons that produced just three wins in 18 tries. On the opening day of preseason, there were 88 kids in attendance.
"We couldn't even have a sophomore team," Grannan said. "We had to have our sophomores up on the varsity so we could field a team. We had some teams in the 30s for a while there.
"I tell the guys the story that when I played here, we were three-deep at every position. There was a point where you didn't want to get hurt, because the guy behind you was just as good as you. And there were cuts. They would run you a lot to get you to quit, where now you're like, 'Oh, we can't run 'em too much. We've got to keep the kids out.' "
It isn't exactly 1977 again at St. Laurence. But things have changed. This year's team has 50 varsity players. The freshman turnout was 60, as opposed to 33 in Grannan's first season.
"We've got kids back coming here, thank God," Grannan said. "I think it was real important that we made the playoffs this year. We can feel competitive, and hopefully, the kids will keep coming."
The drought for Reavis hasn't been quite as long. The Rams made the playoffs in 2003, McDonough's first season as head coach. They were 5-4 in 2004 (missing the playoffs because of points). Then they hit a 1-17 spike in 2005 and '06.
"That was definitely character-building," McDonough said. "Those were trying times. But even then, the kids were learning lessons. Tough lessons, but good lessons. We've got a lot of seniors who took their lumps for the past three years and have been unbelievable in how they've kept their spirits up.
"After last year, they said, 'We're going to find a way to win.' A lot of kids would have quit after going 0-9, but these kids didn't. The character of these kids are why they're winning now."
They actually have a fighting chance to win a playoff game, too. Glenbard West is also coming off a few tough years and squeezed into the playoffs via a 15-13 win over Hinsdale Central last week. I wouldn't color Reavis a prohibitive favorite, but if the Rams play up to their capabilities, they should be all right.
St. Laurence will probably be looking at this Friday as a learning experience. The Vikings travel to Wheaton to face defending Class 8A state champion and undefeated Wheaton-Warrenville South. Hey, stranger things have happened. Well, maybe not.
"I drove out to switch films. Their head coach, nice guy, pulls up in a Lexus. Here I am in a 1998 rusted-out Durango," Grannan said, laughing. "I told him, 'Excuse me, it's nice to have a Lexus.' Then on film, they have kids standing from the 20 to the 20, just loaded down the sidelines. We've got four varsity coaches, and I don't know how many they have.
"I mean, if you want to talk about the perfect David and Goliath story, here it is."
Tony Baranek can be reached at (708) 633-5947 or tbaranek@dailysouthtown.com
