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I've observed Maine South quarterback Charlie Goro enough times over the past two years to come to the belief that he is one of the best high school football players I have seen in 50 years. And that isn't an exaggeration.
If you saw Goro pass for a school-record 479 yards against New Trier or saw him run and pass in the cold and wind against Loyola on Saturday, then saw Graham Harrell lead Texas Tech past Texas and Oklahoma State on television in the last two weeks, you had to think Goro and Harrell are related.
In a sense, they are. Maine South offensive coordinator Charlie Bliss is the Mike Leach of high school football, a genius who has developed one outstanding quarterback after another in his spread offense, as Leach has done with Harrell and others before him.
"Goro is the product of a great system and he has the ability to play in that system," recruiting analyst Tom Lemming said. "He is perfect for the Vanderbilt offense, which combines the spread and pro-style."
Lemming was the only national recruiting analyst who rated Goro among the best quarterback prospects in the nation before Vanderbilt jumped on his bandwagon. Now Lemming believes a lot of big-time programs are regretting that they didn't take notice of the 6-2, 192-pounder much sooner.
"I liked him from the first time I saw him last year," Lemming said. "He has great feet, he is a great runner (with 4.5 speed) and he puts the ball on the money all the time. How many quarterbacks complete over 70 percent of their passes in any system?"
What I like about Goro, besides his athleticism and smarts, is his poise under fire. He is unflappable. He rarely gets flustered. He likes to run. He isn't afraid to take a hit. He also has an uncanny ability, when flushed out of the pocket, to roll out to one side or the other and deliver a pass to a third or fourth receiver.
How good is he?
I'm looking at a list of the Chicago Sun-Times Players of the Year, which dates to Evanston's Bob McKeiver in 1951, and it's hard to find many players who impressed me more.
For example, Goro is more of an offensive threat, running and passing, that Dan Dierking of Wheaton Warrenville South or John Dergo of Morris. Quarterback Sean Price of Maine South had better passing statistics than Goro but he was one-dimensional. He couldn't run like Goro.
You'd have to go all the way back to Joliet Catholic's Mike Alstott (1991) or St. Rita's John Foley (1985) or Oak Park's Eric Kumerow (1982) or Weber's Tim Marshall (1979) or St. Francis de Sales' Chris Boskey (1977) to find a better college prospect.
Lemming is convinced that Goro will make a name for himself at Vanderbilt and in the SEC. It will be interesting to see if he is a able to compete at that level, in places like Baton Rouge and Tuscaloosa and Knoxville and Gainesville.
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Well I can only comment on the past 12 years but to me Goro isn't even the best player from his conference. I do believe though he is the best qb Maine South has ever had for sure. But Rashard Mendenhall is the best high school football player I have ever seen. He was a home run threat every time he touched the football at Niles West. And he could also truck you(that's run over somebody). I also think Tim Brasic was a better high school qb. Now if you are talking about potential down the road I agree Goro is the best qb. As for best player it's Mendenhall and it's not even close.
COREY ROGERS FROM LEO IN 1991 WAS AN ABSOLUTE GEM AS
WELL, HE AND THE REST OF THE LIONS AND THE GREAT COACH
BOB FOSTER, MADE IT ALL THE WAY TO THE STATE SEMI-FINALS, THEY BEAT RICHARDS THAT YEAR, OH WHAT A YEAR!
YOU REMEMBER HIM DON'T YOU TAYLOR?
I Don't think Goro has been tested all season. I think he will get shut down on saturday against The Broncos I mean come on they had 5 pics versus new trier and they are known for knocking off no.1 teams. Just look at the 2005 playoffs they had 500 YARDS of total offense against the Hawks and that was the year after the Hawks took 2nd in state. I think the Hawks will underestimate the Broncos and the Hawks will lose!!!!
How anyone can compare Rashard Mendenhall to Charlie Goro is beyond me. Charlie is by far one of the most amazing athletes to take the field in any conference! He's fast, he's accurate, and he's able to read a field and make good decisions. Player of the year in any book has to be Charlie Goro. Way to go Vandy, you won the prize this year!!
Goro is getting better every week. He makes his teammates better each game. He has poise and a ton of talent. It is hard to compare players- he is the best high schol athlete I have seen! you should see him play basketball! When they win state I wonder if he will get some praise! I agree with the writer on this article. I believe earlier in his career Leming was not saying these things- glad to see he has seen the light on the budding superstar! Go Hawks!
Meh.
I've seen him play and am not that impressed. A very average arm, surrounded by a very good team and in a scheme wh/ showcases him.
He's an excellent high school player, emphasis on high school.
CG is so good he should be the new QB for the Bears
Shut down by the Broncos? They couldn't even get the ball past the 50 in the second half against New Trier, a team that Maine South scored 32 unanswered points against. The broncos are in big trouble... I hear allot of sour grapes, if Goro is average how come no one else has numbers that even come close to his?
This should not be to tough to prove you loosers wrong... Well we only have to wait till Sat. night. go Hawks!
I am a die heart bronco fan, but there is no way we are going to beat Goro and the hawks this weekend. Goro is the most amazing high school football player I have ever seen. Go broncos
Charlie anchored Maine South's 4x200 state championship relay team last spring. Yeah, he can run. Bronco fans should keep dreaming about the 2005 game. This is 2008 and a much stronger Maine South team. Broncos beat New Trier by 5 points. Hawks beat them by 31. Enough said.
Rashard Mendenhall is a cry baby. He lets his mommy do the talking for him. The NFL guys have figured that out and it didn't take them long to knock him out for the season.
i agree with taylor bell and i have been watching
chaley goro plAY SPORTS In park ridge for many yrars
in peeewee football and up the ladder in school sports
and aau sports and now highschool sports
harrysator senioir cirizen sports nut watching local sports
SO LET ME GET THIS STRAIGHT, MR. GORO IS GOING TO BE
A FIRST ROUND DRAFT PICK, BECAUSE SOMEONE SAID HE IS
BETTER THAN MENDENHALL, WHO IS NOW A MILLIONAIRE IN
PITTSBURG AFTER LEADING U OF I TO THE ROSE BOWL!
CHARLIE GORO I HAVEN'T SEEN YOU PLAY BUT I WISH YOU
MUCH SUCCESS AND THE SEC AIN'T NO JOKE, GOOD LUCK AT
VANDY!
I have seen Goro play in 10 games over the last 2 years and he is the best high school quarterback that I have seen in the last 25 years. He is more accurate and has a stronger arm than Kittner or Beutjer, he checks down as well as Britt Davis and the other duck and chuck qbs that have come out of Oak Park, he has the leadership qualities of the Paus brothers from Lincoln Way, Price may have been more fine in his accuracy but he did not have Goro's arm strength and no other qb that I have seen combines this with his running ability. It should also be noted that this is not the best corps of receivers that Maine South has had over the last ten years. Barrington is very good and anyone can win at this point in the season, but if Goro is on Saturday night, they will have their hands full.
football genius NOT and Coach K I am talking about high school. I guess none of you seen Rashard Mendenhall play in high school. Like I said he is the best high school football player I have ever seen in person. Goro is the 2nd best high school quarterback I have ever seen besides Allen Iverson. Goro is the best I've seen in Illinois and he is a great athlete. Phil it's not about Mendenhall being in the NFL now. I am talking about when he was at Niles West. Niles West made the playoffs every year he was there. Lost to Maine South and New Trier in the playoffs. Niles West hasn't been close to the playoffs since.
I have watched Charlie Goro from preseason and had no idea about Charlie and his abilities. Watching him control the offense and his teammates is something to watch. In the games against Warren and GBS when they needed to get the offense going, he constructed drives and marched them down the field. I had no previous knowledge of Maine South football or Charlie Goro, but to watch this team grow and Charlie along with it has been something special. If he is not the best this state has seen, he has to be near the top. GO HAWKS!
Charlie Goro is a very good quarterback and probably the best in Maine South history given his throwing & running ability. He's not the best runner on the team, however, that belongs to Jr. Matt Perez (6',197) who is not only amazingly light on his feet but is also the strongest player on the Hawks.... just ask the Loyola nose guard he ran over in route to a 50 yd td sprint. While Charlie runs a very sophisticated offense, the best quarterback I've personally seen was Antwaan Randle El (Thorton) who single-handedly beat Maine South in the '96 playoffs. As far as Mendenhall, he was never very memorable against the Hawks. Barrington was going to have had their hands full with a Goro/Perez attack even before 3 of their top defenders were suspended for this weekend's game.
Dating myself here but Lamarr Thomas (Thornton), Quinn Buckner (Thornridge)and Dave Butz (Maine South), were all very good in the 60's. Would they excel today? You bet!
I don't know whatever happened to chris boskey. but the player of the year 1977 should have been Kurt Bankson. the two way nt-og that played for undefeated state champion and ranked 4th in the country FRANKLIN PARK, EAST LEYDEN.
Maine South held the great MENDENHALL to less than hundred yards in 2005. enough said. I play with charlie and he can rally our team when we are down so easily. not only is charlie the best qb in the state by far. but he is also the best leader by far.
Goro was all hype until the previous two years. Now he has grown a lot. You really can't judge him until you see his athletic ability first hand or if you're sitting in the stands (I saw it first hand). The kid is an all around athlete and will be the best QB out of Maine South whereas Perez might end up being one of the top running backs. However, Mendenhall was held to so few rushing yards against Maine South because the rest of the Niles West team was terrible. I don't agree that Goro is the most talented thing out of Illinois, but if he changes up his work ethic at Vandy he'll be even more incredible.
Based on what we are hearing out of Bartlett and the rest of the Upstate Eight, maybe Mr. Bell's article should be renamed "Poor Charlie Goro (and Maine South High School Football)." Just as the Barrington coach intimated before the game last week that the Mid Suburban Conference is so superior to the CSL, we are now hearing that the Upstate Eight is also so superior that Maine South would be better served not to show up Saturday night. Bartlett is the number one seed and at home and therefore the heavy favorite. According to Barrington and Bartlett, Maine South hasn't played anybody this season. The chorus of how overrated Charlie Goro and the smallish Maine South team is makes one wonder whether there is any point in playing the game and whether the IHSA should just let Bartlett have a bye into the finals. It really is too bad that Bartlett has to play Maine South in the semi - finals. I am sure they do not think that Maine South would even be competitive in the Upstate Eight. Then again, maybe Charlie Goro and his Maine South teammates could use this lack of respect for its team and its conference as motivation to try their best and maybe, just maybe, they can put forth a good showing against the unbeatable and invincible Bartlett Hawks.
i dont believe that any one should be saying any thing negetive about either team when it came do to it last week even after all the crap barrington said about maine south maine south came out and kicked their ass 42-0 so if i was bartlett i keep my mouth shut
either way the 2 team will be a good match up between two major powers this season in class 8a who ever come out of this game will be the favorite in the state championship which ever team is there with them
Watching Maine South play is like watching a college team vs. a HS team, there is just very little, if any competition. They are averaging over 47 points a game, and thats including when Goro and company sit down after the half. When they are leading 31-0 at the end of the first quarter, is there any wonder the South students chant "this game's over"? Give credit to Glenbrook South who has been the only team to stay with the Hawks throughout the entire game, only to lose in the closing minutes after a Goro engineered scoring drive. It doesnt look like anybody can stay with this Hawks team, let alone beat them. Goro is the star and gets all the press, but even he says the multiple offensive weapons from Perez, Orlando, Alviti, Schwarzinski, and others are what makes this team dangerous. But lets not forget their smothering defense either, which stymies and shuts down opposing teams O. Look at the scores of some of these games and then realize that these are other great quality playoff teams that are getting steamrolled. Can anybody beat these Hawks? Doesnt look like it, not when so few others can even stay competitive against them. Hawks all the way in Champaign next week, might not be a blow out, but by mid fourth quarter, we'll be hearing "this game's over".
I saw that Charlie Goro made the Parade All American Team, which tells me that Parade does their due diligence when putting this team together. I think most recruiting services gave Charlie Goro 2 stars (out of a possible 5 stars) going into the season, which greatly underrated his skills and which from the outset would eliminate him from national recognition. Parade evaluated him on performance and not simply on the poor work the rating services did with him and put him on their All-American Team ahead of most of the five and four star rated players. Congratulations to Charlie, his team and coaches and tha Park Ridege community that helped nurture him from youth sports.