Chicago’s Hope Academy football team, which had two suburban opponents forfeit games following a shooting near its field, will host a home playoff game this weekend against a fellow West Side school whose officials vow to play.
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On Saturday evening, as the playoff brackets for Illinois prep football were unveiled, Hope Academy football players attended a watch party at their coach’s home to see who they’d play and if they’d earned home field advantage, according to Hope Academy founder Bob Muzikowski.The first-round pairings pit the Hope Eagles, a private Christian school in the Tri-Taylor neighborhood, against the Orr Academy High School Spartans, which is in West Garfield Park. Each has a 7-2 record. The game will be played at Hope Field in Lawndale’s Altgeld Park, and the coaches will decide Monday whether it will take place Friday or Saturday.
The matchup has taken on added significance as Hope Academy has only played once in the past three weeks following a Sept. 29 game against Providence Catholic that was interrupted by gunfire when someone in a vehicle shot and wounded another motorist on West Harrison Street, just south of the park.
In the weeks following the incident, Kankakee’s Bishop McNamara pulled out of an away game Friday against Hope Academy and Wheaton’s St. Francis High School forfeited its game Oct. 6, with both visiting schools citing concerns about student safety.
“We’re happy to be playing Orr,” Muzikowski said. “Really, we’re happy to be playing anyone.”
The abandoned games were especially disappointing as the St. Francis’ forfeit came before the homecoming game and the forfeit from Bishop McNamara coincided with “senior night,” the last regular season game for senior football players.
The cancellation of the senior night game prompted Hope Academy to organize a touch football game between students and teachers instead. Some Bishop McNamara alumni gathered to host a cookout for the Hope seniors before the exhibition, and hundreds still attended the “very touching” rose presentation ceremony for the seniors, Muzikowski said.
“When someone does this, it sends a patronizing message. It’s disheartening. Every boy on those teams wants to play. The parents are the reason why they’re not.”
Orr Academy Athletic Director Thomas Johnson said there was no question of whether they would show up for the game.
“We’re looking forward to it,” Johnson said. “This is the first year of making the state playoffs in a while. … There’s not any problem. It’s about the kids.”
Muzikowski said he trusted the school would show up, saying he wouldn’t be surprised if the Illinois High School Association had consciously matched the “like-minded city” schools to avoid another forfeiture. Matt Troha, spokesman for the Illinois High School Association, said it “didn’t make any special considerations in this class or any others,” and Hope’s opponent was based on its playoff formula.
Hope Academy has been working with Chicago Police Department officials to coordinate increased patrols for the playoff game, according to police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi.
Muzikowski acknowledged the planned increased police presence but stressed that violence in Chicago wasn’t exclusive to the area around Hope Field, referencing the Chicago Waldorf School teacher who was shot and killed this month in Rogers Park.
“We’re trying to make the neighborhood better,” said Muzikowski, who has lived in the Tri-Taylor neighborhood since 1991. “Over by where we live, we’ve had growing pains the last 25 years. The problem is the gutless cowards riding around shooting out of a car.”
Though Hope Academy has quickly grown from its founding more than 10 years ago, Muzikowski said its mission to serve its students and its community on the West Side has remained steadfast.
“We like to say Hope is a movement, not just a school,” he said. “We’re a mission program, and we are where we are for a reason.”
Twitter @_tonybriscoe
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