Adlai E. Stevenson High School, at almost 4,500 students, may very well be the largest school in the state of Illinois. It has an impressive campus, just west of the intersection of Milwaukee Avenue and Half Day Road in the far northern suburbs. (How many schools, do you suppose, are named after a two time losing presidential candidate?)
I arrived at Stevenson in my convertible about a half hour before the game and took my seat on the Home side next to a guy who could have been Colin Powell's long-lost twin. (He was sitting alone and looked like he knew football.)
One of the first things I noticed about the place was the size of its marching band; Stevenson has probably the largest high school band I've ever seen. While GBS prides itself on its band, these guys would have made some college teams proud. (Colin Powell's twin said that's what happens when you have almost five thousand students.)
The game started out rough for the Glenbrook South Titans. After the opening kickoff landed in Stevenson's end zone, the Patriots began an impressive drive on their 20-yard line that ended in a touchdown just a few plays later. Quarterback Matt Micucci simply handed the ball off to, alternately, Kevin Foley and Nathan Kahn, and it was just "four yards and a cloud of dust." (Except there was no dust; Stevenson's field has one of those fancy new artificial surfaces.) The Patriots didn't even think about passing; they just ran all over the Titans.
So it was 7-0 after the opening drive and all I could think was, This could be a mismatch; why the heck didn't I go to the Wheaton Warrenville South - Maine South game?
It was at about this point that I initiated a conversation with Colin Powell's twin. "What's with that Anthony Bozin, anyway?" I asked him. "He was the big stud running back last year. Is he injured or something?" (Bozin was standing on the sidelines in his number "3" jersey and khaki pants. Of course he was injured. But I wanted to hear what Colin Powell's twin had to say.)
"I don't know; my daughter goes to school here and I don't know that much about the team."
Great. I glanced around for somewhere else to sit. (Turns out he knew plenty about football; he was just sandbagging me.)
Anyway, it looked like it might be a long night for the Titans. But then something happened; first Kevin Foley left the game with an injury and then Nathan Kahn, the latter for good. (Kahn had ice on his right ankle and didn't return. If he's out for a while it could be a big loss for Stevenson; he's good.)
Despite getting creamed on the line of scrimmage, the score at the half was only 7-0. (GBS's defensive line isn't small; Stevenson's O line is that good.) The Titans, I thought, are lucky to still be in this game.
After an impressive half-time show by the World's Largest High School Band, the Patriots held the Titans on four downs and then marched down the field like the opening drive of the game and scored another touchdown, this one on a pass from Micucci. It was now 14-0 and could be the beginning of a blow-out. Or was it? Apparently, Micucci had crossed the line of scrimmage before unloading the ball and the TD was called back. You Can't Do That!
So Stevenson had to settle for a field goal, making the score 10-7 early in the second half. (Both teams' kicking games were excellent, by the way.) It was then that I turned to Colin Powell's twin and sagely predicted, "That field goal will be the margin of victory."
"We'll see," he sniffed.
The two teams traded possessions until midway through the fourth quarter when Stevenson fumbled a punt and was penalized, giving GBS the ball on the Patriots' 15-yard line. It was do or die time for the Titans; up until now they couldn't get anything going on offense. They had to take advantage of this opportunity.
Although running back Alex Leet had been impressive carrying the ball, the Titans couldn't, for the life of them, complete a pass up to that point. While quarterback Mac Zabriskie has a strong arm, it isn't particularly accurate. And when he is on target, his receivers (especially Zach Jones) often drop the ball. It had to be frustrating for Titan coach Mike Noll, although the passing game did seem to come together in the fourth quarter.
(By the way, I remember Zabriskie from when he was -- marginally -- in our Boy Scout troop in middle school. He had enormous confidence even back then and I knew he would someday be the captain of the football team.)
Anyway, on fourth and goal from the 6 yard-line, Zabriskie completed one of his first passes of the game in the corner of the end zone for an apparent Titan touchdown. Ah, but it was not to be; holding on Glenbrook South. On the next play Max Cohen overthrew his receiver in the end zone on a halfback option. Stevenson took over on downs. The score was still 10-0.
In the fourth quarter, both teams scored touchdowns, the Titans on a nifty pass from Zabriskie to Sully Stadler (he's big!). The score was now 17-7, and South appeared to be done for with about a minute and a half remaining. I bid Colin Powell's twin a good night and headed for the exits.
But then a funny thing happened. GBS began a drive from deep in their own territory, gave the ball to running back Kevin Schroeder more, and scored another touchdown with less than a minute remaining. After a two-point conversion, it was suddenly 17-15. Could the Titans recover an onside kick and spoil Stevenson's home opener? In a word, no. The Patriots recovered Zabriskie's kickoff and the contest was over. Stevenson won, but GBS got better and better as the night went on. Don't be too surprised if they upset Glenbrook North (ranked No. 23 in the Sun-Times preseason poll) in Northbrook next Friday night.
And I'll be there.
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