Raiders still chasing history as seniors look to bookend careers with state championships

QUINCY — Cayge Hughes is quite confident had the coronavirus pandemic not altered the Illinois high school sports landscape last year the seniors on the Quincy Notre Dame boys soccer team would be staring down history.

In a way, the Raiders still are.

QND will kick off its season in less than a week with a trip to Peoria Notre Dame as it looks to bookend the seniors’ careers with state championships. No class in the history of the boys program has ever won two state championships.

No boys program at the school has ever won four state trophies in succession.

This group could have been the first, but the pandemic and decisions made in response to it denied the Raiders that chance.

QND went 13-2 during last spring’s season, which was condensed after the Illinois High School Association altered its season calendar and moved fall team sports to the spring in response to COVID-19. The Raiders were viewed as state championship contenders — if not the overwhelming favorites — in Class 1A.

Yet, there was no postseason. So no trophy, no title and no chance to make history.

“It’s extremely disappointing looking back at that,” said Hughes, a senior wing defender. “And then having the seniors all leave us after that makes it worse. They played their butts off and they didn’t get anything for it. We didn’t get to do anything about it. We all worked hard. We were a good team.

“We didn’t capitalize on it.”

One other program did.

The QND girls basketball program brought home five consecutive trophies from 2010 to 2014, squeezing three state championships between a state runner-up and a third-place finish. The boys soccer program is the closest to matching that run with three straight state trophies — second in 1984, first in 1985 and third in 1986.

The best these seniors can do is match by going 3 for 3.

“It would just be amazing,” Hughes said, noting QND won the state championship in 2018 and took third in 2019. “It’s what we’re going after.”

They’re doing so with a chip on their shoulder born from denial.

“Winning state is always going to be our goal, even if we didn’t have that chip on our shoulder,” Hughes said. “This is just an added incentive.”

They all feel it.

“We definitely could have had a chance of going to the state tournament last year,” senior goalkeeper Ethan Sparrow said. “We have a good chance this year. We’re definitely strong enough.”

When you have experience in back to build around, it helps. Hughes and Sparrow will be joined by senior center back Quinton Hankins to form a solid corps. When you flip the field with three quality scorers in juniors Tanner Anderson and Jake Hoyt and sophomore Leo Cann, all the defense has to do is be stout in order to be successful.

“It’s really nice to know they can keep me safe back there,” Sparrow said. “Even the new guys stepping in at practice have been doing really well. There’s plenty to be excited about.”

It’s true at every level, even with the graduation of career scoring leader Seth Anderson.

What gets overlooked is the effort the Raiders extend to offset the graduation losses and the unrelenting presence of QND coach Greg Reis, whose faith in his players pushes them to excel.

“He is pushing us to the max right now,” Hughes said. “Even when he pushes us, we understand. He’s always telling us how much potential we have and that’s the reason he’s pushing us so hard.”

Reis knows as well as anyone going 3 for 3 is possible.

“Definitely have to finish off our senior year and hopefully go after a state championship,” Sparrow said. “It’s possible and it’s our goal.”