Athlete of the Month: Oak Forest's Brown Delivers the Goods

Watch: Oak Forest senior wrestling standout Alec Brown takes down a teammate during a final tuneup session for this weekend's Class 2A state tournament.

At Oak Forest High School, the question of what can Brown do for you comes with a ready-made answer. Just about anything. Senior Alec Brown boasts and 3.88 grade point average. He is an honor-roll student considering a career in engineering or physical therapy. He also is a two-sport standout and one of six individuals who will be representing the Bengals in the IHSA Class 2A state wrestling tournament this weekend in Champaign. And he is Southland Patch’s Athlete of the Month for January. Brown, a 220-pounder with a 37-3 record, reported to wrestling drills late. He had a good reason. He was the middle linebacker and defensive leader on the Oak Forest football team that posted a 10-2 record, tied for first place in the South Suburban Blue…

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6A Football Preview: Bengals, Indians Clash in IHSA Quarterfinals

Oak Forest High School and Lemont High School met two times in the last 12 months, with the Indians topping the Bengals both times. This week, the familiar foes square off in Oak Forest, with the winner one step closer to the State title game.

Is Bengal Tom Zale Your MVP? Vote Today!

Oak Forest's Tom Zale accounted for three touchdowns in the Bengals' 69-29 victory over Shepard in the second round of the Class 6A playoffs. Will he become the Patch MVP this week? It's up to you!

6A Football Preview: Bengals, Indians Clash in IHSA 6A Quarterfinals

Oak Forest High School and Lemont High School met two times in the last 12 months, with the Indians topping the Bengals both times. This week, the familiar foes square off in Oak Forest, with the winner one step closer to the State title game.

Winner goes on, loser goes home. Those are the stakes for the showdown between the Oak Forest Bengals and the Lemont Indians on Saturday, Nov. 10. The familiar foes will kickoff at 7 p.m. at Oak Forest High School, where the pair previously met in Week 5 of the regular, a game that saw the Indians play spoiler to Oak Forest's homecoming with a last-second 17-14 victory. “That game, we played well, they played well,” said Oak Forest coach Brian McDonough. “It came down to a field goal at the end of the game.” The game is also a rematch of last year's IHSA second round meeting between the two clubs, which Lemont also won, 35-14. In Round 2 of the IHSA 6A playoffs last week, Oak Forest put on a rushing clinic against Shepard, piling up 457 …

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UPDATE: Mother McAuley's Kelly Clarke is Patch MVP

Mother McAuley volleyball standout Kelly Clarke outpolled nine others in voting for Southland Patch's MVP, Oct. 29-Nov. 4. She is now eilgible for Patch Athlete of the Month honors.

Your Patch is a place to celebrate local high school athletes. Show your support for these prep sports MVPs—each of whom is Athlete of the Week in his or her local Patch—by cheering them on in the comments thread, sharing your own photos with the Patch community and voting in the poll. Do you think we're missing someone? Tell us in the comments and share his or her photo to the gallery above. (It's easy. Just click the Upload Photos and Videos link — learn more here.) Read more about this week's MVPs in the photo gallery, and show your support for them by: There is one more way for you to become a more interactive fan: Sign up to become a Patch sports blogger. (Learn more about blogging on Patch here).

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6A Football: Oak Forest Runs Away From Shepard

The Bengals' ground game turned in an outstanding performance, piling up 457 yards and six touchdowns, en route to a 69-29 thrashing of the Shepard Astros.

Breaking It Down: Fans who showed up Friday night at Shepard High School expecting a football game  instead saw what amounted to a track meet, as the Oak Forest Bengals and Shepard Astros lit up the scoreboard to combine for 98 total points. Oak Forest fired out of the blocks first, tallying six total touchdowns in the first half, including scores of four scores of 20-yards or longer. The Bengals were paced in the first half by fullback Ben Santiago, who had three touchdowns in the first half, and quarterback Tom Zale, who lofted two touchdown passes. The offensive onslaught by Oak Forest gave them a 41-7 halftime lead over the Astros. Shepard wouldn't go quietly into the night though, as the Astros stormed out of the locker room, led by …

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Is Bengal Ben Santiago Your MVP? Vote for Him!

The Bengal football star needs your support to help boost him to Patch MVP of the week! Vote now!

Is Bengal Ben Santiago Your MVP? Vote!

A record-setting diver? State medal-winning tennis player? Football hero or someone else? Who will hear the loudest roar from the crowd in voting for Southland Patch's MVP, Oct. 15-21?

UPDATE: Andrew's Bryan Warja is Patch MVP

Andrew football standout Bryan Warja outpolled 11 others in voting for Southland Patch's MVP, Oct. 15-21. Warja is now eligible for Patch Athlete of the Month honors.

Your Patch is a place to celebrate local high school athletes. Show your support for these prep sports MVPs—each of whom is Athlete of the Week in his or her local Patch—by cheering them on in the comments thread, sharing your own photos with the Patch community and voting in the poll. Do you think we're missing someone? Tell us in the comments and share his or her photo to the gallery above. (It's easy. Just click the Upload Photos and Videos link — learn more here.) Read more about this week's MVPs in the photo gallery, and show your support for them by: There is one more way for you to become a more interactive fan: Sign up to become a Patch sports blogger. (Learn more about blogging on Patch here).

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Football: Santiago, Oak Forest Run Down T.F. South

Oak Forest 28, Thornton Fractional South 20: Ben Santiago ran for three touchdowns as the Bengals gained a share of the South Suburban Blue Conference title on Friday night in Lansing.

Breaking It Down: He was Backup Ben until a teammate went down with an injury. Now, he is Conference Champion Ben. Ben Santiago rushed for 146 yards on 22 carries and scored three touchdowns in Oak Forest’s 28-20 football victory over Thornton Fractional South on Senior Night Friday in Lansing. Santiago scored on runs of 1, 4 and 19 yards as the Bengals (8-1, 5-1) gained a share of the South Suburban Blue Conference title. T.F. South (7-2, 5-1) missed a chance to win the title outright. The Rebels trailed 14-0 at half and 21-6 in the third quarter before mounting a comeback bid. Joe Young scored on an 11-yard run and tacked on the two-point conversion to cut the T.F. South deficit to 28-20. But Oak Forest’s Jeremy Kurtz picked off a fourth…

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