Morgan Park dominates defensively to beat Simeon in the Battle of Vincennes

The Morgan Park-Simeon rivalry stretches back decades and exists in every sport. The schools are the stars of South Side Public League athletics.

Not long ago, Chicago Public Schools moved the teams into different divisions, so that they wouldn’t face each other in football every season. The rivalry had grown too hot.

On Saturday, the Battle of Vincennes took place at Rockne Stadium at Roosevelt and Central. Gately Stadium, the traditional setting, still is undergoing renovations. A big crowd made the trip to the West Side, and Morgan Park dominated the fourth quarter to earn a 20-6 victory.

Senior linebacker Raymond Gilbert led the defensive effort for the Mustangs. According to Gilbert, letting the rivalry aspects of the game go was key to Morgan Park’s victory.

‘‘Basically, we didn’t go back and forth with them,’’ Gilbert said. ‘‘You can get distracted with all the talking. We came in focused on the game and not talking. We wanted to win, and that is what we did.’’

Gilbert, junior defensive end Milen Porter and senior linebacker Don White all had multiple sacks. Wolverines quarterback Aki King, a sophomore, was under pressure throughout the game and finished with minus-39 rushing yards.

‘‘We need [King] to let the ball go,’’ Simeon coach Sinque Turner said. ‘‘That would give us a better chance. The pressure got to us, and the young quarterback didn’t make the best decisions when we needed him to. But Aki is going to be a CPS star one of these days. He’s just a young kid. He’s only 15 years old. He has some growing to do.’’

King was 3-for-4 for 31 yards. Sophomore wide receiver Jalonny Billingsley caught all of King’s completions. Wolverines senior running back James Bell had 21 carries for 126 yards, but the Mustangs’ defense stepped up in the key moments to keep Simeon (1-5, 1-2 Red Star) out of the end zone.

‘‘They stopped us when it counted,’’ Turner said. ‘‘The [goal-line] stop in the third quarter changed our morale. We had a chance to tie it up.’’

Junior Jonsean Young gave Morgan Park a major shot in the arm in the second half with seven carries for 61 yards. His two-yard touchdown run with 11:13 left put the Mustangs (5-1, 3-0) ahead 12-6.

‘‘He got hurt in camp, and we just got him back last game,’’ Morgan Park coach Chris James said. ‘‘We know he is a big-time player, but we’ve been trying to let him get healthy. He can really play.”

Mustangs senior William Smith Jr. opened the scoring with a 64-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, and Ronald Smith Jr. connected with Travezz Jones on a 53-yard scoring pass with 2:25 left to seal the victory.

‘‘We watched last week’s King-Simeon game and saw the amount of penalties,’’ James said. ‘‘We wanted to have intensity but not too much emotion going back and forth. It is a rivalry game. Anytime you say Simeon and Morgan Park, it is going to be a thing.’’

Morgan Park plays Taft next week, then faces a major showdown against King, the Public League’s program on the rise.

‘‘There are some minor things we have to take care of,’’ James said. ‘‘I like the group, and I like our chances in the [state playoffs]. We can run the ball better than we could in years past.’’

Simeon’s only victory this season was against winless Phillips.

‘‘This is not one of our best seasons, but we are going to persevere,’’ Turner said. ‘‘We are in the hunt to try and get three wins to get in the state playoffs. And that isn’t a guarantee.’’