Young’s rushing attack leads to program’s first football city championship

By Joey Gelman

Every run or reception by Whitney Young senior running back Luke Yolich was met by hundreds of the Dolphins’ fans and his teammates chanting “Luuuuuuke” in an electric Gately Stadium during the 2024 Chicago Public League Football City Championship.

“It feels amazing, that means we have an amazing support system. Everybody loves each other on this team, it’s like one big family. I’m just grateful for everybody and for the fans,” said Yolich.

Whitney Young took on Kenwood Academy in a rematch of the 2023 Championship (Kenwood captured the crown) in this year’s title game, with it also being an unprecedented third matchup between the two teams this season alone.

“There aren’t any more secrets left, right? “ said Whitney Young Head Coach and alumnus Dan Finger. “We wanted to run the ball and utilize both our running backs in some funky formations to kind of keep them off balance.”

And the Dolphins were successful, with Yolich and fellow running back Max Warner leading the charge for Whitney Young, each accounting for a touchdown and a combined over 100 yards rushing on the day.

Young opened the scoring in the first quarter with a scramble throw and catch from quarterback Von Konrad to receiver Joseph Gray, making it 7-0 early in the game. The combined rushing attack and Warner’s touchdown gave the Dolphins a 14-0 lead into halftime.

Early in the second half, Yolich secured his touchdown thanks to a 30+-yard touchdown run and a field goal by kicker Robin Bradley made it 24-0 in the third quarter.

While Kenwood was able to secure a touchdown late in the game on a great connection from quarterback Jaeden White to receiver Lawrence Carr, Whitney Young’s running attack and stellar defense sealed a 24-8 victory, the school’s first football city championship.

“It feels amazing,” Yolich said. “We were here last year but unfortunately fell short, [so] everyone was just focused on one thing. We just stuck together, got the W.

“Everyone’s so proud. I’m proud of coach, coach is proud of us, it’s an amazing moment.”

The Whitney Young football program has had its share of ups and downs over the last decade, having had to shut down the program during the 2017-2018 season due to a shortage of players and lack of interest in the program.

To begin the 2019 season, the school hired one of their own, in alumus Dan Finger, to help resurrect the program that can now finally call themselves a city champion.

A program that had always been in the top division of CPL Football had found itself in the lowest division, working its way back up the standings to start that first year back.

With up-and-down seasons amidst the past few years and then the pandemic, this year’s senior class was the first one to participate in the Red division once again during its freshman year.

Finger, based on the strong foundation he had already built with prior classes, provided a new sense of proud identity and with it brought an exciting culture back to Whitney Young football now led by this year’s senior class.

“There are a bunch of alums here today who built towards this and believed in the foundation and the vision…. It’s awesome to see how they’ve invested in this [year’s] group,” Finger said.

“When I interviewed for the job, and you walked into the gym.. They [Whitney Young] have banners for everything… except football. Every kid that goes to Whtiney Young is exceptional as an academic student as well as in everything else, basketball, swimming, decathlon etc, and in football we have that too.

“We just hadn’t put it together and we hadn’t built it from the ground up where we got the buy-in from the hallways where kids can go, ‘I’ve never played football, I’m not going to do it,’ and we say come and try it.”

This culture shift has been paramount and is not lost either on Yolich.

“It means a lot. Usually when you think about Young, you don’t think about football right?” Yolich said. “It just puts us on the map, shows that we can compete. There is so much great football in the city and Whitney Young being a part of that is just an amazing sight.”

As the Dolphins’ 2024 season nears the end, the foundation could not be stronger.

“Coaches trust the players, players trust the coaches and that is essential to what we do,” said Finger. “I’m grateful, they’re easy to coach. I’m going to be in a postseason depression for like a week after [the season] because I’m going to miss these kids like crazy.

“The championship experience is what I love for our kids and I hope that permeates and continues in the next year and years in the future.”

The Dolphins will close their season with their first trip to the historic Prep Bowl against the Chicago Catholic League Champions St. Ignatius on Friday, Nov. 29, at 11am at Fornelli Field on the campus of St. Ignatius College Prep.

Photos by Sydney Gaietto/Amundsen senior (IG: snapshots.bysid)