Saints ready for demanding schedule
No one knows if the St. Charles East football team will be impressive this fall, but its schedule certainly is imposing, with some great moments in store.
The Saints host Batavia and Waubonsie Valley in Week 1 and 3 respectively and have challenging road battles against Geneva, Neuqua Valley and St. Charles North looming.
"To make strides as a program we've got to play better competition," St. Charles East coach Ted Monken said. "If we want to have success in the playoffs we can't play weak competition, so we'll play good, tough competition and hope in the long run it makes us better."
One area that the Saints will need to regroup is on defense. Lost to graduation were linebackers Mike Hoscheit and Adam Schaefer, as well as runner-up Upstate Eight Defensive Play of the Year Dave Mashal.
"We're pretty much going to be brand new with four new defensive linemen," Monken said. "So we're trying to piece that together and get those guys game ready pretty quickly."
The cupboard is far from bare as linebacker Pat Friel, a member of the 2007 Daily Herald Tri-Cities All-Area Football Team, returns along with Phil Bucaro, cornerbacks Peter Chacon and Eian O'Brien and free safety Jack Leopardo.
"Pat is respected so much as a player and leads by example, but he's also vocal when he needs to be," Monken said. "So having him here and some of the other guys who are back, they're going to have to hold the group together and we'll lean on those guys to really step it up and show they're two-year starters."
Offensively, some of the youthful line from last year has blossomed into seniors with returning starters Brennan Walls and Blake Griffiths leading this group.
The team's biggest asset comes in the form of senior Wes Allen, a member of the 2007 Daily Herald Tri-Cities All-Area Football Team, who has been starting ever since being promoted in Week 3 during his sophomore year.
"He really worked hard in the off-season and hopefully that will pay off with his durability and speed and all the muscle he's built will give him an extra push," Monken said. "He's another year older, has better vision and makes better decisions and he knows the system and our expectations."
Allen's leadership should prove to be enormous with Tim Russell and Dan White platooning as first-year quarterbacks and a wide mix of players battling for opportunities at wide receiver, trying to fill the cleats of Matt Hammer who had over 60 receptions in 2007.
"We have a nice group of guys that are consistent, good solid players, but we don't have that stellar standout guy like a Hammer that did such a great job," Monken said. "We feel like we have a nice group as a whole, and we think there's nobody they can discount and hopefully that can cause problems and we can throw to all them and have success."
Speaking of success, it sure hasn't been a problem in recent years for the Saints who have a 24-9 record during the past three seasons. They'll aim to continue the trend, but it will be as challenging as ever with yet another beefed up nonconference schedule and not many easy conference games on the horizon.