Public League on the rise

The state football playoff experience increased for schools from the Chicago Public League, with teams from the four Chicago Conference divisions joining the schools in the Illini Conference. While the results don't show it, the city game is making strides -- despite the fact the only first-round winners predictably were Morgan Park and Hubbard.

''The quality is up as a result of the elementary-school program,'' former Julian coach and Public League sports czar J.W. Smith said. ''It is no exaggeration to say that we had to show some guys how to put on football pants in high school. Now kids come in with some good fundamentals.''

''The first thing that we have to do is to get better coaching on the [elementary] school level,'' said former Robeson coach Roy Curry, who took the Raiders to the Public League's only state title game appearance in 1982.