BENGALS MADE GOOD ON THEIR INVESTMENT
OAK FOREST’S YOUTH CAMPS LEFT IMPRESSION ON AVILA, USHERED IN NEW ERA OF WINNING
Senior Juan Avila is an example of the outreach the Oak Forest coaching staff felt was so critical to the development of the program.
Avila, a highly productive, do-what-it-takes player and leader for the Bengals, attended De La Salle out of eighth grade. Football had been his passion, so he thought the private school in Chicago his father attended was the best fit for him and his football future.
But after just a year at De La Salle, Avila switched to Oak Forest to play with the friends he grew up competing with and against.
“I was all about football for me,” he said of his junior high days. “But coming back here has been great. It’s what I was used to anyway. I was always going to camps at Oak Forest as a kid. My teammates and I have been playing together since middle school. We were all in those camps together while growing up.”
Coach Matt Manzke is sure glad Avila made the decision he did.
“He came back, he’s enjoyed it, and I think he has had a positive experience,” Manzke said of Avila’s three years at Oak Forest.
“I think his brother saw those positive experiences, and that led Robbie to coming here out of eighth grade.”
Robbie Avila just so happens to be a 6-8 sophomore and one of the state’s top 10 prospects in the Class of 2022. He was a monster all season and is the player the Bengals will build around the next two years.
A MAGICAL TIME
The Avila brothers, senior star Jayson Kent and senior floor general Devin Tolbert helped make it a special season for Oak Forest.
“The crowds, the atmosphere we’ve played in, have been incredible,” Juan Avila said. “Going out this way as a senior? Making these kinds of memories? That’s been my favorite part of it all.”
Along the way, the Bengals won the hearts of the Oak Forest community while piling up 28 wins and hard-to-come-by titles. They grabbed a share of the conference championship for the first time and won a regional title for the first time in 33 years before their season ended with a loss to Kankakee in the sectional finals.
It’s not as if they snuck up on everyone en route to a 26-3 regular-season record. In November, there were big expectations from within, as well as some outside hype. But actually living up to preseason expectations and overcoming some longstanding hurdles was another thing. This was a downtrodden program for decades.
“Coach Manzke and Coach Brown have always preached family and togetherness,” Juan Avila said. “They have drilled that into our heads since my sophomore year. That right there has been a large part of our success. As a result, this team is closer than ever.”
Three decades apart
This year’s team has to be measured against the 1986-87 Oak Forest team that finished the regular season 23-2 and came in fifth in the final Class AA state rankings. The players are excited about that comparison; it means they’ve done something to deserve it.
“We wanted to put Oak Forest on the map,” said Kent, who averaged 18 points a game. “We wanted to be one of those teams everyone talks about and remembers.” ✶