<body><div><p>CALUMET CITY, Ill. (September 26, 2024) – While quarterback Dominic Gradford was leading TF North football to one of the biggest turnarounds in the state last fall, Jamirh Jolly was biding his time.</p><p>Gradford, the South Suburban Blue Player of the Year in 2023, has graduated and now it’s Jolly’s turn to run the Meteors’ offense.</p><p>So far, so good, as North is 4-0 overall after a 19-14 win against Evergreen Park on Sept. 20.</p><p>Jolly completed eight of 12 passes for 165 yards and a 72-yard TD to Keashawn Davis. Derrick Sparkman ran a fumble back 63 yards for a score and Geremiah Williams had an interception for North.</p><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2Qr5Uu_0vljhYkb00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2Qr5Uu_0vljhYkb00" width="1200" height="798" ><figcaption>Quarterback Jamirh Jolly (5) gets in position in the Battle of Burnham game against TF South on September 13. (Photo: Melanie Jongsma)</figcaption></figure><p>It’s just another step on the journey for Jolly and North, which is coming off a 7-3 season and the program’s first IHSA playoff berth since 2011.</p><p>“Practice-wise, it’s been a little rough, but we’re improving a lot,” Jolly said.</p><p>That apprenticeship behind Gradford helped Jolly get up to speed.</p><p>Then Jolly went to work in the offseason. The focuses: “Coverages, my reads and footwork.”</p><p>A linebacker before shifting to quarterback in high school, Jolly prefers his current position.</p><p>“I like the responsibility that comes with leading … making sure everything is right in order,” he said.</p><p>Having a workhorse running back like Joseph Merritt is a plus, helping to open up the passing game.</p><p>“The first couple games, we ran it a lot and we did pretty well with it,” Jolly said.</p><p>Unlike Gradford, who was more of a dual-threat quarterback, Jolly is content to stay in the pocket and find his receivers.</p><p>“I don’t roll out a lot, but if I have to I will,” he said.</p><p>Jolly hopes to play in college and has been in contact with Division III Carthage among others.</p><p>North coach Anthony Pignatiello believes Jolly has the tools needed to advance to the next level.</p><p>“The kid’s got a left arm of gold,” Piignatiello said. “He can make every throw on the football field. He’s playing in an offense his second year that’s very different from the first two years when he was developing as a freshman and sophomore. I think there’s plenty of opportunity to go out and play; at what level that is, we’ll see. A lot is going to depend on what his tape looks like at the end of the season.”</p><p>Pignatiello particularly likes how good a teammate Jolly was last season.</p><p>“He probably played single-digit snaps (in games) but took a ton of practice reps,” Pignatiello said. “What I always appreciate about Jamirh was that he stayed really positive. He stayed very much a team-oriented guy, very selfless. … When you have a conference player of the year playing in front of you on the depth chart, you have to stay patient.</p><p>“And he did. He grew mentally in the game, and hopefully it continues to show this season. Now he’s getting an opportunity to show what he can do physically.”</p><h2>Girls volleyball</h2><p>The Meteors (6-10, 0-6 South Suburban Blue) lost 25-18, 25-22 to Richards on Sept. 24 and beat Bloom 26-24, 14-25, 25-18 on Sept. 23. Aaliyah Baylor had seven kills and Jasmine Ramirez added 36 digs vs. Bloom.</p><p>North lost 25-10, 25-15 to Tinley Park on Sept. 19.</p><h2>Girls tennis</h2><p>North fell 5-0 to Lemont on Sept. 25.</p><p>The Meteors were edged 3-2 by Chicago Christian on Sept. 23, getting wins from Precious Agwu at No. 1 singles and from Favor Babtunde and Alexa Cervantes at No. 1 doubles.</p><p>Agwu picked up a win at No. 1 singles, but the Meteors lost 4-1 to Bremen on Sept. 19.</p><h2>Boys golf</h2><p>The Meteors finished fifth among five full teams in the South Suburban Blue Tournament at Green Garden on Sept. 23, shooting a 516.</p><p>North lost 146-200 to Oak Lawn on Sept. 19. Scoring for the Meteors were Luis Pelayo (49), Aiden Jordan (49), Chris Lopez (51) and Allister Tonajero (51).</p><h2>TF South</h2><h2>Football</h2><p>South lost 51-14 to Lemont on Sept. 20 despite a pair of long touchdown passes from Nick Ford: a 56-yarder to Tariq Meggs-Hood and a 39-yarder to Christian Streeter.</p><p>Ford was 8-of-17 passing for 172 yards and the two TDs with one interception, while Streeter had eight carries for 42 yards. Zyon Boateng had nine tackles and two tackles for loss for the Red Wolves, while Adam Aljoe contributed eight tackles.</p><h2>Boys golf</h2><p>Anthony Gianoli shot an 86 to earn all-conference honors in the South Suburban Blue Tournament at Green Garden on Sept. 23. Ryan Marnell (92), Abraham Serna (93) and Jacob Lindsey (104) were the other scorers for the Red Wolves, who finished fourth among five full teams with a score of 375.</p><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0lyeGa_0vljhYkb00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0lyeGa_0vljhYkb00" width="1200" height="900" ><figcaption>All-conference golfer Anthony Gianoli gets a lift from teammates (from left) Ryan Marnell, Abraham Serna, and Jacob Lindsey after the South Suburban Blue Meet on Sept. 23. (Photo provided)</figcaption></figure><h2>Boys cross country</h2><p>The Red Wolves swept the top four places en route to a 17-44 win against TF North in the inaugural Crosstown Meet at Erfert Park on Sept. 25.</p><p>TF South coach Fred Seibel said the meet was launched in response to the South Suburban Conference phasing out weekday duals.</p><p>Leading the way for South were John Carson (first, 18:25, personal record), Brandon Chavez (second, 18:31, PR), Julius Navarro (third, 18:37, PR), Ricky Budlove (fourth, 18:38, PR), Ben Gresham (seventh, 19:35, PR), Rodrigo Cortez (eighth, 19:41, season best), Josue Delgado (ninth, 19:49, PR) and Evan Krueger (10th, 20:07).</p><p>“I was very happy to win the boys trophy, and both teams were fired up for the race,” Seibel said. “School pride (along with the cooler weather) led to many personal records.”</p><p>The Red Wolves finished sixth among 16 teams in TF North’s Julian Urbina Invitational on Sept. 21 at Riverfront Park in South Holland. Scorers for South were Princeton Harb (15th, 19:08), Carson (18th, 19:26), Gresham (27th, 20:26), Delgado (35th, 21:15) and Cortez (36th, 21:24).</p><h2>Girls volleyball</h2><p>The Red Wolves lost 25-23, 25-15 to Shepard on Sept. 23. Earech’ Hill led South (8-8, 2-4 South Suburban Blue) with seven kills and seven digs. Layla Smith had 11 digs, one more than Joya Hurey-Scott.</p><p>South lost 25-16, 22-25, 25-21 to Oak Forest on Sept. 19.</p><h2>Girls tennis</h2><p>South fell 5-0 to Lincoln-Way East on Sept. 23 and defeated Hillcrest 4-1 on Sept. 19. Against Hillcrest, South’s Deisy Salto won in straight sets at No. 2 singles and the No. 1 doubles team of Esmeralda Spencer and Azuri Akbar rallied to win on a super tiebreaker. Hillcrest forfeited at No. 2 and 3 doubles to the teams of Samiyah Hart/Brianna Rosas and Rachel Odusanya/Salina Burton.</p><h2>TF United (TF South/TF North coop)</h2><h2>Boys soccer</h2><p>Omar Reyes scored two goals as United edged Oak Lawn 2-1 on Sept. 24. Oswaldo Mendoza had seven saves for United (7-2-3), while Danny Gonzalez and Angel Delgado contributed assists.</p><p>United and Reavis tied 3-3 on Sept. 19. David Lopez, Reyes and Delgado had goals, while Mendoza contributed an assist and seven saves.</p><h2>Girls swimming</h2><p>United fell 53-28 to Argo on Sept. 24. United’s 200-yard freestyle relay team of Bibi Harb, Jamya White, Aaliyah Harb and Alanna McWilliams took first, as did Aaliyah Harb in the 100 freestyle, Bibi Harb in the 100 backstroke and White in the 100 breaststroke.</p><p>United beat Bremen 42-24 on Sept. 19 and lost 50-31 to Kankakee on Sept. 17.</p><h2>Marian Catholic</h2><h2>Football</h2><p>Kyle Scott had 28 carries for 193 yards and a touchdown, and Jeremiah Stonewall ran seven times for 86 yards and two TDs as the Spartans beat Leo 33-18 in CCL/ESCC Red action on Sept. 20.</p><p>Marian (2-2, 1-0) also scored on Tremaine Cheers’ 65-yard run and Joey Baranski’s 29-yard pass to T.J. Garner. Baranski was 4-of-7 passing for 60 yards for Marian, which led 26-6 at halftime. Antonio Banks contributed an interception on defense for the Spartans.</p><h2>Girls volleyball</h2><p>Marian got past Andrean 25-9, 19-25, 25-22 on Sept. 25 to improve to 5-9. Olivia Helfen led the Spartans with 10 kills, three aces and 11 digs, while Eliza Skubisz had nine kills and two blocks. Also contributing were Zoe Crawford (four kills, two blocks), Kaitlyn Nichols (11 assists, eight digs, six aces), Zia Miller (14 assists) and Sarah Gordon (16 digs).</p><p>The Spartans downed Nazareth 25-12, 25-21 on Sept. 24 to move to 2-1 in East Suburban Catholic play. Helfen led Marian with 12 kills, three blocks and six digs. Also contributing were Skubisz (five kills, three digs), Chioma Nwagwu (five kills), Nichols (eight assists, two digs, two aces), Kaili Merrick (four blocks, three digs), Gordon (18 digs, two aces), and Miller (seven assists, seven digs, three aces).</p><p>Marian lost 25-16, 25-22 to Homewood-Flossmoor on Sept. 19. Helfen had seven kills and five digs, Crawford added six kills, Miller had nine assists, and Gordon contributed 12 digs.</p><h2>Illiana Christian</h2><h2>Boys soccer</h2><p>Corban Williams had two goals and Noah Davids added one as the Vikings (10-1-1) beat Hanover Central 3-1 on Sept. 24. Josh Carter, Grant Terpstra and Michael Zylstra all had assists, while Aidan Drost had two saves.</p><p>Illiana defeated Andrean 6-1 on Sept. 21, getting two goals each from Carter and Zylstra. Adam Molenaar scored once and there was an own goal. Molenaar added two assists, while Nick Neibert and Eli DeGraff had one each. Drost (two) and Ben Admiral (one) combined for three saves.</p><p>The Vikings defeated Wheeler 4-1 on Sept. 19, getting goals from Terpstra, Zylstra, Divine Olikagu, and Neibert. Carter, Zylstra, and Matt Davids each had an assist, while Drost finished with four saves.</p><h2>Girls golf</h2><p>Illiana finished fourth among nine teams at the Lake Central Sectional at Palmira on Sept. 23, shooting a 402. Regan Kats led the Vikings with an 82 that qualified her for the Lake Central Regional.</p><p>Also scoring for Illiana were Joanna Balkema (98), Katarina Dobrijevich (109), and Amalia Barnes (113).</p><h2>Unity Christian</h2><h2>Girls volleyball</h2><p>Unity fell 25-15, 25-20 to Islamic Foundation on Sept. 23. Veronica Overstreet had five aces and two kills for the Phoenix.</p></div></body>

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‘Team-oriented’ and ‘selfless,’ TF North’s Jamirh Jolly has led Meteors to 4–0 so far

CALUMET CITY, Ill. (September 26, 2024) – While quarterback Dominic Gradford was leading TF North football to one of the biggest turnarounds in the state last fall, Jamirh Jolly was biding his time. Gradford, the South Suburban Blue Player of the Year in 2023, has graduated and now it’s...