Benet Opens Proviso West Holiday Tournament with Easy Win

The Benet boys basketball team opened the 53rd Annual Proviso West Holiday Tournament with a 69-52 win over Foreman High School.  Benet led 55-29 at the end of the third quarter.  In the fourth quarter, all of Benet's bench contributed to the game, and 8 players were in for at least 15 minutes.  Sean O'Mara scored a game-high 20 points and recorded a game-high 11 rebounds in only 19 minutes.  Collin Pellettieri added 15 points in 23 minutes, and Liam Nelligan scored 9 points and collected 10 rebounds in 21 minutes.
Benet's second round-round opponent will be Providence St. Mel, who defeated Downers Grove South 60-59 on Thursday.

Benet Basketball Prepares for 53rd Annual Proviso West Holiday Tournament

The Benet boys basketball team will begin the Proviso West Holiday Tournament on Thursday, December 26, against Foreman High School.  Benet finished 5th in the 32-team tournament last year and is picked as a semifinalist this year by the Chicago Tribune.  The 16th-ranked Redwings will return for the fourth consecutive year to the elite tournament which includes #2 Stevenson, #6 Morgan Park, #9 St. Joseph, #11 Bogan, #13 Proviso East, #22 Hinsdale Central.  The team expects to make a deep run in the tournament and hopes to repeat the 2010 championship.

Benet Drops Heartbreaker at Marian Catholic

The Benet boys varsity basketball team dropped its second consecutive game at Marian Catholic on Friday night.  Benet led the #5-ranked Spartans 39-19 early in the second quarter and led 44-33 at halftime.  The Redwings extended their lead to 51-36 before Marian cut the lead to 56-53 with Sean O'Mara, Colin Bonnett, and Liam Nelligan in foul trouble for most of the third quarter.  Benet led by 8 at the start of the fourth quarter, but Tyler Ulis hit a three-pointer with 37 seconds left to tie the game at 75.  Ulis, who scored 33 points, missed a game-winner at the end of regulation, and the game headed to overtime tied at 75.  Bonnett, who slowed Ulis for most of the game, fouled out with approximately 3 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, and O'Mara, who scored a game-high 36 points, fouled out early in the 4-minute overtime period.  Marian used a 14-6 run to lead 89-81 late in the overtime, their first lead since the score was 5-4, and a Collin Pellettieri three at the buzzer made the final score 89-84.

Two Benet Football Players Named to All-State Teams

Congratulations to Nick Surges and John Duvic for being named to a Chicago Tribune All-State Football Team.  Surges was selected  to the All-State Special Mention Team as a linebacker, and Duvic was selected to the First Team as a kicker.

Benet Enters ESCC Play 6-1

The Benet Academy boys basketball team will face Marian Catholic on Friday, December 20, in the team's first ESCC game.  Benet won its first six games, including a championship at the Oswego-Naperville North Hoops for Healing Tournament, a win against Redondo Union (CA) at UIC, and a home win over Plainfield North.  The Redwings suffered their first loss of the season Saturday night against Fenwick as part of the CCL/ESCC Challenge at St. Viator High School.
Benet was ranked #9 in the Chicago Tribune Top 20 before Saturday's loss. Marian Catholic, who has not played since December 7, is ranked #5 in the state and is led by Kentucky commit Tyler Ulis.

Benet Basketball Season Opens Tomorrow

The Benet boys' basketball team opens the 2103-2014 season tomorrow night.  The team will have two weeks of practice, and the first game of the season is at Naperville North on November 25th.

Benet Opens Playoffs vs Mt. Carmel

Benet received a 7 seed in Class 7A in tonight's IHSA Pairings, and the Redwings will face 2nd seeded Mt. Carmel, which is ranked #2 in the state in the Chicago Tribune Top 20.  The Caravan's only loss this year came to Loyola Academy, a #1 seed in the 8A playoffs.
We need a HUGE Student Section, as we need to support the Redwings in an extremely tough road game.  Fan bus to the Caravan game?

Benet Tied for ESCC Lead Before Final Two Games

Benet is tied with both Joliet Catholic and Notre Dame for the ESCC lead after its loss on Saturday at Nazareth.  The Redwings do not play Notre Dame this year, but senior night in two weeks is against JCA.  Next's week's game is at Marist, whose three losses all came against top 25 teams.  Look for a shootout on the south side, as Marist averages 37 points per game, and Benet averages 32.  Also, Marist's defense has allowed an average of 38 points per game in 5 conference matchups.

#6 Benet in Driver's Seat in ESCC Race

This past weekend's games provided some clarity in the race for the ESCC Football Championship.  The Benet Redwings moved to 3-0 in conference with a 38-14 win over St. Viator, and Joliet Catholic and Notre Dame both suffered shocking losses to St. Patrick and at Nazareth, respectively.  Benet is the only unbeaten team in the ESCC after week 6.

The Redwings need to win 2 of their final three games to clinch a share of the conference championship, and this is a daunting task.  Benet travels to Nazareth next Saturday, visits #24 Marist the following weekend, and hosts #17 JCA on Senior Night on October 25.  (All rankings according to Chicago Tribune)

Benet Ranked #6 for Homecoming Week

Benet has moved up in the Chicago Tribune Top 20 Rankings from #9 to #6.  The Redwings are the highest-ranked team in the ESCC heading into the week 6 Homecoming game against St. Viator.  Viator is #41 on Maxpreps.com, and Benet is #5 on that list.
Benet has outscored its 5 opponents by a combined score of 169-38, while St. Viator has outscored its opponents 148-109.

Tomorrow is Gameday

Tomorrow, we have the biggest game of the young season as the #10 Redwings visit the #9 Crete-Monee Warriors.  The defending 6A State Champion is led by 3 Division I defensive prospects in Mike Helfgot's game of the week.  And the high school football expert has picked the Redwings to pull the upset. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/highschool/football/ct-spt-0920-prep-foot-5-games-20130919,0,6507333.story

Benet Ranked in Top 10 Heading into Crete-Monee Game

The Chicago Tribune released its Week 4 high school football Top 20, and the Redwings have cracked the top 10, which makes Friday's game that much bigger.  The game now features #10 Benet (3-0) and #9 Crete-Monee, the defending Class 6A State Champions (3-0).  I can't wait till Friday night.

Benet Football Prepares Without Porter

Well, it's official.  Senior runningback Porter Ontko will miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL and MCL.  Ontko suffered the injury on the second play of the second half of last week's game against South Elgin.
Look for senior Nick McTarnaghan and junior Brad Sznajder to pick up the work load.  Ontko had 203 yards and 6 touchdowns in just over 6 quarters this season.  The three-year varsity starter will be missed, and we all wish him a speedy recovery.

Benet Starts Football Season 2-0, Prepares for St. Pat's

Benet started the 2013 football season with wins over Downers Grove South and South Elgin.  The Redwings now prepare for St. Patrick High School.  This marks the third consecutive season that Benet has faced the Shamrocks in Week 3.  In 2011, Benet lost at St. Pat's 27-9, and the Shamrocks won last year's meeting also at Hanson Park in Chicago 17-16.  This year the 38th-ranked Shamrocks visit 13th-ranked Benet.  St. Pat's was blown out Week 1 by #1 Mount Carmel, but they dominated 295th-ranked Lane Tech last weekend.

Benet Football Preseason

                The Benet football team will look to build on the 2012 season, an 11-2 campaign which ended in the Illinois Class 7A State Semifinals.  The Redwings begin the year at Downers Grove South, who is looking to rebound from a disappointing 4-5 season which ended a playoff-qualifying streak of 15 years.  Next, Benet hosts South Elgin (2012 record: 4-5) in the first of four home games this season.  Benet’s only regular season loss in 2012 came at St. Patrick (7-4), and the Shamrocks will visit Benet in week 3 for the first time since 2009.  The marquee matchup of the 2013 season comes the following Friday night when the Redwings visit defending Class 6A State Champion Crete-Monee (14-0).  The Warriors enter the season ranked #4 in the state according to Maxpreps.com, and Benet begins the season ranked #20.  The Redwings will then travel to Marian Catholic to visit the Spartans (1-8), whom Benet crushed 44-6 last season.  Benet’s following game is Homecoming against St. Viator, which enters the season ranked #43 in the state.  Then comes the rivalry game which Benet dominated 49-0 last season when the Redwings travel to Nazareth for Benet’s only day game this year on Saturday, October 12^th.  Next, Benet visits defending ESCC co-champion Marist (8-2), the highest preseason-ranked ESCC team at #18.  Senior Night occurs on October 25^th against 2012 Class 5A State Semifinalist Joliet Catholic (9-5).  Benet defeated the Hilltoppers 31-21 at Joliet Memorial Stadium to clinch a share of the 2012 ESCC crown in the last regular season game.

                The Redwing offense which averaged 32.3 points per game last season has adopted the no-huddle scheme.  The offense will likely rely more heavily on highly-recruited junior quarterback Jack Beneventi.  Other returning offensive starters include senior tight end Nick Surges and senior tailbacks Nick McTarnaghan and Porter Ontko.  Senior wideouts Patrick Peterson and Joe Weidenbach will have to replace all-conference receiver Jack Euritt and ESCC Player of the Year Jack Toner.

                Benet’s defense held opponents to 13.3 points per game in 2012 but has lost 7 of its 11 starters.  Defensive linemen Steve Tyznik and Charles Melka  graduated, as did all-conference linebacker Tim Veselik and ESCC Defensive Player of the Year, linebacker Jack Crain.  Further, Toner started at cornerback, and all-conference safety Pat Runger graduated as well.  Look for what Coach New has planned for the 2013 defense.

                Lastly, John Duvic, the only kicker named to the 2012 all-conference team, returns for his senior season.  Duvic is the 41^st-rated kicker in the country and the #2 kicker in the state according to ESPN Football Recruiting Nation.  He has an offer from Army and has been recruited by Indiana and Wisconsin.

                This reporter would love to make a win-loss projection for the 2013 season, but the unknowns on defense make this extremely difficult.  However, I do expect the regular season record to compare favorably to last year’s.  Now let’s stop talking and play football.

Second Annual Benet Football Field Day

The Benet sophomore and varsity football teams held the second annual Benet Football Field Day at Southeast School just west of Benet’s campus on Friday, July 12.  The program once again hosted over 100 special education students from SASED, the School Association for Special Education of DuPage County, which is an organization that oversees academic activities for special needs children in 18 school districts in DuPage County. And this year’s design added to the successes of the 2012 inaugural Field Day.  

Ninety Benet football players and 45 Benet parents directed the kids in various activities including a “Bounce Castle,” squirt gun and water balloon stations, face painting, bean bag toss, and karaoke among others.  And finally everyone enjoyed the cooling refreshments from the “Halftime” station.

Mrs. Mary Runger, a Benet football mom who managed both last and this year’s program, noted the contributions of private sponsors and Benet parents in their support of the various station activities and materials.  She further discussed some changes at this year’s event.  First, because so many players enjoyed the initial program, parent volunteer recruitment doubled to 45 this year; second, a new and entertaining “Bubble-Palooza” station was added; and third, the team practiced early Friday morning and enjoyed breakfast before traveling to Southeast School. She stated, “I think it’s an effort you cannot duplicate on the practice field, but they are helping these children experience something new with their special needs. It’s special because these kids don’t have the opportunity to have all of this attention and activity, and they love it with all their hearts.  Their teachers have told me that it’s the best day of the summer camp, and they were looking forward to it.  Also, the team players learn that in giving you receive.”  This hopefully translates to successes both on and off the field.

            Last year this reporter spoke with the SASED program director of multi-needs children, Mr. Rich Laren.  He indicated that he was excited by the enthusiasm and genuine kindness displayed by the Benet football players.  He stated that he hoped the program could continue as an annual opportunity for the children to enjoy some time in a different setting from their usual activities.  This goal has been obviously achieved thanks in part to the players, the parents, and the Benet coaching staff.

            Varsity coach Pat New noted that the football program had participated in the Feed My Starving Children program for several years and that, “I wanted to continue doing a community service project during the summer....”  When reviewing the Benet Field Day, he continued, “It’s a really nice way for our guys to hang out, have some fun, and also to serve the community.”

            One of the players, senior linebacker and tight end Nick Surges reiterated Coach New’s thoughts on the importance of a community service project for the football program.  He added, “[The program] is great, to come out here, to be able to give back to these kids, it’s really special!  It’s an unforgettable day, and it’s one of the big parts of our season.  I really enjoy this day, and we really enjoy having fun with these kids.”

            With the weather contributing an absolutely beautiful, sunny day, the fun-filled morning ended with Benet’s football team having enjoyed this now annual activity.  When community service is designed with the goal of social interaction with such great children, the caring and benevolent volunteers have an opportunity to solidify camaraderie with their teammates.  Next year’s program, the third annual Benet Football Field Days, will undoubtedly enhance the achievements of the first two unforgettable July Friday mornings.

Benet Basketball Summer Updates

Benet has hosted three separate basketball camps in the last two weeks, and I assisted at all of the camps.  Two of the camps involved incoming freshman who hope to make the team, while the other hosted 1st-4th grade students who could be in the Benet class of 2024.  Questions: Will Coach Heidkamp coach these kids, and how many championships will he have won by then?  Answers:  I hope so, and, on average (3 every 4 years) 8-9 more conference championships.

Best Year Ever for Benet Athletics?

The question had to be asked after Benet won conference championships in baseball, boys’ basketball, boys’ and girls’ cross country, football, boys’ soccer, girls’ tennis, boys’ and girls’ track, and boys’ volleyball.  The hockey team won the Kennedy Cup, the football team advanced to the state Class 7A Semifinals, the boys’ basketball team advanced to the 4A Sectional, the boys’ soccer team reached the 3A Sectional Semifinals, and the girls’ volleyball team, which finished third in the East Suburban Catholic Conference, won the 4A State Championship.  Benet also produced 53 All-Conference athletes, 9 ESCC Coach of the Year awards, 14 ESCC Player of the Year awards, and 5 Naperville Sun All-Area football players.  Pat McInerney was named Naperville Sun Area Basketball Player of the Year, and Sean O’Mara was an Honorable Mention for the All-State Basketball Team.  Approximately 40 Benet graduates will play athletics at the collegiate level.

Six football players will play in college.  Junior QB Jack Beneventi still has to wait two more years until he steps on to a Division I field, though.

The football and volleyball seasons will be particularly hard acts to follow, but we all forward to the start of next season.  Go Redwings!

Benet Tennis Update

Yesterday the Benet Boys' JV Tennis Team swept the ESCC Conference Tournament.  Benet's JV team has won the conference in 18 of the last 19 seasons.  The Redwings finished this season an undefeated 75-0 in conference for the third time in the past four seasons.  Pete Mannebach won the 1st singles conference championship; Owen McNamara won at 2nd singles; Chris Schutt and Declan McNamara won at 1st doubles; Luca Valentino and Dan King won at 2nd doubles; and Brad Dawson and Bobby Blankshain won at 3rd doubles.

Additionally, all 5 varsity positions have advanced into tomorrow's semifinal round at Marian Catholic.  The varsity team has won 19 of the past 22 conference championships.

Tennis vs JCA

Benet's tennis team was supposed to host Joliet Catholic this past Thursday, but JCA thought the match was at 7 PM on our "lighted" tennis courts.  There are no lights, and the match was postponed to a later date.

NFL Draft

The Chiefs' first pick in the 2013 NFL Draft and Benet football have something in common.  They both have a player who attended Central Michigan University.
Any thoughts on the draft?

Rain Out

I know that this post really has nothing to do with spring sports.  But, after spending an hour and 35 minutes driving to and from Benet (a drive which usually takes 50 minutes), I think we need a Benet rowing team.  Location: the side of any street in Naperville or Lisle.

Slow Start for Spring Sports

First the snow, now the rain, and more snow in the forecast for Friday.  Will spring sports ever get going for more than a week?

The Bugle Newspaper Error

I noticed in the Bugle Newspaper from April 3rd that the writer noted that four varsity baseball players also played varsity basketball: senior Pat McInerney, junior Joe Boyle, senior Rob Haemmerle, and senior Conor Bonnett.  The writer failed to realize that Conor Bonnett did not play basketball, but that his sophomore brother, Colin, did.  He also spelled Conor's name Connor.  Any thoughts?

Sophomore Beneventi Receives Scholarship Offer from Notre Dame

According to irishillustrated.com, the University of Notre Dame's Yahoo football recruiting site, Notre Dame has offered Benet sophomore quarterback Jack Beneventi a football scholarship.  Beneventi has also received offers from the University of Illinois, Western Michigan University, and the University of Massachusetts.  Congratulations, and any comments?

JV Tennis Wins South Elgin Invite

Congratulations to the Boys' JV tennis team on winning their fourth consecutive South Elgin Storm JV Invite. Benet won championships in six of the seven positions.  Pete Mannebach won the first singles championship, Owen McNamara won second singles, and Connor Druhan won third singles.  The team of Chris Schutt and Declan McNamara won first doubles, Bobby Blankshain and Luca Valentino won second doubles, and Brad Dawson and Tad Kapustiak won third doubles.  Illia Lukic, Nick Ponne, and Nate Keyes won the consolation championship at fourth doubles.

Benet Sports Blog

Welcome to the Benet Academy Sports Blog.  Post any comments you have or let me know of any Benet sports news I did not post.