This is one outlet's own report from Chicago Sun-Times — the article as it was filed.
AIPROPX ReportChicago Sun-Times · 1d ago
King's upset of St. Laurence proved the Jaguars on the rise
Add another name to the list of Public League football powers on the South Side.
Morgan Park, Simeon and Kenwood have been getting most of the attention in recent years. But they're no longer alone in boosting the city's reputation in the larger Illinois prep football community.
King was a longtime Public League force under coach Lonnie Williams before having a bit of a down period after his retirement. Now, fifth-year coach Abdullah Asad and some Division I prospects have the Jaguars back on the radar.
King's Week 1 result — a 15-14 comeback win at Catholic League power St. Laurence — put an exclamation point on the program's recent rise.
The Jaguars trailed 14-3 after three quarters against the Vikings, who were a Class 6A semifinalist last season and have reached the quarterfinals or beyond six times since 2015.
"It meant a lot, man," said junior running back Jamar Lewis, a four-star prospect with five Power Four offers. "It's like we [are] making a statement in the city and [to] the [Catholic League], like we can play with anybody."
Cornelius Moore, a 6-5, 340-pound senior offensive tackle committed to Florida Atlantic, seconded that.
"It meant a lot to us, especially the development part we had [gone] through since we [weren't] really doing that well," he said. "And now we have developed into a greater team and we wore them out."
"Getting our kids to where we want to get them to, you've got to play the Catholic schools," Asad said. And then we just talk about the state playoffs. You've got to be able to play the quality opponents as you go through, so that was big for our schedule in the preseason."
The Jaguars' motto for the season is "fast, physical, disciplined." That last one was a big point of emphasis over the offseason.
"The last couple seasons when we went to the state playoffs, it was literally like penalties were killing us," Asad said. "We didn't have a lot of penalties [against St. Laurence], so that discipline piece was really, really big for us."
Asad has led the Jaguars to four straight winning seasons and three IHSA playoff berths, and seen them return to the top-tier Red division last season. But his plan for the program's long-term sustainability goes beyond wins and losses.
King’s Herman Yancey (red jersey) carries the ball during a drill at practice on Wednesday.
Kirsten Stickney/For the Sun-Times
The program's growth has mirrored that of the school. King's official enrollment is 856, but Asad said the actual number is closer to 1,000 — about double what it was when he arrived.
Also showing up more these days are college recruiters. Besides Lewis and Moore, senior safety Emmanuel James and senior lineman Damare Griffin have Division I offers.
The Jaguars split their practice time between two locations. One is Mandrake Park, which is about seven blocks away, has a turf football field and formerly hosted Phillips' home games. The other is a grass field a half-block north of the campus and tucked behind now-closed Price Elementary School.
Asad said the short-term goal is to upgrade the latter to a full-time practice field lined for football and including goalposts. The longer-term dream is to possibly expand the footprint and build a stadium that could host football games and track meets, among other events.
"You've got to come in and put your own spin on the whole program," Asad said. "I played college football [at Concordia-St. Paul], I came from Morgan Park High School. So establishing culture within the building was something that was big. ...
"We started out with about 21 kids when I took over and this year we have about 110 kids inside the program. So it's been fun."
King'sLaurenceJaguarsAddPublic LeagueSouth SideMorgan ParkSimeonKenwoodIllinoisKingLonnie Williams
AIPROPX is an independent multi-source news index — we track, compare, and connect coverage from across the web into one place you won't find anywhere else.
