Titans Looking Strong as Homecoming Approaches

Fresh off a 36-13 victory against Bremen High School, the Tinley Park Titans are off to a great start as they prepare for Friday's homecoming game against Hillcrest.

So far this year, the undefeated Titans already matched their mark from last year's 3-6 season. Prior to beating Bremen, they notched a 39-12 win against Bogan High, a Chicago Public League school on the Southeast Side, and a 46-12 blowout against the Chicago Agricultural Science Academy on the Southwest Side.

The newly created South Suburban conference is tough — any team can take it at any given point, Tinley Head Coach Nick Johnston said.

The Titans will be celebrating homecoming on Sept. 17 with a game against arch-rival Hillcrest.

"They're a good team, but we have to get by Bremen first," Johnston said on Thursday, the day before the win.

So far in the young season, Coach Johnston's Titans have been very lucky.

"There have been a few minor concussions and some ankle injuries to report, but nothing too serious. We're being very cautious if someone does get hurt because we don't want to lose anyone later in the season. If we take care of it now, it will only make our guys stronger," Johnston said.

The Titans are a youthful team, playing 65 to 75 percent juniors at any given time, Johnston said.

"I hope they keep stepping up and getting the job done. If they continue to do that, we should reach our goal of competing for the conference and making the playoffs," he said. "I'm expecting a lot of things out of our secondary and our linebackers as all of them returned from last year."

Senior safety Julian O'Bryant entered Week 3 with 15 tackles and one interception return for a touchdown.

"We're better than last year. It's going well so far," he said. "We really want to put a hurting on Hillcrest on homecoming. Last year they beat us pretty bad, so it would be nice to get back at them."

Junior quarterback Kyle Sheridan has run for three touchdowns and passed for one.

"Coach gets us fired up for every game. He's great. I'm really hoping he leads us to a winning season this year," Sheridan said. "It'd be nice to score a few touchdowns against Hillcrest, both on the ground and in the air."

Senior running back Hassan Abdullah was sitting on three rushing touchdowns going into Week 3.

"This year, it seems a little different. Everyone's coming to practice and we get our work done," he said. "The Tinley Park Titans football team is like a family. It's great playing this year."