Streamwood hoping to turn the corner

Folks around the Streamwood football program think this might be the year the Sabres turn the corner.

Streamwood has won just one game each of the last four seasons, partly due to the lack of depth on those rosters.

Fifth-year coach Cal Cummins has a roster of 42 this season, many of whom are returning players at the skill positions. After what Cummins calls "the best off-season participation we've had since I've been here," Streamwood is bent on becoming a competitive team in the River Division of the Upstate Eight Conference.

"We have athleticism not just in one or two spots like we have in the past, but we'll have five or six kids on the field who all run with decent speed and can make plays," Cummins said. "That'll be a little bit different. We've had a few individuals who could do that, but not across the board type of personnel."

Junior Dalton Lundeen (6-2, 185) returns at quarterback. Before he broke his collarbone in the fourth game last year, Lundeen had completed 30-of-67 attempts for 281 yards and a 1 touchdown against 1 interception.

The player who replaced Lundeen at quarterback for a few weeks was wide receiver Nick Pryor (5-9, 170). The senior now returns to his natural position. Pryor caught 8 passes for 95 yards when he wasn't taking snaps.

Lundeen's arsenal is further stocked by returning senior receivers Steve Sandoval (5-9, 175) and Matt Nykaza (5-8, 162). Each contributed receptions last season, but it wasn't easy for either to gain much rhythm because the team was forced to use three starting quarterbacks. The addition of sophomore sprinter Blake Holder (6-2, 175) gives the Sabres even more speed on the outside.

Also returning to the offense is starting senior tailback Alex Morrow (5-10, 187). Last season, Morrow gained 326 yards (4 yards per carry) and scored 2 touchdowns.

Tight end Ben Fritz (6-1, 203) also returns for his senior season, but the only full-time starter returning to the offensive line is senior center Alex Blasco (5-9, 170), though a few other linemen did see playing time. Cummins believes this line can be effective.

"It's a group that spent quite a bit of time in the weight room and appears to be fairly solid," he said. "Time will tell how good they can be, but the skill people around them should make their job a little bit easier."

The strength of the defense is its corps of three returning senior linebackers: Fritz, Nick Rice (6-2, 180) and Willis Sakji (6-1, 192). Sophomore Vince Williams (6-1, 203) could see time at both linebacker and running back.

Pryor, Nykaza and Sandoval all played in the secondary last year and will be counted on again. Senior Alex Heinz (6-0, 185) has experience at corner and linebacker, and Holder has shown promise as a defensive back.

Sophomore lineman AJ Mitchell (5-10, 248) is a wrestler and only adds to what Cummins called "a more athletic defensive line than we've had in the past."

The Sabres have not won more than one game in a season since 2003, when they finished 4-5. Can this group make headway?

"It's pretty exciting to see this because this is the first group since I've been here that's fairly well rounded," Cummins said. "A lot of that has to do with their off-season work and the strength that they've gained, so I'm excited to see how that's going to pan out when we hit the field.

"Now we've just got to get some wins."