LANSING, Ill. (October 13, 2023) – Christian Streeter gave TF South football one more reason to remember a historic night in program history.
Streeter broke off an 80-yard touchdown run with 1:55 left in the fourth quarter to give the Red Wolves a 26-20 win over Oak Forest on Friday.
It was South’s first game on its newly renovated field, with the Red Wolves also marking senior night, homecoming, and the induction ceremony for the latest class in the TF South Athletic Hall of Fame.
Veteran coach and alum Bob Padjen was glad to see some many familiar faces back at the school, including relatives of the late Doug Elkins and the late Mike Manno, two Hall of Fame inductees and longtime booster club presidents. Also on hand were members of the Holba family, celebrating the induction of brothers Michael and Tom, along with players from the 2003 football team.
“A great way to honor the men who helped build the program,” Padjen said of Elkins and Manno, who raised money for “the lights, the track, the concession stand, putting new grass on the field.”
Also honored were new Hall of Fame members Joe Lorenz, Dr. Bruce Montella, and Angie (Porche) Rundh.
After the halftime induction ceremony, the Red Wolves (3-5, 3-3 South Suburban Blue) continued their inspired play in the second half of the season.
After starting 0-4, South has won three of four, with the only loss coming to conference co-leader Hillcrest in the closing seconds. The Red Wolves still have a narrow path to qualifying for the IHSA playoffs, though they will need to win their regular-season finale at Argo on Thursday (6 p,m. kickoff) and get some help from other teams.
All teams with six wins qualify for the playoffs, along with most if not all five-win teams. Last year, one four-win team (Buffalo Grove) reached the postseason. Padjen noted a current projection that ranks the Red Wolves seventh among potential four-win qualifiers.
The tiebreaker is opponents’ wins, and TF South is well-positioned because it has played just one team all year that has a losing record through eight weeks.
Streeter also had a 1-yard TD run against Oak Forest, while Nick Ford threw a 23-yard TD pass to David Nkwoga and Seneca Smith had a 4-yard scoring run and a two-point conversion run.
“We got a few kids back that really helped us,” Padjen said. “Tailen Gosa, he’s been the spark on defense.”
Gosa had two sacks, a tackle for loss, and a quarterback hit against Oak Forest. His versatility shows in his ability to play both edge rusher and nickel back in pass coverage.
Nose guard Malcolm Edwards, who missed the first three weeks of the season, also has given the defense a lift. He had two sacks and recovered a fumble on the Oak Forest 30 to set up South’s first touchdown.
Later, Streeter made the game-deciding play.
“He had a run down the right sidelines that made three guys miss tackles and then nobody could catch him,” Padjen said.
Boys cross country
The Red Wolves had four personal bests on the varsity level and three more on the JV in Saturday’s South Suburban Blue Meet at Conkey Woods in Crestwood.
Running in the varsity race for South were Antoine Morgan (20th, 18:34, PR), Jesse Terrazas (23rd, 18:58, PR), Brandon Chavez (26th, 19:19, PR), Ben Gresham (28th, 20:10), Carlos Cervantes (30th, 20:36), Rodrigo Cortez (31st, 20:45), and Aaron Major (32nd, 20:46, PR). The varsity finished fifth among five full teams with 123 points.
Running in the JV race for South were Julius Navarro (12th, 20:23, PR), Evan Krueger (16th, 21:01, PR) and Eric Talbert (22nd, 22:50, PR).
The Red Wolves’ next meet is the Class 3A Andrew Regional Saturday at the Tinley Park Park District. The girls race is at 9 a.m. with the boys to follow at 9:30.
Girls cross country
South finished fourth among four full teams at Saturday’s South Suburban Blue Meet with 93 points.
Scorers for the Red Wolves were Yanitzia Luna (seventh, 21:13.93), ShyBria Starkley (17th, 23:52.17), Dawn Birkenfeld (26th, 26:27.00), Kailyn Keys (28th, 27:04.49), and Jarena Shell (29th, 28:45.79).
TF North
Football
The Meteors continued their remarkable turnaround, edging Hillcrest 27-26 in Calumet City on Friday to pull into a three-way tie for the South Suburban Blue lead with the Hawks and Lemont.
Hillcrest scored late to pull within a point, but North (7-1, 4-1) stopped the two-point conversion attempt to seal the victory. The Meteors can clinch at least a share of the conference title when they host Lemont (4-4, 4-1) Thursday at 6 p.m. If Hillcrest (6-2, 4-1) loses to Bremen (4-4, 1-4) on Thursday, the TF North-Lemont winner will win the conference outright.
Tristan Jackson got North started against Hillcrest, going 65 yards for a touchdown on the second play from scrimmage.
Dominic Gradford threw TD passes of 16 yards to Terrion Long and 14 yards to Aric Moultrie, finishing 9-of-11 passing for 116 yards and the two scores. Gradford also ran for 23 yards and a TD.
Pacing the defense were Tremaine Floyd, Alvin Lankin III, Damari Dogan, Jordan Petty, Aramis Steward, Jackson, Gradford, and Long. Floyd and Petty helped stop Hillcrest’s late conversion attempt and Floyd recovered the ensuing onside kick.
Girls tennis
The Meteors doubles team of Precious Agwu and Alex Thomas qualified for this weekend’s Class 1A state tournament by finishing fourth Monday in the rain-delayed Marian Catholic Sectional.
Agwu and Thomas advanced with wins over teams from Providence (6-2, 6-3) and Marian (6-3, 6-4) before losing 6-3, 6-0 to Joliet Catholic in the semifinals. They then fell to another Providence team 1-6, 6-3, 7-6.
North finished sixth among 10 teams with 10 points. Host Marian, which did not have any state qualifiers, was fifth with 12 points.
Boys cross country
North’s Said Rodriguez finished 21st in the South Suburban Blue Meet on Saturday, running 18:35.91. The Meteors did not field a full team.
Girls cross country
The Meteors, who did not field a full team at the South Suburban Blue Meet, were led by Yulissa Villarreal (20th, 24:59.14) and Daniela Martinez (21st, 25:03.56).
Marian Catholic
Football
Nazareth opened a 41-0 halftime lead and cruised past host Marian Catholic 41-13 Friday in a CCL/ESCC crossover.
Marian (3-5) had touchdown runs of 1 yard by Kyle Scott and 9 yards by Carter Magerski.
Scott ran 11 times for a team-high 73 yards.
Marian, which is 3-0 in the CCL/ESCC Red, will try to finish an unbeaten conference season when it hosts Leo at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
Illiana Christian
Girls volleyball
The Vikings rallied from two sets down to defeat Andrean 20-25, 27-25, 25-22, 25-15, 15-10 and win the Class 2A North Newton Sectional on Saturday.
Illiana advanced by defeating Lighthouse 25-0, 25-4, 25-2 in the quarterfinals and downing Lake Station 25-11, 25-5, 25-7 in the semifinals.
The Vikings play Churubusco in the Rochester Regional semifinals at 9:30 a.m. Central this Saturday. The winner advances to the regional final at 6 p.m. Central that night.
Boys cross country
The Vikings finished second in Saturday’s Highland Sectional with 67 points and qualified for this Saturday’s New Prairie Regional.
Illiana’s top five were Jarvis Mickles (seventh, 16:45.8 for 5,000 meters), Nolan Bouwman (ninth, 16:48.0), Josh Wondaal (17th, 17:09.2), Cody Aardsma (18th, 17:25.5), and Dane Scheeringa (19th, 17:27.7).
Girls cross country
Illiana advanced to this Saturday’s New Prairie Regional by finishing fourth at Saturday’s Highland Sectional with 106 points.
Scoring for the Vikings were Avery Olthof (fifth, 19:50.5 for 5,000 meters), Ella Olthof (19:51.2), Adeline Mulder (16th, 21:01.0), Madelyn Schurman (36th, 22:20.4), and Ellie Ratliff (45th, 23:25.3).
Related
- Athlete spotlights of the week: TF North’s Tristan Jackson and TF South’s Earehc’ Hill (October 15, 2023)
- TF North football punches playoff ticket for first time since 2011 – other local scores (October 13, 2023)
