A terrific twosome

Before Saturday night's Class 6A semifinal against Lemont, Jason Thormeyer, Oak Forest's acting head coach, will repeat a weekly ritual, pointing out five goals that Mike Johns, Chad Sprayberry and his defensive unit should strive to accomplish if the Bengals are to be successful.

No. 1: Keep a zero. No. 2: Force turnovers. No. 3: Don't give up big plays. No. 4: Score on defense. No.5: Get three-and-outs on every series.

''Our mentality is to force turnovers, get your hands on the ball. Turnovers change the game,'' said Sprayberry, a 6-3, 228-pound linebacker. ''Most of us have been together since we were 11 or 12, since pee-wee football. It's like a brotherhood. We all know each other so well.''

It shows on the field. After losing to Oak Forest 34-0 in the opening round of the state playoffs, Eisenhower coach Travis Moore heaped praise on Johns, Sprayberry and the Bengals' defense.

''Their 4-3 defense is so physical and works so well together,'' Moore said. ''They have a team mentality. Everyone does his job, from the linemen to the linebackers to the secondary.''

''We focus on our own job and trust the guy next to us that he will do his job,'' Sprayberry said. ''It makes it great to work with each other.''

The unit, which has permitted no more than one touchdown in four of its last five games and nine overall, includes ends Joe Longawa and Jim Bardusk; Johns and Jordan Lovrich at tackle; Sprayberry, John Barry and Chori Bryant at linebacker; cornerbacks Dylan Ramos and Kevin Lowczyk and safeties Juan Ramirez and Casey Brent.

After splitting two games with Oak Forest, Richards coach Gary Korhonen said Johns ''is as good a defensive lineman as I have seen in 36 years. In our second game, of our 23 running plays, he made 18 solo tackles or assists. We couldn't handle him or Sprayberry. They totally dominated us.''

Johns, a 6-4, 245-pounder described by coach Brian McDonough as ''the best prospect I've coached in 23 years," said the key to the 4-3 is he and his linemates open up gaps for Sprayberry and the linebackers to make tackles. ''We trust each other, that everyone will do his job," he said.

''I have a defensive mentality,'' Sprayberry said. ''I want to hit people, take them to the ground. I want to physically hurt people when I'm on the football field. I played quarterback as a sophomore and there was talk about me playing guard or quarterback this year. But linebacker is my niche.''

After avenging an earlier loss and shutting down Richards quarterback Tommie Thomas last week, Oak Forest (11-1) faces another daunting task on Saturday, containing Lemont's high-powered offense led by Brett Nagel and Bobby Earnest. The Bengals did a good job in winning 14-7 on Week 8.

''We are very aggressive in stopping the run,'' said Thormeyer, also the defensive coordinator. ''We allowed Thomas to control the first game. Last week, we had to contain him in the pocket and put 11 men on the ball. We didn't change things; we just executed. Against Lemont, we must control the line of scrimmage, which we did in our first game.''

Thormeyer, 34, has taken over the head-coaching duties while Brian McDonough undergoes treatment for cancer.

But McDonough, who has chemotherapy every other Monday, attends practice and is on the sideline during games, working with the offensive coordinator Ron Czarnecki and the offensive line.

''[Thormeyer] is the head coach,'' Sprayberry said. ''But we still feel [McDonough's] presence on the sideline. We like to see him there. He tries to be with us as much as he can. He motivates us. We want to win every game for him.''