Goss: Full steam ahead to state championship game for Plainfield North

Win or lose, Plainfield North will celebrate its football team at 2 p.m. Sunday with an assembly in the school gymnasium that is open to the public.

The decision that came down Wednesday morning from Chicago Circuit Court sided with the IHSA, which had said that according to its bylaws, Plainfield North rightfully belongs in Saturday’s 4 p.m. state championship football game against East St. Louis.

Fenwick, whose officials said they will not pursue the matter further, had taken the IHSA to court on the grounds that an official’s mistake in application of the rules allowed North to tie the game, 10-10, on a field goal on an untimed down. The Tigers went on to win, 18-17, in overtime.

The arguments that have been made the past few days were reasonable on both sides. North played the game as it was dictated by the game officials and won on the scoreboard, which ultimately is what mattered.

Fenwick claimed it would have won, 10-7, had the mistake not happened.

The IHSA’s stance was it stands by its bylaw, which say the decisions of the game officials are final, making North the 18-17 winner.

You can’t help but come away from this whole mess feeling sorry for everyone involved.

First is Fenwick, the team being left out of the state championship game when it thought it won its semifinal.

Then there is East St. Louis, which went into Wednesday morning not knowing for sure which opponent it was preparing to meet, or if it would be playing for a state title at all.

North is a winner in one very important sense, but the Tigers have been robbed of the opportunity to fully enjoy the week leading up to the state championship game.

Coach Tim Kane and his staff were bound and determined to keep the players’ minds on East St. Louis all of this week. However, in this age of social media, the Tigers likely were aware what was being written and said about them, as if they somehow were the bad guys.

Here’s hoping this situation is behind us. Questions will be asked Saturday of Kane and his players after the state championship game in Champaign, regardless of the outcome. Until then, the focus for the Tigers will remain where Kane has attempted to keep it all week – on facing East St. Louis.

The Flyers (13-0), of course, are among the state’s best teams regardless of class. It will take a monumental effort for North (11-2) to pull off the upset.

Of course, according to most observers, the Tigers were significant underdogs when they traveled to Bradley in the second round of the playoffs to face the No. 1 seed and rolled to a 49-20 victory.

It can happen. It will be interesting to hear the reaction from around the state if North does come out on top.

The reaction from here will be nothing but praise for a bunch of kids who did everything asked of them and, through no fault of their own, had to endure all of the scrutiny that came from being embroiled in the controversy over who really won the semifinal game.

Brad Klett, who covered sports events for the Herald-News for decades back in the day and now is a teacher and a coach on the freshman football staff at North, has been telling me for a long time that this senior class is the best class North has had.

These kids dominated on the freshman and sophomore levels, and they had all the ingredients necessary to make this sort of run in the playoffs. They have ample athleticism as a group, and they love playing the game together. I don’t know how much the controversy might have affected them before it was settled, but I have a feeling they are in a proper frame of mind now.

Playing for a state championship against a storied program such as East St. Louis is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The focus now is going out and playing the best football game – together – that they ever have played.

Regardless of whether you are able to get to Champaign on Saturday to cheer for the Tigers, you may want to set aside some time Sunday afternoon for the big celebration in the North gymnasium.

This football team is the first in Plainfield history to play for a state title, and the Tigers did nothing wrong in arriving on the big stage.

• Dick Goss can be reached at dgoss@shawmedia.com.