Harlan, Hyde Park keep state playoff hopes alive with makeup Monday wins

SHARE Harlan, Hyde Park keep state playoff hopes alive with makeup Monday wins
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Harlan’s D’Carius Davis (1) carries the ball. Allen Cunningham/For the Sun-Times.

One football game might not seem like a lot. But for Harlan and Hyde Park, two teams battling for state playoff eligibility, it could be the difference between a trip to the state playoffs and staying home. So when Chicago Public Schools canceled all of the Friday and Saturday games in Week 7, the teams were crushed.

CPS canceled the games on Friday, citing safety concerns in the wake of the Jason Van Dyke verdict. Saturday night CPS changed course and rescheduled the games for Monday.

Hyde Park was in the middle of a pep rally on Friday when the team received the news that their huge rivalry game against South Shore had been canceled.

“It kinda ruined the mood,” Thunderbirds quarterback Lawrence Holloway said. “We were all pumped up and that kinda put a depression on the team.”

Holloway said it was “a shot of joy” when he learned the game was back on. He turned that joy into touchdowns on Monday afternoon. The big senior threw two touchdown passes and ran for two as Hyde Park demolished South Shore 44-0 at Back of the Yards.

Holloway throws the ball well and has a bruising rushing style. He plowed through three tacklers for his first rushing touchdown.

“Coach just tells me to stay up and use my feet,” Holloway said. “It it is the right person in the right spot they can bring me down. But if they don’t get me in the right spot I just keep going.”

The Thunderbirds (5-2, 3-0 Illini Big Shoulders) are now playoff eligible.

Harlan, another team with state playoff eligibility on the line, knocked off UP-Englewood 28-22 in the early morning game at Back of the Yards.

The Falcons (4-3, 2-1 Illini Windy City) won it on a 20-yard touchdown pass from D’Carius Davis to Dan Wright Jr.

“I knew it was coming to me,” Wright said. “My quarterback trusted in me and we got it done.”

Wright had four catches for 61 yards and two touchdowns. Davis, a junior, was an all-around force. The junior was 5-for-9 for 82 yards with two touchdowns and one interceptions. He also returned a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown.

“He’s a top five quarterback in the city,” Harlan coach Cassius Chambers said. “That’s the fourth kick he’s returned for a touchdown this season.”

The Lions (4-3, 1-2) trailed 22-6 at half but got back into the game in the second half behind running back Devion Clark, who had 14 carries for 120 yards and one touchdown.

The win gives the Falcons a great chance of making the state playoffs. If the game had remained canceled they likely wouldn’t have had enough playoff points.

“We were hurt when we thought we weren’t playing,” Davis said. “We didn’t know what we were going to do. It felt so good to come out here and play. We were tired with the nine a.m. start but we came out and got it done.”

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