[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 14]
[House]
[Page 19193]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




     HONORING WENDELL PHILLIPS ACADEMY HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PROGRAM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Danny K. Davis) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to salute 
the remarkable young men of Chicago's Wendell Phillips Academy High 
School football program, their parents, administrators, coaches, and 
teachers.
  Last Friday, in a stunning 51-7 win against Belleville's Althoff High 
School, the Wildcats won the 4A title for Public League's first 
football State crown since the playoffs began in 1974, completing an 
amazing 13-0 season. The 51 points scored by Phillips set a State title 
game record.
  The game featured record-shattering performances by a host of Wildcat 
players, including senior quarterback Quayvon Skanes, who rushed for 
141 yards and four touchdowns on 13 carries, passed for an additional 
44 yards and another touchdown--just to prove that he could throw the 
ball. Quayvon is headed to the University of Connecticut next year.
  Other thrilling performances included Kamari Mosby, who ran for 151 
yards and a score; Qadeer Weatherly, who pulled in Quayvon's pass for a 
36-yard touchdown; Amir Watts, who returned an Althoff fumble for a 19-
yard score; and a 21-yard field goal by Isaac Osei to demonstrate the 
Wildcats' comprehensive offense.
  The Phillips football program, the second largest in the Chicago 
Public Schools, is a study of the potential and the problems of urban 
education. With more than 90 student athletes, the varsity team is led 
by 19 seniors, all of whom are on track to graduate.
  In an after-game interview with the Chicago Tribune, Phillips' Coach 
Troy McAllister noted: ``When we go to practice, we go with footballs. 
There are no sleds, no chutes, no kicking nets, nothing like that. It 
goes to what our coaches have done and what these young men can do.
  ``We have five stipends for coaches. Everywhere else it is 10 to 14. 
That makes a huge difference, but these young men have bought into what 
we are trying to accomplish, and they have done something that nobody 
else has done.''
  These young men are not just athletes. They are also proud scholars 
and are members of a school which last year saw 100 percent of its 
seniors accepted to college, with more than $5 million in scholarships.
  In his after-game interview, Principal Matt Sullivan summed it all 
up. He said: ``It is fantastic. We want to be the beacon, the shining 
beacon in the Bronzeville community.''
  Mr. Speaker, all of Chicago is thrilled and delighted by the 
performance of this team. I offer my congratulations to their parents, 
administrators, coaches, and teachers for going above and beyond the 
call of duty. I extend my congratulations to each and every one of 
those young men and wish for them continued success in everything they 
set out to do in the years to come.

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