Publications & Sites 
East tries to vanquish doubts (+ Maine East team page)
Maine Easet senior Federico Cabrales punts the ball in the second quarter of Friday's game at Evanston. Evanston led 33-0 at the half. | michael jarecki ~ for Sun-Times Media
This Week
Maine East
BOYS and GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY
Saturday
At Warren Blue Devil Invite, 9 a.m.
Tuesday
At Niles North at Harms Woods w/Deerfield, Highland Park, 4:30 p.m.
FOOTBALL
Friday
Hosts Glenbrook South, 7:30 p.m.
BOYS GOLF
Monday
Hosts Guerin at Rob Roy G.C., 4:30 p.m.
Thursday (9/20)
At Evanston Match at Wilmette/Peter Janus C.C., 4 p.m.
BOYS SOCCER
Today
Hosts Maine West, 7 p.m.
Tuesday
Hosts Deerfield, 7 p.m.
Thursday (9/20)
At Highland Park, 4:45 p.m.
GIRLS SWIM/DIVE
Tuesday
Hosts Lane Tech, 5 p.m.
GIRLS TENNIS
Today
At Deerfield, 4:30 p.m.
Saturday
At Hoffman Estates Tourn., 9 a.m.
Monday
Hosts Fenton, 4:30 p.m.
Tuesday
At Maine West, 4:30 p.m.
Thursday (9/20)
Hosts Glenbrook North, 4:30 p.m.
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
Friday
Hosts Maine East Demon Invite, 4:30 p.m.
Saturday
Hosts Maine East Demon Invite, 9 a.m.
Tuesday
At Glenbrook North, 6 p.m.
Thursday (9/20)
Hosts Niles North, 6 p.m.
Article Extras
Updated: October 14, 2012 1:12PM
EVANSTON — Despite the 40-7 loss against Evanston in Week 3, the Maine East Blue Demons football team still has high hopes for the rest of the 2012 campaign after its 2-0 start.
For a program that coming into this season had only won four games in the last seven years, two wins in a row to start the season was a landmark achievement. The Blue Demons (2-1) hadn’t started 2-0 since 2004 and they haven’t even had a winning season since 1987.
In his second tour of duty with the Blue Demons, coach Gabe Corey thinks that this team not only has the ability to bounce back from a hugely disappointing game, but maybe even to get above the elusive .500 mark. But he thinks there’s still a long way to go in turning around the perennial loser, saying there was still some “doubt” in his players going into the Evanston game.
“We had part of our team — out of the 11, probably five or six — that were believing and another four or five that were not,” Corey said. “It just ended up that we couldn’t hit on all cylinders. We were our own worst enemy.”
The Blue Demons found themselves staring at a 27-0 deficit by the end of the first quarter Friday and they were down 33-0 by the half. Senior linebacker Federico Cabrales admitted that the game got out of hand quickly. But junior Alex Corey, the starting quarterback and coach’s son, said that Gabe Corey reminded the team at halftime that there was still more to play for.
“(He told us) to keep fighting and show our pride and show what Maine East is all about,” Alex Corey said. “Don’t worry about what happened in the first half, just try to come out and win the second half.”
It’s that attitude towards improvement, the coaching veteran says, that could pay dividends for the program.
“As bad as the first half was, I think the kids showed a lot of heart and desire and pride as far as fighting through it,” Gabe Corey said. “You’re going to have games where adversity hits. Evanston is a good club, but we made them look even better because of our own miscues. Those are things brought on by lack of confidence right now.”
For Gabe Corey, there is no question about the remedy.
“The best medicine for that is winning,” he said. “And I think whether we win, lose whatever next week we have to get better. That’s been the thing with kids for the 32 years I’ve coached, every week you go out and you try to play a little better than you did last week.”
The Blue Demons play host to Glenbrook South at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
Maine East is hoping to continue to improve behind a strong ground game led by junior fullback Jevon Lukovic — he missed the game against Evanston (3-0) because of a high ankle sprain — and a crop of 16 seniors, the first class to be with Gabe Corey for four years during his second stint at the helm. Those seniors are what gives those around the program hope for finally getting that elusive winning season.
“I’ve seen (the seniors) put in the work,” Gabe Corey said. “One thing I know, (those seniors) are not going to give up, and they’ll fight and they’ll fight hard.”
“Like Coach Corey always tells us, the bar is never lowered,” Cabrales said. “If a big setback like this happens, he wants us to come back next week. He wants us to fight.”
Names and Faces
Amila Omerovic
Noteworthy efforts: Omerovic, a junior tennis player, went undefeated in singles at Saturday’s Maine East Invitational. The Blue Demons dominated the invite, dropping only two matches in three rounds against Hoffman Estates, Resurrection and Maine West.
Aayush Shah
Noteworthy efforts: The senior was the first cross country runner to cross the finish line at Saturday’s Demon Dash, which Maine East (21 points) won by 14 points over second-place Antioch. Shah finished the 3-mile race in 17 minutes, 13 seconds.
Quick Hits
Big Numbers
201 | The Maine East boys golf team shot its lowest score of the season in a 181-201 loss to Niles North on Sept. 6.
Sound Bites
“ ‘You’re at a fork in the road. Everything that could go wrong went wrong. ... So what are you going to do in the second half? Play hard and play with some pride?’ And they came out in the second half ... and we were able to establish ourselves a little bit.”
— Maine East football coach Gabe Corey on what he said to his team Friday as it trailed Evanston 33-0 at halftime.
Don’t Miss
Today Boys soccer: Maine West at Maine East, 7 p.m.
Friday Football: Glenbrook South at Maine East, 7 p.m.
Culture Grid: Isabelle Trier
Trier is a junior swimmer on the Maine East girls swimming and diving team:
What’s been your greatest high school sports accomplishment? Getting all-conference and all-sectionals as a water polo goalie sophomore year.
What’s your favorite vacation spot? Any place that’s warm and has a beach and palm trees is perfect, like Hawaii or the Bahamas.
You’re stranded on an island and get to have three books, what are they? The first three Harry Potter books. I would never get bored reading those.
What’s your favorite restaurant and what are you eating there? Buffalo Wild Wings is my favorite because I’m always craving Honey BBQ wings or the nachos.
What’s been your greatest high school accomplishment away from sports? I’ve gotten really great grades these past two years with all As and a couple Bs in accel and AP classes.
