Hoops fever is sky high

With the boy’s basketball season finally here, Riverside Brookfield High School could not be more pumped. With nine players returning for another season, the Bulldogs are back and better than ever.

The starting five players are a strong core of athletes including three all conference returners: Six foot one inch guard Senior Sean McGonagill, six foot guard Senior Billy VandeMerkt, and six foot two inch guard Junior Ryan Jackson. Added to those three are six foot five inch center Senior Terrence Reed, who will be commanding the paint this year, and six foot one inch guard/forward Junior Watoris Slater, who will be a rebounding machine. Both of these players are sure to help ensure the team victory.

The Bulldogs also have a strong core of players that will be coming off the bench. Six foot eight inch center Junior Alex Dziagwa, six foot four inch guard Senior Mike Hansa, six foot one inch guard/forward Senior Mark McDonagh, five foot eleven inch guard Senior Nick Arias, and five foot eleven inch guard Senior Matt Meindl, will all provide relief to the starting five.

The Bulldogs opened up their season this past weekend at the Bill VandeMerkt tournament hosted at RB. The team dominated the competition winning their second consecutive title by beating Payton 65-26, Hinsdale South 73-49, and rival Nazareth 69-45. 

The Bulldogs are looking to keep their undefeated season going by taking on the Tigers of Elmwood Park on Friday, December 4^th at 7 p.m. Come cheer on the Bulldogs, wear your blue and white, and be ready to scream your heart out.

The unsung heroes: The Sixth Man

Football season is now over. This means that it’s time for RB to focus on its next big sports craze, basketball! The 2009-2010 basketball season is quickly approaching and hoops fever is high.

The team this year will be led by future Brown University superstar and senior, Sean McGonagill and returning junior, Ryan Jackson, who came off a sensational sophomore year. With these two players returning this year, the team looks better than ever.

Possibly more important than these two stars, however, is the RB basketball cheering section, The Sixth Man. At home games, more than 100 spirit-filled RB students yell, scream, and cheer on the Bulldogs.

“The goal of The Sixth Man is to give the team a confidence boost during the game and also get in the heads of the other team’s players, and psyche them out,” said senior Ian Robertson, who plans to lead The Sixth Man this upcoming season.

Over the years, The Sixth Man has helped the Bulldogs prevail against many difficult opponents by making their presence known.

“The Sixth Man definitely gives us a home court advantage,” said senior Forward/Guard Mark McDonagh, “every team that comes into our house knows that The Sixth Man is going to be relentless, so they start the game off with a disadvantage.”

Another thing The Sixth Man wants to bring to the table this year is not only going to home games, but games on the road too.

“Playing on the road is one of the hardest things our team has to do. Having The Sixth Man there will definitely make us feel at home,” said senior Shooting Guard Mike Hansa.

The Sixth Man has some big plans for the upcoming season. “We are going to try a lot of new and different things this season to help get our team win a state championship,” said Robertson, “we are going to use black outs, rally towels, and different costumes. Be ready for anything!”

The RB Basketball Season tips off on November 25^th at RB. The team will be there, The Sixth Man will be there…will you?

Bulldogs season falls short

Riverside Brookfield varsity football season came to an end on Friday night, facing of against playoff rival Hubbard in the opening round of Class 6A playoffs.

During the first drive of the night, the bulldogs marched down the field with a powerful drive until being stopped by a turnover of downs at the inside of the greyhounds’ 25 yard line.

With a momentum boost from the big fourth down stop, Hubbard went on to score 14 unrivaled points and took control of the game until the second quarter when quarterback Billy Vandemerkt scored on a quarterback draw to cut the lead to 14-6. However Hubbard came right back with a field goal before the half to make it 17-6.

In the start of the second half Hubbard took off on the run game. With a couple of touchdowns the greyhounds strengthened their commanding lead by making it even bigger at 30-6. The bulldogs’ power defense could not stop the power house run game of the greyhounds having let up over 400 yards.

The dogs couldn’t get anything going on the offensive side of the game with a season low of 115 yards in the air; it just wasn’t enough to spark the offense.

The dogs finished the season at 6-4 overall and 5-1 in conference, sharing the conference title with Fenton.

With a highlight season from many players this year including Mark McDonagh’s 165 receptions not only sets a state record but a national record as well. With a season coming to an end wide receiver Mark McDonagh said “It was a fun year and I’m glad I could spend it with my teammates and coaches; it was a year I will remember for the rest of my life.”

Although they are losing many key players due to graduating this year, the bulldogs are already preparing and getting set for next season.

Miendl takes regionals

Unfortunately, in the busy world of athletics at Riverside-Brookfield High School, the name Matt Miendl is one most commonly associated with the varsity basketball team’s bench. This is where the senior had spent his winter season. Waiting for those few precious moments when he would win the crowd over with his incredible acts of athleticism, but unless you were able to catch a golf meet this year, you have yet to seen half of his ability.

Miendl has been able to show off his talents at the surrounding golf courses, and just recently was able to capture the regional championship, shoot an impressive seventy-two.

He began golfing at the age of nine, when his father would take him to their country club and teach him the basics. Since then he’s always had a special place in his heart for the game, but it wasn’t un till just two years ago when Miendl began to take golf seriously and signed up for private lessons at Oak Brook.  Which he claims to be a huge part of his success.

“The lessons were a big help, I credit a lot of my success to him.” explained Miendl. “My game truly elevated to another level after that”, but according to Miendl there seemed to be one more component to his success.

Larry Rocco.

Rocco has been the head coach for all four of Miendl’s years and was no doubt a favorite topic.

“Rocco, what can I say, one of the greatest and funniest men you’ll meet in your life. He’ll live forever, he’s just got it,” Meindl said.

For Miendl, next year won’t include coach Rocco, as he still is currently looking for a new coach to play for at the collegiate level.

“Illinois Weslyan is a really good school and I’m interested, but for now so much it’s up for grabs.”

Coming home again

Obviously one of the most talked about events this week, if not this year will be homecoming. The football game, pep rally, and annual dance combine to induce school spirit among the student body and excite age old competition between upper and lowerclassmen.

This year’s homecoming king and queen were Mark McDonagh and Emily Chapman. After they were announced at the dance the winners shared a dance to “My Wish” by Rascal Flatts.

However everything did not go totally smoothly for the king and queen. Apparently the student body did not want to separate so that the king and queen could go down the center aisle. Eventually the students were dispersed and the dance continued.

The music selection proved to be suitable both for people who came alone and for those who had dates.  Some group favorites were the “Cha Cha Slide” by DJ Casper and the “Soulja Boy”. Other popular songs used were Taylor Swift’s “Love Song” and “You Belong with Me”. The music followed the theme of going through the ages with the minor leaps into the 21^st century.

The decorations were completed thanks to the RB Student Association. One particular poster designed by S.A. demonstrated the dress styles of each time period.

Students strutted their stuff on the dance floor for most of the night, which really helped to make the evening a success.

The food selection was extremely varied this year. Refreshments ranged from cookies to pretzels, with drinks like water and kool-aid.

Homecoming was a fantastic night and the students of RB are hoping that the rest of the school year will be just as enjoyable.

RB football in the dog house

After coming off of an electrifying victory against the Robeson Raiders (2-2) to improve their record to 1-2, marking the first time RB Football had won a non-conference game in two years, the Bulldogs immediately slipped up the following Friday with a loss to the Fenton Bison (2-2). The Bison were able to cap off a 33-22 victory over the favored Bulldogs, who were not expected to lose a conference game in the foreseeable future. The loss snapped a nine game conference winning streak dating back to the 07-08 season, which was started after their last loss to Fenton.

They began the season against the likes of Metamora and Nazareth, two powerhouses in the state. Senior Quarterback Billy VandeMerkt has played well though this year and has found a favorable target in fellow Senior wide receiver Mark McDonagh, who in the process of blowing out Robeson, set a state record for receptions in a game. McDonagh however, is not overly concerned with setting marks, as winning is his primary concern. “The record sure was nice, but now we’re all past that, and focused as a team on winning conference,” he said.

Unfortunately, that goal is significantly harder now that the Dogs have played their way into needing for a little help from Ridgewood and Elmwood Park against Fenton over the next few weeks. That doesn’t mean that they’re completely dependent on those teams though. While Fenton is now 2-0 in the Metro Suburban Conference, RB can still play their way back into at least a tie for first place on October 9^th, 2009, when the Bison venture on over to Shuey Stadium in a grudge match for the Dogs.

Fenton QB Eric Justiniano and company will possibly be looking to secure a conference championship when they come to town, head coach Otto Zeman will be looking to climb back into the thick of things.

The Dogs were able to come back after the devastating loss to their conference foes, by walloping the Elmwood Park Tigers 48-7. Once again Mark McDonagh blew away the state record for receptions in a game, the second time in three weeks he’s done so, by hauling in an eye-popping 25 catches. McDonagh, however, wasn’t the only one re-writing the record books. VandeMerkt set a state record for career completions with his 646^th successful pass attempt.