OST_Prep Football Preview_082919

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Marquette — 2008 Northeastern Athletic Conference champions

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2019 Football Preview

Thursday, August 29, 2019

The Times - Delivering Your Community

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The Times - Delivering Your Community

2019 Football Preview

Thursday, August 29, 2019

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3

Size, speed, talent will be Marquette Crusader trademarks Bigger line, fast backs spell another NAC winner?

CONFERENCE HISTORY

CHARLIE ELLERBROCK cellerbrock@shawmedia.com One can’t help but wonder how a program like Marquette Academy’s could lose to graduation so much size, talent and experience — including The Times Player of the Year, Jack Snook — and expect to contend for a state playoff berth, let alone a championship of any kind?

It’s simple.

It just stays as big, gains experience on the job and makes the most of the talent at hand, and Crusaders head coach Tom Jobst is The Times | Charlie Ellerbrock certainly well versed in getLettermen taking the field for the Marquette Crusaders this fall will be (kneeling, from left) Hunter O’Dell, Will Fiesel, Jalen ting the most out of what he has to work with.

Flavel, Lennon Daniels, Jay Scott, Jake Mitchell, Luke Couch, Brady Ewers; (standing, from left) Preston Aukland, Donnie Zitt, Being minus Snook and Pat McGrath, Victor Mullen, John Thompson, Austin Leiteritz, Beau Ewers, Jay Thomas, Shane Reynolds, Gabe Amicon, Maverick his 1,191 rushing yards, McAlpine.

1,412 in total offense and Austin Leiteritz (6-0, 210) “We won’t really know what 140 points scored, plus six at tackles, and newcomers we have this year until we of the big, strong blockers ROSTER Victor Mullen (6-6, 240) at see our first action, but the that helped him get those NO. NAME HT. WT. YR. POS. tight end and Caleb Bouchkids are yards — 2

Jay Scott

5-8

180

Sr.

QB/LB er (6-3, 290), a transfer from doing well Connor 4

Preston Aukland

6-2

200

Sr.

FB/LB SCHEDULE St. Bede, at center. Throw in practice, Durdan, 5

Tom Durdan

5-6

135

Fr.

QB/DB 8/30 DWIGHT 7 p.m. in quick guards Lennon and they Jack 8

Luke Couch

5-10

150

Jr. QB/DB 9/6 at Seneca 7 p.m.

Daniels (5-9, 165) and Jake did well in Durdan, 9

Maverick McAlpine 6-0

170

So.

QB/LB 9/13 at Kirkland Hiawatha 7 p.m.

Mitchell (5-11, 180), and the the time Luke Fer11

Jake Thomas

6-12

170

Jr.

SE/DB 9/21 at Walther Christian 1 p.m.

Cru should match up well they got racuti, Ga12

Jalen Flavel

5-6

130

Sr.

SE/DB 9/27 ROCKFORD CHRISTIAN 7 p.m. with any 1A or 2A school in last year. reth Kent, 20

Nick Melvin

5-11

160

Jr.

RB/DB 10/4 RIVER VALLEY forfeit the trenches.

So far, Hunter 23

Logan Nelson

5-11

155

Fr.

RB/DB 10/11 SOUTH BELOIT 7 p.m.

After a year of MA’s I’m really McAlpine 25

Shane Reynolds

6-2

170

Jr.

RB/LB 10/18 KIRKLAND HIAWATHA 7 p.m. winged-T attack switching happy with and Chris32

Gabe Amicon

6-2

175

Sr.

SE/DB 10/25 at Rockford Christian 7 p.m. from being fullback-domiwhat I’m tian Reyn34

Hunter O’Dell

5-6

165

Jr.

FB/LB nated to accommodate the seeing. olds — in 44

Vinny Battestelli

6-0

170

Fr.

RB/LB tailback Snook, powerful “This their 10-1 52

Albert Gutierrez

5-11

165

Jr.

OL/DL 6-2, 200-pound senior fullsummer, we had the highest season, one might think the 53

Lennon Daniels

5-9

165

Sr.

OL/DL back Preston Aukland (733 percentage of turnout for outlook for MA this season 54

Austin Leiteritz

6-0

210

Sr.

OL/DL yards, 15 TDs) should be the our summer workouts that would be bleak.

58

Will Fiesel

5-10

190

Jr. OL/DL bellcow. we’ve ever had in my time Not so.

60

Brady Ewers

6-1

185

So.

OL/DL Quarterback may be split here. … They’re showing a Marquette will have both 61

Beau Ewers

6-1

185

So.

OL/DL between senior Jay Scott great cohesiveness so far. the size and the quickness, 62

Wyatt Smith

5-8

160

So.

OL/DL and junior Luke Couch, They are very unified, and as well as the skills, to win 63

Jake Mitchell

5-11

180

Jr.

OL/DL with Couch also seeing then, when you bring that the Northeastern Athletic 64

John Thompson

6-4

250

Sr.

OL/DL time at tailback along with onto the field, it goes well Conference for the sixth 65

Caleb Boucher

6-3

290

Sr.

OL/DL speedy senior Shane Reynwith some good speed, good time in the last seven years 81

Victor Mullen

6-6

240

Jr.

TE/DL olds and juniors Hunter size and good intelligence. and make the postseason 82

Pat McGrath

6-2

165

Jr.

OL/DL O’Dell, Nick Melvin and “I’m very optimistic.” for the seventh straight 83

Donnie Zitt

6-0

165

Jr.

SE/LB Maverick McAlpine. ManWhere last year’s line time ... and to make some HEAD COACH: Tom Jobst (10th season) ning the split end spot will averaged just a shade noise when they get there. be junior Jake Thomas as under 200 pounds a man, “Yes, we’ve lost quite a well as seniors Jalen Flavel this year’s six-pack should “something like ‘Thunder to apply that to football, few really good players, and Gabe Amicon. go around 230 a spot. That is loud and impressive, but so big doesn’t necessarily and we’ll miss them,” said “It reminds me of a Mark includes lettermen John it’s the lightning that does translate into success, but Jobst, entering his 10th Twain quote,” Jobst said, Thompson (6-4, 250) and the work.’ I’ve always tried big and quick, big and moseason as MA’s head coach.

The Crusaders have been in five conferences in their 71-year history – the Illinois Valley, the Big Northern, the Tri-County, the Big Rivers and the Northeastern Athletic. u ILLINOIS VALLEY CONFERENCE (1970-1973) Championships: none u BIG NORTHERN CONFERENCE (1991-1997) Championships: 1991 u TRI-COUNTY CONFERENCE (1998) Championships: 1998 u BIG RIVERS CONFERENCE (1999-2011) Championships: none u NORTHEASTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE (2012-present) Championships: 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 —CharlieEllerbrock&BrianHoxsey

bile, average size and fast, those are good things, and that’s what I think we have here.”

Up front defensively, Thompson will share one tackle spot, Daniels and junior Will Fiesel the other.

Flanking them at ends will be Mitchell and Leiteritz.

The linebackers will be Scott and Aukland inside and Mullen and junior Donnie Zitt outside. The secondary was unsettled with a week to go, but filling those three spots will be a combo of Reynolds, Couch, Melvin and Thomas.

It will be tough for the Crusaders to improve on the numbers put up a year ago — 41.2 points scored, 5.2 allowed — but this club is capable of it, despite a schedule that has them hosting Dwight and visiting Seneca in the first two weeks, then doubling up with the NAC’s two other playoff teams, Rockford Christian and Kirkland Hiawatha.

“Being tested right away like we will be is good for everybody, good for us, good for Dwight, good for Seneca,” Jobst said. “We’re all just excited to get started and see what we can do.”

Marquette looks to lead the way in the Northeastern Athletic Rockford Christian, Hiawatha, Walther Christian also contenders

are eight two-way-starters back, including Thompson, Kilcullen and Timmerman.

They are solid and experienced, but the Hawks lost all-conference lineman Miguel Delvalle to graduation CHARLIE ELLERBROCK (WR-DL), Chris Hummer and need help from seniors cellerbrock@shawmedia.com (QB-DB, Sr.); WALTHER CHRISAdrien Stark and Cristian TIAN – Jalen Brown (6-2, 310, De La Cruz as well as junior Here is a look at the RB-DL, Sr.), Curtis Reeves Jacob Smith. Due to a lack Northeastern Athletic Con(5-11, 250, OL-DL, So.), Kenoof depth, health will be ference: je Evans (QB-DB, Jr.). a key. … MARQUETTE has LAST YEAR’S CHAMPION: NOTES: This may be the some big shoes to fill, but Marquette. last chance for HIAWATHA as it does every year, there 12 PLAYERS TO WATCH: to make a postseason run are enough solid candiKIRKLAND HIAWATHA – Kyle in 11-man football, as the dates to step in to make the Thompson (RB-DB, Sr.), Ty Hawks sit firmly on the Crusaders the favorite for Kilcullen (QB-DB, Sr.), Phil8-man bubble with only 19 a sixth NAC title in a row. ip Timmerman (RB-LB, Sr.); players in the program, … ROCKFORD CHRISTIAN, in ROCKFORD CHRISTIAN – Isaeight of them seniors. its first season back in the iah Johnson (WR-DB, Jr.), Despite dwindling numNAC after ceding its spot to Kalib Aboobaker (6-0, 205, bers (just 23 a year ago), Marquette seven years ago, OL-DL, Sr.), Sean Hyacinthe Hiawatha has gone 18-11 was also a playoff team last (6-1, 280, OL-DL, Sr.); SOUTH and made the playoffs two year, going 4-1 in the league BELOIT – Miles Beckham of the last three under head and 6-4 overall. Veteran (WR-DE), Cortez Johnson coach Jason Keneway. There coach Brett Frederick has back the speed with wideout Johnson, junior RB/LB Noah Ross and WR/CB Zach Joiner; the size with Aboobaker (6-0, 205) and Hyacinthe (6-1, 280); and a developing group of second-year varsity players. Staying injury free will be a key for the Royal Lions, as the depth is not yet fully developed, but despite an opening-week trip to Ridgeview-Lexington and two games against Marquette, there appears to be another playoff season on the horizon. … Filling out the schedule has SOUTH BELOIT traveling to Catlin South Fork in Week 1 and into Wisconsin later, so this season will not be an easy one, especially with three starting linemen from last season’s 3-6 campaign to replace. If Matt Johnson, Blaize Akins and company Steve Bittinger | For Shaw Media can give Hummer Hiawatha defender Austin Brantley (21) breaks up a pass against enough time, the Sobos’ passing attack Walther Christian last season.

to Beckham, Johnson and Caleb Richards (WR/LB) could cause foes fits. That won’t mean much if LBs Fernando Balderas, Harlan Soouthworth and Richards and the rest of the defense can’t cut into the 32 1/2 points per game it allowed a year ago. … While it didn’t make the playoffs, WALTHER CHRISTIAN had to feel good about its 5-4 mark in its

first year in the NAC, and even better about having 10 of those starters returning. Evans and backs Elgin Bowen (RB/DB, Jr.) and Rashawn Smith (RB/LB, Jr.) will have linemen Brown, Reeves, Dontae Parker (OL/ DL, Sr.), Gabe Ochoa (OL/ DL, Sr.) and other veteran linemen to open holes. The key will be the development of confidence of the

rest of the young Broncos squad. New head coach Tim Eberhard feels that winning two or all of its first three games — home with River Grove Guerin and Chicago Christ the King and at Grandville (Mich.) Calvin Christian — would be the boost they need.

PROJECTED PLAYOFF TEAMS: Marquette, Rockford Christian, Hiawatha.

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2019 Football Preview

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The Times - Delivering Your Community

Back to the basics for Ottawa Pirates in 2019

Traditional philosophies to return this fall

AT LEFT: The Ottawa Pirates will feature 19 returning lettermen this season, including (left to right): in front - Bryant Schomas, Kevin Hernandez, Kyle Szewczuk, Jake Ovanic and Matt Ahearn; standing in back - Devin Gende, Tim Lingle, Dustin Gerkitz, Austin Howard, Dalton Gosdin, Michael Morse, Kevin Saar, Brett Galletti, Owen Snyder, Travis Dougherty and Dominic Gende; and not pictured Collyn Gustafson, Ulices Perez and Zak Maslanka.

KYLE NEVINS knevins@shawmedia.com 815-431-4085 Entering his second season as Ottawa head coach, Chad Gross has made a few changes — in his offensive and defensive philosophies, as well as his approach at the outset — that he believes will be for the betterment of his Pirates this fall.

“You know, last year I kind of felt like, ‘I’ve got to get everything in by Week 1,’ “ Gross said, “and I learned that was not the case. We can ease into it. We winless campaign on the can get the basics down, and gridiron in nearly a century then build from there.

(1922) last fall.

“We’re trying to build our “We haven’t talked about base. We’re kind of building that as a team, but there’s it slowly with (the kids), and not a day that goes by that I we’re gaining confidence in don’t think about us being the kids each day, and we’re 0-9 last year, and that we’ve adding to that. got to get “I just this figured think it’s out,” Gross helping our SCHEDULE said. kids a lot.

8/30 CHICAGO JUAREZ 7 p.m.

“I’m very Our kids, 9/6 at Woodstock 7 p.m. optimisfor whatev9/13 PLANO 7 p.m. tic where er reason, 9/20 at Sycamore 7 p.m. we’re at. I’m seem to be 9/27 at Morris 7 p.m. excited. This way ahead 10/4 LA SALLE-PERU 7:15 p.m. group, it’s of where we 10/11 at Kaneland 7 p.m. just a totally were last 10/18 at Sandwich 7 p.m. different year at this 10/25 ROCHELLE 7 p.m. feel.” time. We may Making up have had Gross’ 43-player roster are double the plays in, but I 20 seniors, 19 juniors and feel like the kids have more four sophomores. confidence in what we’re “They’re a real tight-knit trying to accomplish.” group that picks each other Ottawa endured its first

The Times | J.T. Pedelty

up ... and it’s refreshing as a coach to see that camaraderie,” Gross said. “They’re very energetic. “(The seniors are) a group of kids that are going to do what the team needs to make the team successful.

We’re going to be a junior-heavy team (out on the field), that’s for sure. (The junior group has) a lot of different parts that can help us out, but at the same time it’s going to take a little adjustment and time to get used to the speed of varsity football. I think on Fridays you’re going to see a lot of sophomores play significant roles.

“We have some good depth on this team — I’m excited about it — and I think the competition’s made us better as a group for sure.”

Quarterbacking the

CONFERENCE HISTORY The Pirates have been in five football conferences during their 125-year history — the Illinois Valley, Big Vermillion Valley, NCIC, NIB 12 and now the Interstate Eight. u ILLINOIS VALLEY CONFERENCE (1917-1931; 1970-1972) Championships: 1924, 1970, 1971 u BIG VERMILLION VALLEY CONFERENCE (1933-1937) Championships: 1934, 1936, 1937 u NORTH CENTRAL ILLINOIS CONFERENCE (1942-2009) Championships: 1942, 1946, 1947, 1952, 1957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1995, 2001, 2002, 2007 u NORTHERN ILLINOIS BIG 12 CONFERENCE (2010-2018) Championships: 2010, 2012 u INTERSTATE EIGHT CONFERENCE (2019-present) Championships: none — Kyle Nevins & J.T. Pedelty

Pirates will be junior Brett Galletti (66-154, 714 yards, 2 TD, 11 INT in 2018) — the third-rated QB in Illinois’ Class of 2021, according to Tom Lemming. Among

the ballcarriers will be senior Damonte Coleman, a transfer from Indiana who’s strong and quick, junior Bryant Schomas and sophomore Cedric Fairrow.

One of Galletti’s targets will be junior Briar Naggs — a “plus-athlete” with a “very high ceiling.”

Anchoring the O-Line will be senior Jake Ovanic, who started at guard last season.

Junior Matt Ahearn will be the other guard. Juniors Dominic Gende and Kevin Hernandez will be bookend tackles.

“Going into last season, I thought we could go out there and just throw the ball,” Gross said, “but I quickly found out that you have to be able to control the ball a little bit too to be successful at the varsity level, especially in our conference.

“I’ve adjusted my scheme, and the kids have really bought into it. It’s going to kind of look a little bit like the old Ottawa Pirates, but at the same time we’re going to be more modern. We’re going to throw the ball more than the traditional Ottawa teams.

See OTTAWA, page 10

AT LEFT: Sandwich Indians returning letterwinners this fall include (left to right): in front - Nicolas Lidinsky, Braden Mansur, Evan Wilson, Avery Tindall, Max Coldwate, Nico Migliorini, Trace Hayes, Gerrit Decker; in back - Sawyer Allen, Jack Theurer, Jacob Heilemeier, James Coleman, Jackson Murphy, Drew Theurer, Mason Blanchard, Cole Frieders and Jack Pehlke; and missing from photo - Jacob Mosher.

The Times | Brian Hoxsey

Times Sports Columns INSIDETHEGAME with Charlie Ellerbrock Thursdays

THEPEDELTYBOX INFIELDCHATTER with J.T. Pedelty Tuesdays

with Scott T. Holland Wednesdays

OUTDOORS FULL-COURTPRESS with Fred Krause Thursdays

with Brian Hoxsey Saturdays

Indians ‘family’ goal: Good Luck build winning culture Sandwich Sandwich hoping to make noise SCHEDULE

in new-look Interstate Eight BRIAN HOXSEY bhoxsey@shawmedia.com 815-431-4052 It was a bit of a rollercoaster ride for Sandwich last season, to say the least.

The Indians and now second-year head coach Kris Cassie are hoping for a less bumpy and more steady experience in 2019.

Sandwich opened the last fall with three straight wins (the best start for the program since 2011), but then lost five consecutive times before picking up a win in its season finale to finish 4-5 (1-3 in the Interstate Eight Conference Large). The Indians open the season at home tomorrow against Chicago Hope

Academy, and after traveling to Harvard in Week 2 will look to make their impact in the “new-look” I-8 this year, beginning with a visit to La Salle-Peru.

Sandwich, which has a roster of 36 — including 12 seniors and 10 juniors, lost starting quarterback Mike Frieders and standout running back Dylan Baumbach to graduation, but Cassie feels his club is even more in tune to the wing-T offense he implemented a season ago.“I love this team’s attitude. I mean they come out here every day in practice and they want to work,” said Cassie, who admits because of a small roster he’ll have nine or 10 guys playing both ways.

CONFERENCE HISTORY The Indians have been part of four football conferences during their 118-year history — the Fox Valley, Northeast, Big Eight and Interstate Eight. u FOX VALLEY CONFERENCE (1940-1965) Championships: 1948, 1949, 1951, 1957, 1964 u NORTHEAST CONFERENCE (1966-1975) Championships: none u BIG EIGHT CONFERENCE (1980-1984) Championships: none u INTERSTATE EIGHT CONFERENCE (1985-present) Championships: 1985, 2010, 2012 — Bill Lidinsky & Brian Hoxsey

8/30 HOPE ACADEMY 7 p.m.

9/6 at Harvard 7 p.m.

9/13 at La Salle-Peru 7:15 p.m.

9/20 KANELAND 7 p.m.

9/27 SYCAMORE 7 p.m.

10/4 ROCHELLE 7 p.m.

10/11 at Plano 7 p.m.

10/18 OTTAWA 7 p.m.

10/25 at Morris 7 p.m.

“They aren’t afraid of the new conference we are in this season, and they come out here with a positive attitude each and every day.

They want to be successful.

All of that put together makes it fun for us coaches.

“We have come out since Day 1 and haven’t missed a beat from the summer. It was a very smooth transition this year.”

Barking out the signals will be senior quarterback Jack Theurer — who Cassie says “will run the ball” — with younger brother Drew as his backup. The running attack figures to be led by senior fullback Nicolas Lidinsky, the leading returning rusher (67 carries, 260 yards, five touchdowns) from 2018. Complementing Lidinsky will be classmate wingback Jackson Murphy and junior James Coleman, while 11th-graders Evan Wilson and Ryan Dabbert will also see carries.

See SANDWICH, page 10

Indians!

Good Luck in Your 2019 Season!

Have a great season

I N DI A N S !

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2019 Football Preview

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2019 Football Preview

Thursday, August 29, 2019

The Times - Delivering Your Community

After streaky ‘18, Streator hoping for different ‘zone’ this season Hassett feels Bulldogs can return to the postseason

SCHEDULE 8/30 EAST PEORIA 7 p.m.

9/6 at Morton 7:30 p.m.

9/13 WILMINGTON 7 p.m.

9/20 at Reed-Custer 7 p.m.

9/27 COAL CITY 7 p.m.

10/4 at Peotone 7 p.m.

10/11 at Herscher 7 p.m.

10/18 MANTENO 7 p.m.

10/25 at Lisle 7 p.m.

BRIAN HOXSEY bhoxsey@shawmedia.com 815-431-4052 The 2018 campaign for the Streator Bulldogs was a little like a season of “The Twilight Zone.”

Now fifth-year head coach Brian Hassett (13-24) saw his group win its opener and finale while suffering a pair of three-game losing streaks split by a triumph to finish 3-6 overall (1-3 Interstate Eight Conference Large) — with each victory coming via overtime.

Hassett and this year’s Bulldogs, now competing in the new Illinois Central Eight Conference, are hoping they can improve on that mark and find a way to reach the postseason for the second time in the last three seasons.

Streator has 31 players on the varsity roster — 16 seniors, 13 juniors and a pair of sophomores — and Hassett feels this group has what it takes to put together a solid season, starting with Friday’s season and home opener against East Peoria.

“I feel our senior leader-

ries, according to Hassett, but the Bulldogs will also be giving the ball to seniors Riley McCurdy and Dominic Haws as well as juniors Trever Murphy and Nutall. Murphy is the leading returner after posting 403 yards on 71 carries, while McCurdy was next at 387 on 82 and Haws 96 on 16 totes.

“We have a lot of kids who can run the football and are good in space,” Hassett said.

The receiving corps will feature senior Riley Rinaldi, who also runs track, and The Times | Brian Hoxsey returns after playing as a Streator Bulldogs returning from last fall’s varsity squad include (left to right): in front - Juan Sanchez, Jeremiah Lukes, Latrell freshman at slot, along with Teamer, Nolan Salaz, Riley Rinaldi, Riley Cole, Dominic Haws; and in back - Carter Spears, Jimmy Tredway, Riley McCurdy, Isaac junior Aiden Webb, Haws, Murphy and McCurdy. The Beals, Ian Kurdziolek, Haydn Rathbun, Patrick Rhodes. outside guys will be seniors Latrell Teamer and Ian Carter Spears will back offense will be senior quar“I feel the mix of the ship has been very good, Kurdziolek, as well as A.J. up Tredway, with junior terback Jimmy Tredway, seniors and the new guys and they are doing a nice Benning. Senior Isaac Beals Dewayne Nutall available who saw significant time at is going to give us a good job of pushing the younger and junior Jacob Greer will in an emergency. signal-caller as a junior and chance to win every week. kids,” Hassett said. “These play tight end.

Senior RBs Riley Cole and was 28-of-66 for 332 yards They just need to stay posiguys do know how to win ...

Jeremiah Lukes will most with a touchdown and tive and stay on the field.” many of them won as freshSee STREATOR, page 7 likely see the bulk of the carseven interceptions. Senior Leading the Streator men and as sophomores

Coalers, ’Cats early favorites in new Illinois Central Eight Peotone, Lisle, Streator, Manteno all playoff hopefuls BILL LIDINSKY For The Times Here is a look at this year’s Illinois Central Eight: LAST YEAR’S CHAMPION: N/A 10 PLAYERS TO WATCH: COAL CITY — Payton Hutchings (QB, Sr.), Austin Pullara (TE/LB, Sr.); WILMINGTON – Jake Rodewald (RB/LB, Sr.), Keaton Hopwood (QB/DB, Sr.); MANTENO – Jeremy Gesky (OL/DL, Sr.), Josh Gesky (OL/DL, Jr.); HERSCHER – Ben Koranda (RB/LB, Sr.); REEDCUSTER – Blake Foster (QB/ DB, Sr.); LISLE – Dylan Laue (RB/DB, Sr.); PEOTONE – Max Gesswein (QB/FS, Sr.).

NOTES: The new conference made up of eight former Interstate Eight schools will be headlined by COAL CITY. The Coalers lost their first game to Morris last season but then reeled off 10 in a row and won the I-8 Large before eventually falling to Richmond-Burton in the Class 4A quarterfinals. They look to be tough again, returning a wealth of talent on both sides of the ball. Thirdyear coach Dan Hutchings believes his team’s speed and experience on both sides of the ball will serve the Coalers well with strongarmed signal-caller Payton Hutchings and Pullara returning for a third season.

Look for senior Daniel Jezik and Brady Crawford to provide huge contributions on both sides of the ball as well. … After 50 consecutive victories spanning 10 seasons, WILMINGTON finally lost within the I-8 Small division, dropping a pair of contests to both Lisle and Peotone before finishing with a 6-4 overall record. But under legendary coach Jeff Reentz, now in his 26th season at WHS, things usually bounce back quickly, and the Wildcats figure to be tough in 2019 with a 37-player roster.

Reentz will welcome back a slew of starters on offense, and overall he feels his club has excellent speed. Hopwood is a three-year starter behind center, while Rodewald and junior Trey Shaw return in the backfield after all-conference campaigns. ... It was unusual to see MANTENO struggle as much as it did last season, recording only one victory. But the Panthers — under veteran coach of 14 years R.J. Haines — expect a quick bounceback with a club that boasts a 36-player roster. Haines

believes his team is talented on each line of scrimmage, with both Geskys returning after all-conference performances to pave the way. Skill positions will also be a strength according to Haines, with all-conference running back Davey Wurster. …Things ended up pretty frustratingly for PEOTONE and head coach Apostolos Tsiamas last season. The Blue Devils suffered four losses by a combined total of nine points, including an overtime loss to Streator in Week 9 which kept them out of the playoffs with a 4-5 overall record. But Tsiamas — now in his fifth season — believes he has the talent on his 39-player roster to be competitive provided they can close out some of the close games that went south a year ago. Gesswein is a solid signal-caller who will lead an offensive attack that figures to be strong, with senior Sam Biedron running the football and senior Logan Heflin catching it. …

STREATOR has playoff aspirations and reason to believe it can make them come true in its new conference home. ... It was truly a remarkable season for LISLE in 2018, as it reeled off eight consecutive victories while also going undefeated as champions of the I-8 Small Conference.

The Lions progressed to the Class 3A quarterfinals before falling to eventual runners-up Byron. This season, sixth-year coach Paul Parpet will guide a varsity roster of 32, 18 of whom are seniors and 10 of whom are returning starters. Parpet figures his ballclub will be experienced on both sides of the line within the new league that still maintains many familiar foes spanning classes 3A to 5A. Laue should be a mainstay on both offense and defense, while Mike Walker will join him as a running back in Papet’s scheme. Both were I-8 all-conference players last season. … One of the legends in REED-CUSTER football lore — former quarterback Gavin Johnston — returns for his second year at the coaching helm of the Comets. During his first campaign patrolling the sides, Johnston guided his team to a 2-7 overall mark, but has a lot of confidence in the future starting with this year’s contingent which boasts a varsity roster of 41 and a massive total of better than 80 in the program.

Johnston will also be looking to get the Comets back in the playoffs for the first time since 2009 with a young club headed by Foster as well as senior center/linebacker Noah Curl and junior wide

receiver/defensive back Evan Pickard. …Another noteworthy story from 2018 came from HERSCHER which, despite just getting into the Class 3A playoffs with a 5-4 record, advanced all the way to the state semifinals before falling to Byron. Veteran coach Dan Wetzel returns to lead a youthful group that will rely on Koranda and junior wide receiver Cam Berns who caught 32 passes as a sophomore.

PROJECTED PLAYOFF TEAMS: Coal City, Wilmington, Peotone, Lisle.

Shaw Media | Dan Voitik

Coal City, shown here in action against nonconference rival Morris, should be at the top of the new Illinois Central Eight in the league’s inaugural season.

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2019 Football Preview

The Times - Delivering Your Community

Streator From page 7 The only returning offensive lineman will be senior Patrick Rhodes. He will be joined by classmates Haydn Rathbun, Jose Chavez and Nolan Salaz. Also creating holes and time will be juniors J.D. Blickensderfer, Blake Rathbun, Edwin Paradez and sophomore Walker McClellan.

On the defensive side, Rhodes, Haydn Rathbun and Salaz will be up front, with Chavez, McClellan and junior Skyler Doss also seeing time.

The starting linebackers will be the all-conference Spears, Kurdziolek, Blake Rathbun and Dominic Haws, with backups Beals, Lukes and

Thursday, August 29, 2019

n

ROSTER

CONFERENCE HISTORY

NO. NAME HT. 2 Aiden Webb 6-0 5 Riley Cole 5-8 7 Riley McCurdy 5-10 8 Greg Rashid 6-2 9 Jimmy Tredway 6-3 13 Juan Sanchez 5-6 14/51 Carter Spears 6-1 17 Ian Kurdziolek 5-11 20 Latrell Teamer 5-9 21 Riley Rinaldi 5-7 22 Jeremiah Lukes 5-9 23 A.J. Benning 6-0 24 Jacob Greer 5-10 25 Mason Telford 5-9 27 Dewayne Nutall 5-10 34 Dominic Haws 5-8 35 Trever Murphy 5-9 50 Patrick Rhodes 5-10 53 J.D. Blickensderfer 5-10 55 Blake Rathbun 5-11 57 Boyd Martin 6-0 64 Jose Chavez 6-2 67 Skyler Doss 5-11 70 Haydn Rathbun 5-10 72 Edwin Paradez 5-10 75 Walker McClellan 5-11 76 Nolan Salaz 5-10 85 Isaac Beals 6-0 86 Alex Ward 6-0 88 Caden Price 6-0 99 Dustin Vernon 6-1

The Bulldogs have been members of six football conferences during their 125-year history — the Illinois Valley, the Big Twelve, the North Central Illinois, the Northern Illinois Big 12, the Interstate Eight and now the Illinois Central Eight. u ILLINOIS VALLEY CONFERENCE (1917-1930; 1970-1972) Championships: 1917, 1920, 1924 u BIG TWELVE CONFERENCE (1931-1957) Championships: 1945, 1946, 1952 u NORTH CENTRAL ILLINOIS CONFERENCE (1958-2009) Championships: 1958, 1976, 1977, 1981 u NORTHERN ILLINOIS BIG 12 CONFERENCE (2010-2013) Championships: none u INTERSTATE EIGHT CONFERENCE (2014-2018) Championships: none u ILLINOIS CENTRAL EIGHT CONFERENCE (2019-present) Championships: none — J.T. Pedelty & Brian Hoxsey

extra points and four field goals last season. Beals will be the starting punter, but Telford may get some punts as well, while Murphy, McCurdy, Rinaldi and Cole will rotate in the return game.

“I think if we can keep things together and we can stay healthy, we have a chance to make a run at Week 10,” Hassett said.

“I think we are athletic enough, and we’ll just have to shore some things

down the road junior Boyd Martin, manning the middle. McCurdy and Murphy return at safeties, along with cover guys Murphy.

Cole, Teamer and Nutall (after medical release) in the mix.

Hassett lists both senior Greg Rashid and junior Mason Telford at kicker, the former splitting the uprights for 11

up on both sides of the ball. I also feel our special teams are going to be really good and a huge key. ...

With the return guys we have and the kickers we have ... it’s just another weapon for us.

“Again, the bottom line is: one, if we stay healthy and, two, we keep players on the field, we can make the playoffs.

“I’m not afraid to say that, because that’s what I truly think.”

WT. 170 185 175 150 210 145 190 180 150 170 180 170 175 170 150 165 165 250 155 180 180 265 210 180 195 225 195 190 160 150 340

YR. Jr. Sr. Sr. Sr. Sr. Sr. Sr. Sr. Sr. Sr. Sr. Jr. Jr. Jr. Jr. Sr. Jr. Sr. Jr. Jr. Jr. Sr. Jr. Sr. Jr. So. Sr. Sr. So. Jr. Jr.

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2019 Football Preview

Thursday, August 29, 2019

The Times - Delivering Your Community

For Seneca, this season is time to ‘turn the card’ Fighting Irish seeking first playoff berth since 2013

Eight Conference from 1979-2017.

Head coach Ted O’Boyle (31-35), now in his eighth year as gridiron boss at SHS, knows it’s time for his ballclub to get back in the ring as playoff participants.

“Last year there was a game where we really should have won, but maybe one that we should have lost,” O’Boyle said.

BILL LIDINSKY “Give or take a couple For The Times of games over the past five seasons, the bottom line is Since Seneca last qualwe’ve got to get back into ified for IHSA postseason the playoffs. I know numin 2013, the Fighting Irish bers are down all over the have place, but battled we’re still SCHEDULE through close to a roller 8/31 SHELBYVILLE 2 p.m.

50 as a coaster of 9/6 MARQUETTE 7 p.m. program. ups and 9/13 at Dwight 7 p.m.

“The downs 9/20 at Paxton-Buckley-Loda 7 p.m. kids during the 9/27 CLIFTON CENTRAL 7 p.m. are still last five 10/5 IROQUOIS WEST 1 p.m. excited seasons, 10/11 at Watseka 7 p.m. and have just miss10/18 at Momence 7 p.m. put forth ing the 10/25 BISMARCK-H-R. 7 p.m. great playoffs by efforts so one win in far this three of those campaigns. year in practice. It’s just Last year was one of time to turn the card a bit those frustrating see-saw and get this thing back to ledgers, when Seneca alwhere we need to be, and ternated weeks of winning that’s winning football followed by the next week games and making the postdropping a contest. In all, season.” the Irish finished with an It’s no secret O’Boyle overall record of 4-5 and a likes to run the ball on 2-3 mark during their first offense, but he will have to season competing in the replace better than 1,700 Sangamon Valley Conferyards of rushing that was ence after being a charter lost when Logan Bruss member of the Interstate (1,182 yds.) and Brody

For The Times | Bill Lidinsky

CONFERENCE HISTORY

Fighting Irish returning lettermen for 2019 include (left to right): in front - Luke Sangston, Brock Moore, Ben Vergo, Collin Quinn, Gavin Robertson, Brayden Roe, Nate Aldrich, Cody Carvell and Rick Milliman; in back - Trey Thorsen, Creighton O’Boyle, Nathan Elliott, Cody Carey, Maveric Varland, Ryan McCauley, Myles Mitchell, Edgar Reyes, TJ Van Ness, Cole Underhill and Nathaniel Finch.

Baudino (569 yds.) graduated.

He will turn to a stable of running backs headed by junior Cole Underhill (210 yds.) and senior Myle Mitchell (131 yds.), who besides Bruss and Baudino saw the most playing time in the 2018 backfield.

O’Boyle also will also count on junior captain Gavin

Robertson (5-8, 200), seniors Ben Virgo (5-8, 140), Ryan McCauley (6-2, 185) and Ben Krause (5-11, 160) to tote the rock behind first-year senior quarterback Cody Carey (6-1, 195).

“We lost a couple of backs that had a good amount of yards, but I think now a strength of our ballclub is the number of

The Fighting Irish have been in three conferences in their 48-year history — the Northeast, the Interstate Eight and the Sangamon Valley. u NORTHEAST CONFERENCE (1973-1978) Championships: none u INTERSTATE EIGHT CONFERENCE (1979-2017) Championships: 1989, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1999, 2000, 2001 u SANGAMON VALLEY CONFERENCE (2018-present) Championships: none — Charlie Ellerbrock & Brian Hoxsey

backs we have,” O’Boyle said. “With our ‘T’ system that we’re going to run, it’s going to require a lot of backs, and right now we’ve got a good number to work with within our power sys-

tem of running.”

That being said, Seneca will need a good offensive line to provide yardage moving downhill.

See SENECA, page 10

Sangamon Valley champ Clifton Central looks strong again

Here is a look at the Sangamon Valley Conference: LAST YEAR’S CHAMPION: Clifton Central.

12 PLAYERS TO WATCH: CLIFTON CENTRAL – Caleb Toberman (OL/DL, Sr.), Jay Lemenager (QB/DB, Jr.); DWIGHT – Wilton Jackman (RB/LB, Sr.), Carson Couch (RB/DB, Jr.); IROQUOIS WEST - Tibaldo Alvarez (QBDB, Sr.), Dane Thorne (RBWR/DB, Sr.); MOMENCE – Grant Laney (WR/DB, Sr.), Derek Petkunas (WR/DB, Sr.); PAXTON-BUCKLEY-LODA – Gunner Anderson (QB/ DB, Sr.), Drake Schrodt (RB-WR/DB); WATSEKA – Tyler Durflinger (OL/LB, Jr.), Nick Albright (OL/LB, Sr.).

NOTES: Defending champion CLIFTON CENTRAL, despite being young, battled back from an 0-2 start to make the Class 2A playoffs for the 18th time in head coach Brian Spooner’s 21 years.

This year should be no different, as all but two starters return. Three-year starter Toberman leads five more seniors who will make up their veteran line protecting Lemenager, who set the school’s single-season passing yardage record as a sophomore.

His main targets should be letterwinners Jacob Shoven, Chandler Burrow and Caden Parry, when he’s not handing off to RB Garrett Graham. Toberman and Trevor Meier lead a defense that bent (16 ppg) but didn’t break much. … Like the Comets, DWIGHT had a rough start — losing three of the first four — but, thanks to a Week 9 win over P-B-L, made the postseason, where it fell to Lisle.

The line, as is tradition, is big and solid with returnees Nate Green (6-0, 250, Sr.), Garrett Severson (6-3, 300, Sr.), Andrew Kapper (6-2, 250, Jr.) and Malaki Slaughter (6-2, 245), as well as in the backfield with veteran RBs Jackman and Couch.

The key to at least a repeat of that 6-4 mark, feels second-year head coach Luke Standiford, will be new QB Caden Schroeder.

AT RIGHT: Logan Bruss had 114 rushing yards for Seneca in a 42-14 win over Iroquois West last season.

Shaw Media | file

tion between Durflinger, Albright, senior Andrew Soucie and junior Shawn Farris as well as others up front. If they come through, the passel of talented skill players like Drew Wittenborn (QB/ DB, Jr.), Jameson Cluver (RB/DB, Jr.), Justin Bunting (WR/LB, Sr.), Conner Curry (WR/DB, Jr.) and Maddux Rigsby (WR/DB, Jr.) should turn around the 2018 season’s 249-195 points deficit.

PROJECTED PLAYOFF TEAMS: Clifton Central, P-B-L, Watseka, Dwight.

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Getting off to a better start, despite visiting Marquette in Week 1 and hosting ReedCuster in Week 2, would be a big bonus. … IROQUOIS WEST in 2018 struggled on both sides of the ball and went winless, running its record to 2-25 over the last three seasons and 17-82 since 2008. The prospects for breaking that spell appear slim, at least this year, as 29 of the 43 players in the program are sophomores and freshmen.

The good news is the presence of Alvarez, who along with Thorne is expected to be a mentor for young backs like Austin Miller and David Netzband in a more simplified version of last year’s offense.

The Raiders defense, which allowed a whopping 353 points (39.2 ppp), is being rebuilt after losing its top five tacklers. …

After missing the postseason for the first time in seven years with a 4-5 mark in 2017, MOMENCE fell even further to 1-8 last fall. Hope for a bounceback will depend largely on improving a defense that surrendered 349 points (38.7 ppg) and on offense, where Laney, Petkunas and Jhett Anderson (RB/DB, Sr.) lead the way. … Last year’s league runner-up, PAXTON-BUCKLEY-LODA, was the only one to win a playoff game, beating Vandalia before losing to Carlinville.

Senior Drake Stoudt and junior Gavin Copley are versatile athletes to whom the Panthers must get the ball. Tasked with that will be Gunner Anderson (QB, Sr.) and a line led by senior linemen Alex Reuck and Dalton Busboom to do that.

There’s some depth at the skill positions, but the top players must stay away from injury for a successful year. As for the defense, according to coach Josh Pritchard, the program must find varsity-ready linebackers to pair with Anderson and Busboom to be effective. … SENECA may not have the individual offensive stars it had a year ago, but the Irish will be more than capable with its new running back by committee. … WATSEKA head coach Aaron Hilgendorf believes that “football is won in the trenches,” and that’s where his club will have to prove itself this fall to earn its fourth straight playoff trip.

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Thursday, August 29, 2019

n

9

Flanagan-Cornell/Woodland ready for dive into 8-man game Falcons open season Saturday at Elgin Westminster

‘Wehavealotofkids onthisteamthat havegreathands.

It’sgoingtobea harddecisionon rotatingguysin.’

JAMIE NEWELL For The Times Last year, the Flanagan-Cornell/Woodland/ Roanoke-Benson football co-op welcomed 27 players to fall camp to prepare for the 2018 season.

By Week 3, the Falcons were down to 14 varsity players for a home game against Eureka and finished the season with their third straight 0-9 campaign.

There has been some change since the 2018 season came to a close, beginning when FCW announced that it will take part in the 16-team Illinois 8-Man Football Association (I8FA) and no longer co-op with For The Times | Jamie Newell Roanoke-Benson.

Returning letterwinners for the 2019 FCW Falcons include (left The schools also reached to right): Austin Barnes, Kyle Uhl, J.D. Ruddy, Jackson Mathe, out to former Flanagan football player, Todd Reed, Casey Earing, Joey Jones and William Weber. to be the head coach and Tavarre Phifer, a senior, the freshman and sopholead the team as it prepares will get carries at tailmore classes. for the switch to 8-man back. Reed is looking to “There has been a lot of football. freshman Jesse Simpson to new excitement with the “I think playing 8-man help Phifer in the Falcons program,” Reed said. “The will be very beneficial for backfield. new coaching staff and I us,” the new FCW coach A pair of sophomores, have been hyped up. We are said. “We are coming in as Will Weber and J.D. Ruddy, all in a new man the fullback spot. rebuild team Senior Kamron Tower mode with joins Hamilton and the for the our SCHEDULE dangerous Harms in catchseanum8/31 at Elgin Westminster 1 p.m. ing passes from Wallace. son.” bers.

9/6 PAWNEE (at F-C) 7 p.m.

“We have a lot of kids on BraWe 9/13 ILL. SCHOOL FOR DEAF (at Wood.) 7 p.m. this team that have great den are 9/20 at Jacksonville Metro-East 7 p.m. hands,” Reed said. “It’s goWallace try9/27 at River Ridge 7 p.m. ing to be a hard decision on will be ing to 10/4 at Milford-Cissna Park 7 p.m. rotating guys in and who I under build 10/11 CHAMPAIGN JUDAH (at F-C) 7 p.m. want to stick with.” center our 10/18 NORTH FULTON (at Wood.) 7 p.m.

Third-year Falcons when pro10/25 at Rockford Christian Life 7 p.m. player and junior Kyle the gram Uhl returns to anchor the Falcons back offensive line and will play open up, center. He will be joined by the and I think small school sophomore Joey Jones. Seseason on August 31st on football will fall in love nior Casey Earing will see the road in Elgin against with 8-man football syssome time in the offensive Westminster Christian. tem.” line. Reed is also counting Sophomore Dallas HamilWhen fall practice for on senior Shane Reynolds ton will serve as Wallace’s the 2019 season commenced and sophomore Chris Stasbackup. Look for Hamilton on August 12, Reed had 23 ko to help along the offento line up players report to sive line. at wide camp. A couple Defensively, Reed says receiver days later, four if he more young men isn’t takreported to bring ing snaps the number to 27. at quarAmong those 27 on terback. the roster, 10 come Senior from Woodland Tyler High School.

Harms Reed returns has also seven lettermen been getting some reps at from last year’s squad. Ten quarterback as well. of the FCW players are In the backfield, Streseniors. Two are juniors, ator High School transfer with the rest coming from

TODD REED FCW coach

ROSTER NO. NAME YR. POS. 3 Tavarre Phifer Sr. RB/DB 5 Ethan Kane Fr. RB/DB 7 Braden Wallace Sr. QB 9 Kamron Tower Sr. WR/DB 10 Jackson Mathe Sr. RB/DB 11 Dallas Hamilton So. WR/QB 12 J.D. Ruddy So. RB/LB 14 Seth Meredith Sr. OL/DL 20 Jesse Simpson Fr. RB/DB 23 William Weber So. RB/LB 25 Chris Stasko So. OL/DL 28 Ethan Schumm Fr. OL/DL 36 Austin Barnes Sr. WR/DB 38 Ethan Isenberg Fr. RB/LB 40 Kyle Uhl Jr. OL/DL 45 Adam Heidenreich So. OL/DL 50 Shane Reynolds So. OL/DL 52 Casey Earing Sr. OL/DL 55 Dameon Hunter So. OL/DL 59 Joey Jones So. OL/DL 60 Damon Terry Fr. OL/DL 61 Connor Draper Jr. OL/DL 70 Jase Torres Fr. OL/DL 75 Trever Market Sr. OL/DL 80 Shawn Brinkmeyer Fr. WR/DB 81 Nolan Deats Fr. OL/DL 88 Tyler Harms Sr. WR/DL HEAD COACH: Todd Reed (1st season) that the team is a work in progress when it comes to that side of the football.

“We have a couple of formations that we can use,”

Reed said. “We can use one linebacker and three down linemen with a cover 2 look with two safeties, or one with two middle lineback-

ers with a strong safety. So we can go that way too.”

Reed said that coaching defense for 8-man football has been an adjustment.

“We are still playing with (the defense),” Reed said.

“It is new to us. When we run our defense against our scout team offense, we are starting to see what gaps need to be covered and things like that.”

Reed is looking to senior Dameon Hunter to be one of the leaders from his defensive end spot.

“Dameon has incredible feet,” said Reed. “He is able to get the quarterback and wreaks havoc against our scout team. He can get pressure and is hard to block.”

FCW is young in the linebacking corps. Ruddy and Weber, both sophomores, will man the middle, while ninth-graders Jase Torrez and Ethan Schumm provide depth.

In the defensive backfield, seniors Tower and Mathe are in the mix with Hamilton, a sophomore, and Jesse Simpson, a freshman, fighting for playing time. Seth Meredith and Austin Barnes could see some playing time.

With 27 players on the roster, Reed likes having options to get as many players in the game as possible.

“In practice we have been giving the kids five plays before we rotate fresh bodies in,” Reed said. “We are figuring out where each player will play.”

Flanagan-Cornell-Woodland

FALCONS

CONFERENCE HISTORY FLANAGAN Flanagan was in just one conference during its 59-year history before the current co-op— the Midstate. u MIDSTATE CONFERENCE (1949-2005) Championships: 1949, 1961, 1968, 1970, 1974, 1984 CORNELL The Cardinals were in just one conference during their 22-year history — the Midstate. u MIDSTATE CONFERENCE (1949-1970) Championships: 1959 WOODLAND The Warriors were in three conferences during their 52-year history — the Midstate, Northeast and United. u NORTHEAST CONFERENCE (1956-1959) Championships: 1958, 1959 u UNITED CONFERENCE (1958-1963) Championships: 1959 u MIDSTATE CONFERENCE (1964-2005) Championships: none FLANAGAN-CORNELL/WOODLAND The FWC/FCW Falcons have been in two conferences during their 13-year history as a co-op— the Heart of Illinois and now the Illinois 8-Man Football Association. u HEART OF ILLINOIS CONFERENCE (2006-2018) Championships: 2007 u ILLINOIS 8-MAN FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION (2019-present) Championships: none

Good Luck in Your 2019 Season!

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10 n

2019 Football Preview

Thursday, August 29, 2019

The Times - Delivering Your Community

ROSTER

Shaw Media | Gary Duncan

La Salle-Peru and Sycamore, shown here during their 2018 meeting, are both now members of the Interstate Eight Conference along with four other former NIB 12 teams and longtime I-8 members Sandwich and Plano.

Sycamore looks to be the favorite in Interstate Eight Kaneland, Morris other powerhouses in Ottawa’s, Sandwich’s new league KYLE NEVINS knevins@shawmedia.com 815-431-4085 Here is a look at this year’s Interstate Eight: LAST YEAR’S CHAMPIONS: Large — Coal City; Small — Lisle.

10 PLAYERS TO WATCH: SYCAMORE — Manny Dominquez (DB/RB, Sr.), Grant McConkey (QB, Sr.); KANELAND — Joe Smith (QB, Sr.), Max Gagne (WR, Sr.), Colton Doll (WR, Sr.); MORRIS — Zach Reddinger (QB/DE, Sr.), Ovahdyah Ben-Israel (DL, Sr.); ROCHELLE — Charlie Jandak (OL/DL, Sr.); PLANO — Alec Sheehy (OL, Sr.); LA SALLE-PERU — Logan Turigliatti (OL, Sr.).

NOTES: The consensus choice amongst the league’s head coaches to claim the inaugural new-look I-8 title is SYCAMORE (8-3 record in 2018). Dominquez has a scholarship offer from NCAA Division II Augustana University (S.D.). “We have a great deal of experienced players returning

Ottawa From page 4 “We are going to be a balanced team. I feel like we’re going to be able to do a much better job controlling the ball.”

from a second-round playoff team,” Spartans coach Joe Ryan said. “We need to continue to build depth with our younger players.

We are excited about what we have with this group; it could be a special group.” ...

KANELAND (7-4) will feature a potent aerial attack.

“Our strength will be our offense,” Knights coach Pat Ryan said. “We return our QB (Smith, who passed for 1,684 yards and 16 TDs) and an explosive, experienced receiving corp (in Gagne, who had 36 catches for 352 yards and 5 TDs, and Doll, who had 31 catches for 577 yards and 6 TDs). In the playoffs, we started three sophomores and one junior on the offensive line, and all are back. The question marks are for sure, how do we replace our very experienced players from a year ago? The keys to success will be if we can effectively run the ball to complement our passing game, staying healthy and filling a number of spots on the defensive side of the ball.” ...

MORRIS (4-5) welcomes back the 6-foot-2, 205-pound Reddinger, who’s caught the eye of Division I/II schools, and in Ben-Israel, an athletic 6-foot-4, 315-pound transfer from Joliet West.

See INTERSTATE 8, page 12 The heart and soul of the defense will be Ovanic (84 total tackles), a threeyear starter at linebacker.

That corps will also include Coleman and junior Adam Weitzel. The secondary will feature Fairrow at safety.

ROSTER NO. NAME HT. WT. 1 Logan Tarbox 5-5 134 2 Briar Naggs 6-1 170 3 Damonte Coleman 5-9 170 4 Collyn Gustafson 5-9 135 5 Braiden Miller 6-1 161 6 Bryant Schomas 6-0 175 7 Brett Galletti 6-1 195 11 Jake Serby 6-0 145 12 Noah Smith 6-1 165 14 Johnny Walsh 5-8 150 16 Zak Maslanka 6-3 220 21 Cedric Fairrow 5-10 180 23 Anthony Mulinazzi 5-9 148 24 Hunter Brown 5-7 170 25 Dalton Gosdin 5-6 165 28 Tyler Collins 5-9 151 32 Nolen Miller 5-8 163 33 Adam Weitzel 5-11 175 34 Chase Bowers 5-10 155 36 Michael Morse 5-8 150 42 Ulices Perez 5-10 180 45 Colton Johnson 5-10 155 50 Anthony Gutierrez 5-6 165 51 Ethen Swords 6-0 250 52 Bryan Gleason 5-10 215 54 Zach Owens 5-11 190 55 Kyler Sprowls 6-5 238 57 Jake Ovanic 6-0 215 58 Dustin Gerkitz 5-11 205 60 Matt Ahearn 5-10 200 61 Matt Kuzniar 6-1 264 63 Leo Gutierrez 5-5 155 65 Kevin Saar 5-10 235 66 Tim Lingle 6-0 210 67 Owen Snyder 5-6 180 74 Bryan Koppenhoefer 5-10 290 75 Dominic Gende 6-3 305 77 Kevin Hernandez 5-11 255 80 Austin Howard 5-9 130 85 Travis Dougherty 6-0 164 87 Austin Stanley 5-10 155 88 Devin Gende 5-10 195 89 Kyle Szewczuk 6-1 160 HEAD COACH: Chad Gross (2nd season)

YR. Jr. Jr. Sr. Sr. So. Jr. Jr. Jr. Jr. Jr. Sr. So. Jr. Sr. Sr. Jr. Sr. Jr. So. Sr. Sr. Jr. Sr. So. Sr. Jr. Sr. Sr. Sr. Jr. Jr. Jr. Sr. Sr. Sr. Jr. Jr. Jr. Sr. Sr. Jr. Sr. Sr.

POS. WR/DB WR/DB RB/LB WR/DB QB/DB RB/DB QB WR/DB WR/LB WR/DB OL/DL RB/DB WR/DB RB/LB RB/LB RB/LB RB/DB RB/LB RB/DB RB/LB TE/DL TE/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL WR/DB WR/DB WR/DB TE/DL WR/DB

NO. NAME HT. WT. 1 Mason Blanchard 6-0 145 2 Trace Hayes 5-7 155 3 Ryan Dabbert 5-8 155 4 Austin Sinetos 6-0 140 5 Jack Theurer 6-1 175 9 Braulio Flores 5-10 135 10 James Coleman 6-1 170 12 Drew Theurer 6-0 170 20 Christian Sommers 5-8 120 21 Evan Wilson 6-0 160 22 Nicolas Lidinsky 5-7 155 24 Cole Mansur 6-5 170 26 Cainan Haick 5-4 140 32 Nico Migliorini 5-8 210 33 Dominic Cosentino 5-8 171 34 Jackson Murphy 6-1 180 40 Johnny Rizzuto 5-11 145 45 Joey Rizzuto 5-8 130 50 Gerrit Decker 5-8 230 51 Damien Daniels 5-4 156 52 Chase Hologa 5-11 205 55 Nic Gray 5-4 160 59 Casey Olson 6-0 200 60 Braden Mansur 5-10 230 62 Cole Frieders 5-11 240 65 A.J. Tindall 5-6 150 67 Kaiden Gustafson 6-0 180 68 Sawyer Allen 6-3 230 70 Logan Nelson 6-2 220 72 Sam Dale 5-7 150 73 Adam Obradovic 6-2 180 75 Max Coldwate 5-10 220 76 Jacob Mosher 5-11 290 78 Connor Holly 5-8 200 80 Jacob Heilemeier 6-2 180 85 Jack Pehlke 6-2 210 HEAD COACH: Kris Cassie (2nd year)

Sandwich

YR. Sr. Sr. Jr. So. Sr. So. Jr. Jr. So. Jr. Sr. Jr. So. Sr. So. Sr. So. So. Sr. So. So. Jr. So. Sr. Sr. Sr. So. Jr. Jr. So. So. Jr. Sr. So. Jr. Sr.

POS. TE/LB RB/DB RB/DB QB/DB QB/LB RB/LB RB/DB QB/DB QB/DB RB/LB RB/DB TE/DB RB/DB TE/LB TE/DL RB/LB TE/LB RB/DB OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/LB OL/LB OL/DL OL/DL OL/LB OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL TE/LB TE/DL

The tight end spot will rotate between seniors Jack Pehlke and Nico Migliorini, plus junior Cole Masert. On the offensive line will be a returning starter at center senior, Cole Frieders; senior Gerrit Decker and junior Sawyer Allen at guards; and seniors Braden Mansur, Jacob Mosher and Max Coldwate at the tackles.

The Indians’ 4-2-5 defense will boast Mansur, Decker, Coldwate and Allen up front; Migliorini and Murphy at inside linebackers; Jack Theurer and Wilson on the outside; Lidinsky and Drew Theurer on the corners; and Coleman at safety.

“Last year was the first year we put (the 4-2-5) in, and the kids are looking better running it this year,” said Cassie. “I’m more confident in it and the kids are as well. They are playing faster, communicating on the field. ... It shows me

they are understanding the concepts of the defense better.”

Murphy will handle the kicking duties, while who will fill the spot at punter is still to be determined.

Cassie said how he would determine a successful season for this year’s Indians crew will be more than just what the score is at the end of games and what the numbers say when the final standings are registered.

“It really comes down to developing these young men. I’m very proud that we have three guys from last season now playing at the college level, and we have three or four more on these year’s team that have plans on doing that as well,” Cassie said. “I’ve always felt a (win/loss) record is going to take care of itself, and I feel the most important thing is building a solid football culture.

“For me a successful season is one that we come through it healthy, we win some football games and continue to build the family.”

“We tried to switch to a 3-4 last year, and we had a big struggle with it, and I made the decision that we need to go back to kind of what we were doing previously at Ottawa,” Gross said. “It’s more of an even front. It’s not as much moving around, and it should simplify things for our kids and allow them to play at a faster speed.

“I like our speed (defensively); I think they are a quick group. I think they’re

smart. They’re very good at communicating.”

Special teams are a question mark for Gross.

Ottawa is in the midst of a program-worst 16-game losing skid. The Pirates hope to put a halt to that Friday night when they host Chicago Juarez.

“Week 1 is a huge deal for this program,” Gross said, “and starting 1-0 is a big deal for this group to gain confidence to build on.”

From page 4

Seneca From page 10

by example and have played football since I was in fifth grade. I’m really confident we can make the playoffs for the Senior captain Edgar first time in a while.”

Reyes (5-11, 220) will anchor a Mitchell will take on midtackle spot along with junior dle linebacking duties behind Nathan Elliott (6-0, 230).

Robertson and company, Rick Milliman (5-7, 260) will with Underhill and McCausnap center and be flanked ley flanking him at outside by guards Maveric Varland linebacker with others in (6-1, 190) and Collin Quinn competition as well.

(5-9, 195). Seniors Creighton Van Ness — a Times All-Area O’Boyle (5-10, 160) and TJ Van Second Team Ness (5-11, 200) pick as a junior will man the — will man a end positions cornerback along with juspot along with nior Nathaniel Virgo. CreighFinch (6-0, 180). ton O’Boyle will “We know start at safety. as an offensive Special teams line we’re going will see a first to have to work for the Irish, as very hard to get senior competour running itors Steven game going,” Bartkus and Reyes said. “I Silas Odum, believe we’ve who compete got the group TED O’BOYLE with the Newto do that, and Senecaheadcoach ark-Seneca sochopefully it will cer cooperative, translate into will be allowed enough wins to to play football as well. Bartmake the playoffs. I’m confikus will handle placekicking dent that will happen.” duties, while Odum and Van The Irish defense will be Ness will vie for the punting led by defensive coordinator job.

Levi Derber and SHS main“This year kicking will be stay Don Brown. a weapon that we have not Both will rely on nose had since I’ve been a coach guard Robertson to lead the at Seneca with Bartkus and way along with linemates Odum,” O’Boyle said.

Varland, Finch, Reyes “I believe this team has and senior Trey Thorsen potential, but we could be a (6-2, 200), who was a Times three-win team or we could All-Area First Team sebe a six or more-win team, lection as a junior with 39 and it’s a very fine line for us. tackles, 17 solo, and five and I think we need to start 2-2 or a half sacks. hopefully better in order to “I’m excited and honored change up the pattern we’ve to be a captain on this team, been stuck in over the last especially as a junior,” Robfive years.” ertson said. “I want to lead

‘Weneedtostart 2-2inorderto changeupthe patternwe’ve beenstuckinover thelastfiveyears.’

ROSTER NO. NAME HT. WT. 1 Luke Sangston 5-8 130 2 Cody Carey 6-1 195 3 Ben Virgo 5-8 140 5 Ben Krause 5-11 160 7 Joey Hatz 5-10 165 9 Ryan McCauley 6-2 185 10 Cody Carvell 5-5 135 14 Kolya Cato 5-8 170 15 Silas Odum 5-8 150 19 Jaden Casey 5-8 130 20 Trey Thorsen 6-2 200 21 Creighton O’Boyle 5-10 160 22 Brayden Roe 5-9 160 23 Gavin Robertson 5-8 200 25 Joseph Hamilton 5-8 175 26 TJ Van Ness 5-11 200 30 Cole Underhill 5-10 195 32 Brock Moore 5-11 165 35 Myles Mitchell 5-10 185 40 Carter Ellis 5-10 160 50 Edgar Reyes 5-11 220 52 Maveric Varland 6-1 190 54 Dakota Punke 5-10 180 55 Mahmoud Abushanab 6-0 190 59 Collin Quinn 5-9 195 60 Brian Hooker 5-7 155 65 Nathan Elliott 6-0 230 67 Patrick Griffin 6-0 215 68 Nate Aldrich 5-8 200 72 Kyle Hamby 6-0 165 73 Wade Tondini 5-8 200 75 Jacob Elliott 5-11 190 78 Logan Tondini 6-0 240 79 Ricky Milliman 5-7 260 81 Nathaniel Finch 6-0 180 88 Steven Bartkus 6-2 185 HEAD COACH: Ted O’Boyle (8th season)

YR. Jr. Sr. Sr. Sr. Sr. Jr. Jr. Jr. Sr. So. Sr. Sr. Jr. Jr. Jr. Sr. Jr. So. Sr. So. Sr. Jr. Jr. Jr. Sr. So. Jr. So. Jr. So. So. Jr. Jr. Jr. Jr. Sr.

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POS. WR/DB QB/LB WR/DB RB/DB RB/DB RB/LB RB/DB RB/DB P RB/DB TE/DL TE/DB QB/DB RB/DL RB/LB TE/DB RB/LB RB/LB RB/LB QB/LB OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL TE/DL K

The Times - Delivering Your Community

2019 Football Preview

Thursday, August 29, 2019

n

11

Fieldcrest working toward bigger, better things in 2019 Knights using last year’s disappointment to fuel this fall’s success

Team); senior lineman Cam Milashoski (Times All-Area Second Team); and senior slot receiver/DB Keegan Robbins (Times All-Area Second Team) as well as proven veterans such as junior linemen Jordan J.T. PEDELTY Hochecker and Travis jtpedelty@shawmedia.com Sunken and imposing se815-431-4043 nior running back Kenton Castrejon.

The 2018 season was a “I think we’re just expectpretty good one for the ing to do as Fieldcrest well as we Knights — possibly can one which SCHEDULE in conferincluded five 8/30 at Reed-Custer 7 p.m. ence,” said wins, a sec9/6 at Tri-Valley 7 p.m.

Faulk. “We ond consec9/13 TREMONT 7 p.m. play in a utive Class 9/20 GCMS 7 p.m. tough con2A playoff 9/28 at Illini West 2 p.m. ference, but berth and a 10/4 DEE-MACK 7 p.m.

I think with near-upset 10/11 at Ridgeview-Lex. 7 p.m. our guys and of then-un10/18 EUREKA 7 p.m. how close we beaten and 10/25 at El Paso-Gridley 7 p.m. are to each heavily-faThe Times | J.T. Pedelty other, I think vored Orion Returning lettermen for the 2019 Fieldcrest Knights include (left to right): front row - Skyler Nix, Clayton Boland, Travis Sunken, we should really make an on the Chargers’ home Austin Jefford, Jacob Joyal, Henry Lorton, Ryan Hook, Lucas Sidebottom, Nate Flynn, Cory Land, Jaxon McKay, Jordan Hochecker impact this season.” field. and Zac Cremer; middle row - Zach Keller, Collin Morris, Ethan Stoeger, Blake Bratt, Kenton Castrejon, Tyler Baker, Michael BreitThat offensive line should It was not, however, as barth, Tisen Covington, Keegan Robbins, Brandon Spangler and Allen Harlan; and back row - Parker Ruestman, Thomas Milton, be a strength, led of course good as what the Knights Ethan Johnson, Hunter Wyss, Garrett Nix, Matt Lorton, Mason Faulk and Cam Milashoski.

by Faulk (6-2, 280) at left had in mind, and they’re guard, as well as Milashosusing that residual dis(6-2, 220) at the right tackle 0, 210) and Clayton Boland ki (6-3, 290) at left tackle, appointment to hopefully position. Ethan Johnson (5-11, 170) are competing for Hochecker (5-11, 250) at elevate another talented CONFERENCE HISTORY (6-2, 220), Thomas Milton (6time at center. right guard and Sunken group to bigger and better The Knights have been members of just two football confer“As a running back, no things in 2019. ences since the school district was formed via consolidation in matter who your linemen “I think we’re pumping 1992 — the Midstate (sometimes styled “Mid-State”) and the are you know they’re doing the brakes a little bit,” ROSTER Heart of Illinois. their best to block for you,” said Fieldcrest head coach NO. NAME HT. WT. YR. POS. u MIDSTATE CONFERENCE (1992-2005) said Castrejon, the expected Derek Schneeman (sixth 1 Keegan Robbins 5-8 165 Sr. WR/DB Championships: none bellcow back.

“But especialseason, 35-18 record). “Last 2 Mason Stoeger 5-8 140 So. QB/DB u HEART OF ILLINOIS CONFERENCE (2006-present) ly with this group we have year with the number of 3 Isaac Morse 5-9 140 Jr. WR/DB Championships: 2013, 2014 this year, with how big they guys we had back, we really 5 Tisen Covington 5-8 135 Sr. WR/DB are and how hard they’ve felt like it was a year to 6 Tyler Baker 5-10 170 Sr. RB/DB — J.T. Pedelty been working, we should make a deep run in the 8 Cory Land 6-2 150 Jr. QB/DB be able to run so much playoffs, but it just wasn’t 9 Matt Lorton 6-2 165 Sr. QB/DB this year in comparison to strong, led by Castrejon and in the cards for us.

Schneeman — a former 11 Garrett Nix 6-2 170 Sr. TE/DE previous years. I hope they Bratt on the ends as well as “We made a number of quarterback himself — be12 Jacob Joyal 5-9 170 Jr. WR/LB know how much I appreciFaulk and Allen Harlan on critical mistakes — turnlieves he will go against his 13 Henry Lorton 6-1 155 Jr. WR/DB ate them.” the interior. Parker Ruestovers, penalties, not getting long-held belief and allow 15 Nate Flynn 5-8 145 Jr. WR/DB Robbins and Tyler Baker man, Milashoski, Johnoff the field on third and the two to begin the season 16 Blake Bratt 6-2 245 Sr. TE/DE should also see carries at son, Garrett Nix, Clayton fourth down — which sharing time behind center 17 Michael Breitbarth 5-10 160 Sr. WR/LB tailback, with Baker and/ Boland and Milton will also prevented us from winning when the Knights visit 23 Jaxon Cusac-McKay 5-10 160 Jr. WR/DB or Blake Bratt manning the man the line. more games and getting a Reed-Custer in Week 1.

24 Andrew Wisenhofer 5-10 170 Sr. WR/DB hybrid fullback/tight end A completely new set of better (playoff seed), and “I’ve always been against 25 Clayton Shirley 5-7 155 So. RB/DB position. Cusac-McKay (27 linebackers will start this then from beating Orion in playing two guys, but 27 Ryan Hook 5-6 135 Jr. RB/LB receptions for 381 yards in fall, with Hochecker or Joythe playoffs. ... It’s coachI’m not going to rule out 30 Zachary Keller 5-11 140 Jr. WR/DB ‘18) will be looked to step le in the middle, Baker or speak, but it’s true: We just playing both guys there,” 31 Skyler Nix 5-10 150 Jr. WR/DB into that No. 1, featured Ethan Stoeger on the strong have to focus on getting Schneeman said.

“They 32 Ethan Stoeger 6-1 170 So. WR/LB target role, with Robbins, side, and Sunken, Milton, better day to day, and the both bring good skill sets to 40 Kenton Castrejon 5-11 210 Sr. RB/DL Tisen Covington, Henry Joyle or Ryan Hook on the bigger picture will take the table ... and I’ve gotten 42 Austin Jefford 5-7 165 Jr. RB/DB Lorton and either Matt weak side. Robbins returns care of itself.” to the point where I almost 52 Thomas Milton 6-0 210 Sr. OL/LB Lorton or Cory Land also at at safety after a playmaking While a last year’s good feel it’d be unfair not to 54 Jordan Hochecker 5-11 250 Jr. OL/LB receiver.

2018, with Henry Lorton, crop of seniors is gone to give them both a chance to 56 Brandon Spangler 6-0 180 Sr. OL/DL Speaking of Land and Austin Jefford, Cusac-McKPomp and Circumstance, do it in a live game, because 58 Collin Morris 5-6 280 Jr. OL/DL Matt Lorton, the two ay, Land and Covington all this fall’s Knights have they’ve both earned it.”

66 Travis Sunken 6-2 220 Jr. OL/LB quarterback prospects competing for time in the plenty of talent back.

As on offense, the 67 Clayton Boland 5-11 170 Jr. OL/DL have both performed well defensive backfield.

That includes 17 seniors Knights’ defense boast ex68 Zachary Cremer 6-2 185 Jr. OL/DL in their preseason compeJacob Joyal will handle and 15 juniors, led by four perience as well as new fac69 Ethan Johnson 6-2 220 Sr. OL/DL tition. So well, in fact, that the kicking duties.

Times All-Area returnees es. The line looks especially 71 Elliott Rowland 5-10 195 So. OL/DL in senior lineman Mason 73 Mason Faulk 6-2 280 Sr. OL/DL Faulk (Times All-Area First 75 Parker Ruestman 6-4 285 Sr. OL/DL Team; First Team Offense 77 Allen Harlan 5-11 260 Sr. OL/DL and Second Team Defense 79 Cam Milashoski 6-3 290 Sr. OL/DL HOIC), junior receiver/ 80 Lucas Sidebottom 5-10 140 Jr. WR/DB defensive back Jaxon Cu83 Hunter Wyss 6-2 180 Sr. WR/DB sac-McKay (Times All-Area HEAD COACH: Derek Schneeman (6th season) Second Team; HOIC Second A weekly newsletter from The Times Sports featuring the week’s top local sports headlines, delivered directly to your inbox.

HOIC aiming for 5th straight 2A state title J.T. PEDELTY jtpedelty@shawmedia.com 815-431-4043 Here is a look at this year’s Heart of Illinois Conference: LAST YEAR’S CHAMPIONS: Large — Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley; Small — LeRoy 13 PLAYERS TO WATCH: EUREKA — Joel Baer (G/DT, Sr.), Garrett Peterson (RB/ MLB, Sr.); GCMS — Payton Kean (FB/LB, Sr.), Keegan Kutemeier (G/MLB, Sr.); DEE-MACK — Zack Horve (QB/DB, Sr.); TRI-VALLEY — Tyler Dischert (OL/DL, Sr.), Evan Reynolds (RB/LB, Jr.); EL PASO-GRIDLEY — Hunter Armstrong (OL/LB, Sr.); TREMONT — Nate Nguyen (RB/DB, Sr.); LEROY — Aidan Eddy (RB/DB, Sr.); FISHER — Tyler Wilson (FB/LB, Sr.); HEYWORTH — Reece Haney (TE/ILB, Sr.); RIDGEVIEWLEX. — Jared Leake (QB, Sr.).

NOTES: There is little doubt what conference, exactly, has been king of small-school football over the past half decade, as the Heart of Illinois has produced the last four consecutive Class 2A champions (GCMS the past two seasons, Dee-Mack in 2016, Tri-Valley in 2015). The Large Division looks absolutely loaded again, starting with a EUREKA team which is coming off a 9-2 season and whose only regular-season loss came to eventual state champ GCMS. This season, head coach Jason Bachman’s roster boasts returning starters in 18 positions from last fall’s team, including the dominant 5-11, 220-pound Baer, Peterson and strong-legged kicker Cade Gold. Additions such as juniors Micah Senior (CB), Jett Bachman (slot) and Konner Wiegand

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FIELDCREST KNIGHTS Have a Great 2019 Season

The Times | file

Fieldcrest’s Kenton Castrejon (48), shown here stiff-arming a would-be tackler from El Paso-Gridley, promises to be a force in the stacked Heart of Illinois Conference this season.

(S) will fill what few holes Pomp and Circumstance created, with Coach Bachman citing team speed and experience as strengths for a team with justifiably high expectations. ... Let’s get this out of the way — GIBSON CITY-MELVIN-SIBLEY lost a lot to graduation from last year’s state championship squad. But the Falcons also return starters at six positions (four on offense, two on defense) and gave their bench players a lot of field time thanks to the many, many lopsided scores GCMS found itself on the right side of en route to outscoring opponents 625-72 in 2018. (It wasn’t until the state semifinals a team even got within 24 points of the Falcons.)

Kean accumulated 449 rushing yards last fall, Daniel Jones is another proven runner on the wing, and senior linemen Kutemeier and Jordan Lee are proven forces.

“The attitude and work ethic of this year has really been impressive to watch,” 19thyear head coach Mike Allen said. “But just like any 1A or 2A schools, we cannot afford injuries or grade issues.” ...

FIELDCREST looks downright dangerous, with bruising running back Kenton Castrejon taking over full-time to complement the Knights’ always-potent passing game plus a large and proven O-line/ playmaking D-backfield. ...

See HOIC, page 12

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12 n

2019 Football Preview

Thursday, August 29, 2019

HOIC From page 11 DEER CREEK-MACKINAW finished 3-6 last season, but those six losses included one-point defeats to both Eureka and Fisher as well as a seven-point loss to Tri-Valley. Turn even two of those around, and the Chiefs were a playoff team — which is exactly what 14th-year head coach Job Linboom expects this season with a strong, experienced offensive backfield led by Horve and running backs Cori Payne, Karson Eccles and Mitch Cleaver. Of concern, though, are entirely new starters in the defensive backfield and offensive line. “For us, the margin between a losing season and a winning season is razor thin. ... I think we will find ourselves in several close games, and we are going to have to figure out how to win those games in order to make the playoffs.” ... TRI-VALLEY made it to the third round of the 2A playoffs despite four regular-season losses last season — another testament to the strength of the HOIC at the top. Head coach Josh Roop’s squad this year returns seven starters on defense from a strong defensive team, including Reynolds, DL Jake Fatima, OLB Dylan Connor and Dischert (the last an All-HOIC offensive lineman) and will get a boost at the offensive talent positions from players such as QB Zander Woodring and RB Andrew Petrilli. ... Former Illinois State University all-conference and arena football quarterback Luke Drone takes over as the head coach at EL PASO-GRIDLEY and despite his passing prowess, when hired promised he would scheme to the strengths of his Titans. What that means for this year’s EPG team remains to be seen as the Titans try to turn things around after a 3-6 season. ...

On the Small side, TREMONT returns 16 starters from a ballclub which narrowly missed the postseason despite five wins. Nguyen and Caiden Buster are both strong options at running back behind an offensive line led by Jake Barnewolt.

With so much back after losing three games by less than a touchdown last season, the Turks should be contenders to win the Small. ... The Bunnies of FISHER posted an 8-3 record last season and won the program’s first playoff game in 13 years. That success has carried over to this season, according to head coach Jake Palmer, and it doesn’t hurt to have returning players the caliber of Wilson (1,494 yards rushing last season), QB Will Delaney (threw for nearly 1,000 yards), RB Cale Horsch and linemen Jed Chow and Hunter Coon. Newcomers such as RB Drew Purvis and LB Tim Booth will also make impacts. “I feel like we’re quite a bit ahead of where we have been at in previous years at this point,” said Palmer. ...

Defending Small champion LEROY went a perfect 5-0 in HOIC Small play and an as-perfect 0-5 against non-divisional opponents. Head coach BJ Zeleznik, in his 17th year, boasts good depth at running back led by Eddy and fellow seniors Jeffry Tuley and Rodney Kaeb as well as newcomer Mason Buckles. Of concern is the completely-new offensive line those RBs will be running behind. ... Head coach Derek Hogue’s HEYWORTH Hornets went 1-8 last season, and the lone team they defeated — Flanagan-Cornell/Woodland — has left for 8-man football. Still, there is reason for optimism as the Hornets bring back proven assets such as All-HOIC receiver Ryan Hickenbottom, defensive stud Haney and linemen Austin Richards and Micah Stout. ... RIDGEVIEW-LEXINGTON was on the verge of a playoff berth with a 4-5 mark in 2018. Having guys such as Leake, RB/MLB Grant VanVickle, OL/DL Dylan Jones and WR/DB D.J. Schroeder back is a good sign for the Mustangs, but young lines will have to learn on the job against tough competition.

“I think this will be a team that will get better each and every day,” fourth-year head coach Jake Kennedy said.

PROJECTED PLAYOFF TEAMS: LARGE — Eureka, GCMS, Fieldcrest, Dee-Mack, Tri-Valley; SMALL — Tremont, Fisher.

The Times - Delivering Your Community

A trip down Memory Lane ... how we tackled history Remembering and discovering the conference histories of our area teams While there is some debate, Winston Churchill is generally attributed as having coined the quotation, “History is written by the victors.”

With all due respect to the great Briton, that simply is not always the case.

Take, for example, the conference histories you can find for each team inside The Times 2019 Prep Football Preview special section, a tribute to the decades of conference membership our schools have enjoyed; a thing that, as of this writing, is scheduled to end in two short years when IHSA districting is scheduled to take effect.

A few of the schools in our area have some form of historical records easily accessible to the history-minded fan or sports reporter; most, surprisingly, do not. The more time you spend doing research 25, 50, 100 years or more into the past, the more you learn a sometimes unsettling truth — the “history” of any topic at hand is often nothing more than the best the poor soul doing the research can find at the time.

Incomplete, inaccurate

or contradictory sources; the deficiencies of anxious-to-connect-the-dots human memory; fatigue from hours of staring at century-old microfilm or school yearbooks; misunderstandings, personal agendas or just plain honest mistakes litter the history books of every topic ... high school football being no exception.

A few of the schools and/ or school historians we reached out to as we began compiling these conference histories were able to help us down this long path with a record of some sort to get us started. We absolutely thank them for the head start and the hours their willingness to share saved us.

However, without exception every history of our schools’ conference histories we have come across had some error, some omission, some fact just a slight bit off-kilter with the records we encountered and checked and double-checked.

For example: Few previous histories seem to remember the brief, early-1970s resurgence of the old Illinois Valley

Conference — a loosely put together assemblage of old rivals which dates back to at least the 1910s which, in a series on the odd-duck IVC, I once dubbed “The Un-Conference.”

Some conference championships were missing.

Others were credited in years the schools’ teams don’t appear to have won a single conference game.

Some years of conference membership cannot possibly be correct, as the conferences in question either didn’t exist yet or no longer existed.

All of these mistakes are understandable for all of the reasons I listed above and many others. I am not so bold as to think the conference histories included herein are 100% accurate and complete, or that I and my staff are such amazing, unparalleled researchers that we got everything right where others have failed before. That’s silly.

As a fan of history in general (far and away my favorite podcast is “Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History,” I can’t recommend it highly enough), I know better than to think histories are ever cut and dry, black and white, right or wrong.

But as with all histories on any subject, this is our best understanding at this time with the resources we had available to us. A

Pedelty Box JT Pedelty lot of work — probably too much seeing how small the actual words look when set in print — went into these with hopes of getting as many things as correct as we could and not only passing along that information to you, the current reader, but also to readers of future generations.

For the historical record, if you will.

I’d love at this time to thank my staff — the best small-market sports staff around, for my money — for their willingness to dive into the long-abandoned waters of the past and get their hands dirty (metaphors, too, are often mixed and imperfect) with this odd assignment from yours truly. That goes triple for Brian Hoxsey, who helped with almost all of these in one form or another thanks to his knack, skill and curiosity when it comes to research.

I’d also love to hear if any of you have informa-

tion on what we got wrong.

Or what, exactly, happened in 1924 when Ottawa and Streator — who did not play each other that season — both claimed a share of the IVC title and blamed the other for not being willing to settle the championship on the field. Or firm dates on the start and end of the Big Vermillion Valley of which Ottawa was a member from 1933-1937 (we think). Or anything else we might have missed.

We trust what we’ve found enough to present it to you with our names on it, but understand there is more information out there waiting to be discovered which can provide a clearer, even more accurate picture of the past.

(I, for one, came across a pretty sizable historical bomb about the state’s third-oldest high school football rivalry that I’m saving to reveal when the time is right.)

History, you see, can be a tricky thing.

But as creatures who honor and retell the stories of our ancestors and communities, we humans do our best to find truth and preserve it.

We hope you enjoyed this little piece of history ... and that some of our area’s gridiron teams in 2019 can create a little more worth remembering.

THE TIMES 2018 ALL-AREA FOOTBALL TEAMS

EVAN GREEN, RB/DB/K, Sr., Marquette JARED HERZOG, WR/DB/P, Sr., Ottawa GARETH KENT, TE/LB, Sr., Marquette FIRST TEAM BEN LUNDY, WR/DB, Sr., BRODY BAUDINO, RB/LB/ Ottawa K/P, Sr., Seneca DEREK MAY, WR/DB, Sr., DYLAN BAUMBACH, RB/DB, Fieldcrest Sr., Sandwich RILEY MCCURDY, WR/LB, LOGAN BRUSS, RB/QB/DB, Jr., Streator Sr., Seneca TYLER MCKAY, QB/LB, Sr., JOHN CONRAD, OL/DL, Sr., Fieldcrest Sandwich MIKE MORSE, RB/WR/DB, BRANDON DURDAN, OL/DL, Sr., Fieldcrest Sr., Streator JAKE OVANIC, OL/LB, Jr., JACK DURDAN, OL/DL, Sr., Ottawa Marquette ADAM POWELL, OL/DL, MASON FAULK, OL/DL, Jr., Sr., Seneca Fieldcrest CHRISTIAN REYNOLDS, OL/DL, Sr., Marquette JIMMY ROOP, E/ LB, Sr., Sandwich JARED SEGGERMAN, OL/ DL, Sr., Fieldcrest JACK SNOOK, RB/DB, Sr., Marquette CARTER SPEARS, TE/LB, Jr., Streator TREY THORSEN, TE/DL, The Times | Tom Sistak Jr., Marquette Academy’s Jack Snook (20) was The Seneca As we open the 2019 season, here is a look back at the best of the best in 2018, The Times All-Area Football Teams:

SECOND TEAM

JAKE AHEARN, OL/LB, Sr., Ottawa PRESTON AUKLAND, RB/LB, Jr., Marquette JAXSON CALLAHAN, OL/DL, Sr., Ottawa DEVIN CARRERA, RB/DB, Sr., Sandwich LOGAN COLTER, WR/DB, Sr., Streator JAXON CUSAC-MCKAY, WR/ QB/DB, So., Fieldcrest ERIC DONAHUE, RB/DB, Sr., Marquette

MAX DONAHUE, RB/DB, Sr., Marquette LIAM DOUGHERTY, E/LB, Sr., Marquette LUKE FERRACUTI, OL/DL, Sr., Marquette BEN HOGUE, OL/DL, Sr., Seneca LOGAN KOMATER, QB/DB, Sr., Marquette BRYAN LEON, OL/LB, Sr., Sandwich HUNTER MCALPINE, OL/DL, Sr., Marquette CAM MILASHOSKI, OL/DL, Jr., Fieldcrest

JACKSON MURPHY, RB/LB, Jr., Sandwich GREG RASHID, K, Jr., Streator KEEGAN ROBBINS, WR/DB, Jr., Fieldcrest CLAYTON SIBERT, QB/LB, Sr., FCWRB CADEN STASKO, OL/DL, Sr., Streator T.J. VAN NESS, TE/DB, Jr., Seneca KOBIE WEBB, WR/DB, Sr., Streator TEO ZAMORA, WR/LB, Sr., Fieldcrest

Times 2018 Football Player of the Year.

Interstate From page 10 “We are bringing back a good number of returning starters from last year, and we like the talent our underclassmen bring to the team,” Redskins coach Alan Thorson said. “We are starting more underclassmen than we have in the past, so our young kids will have to adjust to the varsity level quickly.” ... ROCHELLE (5-5) was hit hard by Pomp and Circumstance from its 2018 roster.

“We graduated a senior class of over 20; we’ll be looking for players to step up into those roles,” Hubs coach Kyle Kissack said. ... PLANO (5-5) has brought in a new head coach, Rick Ponx, who has three decades worth of collegiate coaching experience. “The strength of this team is how well (the kids) have adapted to change and have embraced the philosophy of team first. The chemistry has brought this team together, and they believe in each other,” said

Ponx of his Reapers. “The keys to success for every team is to stay healthy and have the playmakers step up and make big plays.” ... LA SALLE-PERU (3-6) boasts a veteran group of 12th-graders coupled with promising classes behind them. “We have a senior class with varsity experience and a great supporting junior and sophomore class,” L-P coach Jose Medina said. “If the Cavaliers play sound football throughout the season and avoid the injury bug, the playoffs can be in our sights this year.” ...

OTTAWA (0-9) is coming off its first winless campaign in nearly a century (1922).

Pirates junior quarterback Brett Galletti is a Division I prospect (receiving interest from Northern Illinois and Eastern Illinois) and the No. 3-ranked QB in the Land of Lincoln’s Class of 2021 by Tom Lemming. ... SANDWICH (4-5) is the smallest school in the conference with an enrollment of 698.50.

PROJECTED PLAYOFF TEAMS: Sycamore, Kaneland, Morris, Rochelle.

Good luck this season!

Supporting all of our community’s youth athletes on the gridiron.

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