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glencoeanchor.com sports
the glencoe anchor | November 29, 2018 | 31
Football Coach of the Year
Holecek leads Ramblers past adversity
Michal Dwojak, Sports Editor
2018 Pressbox Picks
1st-and-3
22CM FILE PHOTO
Three STARS of the
week
1. Armoni Dixon
(above). The
Loyola linebacker
had seven
tackles, including
a sack in the
Ramblers’ 13-3
win over Brother
Rice in the Class
8A state title
game.
2. Edward Eastman.
The Loyola
defender had
two sacks and a
forced fumble in
the Ramblers win.
3. Noah Osher. The
New Trier boys
basketball player
had three-threepointers
en route
to 15 points in
the Trevians’ win
over Loyola.
John Holecek was in an
unfamiliar position.
His Loyola Academy
team had a 3-3 record
after falling to Montini
Catholic at home on Sept.
29, adding on to a season
that hadn’t gone how he
planned. The Ramblers lost
two consecutive games for
the first time since 2006
— Holecek’s first year
as the head coach — and
luckily beat St. Ignatius
in overtime the week before.
Loyola wasn’t playing
well and looked like a
shell of its former self.
Holecek knew something
needed to happen as
his team entered “survival
mode”; his players needed
to buy in if they were going
to go on a roll.
The Ramblers responded
in their next game in what
the head coach regarded as
his team’s best game of the
season. Loyola won 49-14
at De La Salle, looking
like the Loyola team many
across the state are used to
seeing.
“After we bottomed the
barrel, we showed that
we’re a good team,” Holecek
said. “I thought we
got our swagger back that
week.”
Loyola went on to run
the table, winning eight
straight games to win its
second state championship
in four seasons. The Ramblers
gained steam, shutting
out Maine South in the
Loyola Academy head coach John Holecek earned 22nd Century Media’s 2018
Football Coach of the Year honor. 22nd Century Media file photo
quarterfinals, while avenging
last year’s state championship
loss to Lincoln-
Way East in the semifinals.
Holecek’s strong leadership
in weathering an
early storm is why he
earned 22nd Century Media’s
2018 Football Coach
of the Year honor. While
Holecek has built Loyola
into a perennial state powerhouse
in football, he
knows he couldn’t do it by
himself.
“I really appreciate all
the support around me,”
Holecek said. “From the
Loyola administrators to
my wife who takes care of
my family at home when
I’m gone for the majority
of the time, to my assistant
coaches who have full-time
jobs and still commit to do
an ungodly amount of work
in the fall, and the players
and their parents, who buy
in and trust in us.”
Loyola executed its annual
plan of filtering kids
in each year. Juniors typically
gain experience in
back-up roles and take on
the leadership when they
become seniors. While not
everyone will move on to
play football collegiately,
everyone buys into Holecek’s
system, which has
produced two state titles
during his 12-year tenure
at the helm.
The players buy into
the culture set by Holecek
and his coaches. Loyola’s
assistant coaches film every
snap of practice and
spend hours after practice
dissecting all that film to
help the players learn. The
coaching staff bought in,
which makes it easy for
the players to buy in too.
That was Holecek’s vision
for the program when
he took over; he just didn’t
know it would take off so
well.
“I wanted to be in the
conversation,” Holecek
said. “I didn’t think it was
going to be consistent
every year. It’s not like
I have a piles of money
where we can buy kids.
You don’t have scholarships.
We’re going to
Please see coty, 29
MICHAL DWOJAK,Sports Editor
Sages win
pushes
Dwojak to
title win
Staff report
Monticello was always
just a town to Michal
Dwojak, but the town
helped him become a
champion.
The Sages’ 3A state
championship win on
Friday, Nov. 23, helped
Dwojak win 22nd Century
Media’s Pressbox Picks by
one game, narrowly edging
out Michael Wojtychiw.
Monticello’s win was its
first in school history.
Dwojak was happy he
stuck to the town he only
knew about because he
went to the University of Illinois,
Urbana-Champaign.
“I knew the Sages had
a great program, I’m glad
they could help me finish
a great year in picks,”
Dwojak said.
Listen Up
“We called it the revenge tour and took that to
heart.”
Artie Collins — Loyola wide receiver talking about the
Ramblers’ run to the state title.
tunE in
What to watch this week
WRESTLING: Central Suburban League South action gets
underway with a visit from a big rival.
• New Trier hosts Glenbrook South at 7 p.m. Friday,
Nov. 30 in Winnetka.
Index
27 - Athlete of the Week
26 - This Week In
Fastbreak is compiled by Sports Editor Michael
Wojtychiw, m.wojtychiw@22ndcenturymedia.com.