Memorable shootout for Rolling Meadows

A shutout for nearly the first 11 minutes was hardly a precursor to one of the wildest shootouts ever involving a Mid-Suburban League football team.

Rolling Meadows hitting the half-century mark in points for only the third time in school history didn't seem likely after it was blanked for the first 21-plus minutes.
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And the Mustangs needed every single point — right down to the final ones on a 2-point conversion pass from Jack Milas to Artie Checchin — to complete an incredible 50-49 season-opening victory over York on Friday night.

“Wow,” Meadows' Matt Mishler said as the clock approached midnight after his head coaching debut. “I was just having fun. It was fun watching that game.”

Here's a look back and ahead from a fun night that produced 1,149 yards of total offense, 108 pass attempts, 12 touchdown passes and 25 penalties.

The Milas touch: Once Meadows junior quarterback Jack Milas found it after a slow start he was close to unstoppable. Milas hit only 9 of his first 20 passes for 70 yards but finished 33-for-59 for 493 yards and 6 touchdowns.

“I just wasn't making the reads right (early),” Milas said. “(Then) it was like 7-on-7.”  READ MORE >>

Jack Milas and the Rolling Meadows team participated in the 2011 All-American 7on7 Passing League high school division.  Artie Checchin also played for TEAM ILLINOIS 7on7 during the 2011 spring season.

Team Illinois Conquer 7 On 7

Posted: Tuesday, June 7, 2011 4:00 pm | Updated: 3:32 pm, Wed Jun 8, 2011.

By SEAN STILLMAKER Journal Sports 

Hersey 7-on-7 FootballHigh school football players typically pick up the ball in June and drop it in November. Seldom is there an outlet for players to practice and condition during the spring. But the All-American 7 on 7 Passing League has been a rising opportunity for area players to get some spring practice.

The league started five years ago for athletes ages 13 to 18. It started off with five teams total and has expanded to 46 teams with 600 athletes participating. "Every other sport has the off season to play. [High school] football has never really had that outlet," said Ray Glassmann commissioner and founder of the league.

The spring training camp is designed to finetune the skills of quarterbacks, receivers, tight ends, linebackers, running backs and defensive backs. The training does not include linemen, eliminating blocking and tackling, which makes for a faster pace and gives quarterbacks more practice on scrambles and quick decisions.

The spring training has been very useful, and is quickly gaining traction amongst area players. It starts the first week of April and ends in the last week of May. Practice takes place indoors at the Lake Barrington field house.

There were seven high school teams participating last year. It's rapidly grown to 16 teams this year.  Journal-area high school teams from Hersey, Fremd, Rolling Meadows, Loyola and St. Viator all participated. But they only made up a fraction of the 46 total.

This spring also marked the first time where all the best players from the camp formed Team Illinois and competed with 7 on 7 teams from other states.  Team Illinois was led by Loyola starting quarterback Malcom Weaver.  He helped lead the team to the championship game at Eastern Michigan University on May 30. Team Illinois finished the tournament with big wins against Kentucky, Ohio and two solid victories over the Michigan Elite.  read more >>

Posted: Tuesday, June 7, 2011 4:00 pm | Updated: 3:32 pm, Wed Jun 8, 2011.

By SEAN STILLMAKER Journal Sports | 0 comments

High school football players typically pick up the ball in June and drop it in November. Seldom is there an outlet for players to practice and condition during the spring.

But the All-American 7 on 7 Passing League has been a rising opportunity for area players to get some spring practice.

The league started five years ago for athletes ages 13 to 18. It started off with five teams total and has expanded to 46 teams with 600 athletes participating.

"Every other sport has the off season to play. [High school] football has never really had that outlet," said Ray Glassmann commissioner and founder of the league.

The spring training camp is designed to finetune the skills of quarterbacks, receivers, tight ends, linebackers, running backs and defensive backs.

The training does not include linemen, eliminating blocking and tackling, which makes for a faster pace and gives quarterbacks more practice on scrambles and quick decisions.

The spring training has been very useful, and is quickly gaining traction amongst area players. It starts the first week of April and ends in the last week of May. Practice takes place indoors at the Lake Barrington field house.

There were seven high school teams participating last year. It's rapidly grown to 16 teams this year.

Journal-area high school teams from Hersey, Fremd, Rolling Meadows, Loyola and St. Viator all participated. But they only made up a fraction of the 46 total.