In the scope of high school athletics, more often than not the biggest and most popular sports are what’s in focus. You’ll hear more about basketball and golf rather than badminton or flag football. However, last week, on November 4, the flag football team headed by four year veterans Cade Coughlin and Andrew Gough put themselves on the map. It was time to “saddle up,” recalls Cade, and that’s exactly what the intramural team of 15 members did. They spent that Saturday at Hallas Hall, the Chicago Bears headquarters and practice facility, and played five straight games in hopes of taking home a championship.

The state tournament was based around four teams, Lake Forest High School, St. Rita High School, Oak Park-River Forest High School, and a group of homeschooled kids that Couhglin says we’re “playing for a physical education credit.” The day started with a blowout against the homeschooled team, in which, according to Coughlin, the Scouts offense was “rolling.” From there the team played a close game against O.P.R.F, clearly the best team in the tournament. Fortunately for the Scouts, it was a late game defensive stand that propelled the team into their third game in the round-robin tournament. The last game of pool play was against St. Rita, a parochial school on Chicago’s southwest side, which the Scouts won by a convincing two touchdowns and also earned the Scouts flag football team a number one seed going into the playoffs.

With only two games separating the team and another championship, the Scouts switched gears, first cruising past the fourth seeded Homeschooled kids for a second time, and then mounting a huge second half comeback against Oak Park-River Forest in a rematch of last year’s championship to win it all. As one of the captains to this year’s team, Cade Coughlin attributes their success not only to the ability of their starting offense and defense, but to also the very supportive bench. He personally thanked the huge turnout of students that cheered them on. He encourages all who are interested in an intramural sport to consider flag football to help keep the tradition alive.

The team roster and coaching staff are listed below. Please join be in congratulating the very talented group that is the LFHS State Champion flag football team.

Coaching Staff:

Mr. Fiordirosa and Mr. Mocogni

Team Roster:

Patrick Philpott

Jason Ameri*

Owen Clarke

AdamJohnson

Ethan Talbot

Matthew Croissant

Ryan Lee

Charlie Pickus

Joe Chamberlain

Frank Phillips *

Peter Carney

Dewar Prom

Peter Janotta

Cade Coughlin *

Andrew Gough *

Captains are denoted with *