Mundelein hopes to tidy up with more victories

Football in the mud isn't pretty.

But for Mundelein, last year's 7-0 victory over Libertyville in a dirty, sloppy Week 9 season finale, was a beautiful moment.

A pivotal moment.

Mundelein wound up with a 2-7 record in 2009. But the Mustangs believe that finishing with a win over a program like Libertyville, mud or not, is the reason they're more ready than they've been in a long time to start playing football again.

"That win against Libertyville was so big for our program," Mundelein coach Bob Stone said. "I think it really helped us go into the off-season, and have a very productive off-season."

It's been six years since the Mustangs have been to the playoffs and eight since they've posted a winning record. The 2002 team went 6-4 and qualified for the playoffs and the 2004 team snuck into the playoffs and finished with a 5-5 record.

"When you've had a lack of success, sometimes it's tough to get people excited about the program. Sometimes it's easier to accept losing," Stone said. "But ending the way we did last year has kind of changed that. We've got a lot of people on this team who've really put the time in (over the off-season) and who will be angry if we aren't successful.

"Everyone on this team really wants to be a part of the team that breaks through and gets back to the playoffs."

With size on the line continuing to be shortcoming for Mundelein, Stone is hoping to make passing a bigger part of his offense. He says that Brian Grant, who led the Mustangs last year with 5 touchdown receptions, could be one of the more dominant wide receivers in the area.

"I love to run the ball, but I don't know if we'll always be able to do it against some of the bigger, stronger teams in our conference like Stevenson and Lake Zurich and Warren," Stone said. "This is the same issue we've had for awhile. It's not that we don't have any size, but we just don't have a lot and that affects our blocking. Hopefully, we can get our pass block going so that we can use our pass to set up our run.

"Brian could be a dominant receiver, so we'll try to get him the ball as much as we can."

Who gets Grant the ball could be a question mark at times.

Stone says that senior quarterback Ryan VanderPloeg, the likely starter, has gotten plenty of competition from Gable Leppert, the younger brother of former Mundelein star fullback Wade Leppert.

"Both of those kids are really good athletes," Stone said of VanderPloeg and Leppert.

When the Mustangs do keep the ball on the ground, John Devito, who rushed for 365 yards last year, and Pablo Mata will get plenty of touches.

Defensively, the Mustangs return three starters in linebacker Bobby Mendel, back Jake Pawlicki and Devito, who will play linebacker.

MUNDELEIN

Probable starters

OFFENSE

Pos. Name Ht/Wt Yr.

QB Ryan VanderPloeg 6-1/175 Sr.

FB Matt Heppert 6-0/172 Jr.

RB D.J. Lewis 5-7/160 Sr.

RB John Devito 5-10/175 Sr.

WR Brian Grant 6-0/186 Sr.

WR Tony Hernandez 5-9/150 Sr.

LT Kevin Knudson 5-10/192 Sr.

LG Kevin Drehbol 5-11/182 Sr.

RT Anthony Adams 6-2/270 Jr.

RG Eric Smith 6-0/192 Sr.

C Jack Craven 6-0/224 Jr.

DEFENSE

Pos. Name Ht/Wt Yr.

DL Spencer Henley 5-10/202 Jr.

DL Cole Hinchman 6-3/197 Jr.

DL Dhantal Horton 6-0/220 Sr.

LB Bobby Mendel 5-9/170 Sr.

LB John Devito 5-10/175 Sr.

LB Brian Grant 6-0/186 Sr.

LB Bill McMahon 6-0/190 Jr.

LB Cord Schellenberger 5-10/185 Jr.

S Luis Lamboy 6-0/176 Sr.

CB Alex Lamboy 5-8/165 Jr.

CB Jake Pawlicki 5-10/170 Sr.