Previewing: St. Francis

One of the magical moments of the 2008 football season was St. Francis hoisting the Class 5A championship trophy.

The buzz continues. Spartans coach Greg Purnell said there's now some 140 players in the program, including 50 freshmen and 53 on varsity.

"There's a lot of enthusiasm. You always pick up a lot of kids after you win a state championship, but our lower-level programs, I think, are getting better," said Purnell, whose first Illinois title came after three in Iowa.

It's hard to expect more immediate hardware after St. Francis graduated all-staters Mark Kachmer and Ryan Ferguson and most of a skill set that gained 5,438 yards, some 2,400 more than it allowed.

One can never tell, though, given Purnell's track record, his quick-fix in Wheaton, an abundance of returning linemen well-versed in the Wing-T offense and depth and experience throughout the 3-5 defense.

Brothers Joe and Nick Pfeiffer, Ryan Spatz, Russ Kalfas, Wes Herwaldt and John Giovenco either started or were in heavy rotation on both sides of the ball.

Colin Marshall, whom Purnell called St. Francis' best linebacker in the summer of 2008 before a season-ending injury, returns to support another fast group. Quick and shifty Tony Vargyas will add to last season's 54 tackles and 3 interceptions as part of a solid secondary.

Depth and experience will help in developing a mainly fresh cast of skill players. The graduated core of Kachmer and fullback Stan Bobowski, quarterback Jeff Reckards, receiver Brett Robinson and all-purpose speedster Ryan O'Donnell may be unmatched, but backs Mark Schmitt and Vargyas are a good start. As Purnell said, the key anyhow is better defense.

"The kids have high expectations, they've worked extremely hard in the off-season," Purnell said. "The thing we have to do is get everything in the right place."