High school football swine skin fever has taken over Illinois Big 12 Country once again. This year, however, it is not the Bloomington/Normal cast of characters but instead the Danville Vikings, who have busted out of a 30 year slump to again reach the state semifinals.
This Saturday the Vikings will host their virtual opposite when the Providence (New Lenox) Celtics come to town. How different are these schools you ask? Providence has been in the state championship 11 out of the last 20 years while Danville hasn’t been in the finals since the 70s. Providence is a Catholic private school that is able to recruit student-ATHLETES while Danville is a public (predominantly protestant) school that must rely on home-grown talent. New Lenox has a poverty rate of under 2% while Danville has a poverty rate of over 18%. New Lenox is made up of 97% Caucasians while Danville is more diverse with only 70%. New Lenox’s most famous athlete is Brad Guzan the back up goalkeeper for both the U.S. National Soccer team and Aston Villa of the English Premier League while Danville’s most famous athlete is… well you know.
You really could not ask for more of a David vs. Goliath set up, especially considering the opposite poles of both the athletic and societal spectrum that these two communities populate. The match up is even more tantalizing when you consider that the traditional Goliath holds the lower seed and must travel to one of Illinois finest football venues where crowds are estimated in the 4,000-6,000 range.
It is almost guaranteed that the atmosphere will rival that of a small university and most likely will have more intensity than any football stadium (at any level) in Central Illinois has experienced for a long time. I will proudly be representing the Free Keon staff for a second week in a row, as I watch the historic game from the hallowed windows of Danville High School that overlook Ned Whitesell Field… press passes have their benefits my friends.
Look for a game overview coming sometime this weekend and hopefully a preview of the championship game at Memorial Stadium the following week!!!
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Those are some pretty disrespectful comments about Providence and don't appreciate our logo backwards. Talk about poor sportmanship!!!!FYI...PUBLIC schools recruit ATHLETES a lot more than you obviously know. Sounds to me like you are so insecure about Danville that you already have the excuse lined up as to why you will get your butts kicked!!!! GO CELTICS!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteIt's ALWAYS the catholic schools that say public schools recruit! Providence's roster even listed the many hometowns AND YOUTH FOOTBALL PROGRAMS that these kids were proudly and aggressively recruited from. Where is Danville suppose to recruit? Rossville (pop about 1200 and no high school)?? If you want to "level the playing field" so to speak, maybe the IHSA should remove the multiplier and allow the public schools to recruit also. This is ALL fact. Not fiction. Altogether though, the game was a great game in a great atmosphere and close enough to not be called a "butt kicking". The proud homegrown boys of Danville fought to the end and will do so again in years to come! In the end, Danville can honestly say that we are proud of our hometown boys! Which hometown is Providence proud of???
ReplyDeleteProvidence can be proud of their hometown of Vatican City
ReplyDeleteDude, this is awesome. Who are these people?
ReplyDelete