Warriors Hope to Build Toward Sustained Football Success

Get to the high ground! This is battle. The upper ground is the upper hand, and for the young Warriors, a first-round playoff matchup this weekend was a mighty uphill climb.

For the kings atop this hill were the Hillmen of Joliet Catholic Academy, the most storied football program in all of Illinois. A No. 4 seed against a No. 5 seed, yes. Both with 7-2 records, sure. But this is the big-time, and a 48-14 loss to the Hillmen brought the Warriors back to earth Friday night.

Joliet Memorial Stadium is just a short trip to the west, and if you avoid the Interstate 80 construction you'll swoop past the growing number of empty storefronts and overgrown front lawns, the county courthouse and the riverboat casino. It’s the haves and the have-nots, the dreamers and the ones facing the harsh reality.

In this case, it’s Joliet Catholic that has the wins, the tradition and a rich history that involves undefeated seasons, big rivalries and general butt-kickings, including an early season in which the team shut out every opponent. They have what West wants.

Lincoln-Way West is a young program that’s had early success, indeed, but Friday night’s whooping shows they’ve got a ways to go. And coach Mark Vander Kooi knows it.

"It’s just about continuously building and not being satisfied," he said. "We're not anywhere near what we want to accomplish. We need to keep working and the hope is to eventually get into the conversation with a team like Joliet Catholic."

The Hillmen's game program reads like a resume: 13 state championships, three second-place finishes, a postseason record of 97-21 and only three seasons out of 38 that they weren’t in the playoffs since the state tournament began in 1974. They've got alumni who represent tough Super Bowl champs like Mike Alstott and Tom Thayer, and the greatest of all underdogs, Dan "Rudy" Ruettiger.

Lincoln-Way West, on the other hand, is a program that just finished its third season, and in the last two (the first with seniors on the team) they've finished 7-2 and won the Southwest Suburban Red Conference both years. In that short span, the team has already sent some athletes to play in college, and current senior BJ Bello is , heading to Western Michigan next year.

The typical underdog's inferiority complex reigned supreme during Friday's battle. "Show respect!" Warriors fans chanted after Joliet Catholic went for it, and failed, early on fourth down. "They don’t think you deserve to be here!" another fan shouted. But Memorial Stadium is a place where respect is earned, not given. This is the house of football royalty, and we're all just visitors.

So as the Warriors, defeated, readied for their exit, the team crowded around Vander Kooi. He told them to stay committed to life the way they are to football, and with that, they'll be successful.

In sport it's the numbers that measure success, but the numbers aren't attainable without a winning attitude. And in Vander Kooi and his players, that's evident: They want to take the last couple seasons and build a formula for sustained success.

A tearful Bello walked off the field alone, not ready to let go the drive for high school football success. But he takes comfort that the juniors now have the experience of ending a season like this. It's not a good feeling, but it's something to build on.

"Everyone here gets to say they started a new legacy," Bello said.