Struggling teams have a ways to go

What happened?

Last week I talked about a handful of surprise teams on the plus side of the win column so far this season, and today let's take a look at some surprising teams with less than stellar records heading into Week 5 play.

Taylorville (1-3): The Tornadoes and veteran coach Scott Alberssen have been a mainstay toward the upper tier of the Central State Eight Conference for years. So far this season the Tornadoes haven't been kicking up much dust, and with four potential heavyweights awaiting on the schedule in Springfield High (3-1), defending Class 5A state champion Sacred Heart-Griffin (3-1), Chatham Glenwood (4-0) and Effingham (4-0), things aren't looking too promising for Taylorville this fall.

St. Francis DeSales (0-4): last fall the Pioneers posted their best season in years playing as an independent, going 7-3. This fall you ask? The Pioneers moved to the realigned Chicago Catholic League Green and in four games the Pioneers have scored just 6 points and they have allowed 46 points per game. DeSales still has powers Mt. Carmel (4-0) and St. Rita (3-1) left as CCL crossover games still on the schedule.

Dixon (0-4):ŒOut of the NCIC Reagan, the Dukes were picked by many observers to challenge conference power Geneseo this fall. Dixon was coming off of an impressive 8-4 season in 2006. Despite bringing back several returning starters this fall, the Dukes have fallen on hard times, and Dixon still has Sterling (3-1), Geneseo (3-1) and Ottawa (3-1) on the schedule.

Thornton Twp. (0-4:ŒVeteran coach Bill Mosel has without question built one of the best programs in Illinois for producing some big time college and NFL players, yet the Wildcats also just can't seem to win close games this fall. The Wildcats have dropped their first four games by a combined 13 points.