NewsTribune football notebook: Jose Medina will ‘cherish’ senior night with son, Andy

As a coach at La Salle-Peru for more than 20 years, first as an assistant and now in his 10th season as head coach, Jose Medina has been involved in many senior night festivities.

But Friday’s at Howard Fellows Stadium was special as his son, Andy, was honored.

“I’ve been through a lot of senior nights, but to actually have the opportunity to walk my son out there was fun,” Jose Medina said. “It’s one of those moments you’re going to cherish. I’m proud of him. He’s played his butt off for L-P for the last three years on varsity. I’m hard on him, but I’m happy for all he’s done and all his achievements.”

Friday’s 28-13 loss to Sycamore was likely Andy Medina’s last time playing at Howard Fellows Stadium as the Cavaliers (3-4) play their final two regular season games on the road and if they qualify for the playoffs they would open on the road.

“It’s surreal,” Jose Medina said of Andy playing his last game at Howard Fellows. “He’s grown up on this field. He’s been running around here ever since he could walk. I had to drag [my kids] here during the summer. The great thing is, I had [former L-P athletic administrative assistant] Diane Bergagna who would help me out in the summer and she would watch them during that time.

“It’s crazy, once they hit high school, it goes by fast. We have two more games left and we’re going to try to do our best to hopefully make a playoff run.”

Hitting the big play

Hall showed big-play ability in the passing game during Friday’s 35-14 loss to Monmouth-Roseville.

Down 28-0 in the fourth quarter, Aiden Redcliff connected with Jack Jablonski for a 77-yard touchdown on a halfback pass.

The Red Devils also scored on an 87-yard pass from Dylan Glynn to Braden Curran.

Drawing it up

L-P’s 18-yard touchdown pass from Marion Persich to Landon Zellers with 2:42 left in Friday’s loss to Sycamore was designed on the sidelines after the initial idea stemmed from post-practice throwing sessions.

“I throw the ball to Zellers every once in a while after practice and he told me, ‘Hey, we should work on this,’” Medina said. “We kind of put that together. It ended up working in our favor.

“I was happy for Zellers to score that touchdown. I told him at the beginning of the game he was going to make a play this week and he ended up doing it, so I’m proud of him.”

Home away from home

Bryant Field is unquestionably Noah LaPorte’s favorite field, but Mendota’s Trojan turf may be a close second.

Two years ago, the Princeton all-stater set a school record with 206 yards receiving to go along with four touchdowns.

For an encore, he caught three passes for 88 yards and two touchdowns in the Tigers’ 57-14 win at Mendota on Friday.

“I guess it’s something about playing here I turn it on,” he said.

LaPorte, who is a Northwestern University commit, said he’ll never forget his record-setting night at Mendota in 2022, because everyone was reminding him of it before the game Friday.

“I’m not going to forget that moment. It’s a great feeling just to kick-start that win streak we had,” he said.

Trojans throw out new wrinkle

Mendota threw out a new look on offense for the first time Friday night against Princeton with a split line of scrimmage with most of its line away from the quarterback and center.

Mendota coach Keegan Hill was pleased with its success.

“We were 50% on execution on the two unconventional formations Friday night. It did provide a spark,” Hill said. “We hit a ‘Polecat’ formation completion for 18 yards on the first drive. We were sacked later in the game on a ‘Pods’ formation.”

Inside the numbers

There were Interesting numbers from Friday’s Princeton-Mendota game that stood out.

Princeton scored so quickly they didn’t have the ball in their hands all that often as indicated in Mendota’s edge in time of possession, 37:08 to 10:52.

The Tigers faced only one third down all night, an incomplete pass that led to halftime, and faced no fourth downs, and had no need to punt.

Reaching a milestone

Former Princeton coach Joe Ryan, who is now at Sycamore, reached a career milestone Friday.

Ryan coached the Spartans to a 28-13 victory over La Salle-Peru to record his 200th career victory.

“It means a lot,” Ryan said. “We’ve got some really good teams here. Some really good kids. I’ve had some great coaches along the way that helped us. This is 200 wins on my record, but a lot of people had a lot to do with that.”

Ryan started his career in Eureka where he went 9-9 in two seasons.

He spent the next nine seasons at Princeton where he guided the Tigers to a 44-43 record. Ryan led Princeton to three playoff appearances, including an 11-2 record and a Class 4A semifinal appearance in 2002.

Ryan is 147-74 in his 21st season at Sycamore, including a 7-0 mark this season.

Ryan is 200-126 (.613 winning percentage) in his 32nd year as a head coach.