4 Nov 2021

Mud and the Monsoon, Football in All Its Glory

by | posted in: High school sports, Photojournalism, Post | 0

Mount Carmel and Thornwood’s 1st Round Playoff Game Started With A Splat!

Thornwood players stand around their coaches in the rain and covered in mud after the end of their IHSA football Class 7A 1st Round playoff game against Mount Carmel, in South Holland on Oct. 29, 2021. (photo by Vincent D. Johnson).

In 25 years of photographing high school football, this first round playoff game might have been the wettest I’ve ever seen! Mount Carmel was the away team, but this suburban game was probably an easier drive than most of their home games in the city. So, even though I showed up right at kickoff (traffic was a mess), I parked almost right by the gate to the field. Just looking at the rain coming down I knew this was a one camera night. Something I haven’t done since I only had one camera.

This was what the rainfall looked like for the entire game. It never let up, in South Holland on Oct. 29, 2021. (Vincent D. Johnson).

Luckily for me this was the first year I had actually invested in a quality Think Tank rain cover for my camera, and I will say, while it held up its end of the bargain, I wouldn’t have tried to shoot a second game that night.

By the time the second half started Mount Carmel’s white away jerseys were looking more like their brown home jerseys, and with the game in hand late in the fourth quarter, it appeared that head coach Jordan Lynch was putting any player with a clean jersey into the game.

By the second half of the game Mount Carmel’s white away jerseys were almost the same as their brown home jerseys, in South Holland on Oct. 29, 2021. (photo by Vincent D. Johnson).
Thornwood’s head varsity football coach Kenneth Smith during the IHSA Class 7A 1st Round playoff game against Mount Carmel, in South Holland on Oct. 29, 2021. (Vincent D. Johnson / Daily Southtown).
Mount Carmel’s Blainey Dowling throws against Thornwood in the IHSA Class 7A 1st Round playoff game, in South Holland on Oct. 29, 2021. (Vincent D. Johnson / Daily Southtown).
Thornwood’s Saveon Brown (1) tries to avoid Mount Carmel’s defenders Nickolas Naujokas and Danny Novickas (28) in the IHSA Class 7A 1st Round playoff game, in South Holland on Oct. 29, 2021. (Vincent D. Johnson / Daily Southtown).
Mount Cramel’s Blainey Dowling (l to r) Charlie Fordon and Owen Schickle ran back onto the field to slide in the mud after winning their game against Thornwood in the IHSA Class 7A 1st Round playoff game, in South Holland on Oct. 29, 2021. (Vincent D. Johnson / Daily Southtown).

Time For Turf?

While a lot of folks think games like this are a reason to install artificial turf at all high schools, I can’t help but point to the story written about this game in the Daily Southtown where they talked about the experience of a mud bowl game.

Also, it’s been a while since I’ve covered a game like this, 2012 was the last time I remember such a game, and even then I knew it was one of the last I was likely to see.

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