Who the heck is Young?

Well, for starters, it's the alma mater of the First Lady, Michelle Obama. That could be even worse for Rambler fans than Maine South and its most famous alum, Hillary Clinton.

It used to be said that the Episcopal Church was "the Republican Party at prayer." Now you could substitute the Catholic Church, especially since you could fit the last remaining Episcopalians comfortably in a (small) phone booth. (I can just see my kids scratching their heads right now and asking, what's a phone booth?)

Seriously, Whitney M. Young Magnet High School is a highly selective Chicago public school that opened its doors in 1975 as the city's first magnet high school. Located on the Near West Side, Young is known for its academic excellence. In fact, when people think of Young they usually think of its chess, debate and Academic Decathlon teams. (I have no idea what that last one is, but it sounds impressive.)

But Young does have a football team, they're called the Dolphins (I guess by 1975 all the other nicknames were taken) and are coached by Tim Franken, Al's little brother (just kidding).

Actually, in 2004 Young set a modern day IHSA record with eight consecutive shutouts. Not bad for a magnet school. But no one is expecting that kind of performance against Loyola.

The Dolphins enter the playoffs at 5-4 and have essentially one player -- as far as I can tell -- that the Ramblers need to worry about, Terry Baggett (above). The senior plays quarterback and tailback and seems to carry the ball on just about every play. Baggett has scored at least 21 touchdowns (by my count) and that doesn't include the game against Lincoln Park in which Young scored 70 points or the 48 against Hope. In the game against Lane, the Sun-Times said:

In the second half, Baggett shook off an injury in which he was coughing up blood on the sidelines to rush for two more touchdowns of 88 and 84 yards.

This kid's a gamer!

But one player does not a team make. Loyola should win this one and advance to play the winner of the Evanston-Fremd game.

Here's the Dolphins' season in a nutshell:

King 34, Young 26
Young 49, South Shore 0
Young 48, Hope 20
Simeon 61, Young 12 (ouch!)
Young 35, Dunbar 34
Young 35, Lane 21
Curie 32, Young 14
Young 70, Lincoln Park 6
Orr 26, Young 12