Chatham Clarion
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Issue Date: Dec. 23, 2010
From the depths of 0-2, Titans rise to elite level
By Joe Pritchett
Chatham Editor
Since the Glenwood Redskins (now Titans) won the Class 4A football state title in 1998, success
has stayed with the program. But that "elite" level hadn't been seen again until this past season.
Glenwood qualified for the state quarterfinals in 2003 and 2004, but, invariably, the team was forced
to meet up with rival non-boundary power Sacred Heart-Griffin in key playoff games, as in 2003, or in
subsequent seasons as the IHSA quadrant format made it almost a yearly ritual.
Then came the 2010 season. All conventional wisdom was thrown out the window, for nobody, not
one living person on Earth, could have forecast that the Glenwood Titans, 0-2 after Week 2 and
outscored 75-14 after two games, would rally to finish the regular season 6-3 before ripping off four
straight playoff victories to advance to the Class 5A state title game.
Glenwood avoided SHG in its playoff run, for the Cyclones were shocked by Jacksonville in the first
round. But the Titans had to defeat perennial power Bloomington, a dangerous Jacksonville team,
Springfield High (avenging an earlier 40-7 loss) and No. 2-ranked Peoria Richwoods before falling to
non-boundary Lombard Montini 31-14 in the state title game.
Besides this season proving that anything is possible, the Titans proved they were an elite team and
capable of a sustained run at this level.
"We always want to make improvements during the year and get better as the year goes on," stated
Glenwood head coach Dan Rourke, who just completed his 18th season. "To me, the thing that put this
team in the state championship ballgame is they truly never gave up.
"You start a season 0-2, and not a pretty 0-2 either, and to be able to play for a championship 13
weeks later, that's a pretty impressive group of guys right there," he added.
A season like this one also goes a long way to infusing more confidence and belief from fans,
players and coaches in the direction of a program.
"It proves we know what we're doing, and everybody needs that, in whatever line of work you're in,"
Rourke stated. "Everybody needs to have success to reconfirm that you're doing things right, and I think
we've been doing things right for a long time. This was just a special year."
The Titans (10-4) will lose 18 seniors to graduation from their historic 2010 team. But what made
this season even more special were the contributions from three different classes, and not just token
appearances. Glenwood's sophomore, junior and senior classes were all well represented as big-time
contributors on the varsity football team.
And besides the maturation of players like sophomore QB Miles McAdams and the solidification of
the offensive and defensive lines, Rourke and the coaching staff made a big adjustment to the offense
after Week 2, putting senior Tony Giovannelli in a more prominent role in the backfield.
"We had to adjust our plan," Rourke explained. "We had a sophomore quarterback and a
sophomore halfback in Donovyn Hammonds. And when we started the year, those guys were nervous,
and I expected that, but I didn't realize it would be at the level it was. When we got Tony back there and
decided he was going to play both ways more, it put another senior back there with Devin (VonNordheim-
Moore) and made people more comfortable. Plus, Tony's a good halfback and he did a nice job back
there."
Giovannelli has a scholarship offer on the table from the United States Military Academy to play
football for Army, and he told the Clarion he has made a verbal commitment. Giovannelli had a monster
senior season for the Titans, rushing for 1,130 yards, catching 12 passes, scoring a team-leading 28
touchdowns and registering 78 total tackles, fourth on the team.
"Tony was instrumental in our turnaround," Rourke added. "He's a quiet leader, and that's a lot like
our team was. We didn't have a lot of rah rah guys this year."
Another senior was not happy with the team's 0-2 start. Linebacker Zach Joos decided to call a
players' only meeting.
"Zach was challenging everybody, telling them this is not how things are going to continue," Rourke
stated. "He played his tail off all year, and he loved the game and loved just being a part of this team.
And as Coach (Len) Onken said, his leadership during games was huge."
DV Moore also had a monster senior season. After playing second fiddle to John Hagemann a year
ago, Moore rushed for 1,573 yards in 2010 and scored 20 touchdowns, all the while battling through a
painful shoulder injury.
"He's having surgery on that shoulder," Rourke explained. "He's got a torn labrum, and he probably
played with that the entire season. Devin really started to shine later in the year, and in the playoffs he
was huge for us. He had those six catches against Richwoods and he rushed for 150 yards in the state
championship game."
Then there are players like Raz Harris, a 6' 2" athletic receiver who opposing defenses simply had to
account for in their game plans.
"Raz probably felt the effects the most of us trying to develop a sophomore quarterback," Rourke
stated. "We had to use a very controlled passing game. He still had a very good season, with 35
catches and he made some big plays for us. But had he been here when Miles is a senior, who knows?
He may have had 80 catches."
But lost a bit in the shuffle in the improvement of the skill position players was the stabilizing of both
the offensive and defensive lines. The offensive line, with center Ethan Adams, guards Taylor Dace and
Kyle Shadden and tackles Patrick Bennett and Tom Cooper, dominated during the Titans' playoff run.
The group also represents what the word "team" is all about. Adams is a converted receiver,
Shadden was moved over from the defensive line and Dace had the strangest trip of all, moving from his
original position of halfback and linebacker at the start of the season. And playing on the offensive line in
a Dan Rourke offense isn't as simple as blocking the guy in front of you. There's a lot of reading, pulling,
trapping and pass protection schemes going on.
"We were searching for offensive linemen early on," Rourke explained. "We had a pretty good group
of linebackers, and Taylor looked like he may be the odd man out at that halfback position. So one day in
practice Steve Rembusch said let's take a look at him on the offensive line, and we plugged him in at that
right guard position. Taylor did a great job, and that's a very hard thing to do, switching positions like that."
The defensive line had to play all but the final two games without Jake Wienhoff, and guys like
Cooper, Kramer Halverson, Zach Finn and Nik Courtney did a solid job there. Joos and junior Eric Kerr,
the team's leading tackler, led the linebacking corps, which also included Jon Barrows and Joey
Giovannelli.
"Barrows was a steady player for us," Rourke stated. "And he almost missed that second Springfield
game. His sister got married that day, and we had to do some negotiating to get him out there. I'd like to
publicly thank his sister for allowing him to miss that ceremony but be at the reception. We needed Jon
that day."
"Kramer missed all of last year with a back injury," Rourke continued. "He came back this year and
played in all 14 games. He's big, tall and tenacious, and sometimes we had to remind him to back off in
practices. We were afraid somebody might get hurt. He played with a lot of intensity out there."
The secondary featured corners Mike Fiaush and Ian Richardson, along with safeties Tony
Giovannelli and Colin Stokes, with several other contributors as well. Fiaush's big hit on Springfield QB
Tyrell Bolden on a fourth down play in the playoffs still resonates with Rourke and Titan fans.
"Mike's like the silent assassin out there," Rourke stated. "He's not a real noticeable guy until plays
like the one on Bolden, a game changing moment. He's real steady out there and shows up in those big
plays."
Seniors on this year's team include Richardson, Austin Stoll, Jiarre Jackson, Brandon Bradley, Tony
Giovannelli, Jon Barrows, Josh Hobson, Harris, Fiaush, DV Moore, Dace, Joos, Wienhoff, Jeff Kirberg,
Halverson, Cooper, Shadden and Luis Jimenez.
•Glenwood will have the exact same schedule in 2011 as it did in 2010, except for the home/away
changes, of course. SHG and Springfield High will come to Chatham in the first two weeks, with
Southeast (Week 7) and Rochester (Week 8) the other regular season home games. Gateway Tech of
St. Louis remains as the non-conference opponent in Week 5.
"That first ballgame is out here against SHG," Rourke exclaimed. "You don't think they're gonna want
to take a bite out of our (butt)?"
McAdams, an early-season project who matured every day as the year progressed, leads the
returnees for 2011. It's been an almost annual ritual for Rourke to find a new QB in the offseason from a
wide pool of candidates, but that won't be an issue this time.
"I'm pretty fired up about Miles coming back," Rourke added.
Adams and Bennett return on the offensive line, as does John Nicholson at tight end.
"I'm proud of John," Rourke said. "I know he wanted to play quarterback, and it didn't work out the way
he wanted. But by the end of the season, he was pretty tough over there at tight end. He was buying into
what was going on out there, and he was pretty tough to handle."
Sean Dowling and John Petty return at receiver, and in the backfield, Hammonds and Joey
Giovannelli bring lots of speed and power.
"I think Donovyn could possibly be the best we've ever had back there," Rourke stated. "I hate to put
that on him, but if he wants to be an All-State halfback as a junior and senior, he can be that guy."
On defense, players like Kerr, Finn, Courtney, Stokes and Brandon Montrey return, along with Joey G.
A big wildcard to the success of the 2011 Glenwood team will be the development of four sophomore
linemen, guys with size comparable to players on teams like SHG. They are Chris Simmons (6' 237
pounds), Zach Lyon (6' 3", 252), Gabe Phillips (6' 5", 278) and Grant Lee (6' 257).
"We've got a bunch of big dudes coming back," Rourke exclaimed. "I don't know if I can coach those
big dudes, since I'm used to coaching smaller guys. And that's gonna be the trick, getting those guys to
move. In our system of offense, that's what you need."
As for avoiding another slow start, Rourke stated, "I think we'll learn from our start this year, and that
includes the coaches. Early in the season, we were trying to be somebody we weren't on offense, and
defensively, we were just trying to find ourselves. If we would have started our power running game early
in the year, we could have went to that play-action stuff sooner."
By Joe Pritchett
Chatham Editor
Since the Glenwood Redskins (now Titans) won the Class 4A football state title in 1998, success
has stayed with the program. But that "elite" level hadn't been seen again until this past season.
Glenwood qualified for the state quarterfinals in 2003 and 2004, but, invariably, the team was forced
to meet up with rival non-boundary power Sacred Heart-Griffin in key playoff games, as in 2003, or in
subsequent seasons as the IHSA quadrant format made it almost a yearly ritual.
Then came the 2010 season. All conventional wisdom was thrown out the window, for nobody, not
one living person on Earth, could have forecast that the Glenwood Titans, 0-2 after Week 2 and
outscored 75-14 after two games, would rally to finish the regular season 6-3 before ripping off four
straight playoff victories to advance to the Class 5A state title game.
Glenwood avoided SHG in its playoff run, for the Cyclones were shocked by Jacksonville in the first
round. But the Titans had to defeat perennial power Bloomington, a dangerous Jacksonville team,
Springfield High (avenging an earlier 40-7 loss) and No. 2-ranked Peoria Richwoods before falling to
non-boundary Lombard Montini 31-14 in the state title game.
Besides this season proving that anything is possible, the Titans proved they were an elite team and
capable of a sustained run at this level.
"We always want to make improvements during the year and get better as the year goes on," stated
Glenwood head coach Dan Rourke, who just completed his 18th season. "To me, the thing that put this
team in the state championship ballgame is they truly never gave up.
"You start a season 0-2, and not a pretty 0-2 either, and to be able to play for a championship 13
weeks later, that's a pretty impressive group of guys right there," he added.
A season like this one also goes a long way to infusing more confidence and belief from fans,
players and coaches in the direction of a program.
"It proves we know what we're doing, and everybody needs that, in whatever line of work you're in,"
Rourke stated. "Everybody needs to have success to reconfirm that you're doing things right, and I think
we've been doing things right for a long time. This was just a special year."
The Titans (10-4) will lose 18 seniors to graduation from their historic 2010 team. But what made
this season even more special were the contributions from three different classes, and not just token
appearances. Glenwood's sophomore, junior and senior classes were all well represented as big-time
contributors on the varsity football team.
And besides the maturation of players like sophomore QB Miles McAdams and the solidification of
the offensive and defensive lines, Rourke and the coaching staff made a big adjustment to the offense
after Week 2, putting senior Tony Giovannelli in a more prominent role in the backfield.
"We had to adjust our plan," Rourke explained. "We had a sophomore quarterback and a
sophomore halfback in Donovyn Hammonds. And when we started the year, those guys were nervous,
and I expected that, but I didn't realize it would be at the level it was. When we got Tony back there and
decided he was going to play both ways more, it put another senior back there with Devin (VonNordheim-
Moore) and made people more comfortable. Plus, Tony's a good halfback and he did a nice job back
there."
Giovannelli has a scholarship offer on the table from the United States Military Academy to play
football for Army, and he told the Clarion he has made a verbal commitment. Giovannelli had a monster
senior season for the Titans, rushing for 1,130 yards, catching 12 passes, scoring a team-leading 28
touchdowns and registering 78 total tackles, fourth on the team.
"Tony was instrumental in our turnaround," Rourke added. "He's a quiet leader, and that's a lot like
our team was. We didn't have a lot of rah rah guys this year."
Another senior was not happy with the team's 0-2 start. Linebacker Zach Joos decided to call a
players' only meeting.
"Zach was challenging everybody, telling them this is not how things are going to continue," Rourke
stated. "He played his tail off all year, and he loved the game and loved just being a part of this team.
And as Coach (Len) Onken said, his leadership during games was huge."
DV Moore also had a monster senior season. After playing second fiddle to John Hagemann a year
ago, Moore rushed for 1,573 yards in 2010 and scored 20 touchdowns, all the while battling through a
painful shoulder injury.
"He's having surgery on that shoulder," Rourke explained. "He's got a torn labrum, and he probably
played with that the entire season. Devin really started to shine later in the year, and in the playoffs he
was huge for us. He had those six catches against Richwoods and he rushed for 150 yards in the state
championship game."
Then there are players like Raz Harris, a 6' 2" athletic receiver who opposing defenses simply had to
account for in their game plans.
"Raz probably felt the effects the most of us trying to develop a sophomore quarterback," Rourke
stated. "We had to use a very controlled passing game. He still had a very good season, with 35
catches and he made some big plays for us. But had he been here when Miles is a senior, who knows?
He may have had 80 catches."
But lost a bit in the shuffle in the improvement of the skill position players was the stabilizing of both
the offensive and defensive lines. The offensive line, with center Ethan Adams, guards Taylor Dace and
Kyle Shadden and tackles Patrick Bennett and Tom Cooper, dominated during the Titans' playoff run.
The group also represents what the word "team" is all about. Adams is a converted receiver,
Shadden was moved over from the defensive line and Dace had the strangest trip of all, moving from his
original position of halfback and linebacker at the start of the season. And playing on the offensive line in
a Dan Rourke offense isn't as simple as blocking the guy in front of you. There's a lot of reading, pulling,
trapping and pass protection schemes going on.
"We were searching for offensive linemen early on," Rourke explained. "We had a pretty good group
of linebackers, and Taylor looked like he may be the odd man out at that halfback position. So one day in
practice Steve Rembusch said let's take a look at him on the offensive line, and we plugged him in at that
right guard position. Taylor did a great job, and that's a very hard thing to do, switching positions like that."
The defensive line had to play all but the final two games without Jake Wienhoff, and guys like
Cooper, Kramer Halverson, Zach Finn and Nik Courtney did a solid job there. Joos and junior Eric Kerr,
the team's leading tackler, led the linebacking corps, which also included Jon Barrows and Joey
Giovannelli.
"Barrows was a steady player for us," Rourke stated. "And he almost missed that second Springfield
game. His sister got married that day, and we had to do some negotiating to get him out there. I'd like to
publicly thank his sister for allowing him to miss that ceremony but be at the reception. We needed Jon
that day."
"Kramer missed all of last year with a back injury," Rourke continued. "He came back this year and
played in all 14 games. He's big, tall and tenacious, and sometimes we had to remind him to back off in
practices. We were afraid somebody might get hurt. He played with a lot of intensity out there."
The secondary featured corners Mike Fiaush and Ian Richardson, along with safeties Tony
Giovannelli and Colin Stokes, with several other contributors as well. Fiaush's big hit on Springfield QB
Tyrell Bolden on a fourth down play in the playoffs still resonates with Rourke and Titan fans.
"Mike's like the silent assassin out there," Rourke stated. "He's not a real noticeable guy until plays
like the one on Bolden, a game changing moment. He's real steady out there and shows up in those big
plays."
Seniors on this year's team include Richardson, Austin Stoll, Jiarre Jackson, Brandon Bradley, Tony
Giovannelli, Jon Barrows, Josh Hobson, Harris, Fiaush, DV Moore, Dace, Joos, Wienhoff, Jeff Kirberg,
Halverson, Cooper, Shadden and Luis Jimenez.
•Glenwood will have the exact same schedule in 2011 as it did in 2010, except for the home/away
changes, of course. SHG and Springfield High will come to Chatham in the first two weeks, with
Southeast (Week 7) and Rochester (Week 8) the other regular season home games. Gateway Tech of
St. Louis remains as the non-conference opponent in Week 5.
"That first ballgame is out here against SHG," Rourke exclaimed. "You don't think they're gonna want
to take a bite out of our (butt)?"
McAdams, an early-season project who matured every day as the year progressed, leads the
returnees for 2011. It's been an almost annual ritual for Rourke to find a new QB in the offseason from a
wide pool of candidates, but that won't be an issue this time.
"I'm pretty fired up about Miles coming back," Rourke added.
Adams and Bennett return on the offensive line, as does John Nicholson at tight end.
"I'm proud of John," Rourke said. "I know he wanted to play quarterback, and it didn't work out the way
he wanted. But by the end of the season, he was pretty tough over there at tight end. He was buying into
what was going on out there, and he was pretty tough to handle."
Sean Dowling and John Petty return at receiver, and in the backfield, Hammonds and Joey
Giovannelli bring lots of speed and power.
"I think Donovyn could possibly be the best we've ever had back there," Rourke stated. "I hate to put
that on him, but if he wants to be an All-State halfback as a junior and senior, he can be that guy."
On defense, players like Kerr, Finn, Courtney, Stokes and Brandon Montrey return, along with Joey G.
A big wildcard to the success of the 2011 Glenwood team will be the development of four sophomore
linemen, guys with size comparable to players on teams like SHG. They are Chris Simmons (6' 237
pounds), Zach Lyon (6' 3", 252), Gabe Phillips (6' 5", 278) and Grant Lee (6' 257).
"We've got a bunch of big dudes coming back," Rourke exclaimed. "I don't know if I can coach those
big dudes, since I'm used to coaching smaller guys. And that's gonna be the trick, getting those guys to
move. In our system of offense, that's what you need."
As for avoiding another slow start, Rourke stated, "I think we'll learn from our start this year, and that
includes the coaches. Early in the season, we were trying to be somebody we weren't on offense, and
defensively, we were just trying to find ourselves. If we would have started our power running game early
in the year, we could have went to that play-action stuff sooner."