Is anyone ready to unseat Cary-Grove?

Few football programs in the Fox Valley Conference enjoy fan support like Cary-Grove.

Trojan fans follow their team to road games by the hundreds, shaking milk jugs full of change, chanting and jiggling their keys -- all the while covered in blue and white face paint.

Those fans have had plenty of reasons to get excited the last three years. Dating back to the final week of the 2003 campaign, Cary-Grove has won 28 straight regular season games, including 23 straight Fox Valley Conference games en route to a FVC three-peat.

In those three seasons the Trojans went 35-3, qualified for a Class 7A state final and reached back-to-back Class 6A state quarterfinals.

However, C-G was a senior-dominated team in 2006, one hit hard by graduation. It won't be easy replacing two-way leader Andrew Lorman, the Honorary Co-Captain of the 2007 Daily Herald All-Area team, or leading tackler John Mago or quarterback Bill Meyer, to name a few.

Only two starters return from the smothering defense of 2006, which shut out 5 opponents and allowed a paltry 55 points in 12 games. The good news for coach Bruce Kay is that linebacker Paul Rands is one of them.

"He's just such a quality player," Kay said of Rands, who finished last season with 49½ tackles, second only to Mago.

Offensively, four starters return to a triple option offense that racked up 492 points last year. Could Cary-Grove's relative inexperience leave the door open for another team to occupy the top spot atop the Valley Division?

Crystal Lake South, which has six starters returning on either side of the ball from a team that lost 28-0 to Cary-Grove in the second round of the Class 6A playoffs, is the most likely challenger. But Gators coach Jim Stuglis says reports of the Trojans demise have been greatly exaggerated.

"I don't believe anything that says they're down," Stuglis said. "That's a bunch of (baloney). Cary-Grove is as good as they've ever been, I'm sure."

Offensively, the Gators return senior quarterback Ian Ormseth and 6-foot-4, 295-pound lineman Alex Misialek, who has a 4.4 grade-point average and is being recruited aggressively by Ivy League schools and several Division-I programs.

The defense is keyed by middle linebacker Casey Macko, who racked up 88½ tackles during the regular season in 2006. Still, Stuglis insists his team isn't a hands-down favorite to win the Valley Division.

"A darkhorse could be Jacobs," Stuglis said. "They have a very, very strong, physical team coming back. They're a team nobody is really talking too much about."

Jacobs, which lost to Class 7A state semifinalist Prospect in the second round of the playoffs, returns experience along both lines and has depth at most positions with a varsity roster of 56 players.

New quarterback Kyle Magnuson has been effective running the Wing-T offense in camp, according to coach Dean Schlueter. If he plays well and returning rusher Darius Bowers (84 carries, 611 yards) gains ground consistently, the Golden Eagles could reach the playoffs for the third time in four seasons.

"With the amount of experience we have coming back, we would certainly like to build on last year," Schlueter said.

McHenry is always a factor in the Fox Valley Conference race. The Warriors made it 19 playoff appearances in a row and posted a 6-4 showing in 2006 under new coach Tim Beagle.

But the majority of that team graduated. McHenry returns one full-time starter on offense in senior guard Jordan Walsh (6-4, 290).

Senior quarterback Tyler Marunde (6-1, 185) takes over the signal-calling duties after being the backup last year. The main ball carrier will be senior fullback John Doessel (5-9, 200).

"John is a tough runner," said Beagle. "He keeps low to the ground. He's a good inside runner."

Dundee-Crown coach Mike Davis believes his Chargers should improve on their 1-8 finish of a year ago, largely due to improved line play. The offensive line is anchored by third-year starting guard Mike Lukowski.

"This is definitely the best we've looked on the lines in my four years here," Davis said.

Woodstock compiled a 1-8 mark in 2006 -- its worst showing since the winless 1993 campaign.

But coach Steve Beard returns junior quarterback Derek Brown (6-2, 185) and senior tailback Cole Freund (6-0, 180). Freund was injured early last season. Beard is looking forward to seeing what Brown can do this season.

"Last year he stepped in a huddle with 10 seniors," said Beard, in his fifth season at Woodstock. "He's very comfortable now. He's back with his classmates."

Fox Division.

The Fox-Fox should be tough tough.

"I think it will be tougher than last year," said Prairie Ridge coach Chris Schremp, whose Wolves shared the title with Crystal Lake Central last season. "Huntley is going to be a lot better with (quarterback Casey) Popenfoose and (junior linebacker Jordan) Neukirch coming back. They are two of the better players in our conference.

Prairie Ridge, which lost to Huntley 26-0 last season, returns nine starters on either side of the ball, including quarterback Bryan Bradshaw and running back Sam Campbell, the area's leading returning rusher with 1,486 yards and 18 touchdowns in 11 games.

"Prairie Ridge, of course, will be everybody's favorite," Huntley coach Steve Graves said. "But the bottom end of the conference will tighten up with better teams in Johnsburg and Grayslake North, which has everyone returning"

Crystal Lake Central (6-4 in 2006) qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 1991 and broke a string of eight straight losing seasons.

Coach Jon McLaughlin returns four starters on each side of the ball. Junior all-FVC fullback Anthony DeGani (5-10, 190) ran for 1,000 yards last year.

Central has only 15 seniors on the roster. But all three levels sported winning records in 2006 with the sophomore team tying for the division title with its top three players on the varsity. McLaughlin said when he took over four years ago the program had 90 players. It's now up to 160.

"We're talented, but we're young," said McLaughlin.

Johnburg's first season in the Fox Valley Conference saw the Skyhawks go 4-5 overall, losing a Week 9 contest to Prairie Ridge that cost them a shot at the playoffs.

The Skyhawks, who scored 142 of their total 162 points against FVC Fox opponents last year, saw their string of four straight playoff appearances snapped (from 1996 to 2005 the team qualified eight times for the postseason).

However, coach Todd Winters' Skyhawks, the smallest school in the FVC by 502 students, return a pair of key performers in junior quarterback Jerad Grundy and 6-6 sophomore wide receiver C.J. Fiedorowicz.

Grayslake North lost one player to a transfer and eligibility issue, but returns everyone else. That's 21 of 22 starters back.

"From a coaching side, it's so great," Grayslake North coach Steve Wood said. "You know exactly what you've got and there's not a lot of re-teaching."

For Grayslake Central to improve on its 2-7 record, the seniors will have to get acclimated quickly to the program's third head coach in four years. Nick Goshe was hired late in the summer.

The Rams are led by running backs Rich Smith and Ryan Lund. They and the rest of their teammates have dedicated the season to late teammate Alex Richardson, who was killed in a snowmobiling accident last winter.

Patricia Babcock-McGraw and Mike Miazga contributed to this report.