Intriguing storylines at St. Francis, Wheaton Academy and S. Elgin

Greg Purnell knows all about winning football.

He spent 19 years winning football games at Linn-Mar High School in Iowa.

His teams, winning at a .746 clip, reached the state playoffs 13 times in a 14-year period with five championship games and three titles.

In his first season at St. Francis, his young, 34-man roster gives him a challenge.

"It's the smallest squad I've ever coached, and some of the greatest kids I've ever coached, I'll tell you that," Purnell said. "Now we've just got to turn them into a good football team."

He has some ingredients. Some don't boast lots of reps or returning statistics, but players such as Mark Kachmer, Brett Robinson, Ryan O'Donnell, Ryan Ferguson, D.J. Lynch and new quarterback Jeff Reckards provide a bounty at the skill positions.

"More of them than I've had in some other places with squads of 50, 60 kids," Purnell said. "But we're relatively inexperienced at a lot of these positions."

They'll adapt to Purnell's Wing-T offense, a misdirection set that helped the new Winfield resident reach the Iowa Coaches Hall of Fame.

He's worked with the Spartans from the ground up, beating the bushes for quality assistant coaches and drilling his players on fundamentals, blocking and tackling.

Returning starters Danny Sufranski and Stan Bobowski will do their share of the latter for the appreciative coach.

"St. Francis is such a quality Catholic institution, and it's really been nice for them to give me the opportunity to lead these kids," Purnell said.

Wheaton Academy:ŒReturning no varsity starters can present bleak prospects.

Not at Wheaton Academy, where the anxious Warriors are playing varsity football for the first time since 1989.

It remains a smashmouth sport. Wheaton Academy's success depends on its ability to answer that challenge.

"The kids are starting to grasp the offense and defense really well, really starting to gain a lot of confidence in knowing the playbook," said Warriors coach Ben Wilson.

"It's just a matter of learning how to be tougher than our opponent."

Playing at the Class 5A level and in the Private School League, the likes of Chicago Christian and Walther Lutheran won't care that the Warriors are a year removed from junior varsity status.

Lacking depth and size on the line, where 226-pound Dan Smith is the centerpiece on both sides of the ball, Wilson's defense will be predicated on blitzing to plug gaps.

A team strength is athleticism. The hope is players such as top 2006 tackler Israel Perez and safety Jake Jones can prevent long gains when those blitzes get picked up.

Offensively, last year was spent on fundamentals, getting plays in working order.

Now, Wilson will allow quarterback Brian Pell to run a spread offense designed to distribute the ball to his backs and receivers Jones, Anthony Ritchie and Josh Kuell, one of nine seniors.

If the line protects Pell and the defense stops the run, these virtual newbies could realize their high hopes.

"We can talk a lot about how good we want to be," Wilson said, "but we've got to do it."

South Elgin:ŒSouth Elgin intends to get the monkey off its back early, then get down to business.

The monkey in question? Earning the program's first win.

Without a senior on the roster, the Storm took it on the chin nine times in nine tries during its debut season in 2006.

In 2007, inexperience and youth are no longer issues. Now South Elgin has more seniors on its roster (32) than most of the teams it will face this season, maturity that could make all the difference in the world.

Does that mean the underdog label should be removed?

"Not until we win one," said coach Dale Schabert, who won 61 games in 11 years at Larkin. "We haven't gotten that feeling yet, but once we do it should make a big difference. After all the work these kids have put in, the first victory for our varsity program will be big for the school."

Schabert has been pleased with the progress of senior quarterback Pete Scaffidi III, who last season completed 107-of-229 passes for 1,289 yards and 6 touchdowns.

"He's improved a lot. I really have to give him credit," Schabert said of Scaffidi. "He's improved a lot as far as making reads, getting the ball in the right places, checking down from pass to run or from run to pass when he needs to. I wish I could keep him another year and watch him continue to progress."

Scaffidi could thrive this season in South Elgin's pass-oriented offense, thanks to a bevy of talented receivers.

Returning is 6-2 junior Josh Smith (37 receptions, 592 yards, 7 TDs). Helping spread the field opposite Smith will be senior wideouts Kevin Davis and Jordan Uvegas (19 receptions, 253 yards, 2 TDs). Uvegas started hot last season before he was slowed by injury.

Junior receivers Gianluca Pellegrino (5-8, 165), Phillip Kawabata (5-8, 165) and Erik Stade (6-0, 150) provide depth and multiple targets for Scaffidi.

Handling the bulk of the carries will be senior Josh Kabala (5-10, 175), who "looks more explosive this season," according to his coach. Kabala rushed for 380 yards and 4 touchdowns on 82 carries.

South Elgin's Achilles' heel last season was its run defense, a problem that should be remedied, in part, by an off-season of weight lifting, a new defensive plan and senior leadership.

"(The defense has) grown up a lot and we're working different schemes than we have in the past to improve what we do," Schabert said. "I already see a lot more competition in practice with juniors pushing seniors for spots. We didn't have that level of competition the last two years."

The Storm will count on senior defensive tackle Erik Smith (5-9, 265) to clog the middle while the linebacking corps -- which includes senior Cody Myers (5-8, 160) and sophomore prospect Sean Kolber (6-2, 190) -- cleans up.

An experienced secondary includes senior cornerbacks Garvin Thomas (6-1, 175) and D'Aron Bowman (5-9, 170) as well as senior safety Mike Gross (5-11, 180).

With a varsity roster of 72 players, the Storm will play few players both ways with rare exceptions. A few defensive players may play offense in certain sets but it will be an anomaly, not a rule.

-- Jerry Fitzpatrick