High School Football: Youth football continues to rise with a victory against Clemente

The boys ’basketball casts a big shadow on Young.

But Pat McHale, Aleks Dale and their teammates are also making progress to get attention for the football program.

McHale ran two goals and threw another Saturday, and Dale filled in a tight end and increased the score for special teams when Young opened a 52-6 win over Clemente at Rockne.

It’s a crucial season for dolphins who have joined the public league powers in the Phillips and Taft Illini Land of Lincoln section after being a 3-0 Illini Prairie State member in the spring.

Our goal at this summit is to show Whitney Young the elite of the CPS elite, said McHale, senior quarterback and security. We had the biggest freshman class and wanted to build the future.

We do not want this to be straightforward at this summit.

That would be a big step forward for the program, which had to press the reset button in 2017 when it closed in the middle stages due to low numbers.

To Kevin Tanaka / Sun-Times

When I first came here, it was a year after they got out of the team and had to cancel the season, McHale said. When I was a freshman, people didn’t even know we were playing football that year.

Now I feel like I get recognition and praise from the school.

If we had more fans, people would take us more seriously around the school, Dale said.

Credit it to players like McHale; Dale, a junior who plays around the field; and senior runner Frank Schotanus, who ran two TDs against Clemente.

Dale, a 6-foot, 215-pound, played tailback in the spring and was scheduled to launch a line of attack this fall.

The tight end, however, Sam Wyatt was left out of the injury, so coach Dan Finger moved Dale there.

[Dale is] just a freak, Finger said. When we get the best 11, Aleks plays as a guard.

That’s great for Dale, who returned a blocked pound in the end area due to Youngs ’first touch.

Aleks didn’t catch his eye, Finger said of the posture changes. We said: We think you’re better off when you’re on guard. He said: Sign up.

He goes where we need him. He knows the whole crime.

McHale, on the other hand, is a locked quarterback. He was 5 and seven 97 yards and ran four times for 28 yards.

He is an essential example [player]and it’s been awesome to see his evolving voice over the past year, Finger said.

A sign of McHales standing among his peers: Finger said he received 57 votes from the captain out of 60 votes.

Young is further away than Clemente, who dressed up for 16 players when they had an average of 10 players in pre-season practice.

Clemente coach Patrick Murray will see brighter days when school starts on Monday and players return to practice after summer jobs are over.

In a couple of weeks, I think I’ll be much better, Murray said.

One of the Wildcats highlights was Johnny Williams ’88-yard starting return for the touchdown.

Johnnys accelerator, Murray said. He was one of the guys who worked, so he hasn’t had much internship time yet. … We were just excited about the future.