NORWOOD PARK — Taft High School's football team will open the 2016-17 season under the lights at Soldier Field, officials said.
The Taft Eagles will take on the Mount Caramel Caravan at a time and date to be announced, said Taft Athletic Director Ryan Glowacz.
The game will be a rematch of a Dec. 3, 1960 contest on the Chicago Bears' current home turf presided over by former Mayor Richard J. Daley.
The Caravan, a perennial football powerhouse, defeated the Eagles 27-0 in front of a crowd that news reports pegged at more than 100,000, according to Taft's archives.
Al MacFarlane, captain of the 1960 Taft team, was recently inducted into the William Howard Taft Hall of Fame.
Taft Principal Mark Grishaber has made no secret of his goal to transform the Eagles into football champions, spurring the best athletes on the Far Northwest Side to attend the Norwood Park school, 6530 W. Bryn Mawr Ave.
The team notched a 2-7 record during the 2015 fall football season, failing to win a single game in its conference during its first season under head coach Dan Paplaczyk.
Mount Carmel High School, 6410 S. Dante Ave., is 8-2 and will face Glenbard West High School in an IHSA second-round playoff game Friday.
"Everyone keeps telling me that we are going to get killed, but we're going to surprise some people," Grishaber said of the Taft team.
This year's team, made up of mostly freshmen and sophomores, will be more seasoned and experienced next year, Grishaber said.
"It will be a great memory for the kids and their families," Grishaber said, and a way to market Taft to families who might not otherwise consider the school.
"I'm really looking forward to the game," Grishaber said.
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