Gorches: Ingots making some noise

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Jeff Bean, head coach, River Forest football. | Jeffrey D. Nicholls~Sun-Times Media

Updated: November 9, 2011 3:23PM

The tone of Jeff Bean’s raspy voice — he was still recovering from a Friday night of yelling from the sidelines — was calm without much emotion, probably because the fifth-year River Forest football coach has been here before.

Three consecutive wins early in the season to build hopes in New Chicago, a town that hasn’t had too much to cheer for football-wise in a while.

That’s where the Ingots sit right now after cruising past Calumet 34-7 on Friday night. They’re 3-1 after a season-opening 38-30 loss to Elwood. Bean’s squad has outscored its opponents 100-15 in those three convincing wins.

But Bean and most of his players have seen this before. Last year, the Ingots started 3-0 before losing their last seven, including a 73-14 trouncing at Seeger in the sectional opener.

So why does Bean think it will be different just one year later?

“We have more team unity,” he said. “The kids are feeding off each other and feeding off their team chemistry.”

Sounds simple, but not when you factor in the loss of 16 seniors from last season’s squad.

Losing seven straight, then losing a huge chunk of your starters and key players doesn’t usually bode well for the next campaign.

They call it “rebuilding.”

Even the team’s preseason goals implied as much.

“We just wanted to be competitive,” Bean said.

Isn’t that coach-speak for “We just hope to not embarrass ourselves and maybe win a couple here and there”? Especially when the Ingots haven’t had much success in recent years to give reason for optimism.

In Bean’s first four seasons at the helm, he’s only witnessed six wins on the field — seven official wins when you count the forfeit to open the 2007 season in which Whiting won 63-0, but had to give up the win due to an ineligible player.

Take that forfeit victory away and the Ingots only had four Greater South Shore Conference wins in the last four years, three of them against rival Lake Station. And as any veteran of the annual rivalry game can verify, you can throw the records out in that one.

The other GSSC triumph came against Bishop Noll in 2009.

But lo and behold, River Forest is 3-1 overall and 2-0 in the GSSC after beating Calumet for the first time in conference play.

Is it fair to say optimism reigns as the Ingots go for their first winning season since 2003?

“We knew we had the weapons to be competitive,” Bean said. “We lost some vocal leaders (in those 16 graduating seniors), so we were a bit apprehensive. We now have the strong, silent type of leaders, not real vocal. But we’re clicking on all cylinders right now.”

Those ‘strong, silent’ leaders include four seniors who have played on the varsity since their freshmen years — Ramon Diaz, Jake Diaz (no relation), Brandon Armour and Jaime Cervantes. The last two each scored touchdowns in Friday’s landmark victory.

Bean also touted his group of juniors, who have been playing football together for a long time in the local Pop Warner program.

But once the enthusiasm of a nice start wears off — sounds a lot like last season, doesn’t it? — you can’t help but wonder if River Forest can actually hoist a trophy other than the one its earned by winning four straight regular-season games against Lake Station.

The Ingots haven’t won a real conference title since 1990, when they were in the old Northwest Hoosier Conference. That was also the last year they won a sectional crown during the program’s signature magical season, in which they played in the dome for the Class 2A state title. They lost 28-27 to Indianapolis Scecina.

Before longtime River Forest football fans correct me, yes I know your team won Northland Conference titles from 1999 to 2002, but only a handful of teams in that defunct conference had football teams. And there’s a reason a certain high school football website lists River Forest as an independent from 1998 to 2006.

Sorry to be such a realist, but winning a sectional title won’t happen, especially with realignment placing Andrean in Sectional 25. And don’t forget about Rensselaer and Wheeler also in that group.

Wheeler also is part of the large roadblock in the GSSC, but at least after two conference games it’s just down to River Forest and Wheeler for the crown.

Of course, as has been mentioned a couple hundred times, the Bearcats have never lost in the GSSC. In fact, the closest game Wheeler has ever played in the GSSC was its first one in 2007 — an 11-point victory over Whiting.

“It just hit me that we’re the only other 2-0 team (in the GSSC),” Bean said. “Wheeler’s dominant and everybody’s been picking them to win. None of the players are even thinking about that. They’re focused on North Newton this week.”

Good thing, because the Ingots haven’t beaten the Spartans in the GSSC. Same for Whiting (discounting that forfeit) and South Central.

So even when, er, I mean if Wheeler beats the Ingots by five touchdowns or more, they still have plenty to play for. Winning the rest of their GSSC games besides Wheeler would result in a 7-2 campaign, the best River Forest record in 21 years.

And sometimes that’s good enough to build momentum for future success.