'Tighter and tougher than it's ever been'
St. Joseph is usually the team everyone talks about in East Suburban Catholic Conference boys basketball.
The fact people are talking about them in football could be a good indicator of the league's strength this year. Because seeing the Chargers on the seven-game schedule is no longer viewed as a bye.
"There aren't a lot of off weeks," said St. Patrick coach Dan Galante, whose team was one of six playoff qualifiers a year ago.
"Our conference is tighter and tougher than it's ever been," said Notre Dame coach Mike Hennessey. "Every game is a heck of a matchup and every team in the conference has some good kids coming back."
Defending ESCC champion Joliet Catholic and runner-up Carmel could be playing an unofficial title game tonight in Joliet since it is considered a nonconference game.
The Hilltoppers have a rugged early schedule with a defense led by linebackers Jake Stockman, Zach Dolph and Andy Roth. Offensive lineman Dan Foreman (6-feet-4, 270 pounds) will lead the way for running backs Josh Ferguson, Malin Jones and Jordan Lyles.
"I don't think a lot of people are giving Joliet Catholic a lot of credit," said St. Joseph coach Mark Zavagnin. "I'm just glad we don't have to play them."
Carmel has a solid offensive line led by Arizona-bound Mickey Baucus (6-8, 255) and its always tough to defend triple-option attack. Defensive lineman Steve Lester is an all-ESCC returnee.
Nazareth has continued its upward progression under former Driscoll coach Tim Racki and expects to be in the title mix with running back LaSteven McKinney and linebacker Mike Williams.
And St. Viator also believes it can contend for the crown with senior third-year varsity players Julian Sipiora at quarterback and Richard McLoughlin leading the way after two 4-5 seasons.
"Whoever we play we should be able to play with," said Viator coach Chris Kirkpatrick, whose team shared the ESCC title in 2006.
Marist is also coming off a breakout year and a quarterfinal trip under coach Pat Dunne. It has one of the league's top quarterbacks in Mike Perrish and two all-ESCC receivers returning in Dan Piko and Nick Valla.
Notre Dame will have a different look offensively with senior running back Julian Burgos, who rushed for more than 700 yards last year.
"We'll probably look to run the ball more this year than last because of his experience," Hennessey said.
Junior linebacker Jeremy Burgos was the Dons' second-leading tackler last year and defensive tackle Larry Travers (6-5, 320) is a run-stopping force.
St. Patrick has 16 players who started or saw significant time from last year's team which lost 21-14 to Barrington in the first round of the 8A playoffs. Running back-cornerback Patrick Nelson has legitimate sprint speed and Galante looks for running back Ruben Ibarra to break out after an injury-plagued junior year.
"We have a tough schedule from the get-go," said Galante, whose team starts with Proviso East and New Trier before facing Viator, Notre Dame and Joliet Catholic in the ESCC. "It will be nine weeks of real football. If we can get 6 or 7 wins out of that -"
But Galante knows that Week 6 trip to St. Joseph won't be a breather, either.
The Chargers hope some much-needed stability continues to pay dividends in Zavagnin's third year in charge. The number of seniors is up from eight last year to 20 and includes quarterback Cameron Mitchell (1,300 yards, 6 TDs), safety-receivers Anthony Boddy and Dan Quintana and three-year starting lineman Will Brennan (6-3, 265).
"There are going to be some great showdowns this year in this conference," Zavagnin said. "I don't think anyone will take St. Joe's for granted, but we're not going to sneak up on anybody."