No shortage of standouts back in '08
Welcome back, football fans.
When we last saw you, it was almost nine months to the day that our prep season ended, for this area coming on a Saturday night in Plano when Aurora Christian fell just short of beating the two-time 3A state champions in a state semifinal.
A week earlier Geneva's season ended in a similarly close, hard-fought game, albeit a world away at East St. Louis.
Don't be surprised if those same two teams are the last two left standing three months from now.
With the 2008 season officially beginning Wednesday with the first day of practice, it seems a look back at 2007 can be a pretty good indicator of what's to come this fall.
That's because teams are returning many of their top players, especially at the skill positions.
Start with the two teams that went furthest a year ago. Geneva scored a lot of points last year by getting the ball in the hands of elusive running back Michael Ratay, and that same strategy will work again this fall in his senior year.
All Ratay did last year was score a school-record 33 touchdowns, including 12 under the bright lights during Geneva's postseason run.
The Vikings have plenty of other talented returnees. Scoring on Geneva could be a chore with linemen like Cory Hofstetter and Frank Boenzi backed up by linebacker Brennan Quinn.
It wouldn't be a stretch to see Geneva meeting that same East St. Louis team again in the playoffs. Both teams featured plenty of young talent that afternoon, with East St. Louis' Kraig Appleton, Terry Hawthorne and Tommie Hoskins all committing to Illinois this summer.
Aurora Christian welcomes back Jordan Roberts for his senior season, one that promises to be a record-breaking one for the Division I recruit.
Geneva and Aurora Christian aren't the only teams with key experience. St. Charles North and Batavia have their quarterbacks returning in Nick Neari and Jordan Coffey, respectively. Both these teams finished 5-5 a year ago and would like to push their records over that .500 mark this fall.
Neari and Coffey will have help. Linebacker Jake Juriga is another player to watch at St. Charles North, while running back Bai Kabba will be impossible for most Western Sun Conference teams to catch.
Mark Adams is another QB to watch, returning at Aurora Central poised for another big season and looking for a new favorite target after his brother Mark graduated.
Wes Allen is back for his third year as a featured runner at St. Charles East, leading the Saints with 1,321 yards and 17 touchdown's last year. Like Juriga at cross-town North, Pat Friel is a linebacker to watch for the Saints.
While it adds several good storylines to see stars like these return, you know it won't be long before a new crop of juniors and sophomores start making names for themselves.
Welcome back, and let the countdown begin to opening night in two weeks, highlighted by St. Charles East trying to make it two in a row over Batavia in the first of four games that will serve as a battle for Tri-Cities bragging rights.