Secret is out on state champ Bolingbrook

Updated: November 27, 2011 9:47PM

CHAMPAIGN — Bolingbrook has had a lot of good football teams over the years.

This year, the Raiders had a great one, but it took a while for that reality to sink in. And that’s exactly how coach John Ivlow wanted it.

“Unranked [in the] preseason, 5-5 last year to state champs,” Ivlow said after Bolingbrook beat Loyola 21-17 in the rain at Memorial Stadium to win the Class 8A title.

Ivlow told “a select few people” early on this would be his — and Bolingbrook’s — best team ever, but they kept that secret pretty well. “We like to fly under the radar,” he said.

As the season went on, though, there was no hiding that these Raiders were a special group. After starting 4-0, they went to Homewood-Flossmoor and roared out to a 27-0 first-quarter lead en route to a 41-28 win. The next week, Bolingbrook lost 20-14 to a very good Lincoln-Way East team and that was the only time the Raiders walked off the field on the wrong end of the score all year.

Raiders shrug off injuries

That is not to say they didn’t face any adversity. Linebacker Antonio Morrison, the defensive leader who has committed to Florida, broke a bone in his foot two weeks ago vs. Downers Grove South and missed the semifinal win over Naperville Central along with the title game. And senior offensive guard Jacob Hawk, a two-year starter, also was lost for the season with a knee injury in the playoffs.

But somehow the Raiders kept plugging away and now they’ve done something no other team has in Bolingbrook’s storied football history. This is a program, remember, that hasn’t missed the playoffs since 1991, one that has been to the quarterfinals eight times in 20 years and to the semifinals four times in that span.

But the Raiders got to state just once in all those years before Saturday, losing 7-0 to Belvidere in the Class 5A final in 1993.

There was an extra sense of urgency this year, according to Ivlow, who presides over one of the state’s most stable programs. The Raiders have had two head coaches since 1978: Phil Acton, who retired after 24 seasons in 2001 but still runs the team’s summer programs, and Ivlow, who is 84-28 in the last 10 seasons.

Many of Ivlow’s assistants are Bolingbrook lifers. “When I [took over], they all said, ‘Hey, we’d like to get back on the carpet [Memorial Stadium’s artificial turf] one more time,’” Ivlow said. “They’re all getting old. We had two or three guys retire in the last few years who hit 70. ... You would like to give them that reward.”

Three of those long-time assistants not only got to coach in Champaign again, but got a title to boot: defensive coordinator Bob Corra, offensive line coach Joe Murnick and defensive ends coach Greg Pluth.

Keeping it simple pays off

The Raiders didn’t win by being fancy. “We spend an hour-and-a-half, two hours max on the practice field,” Ivlow said. “We try to challenge them more in the weight room than on the practice field.

“We try to keep it simple. We don’t ask them to do too much.”

But having strong athletes to work with helps: guys such as quarterback Aaron Bailey (6-2, 216 pounds), offensive lineman Robbie Bain (6-3, 296), defensive back Phillip Wilson (6-0, 190), running back Jaden Huff (5-9, 190) and defensive back Tevin Teamer (6-3, 195), just to name a few.

The Raiders will bring back seven starters next year, six on offense including Bailey, who will be one of the state’s top prospects in the Class of 2013. Ivlow said he’ll also be back, though with a son, Mike, playing football at Minooka and his other kids growing up as well, he’s taking it a season at a time.

“I’m good for another year,” he said. “[But] I’m getting to that point. ... After next year, I’ll have three in high school. I’ve seen one of [Mike’s] games in two years. It’s very tough, but houses aren’t selling. Unless I can move to Bolingbrook, I’ll have to pull the plug [on coaching].”

But if that happens, at least he’ll do so having the satisfaction of knowing he got the Raiders to the top of the mountain.

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