To close out the month of September, the Chicago Bears named Miles Osei of Elk Grove High School in Elk Grove Village their High School “Coach of the Week” for Week 5, and wide receiver Lynel Billups-Williams of Crete Monee High School of Crete as their “High School All-Star.”
The “Coach of the Week” and “High School All-Stars” programs are both sponsored by Athletico Physical Therapy.
The Bears will make a $2,000 donation to the Elk Grove football program and direct a $500 donation to the youth football program of Billups-Williams’ choice.
BILLUPS-WILLIAMS
On September 23, senior wide receiver Lynel Billups-Williams helped lead his team, the CreteMonee Warriors (3-2), to a 48-42 upset home game win against the Joliet Catholic Hilltoppers (4-1) of Joliet, giving them their first defeat of the season.
Billups-Williams, verbally committed to Miami of Ohio, had an outstanding performance after having 12 catches for 256 yards and three touchdowns. He also had a 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, along with throwing two 2-point conversion passes.
According to a panel of sportswriters from the Associated Press (AP) Illinois High School Football Ranking, CreteMonee ranks fifth in Class 6A heading into their Friday night game. The Warriors will host the Thornridge Falcons (0-4) on Friday.
COACH MILES OSEI
Following Billups-Williams’ success, Coach Miles Osei helped lead the Elk Grove Grenadiers (5-0) to a 28-14 home conference game victory against the Buffalo Grove Bison (2-3) of Buffalo Grove for the first time since 2015. Now in his sixth season, coach Miles Osei helped keep the Grenadiers undefeated through their first five games of the season, the first time since 2004, which also gives them eligibility for the playoff.
This is yet to be Elk Grove’s best starting season since 2013; they have won only eight games over the past eight seasons. The former quarterback for Prospect High School and wide receiver for the University of Illinois, coach Osei was named the head coach for the Elk Grove varsity football program in 2017.
Before starting his new role with Elk Grove, he was an offensive coordinator at Wheeling High School for two years. Osei was also the sophomore basketball coach at Wheeling and an assistant varsity baseball coach at Buffalo Grove.
Joseph Phillips is the Sports Editor for the Chicago Crusader Newspaper. He is a Chicago native, who has been a sports writer for over 17 years. He also hosts the SC Media News and Sports Network Q&A radio show on WHPK 88.5 FM Chicago.
