Even Glenbard West sophs contributing
Glenbard West's football team seems to have its classes covered.
From the senior class featuring Iowa-bound lineman Jordan Walsh to the juniors led by defensive lineman Tommy Schutt - who's attracting major Division I college interest - the unbeaten Hilltoppers (4-0, 2-0 West Suburban Silver) are loaded with experienced varsity talent.
Now the sophomores are making an impact.
"It's exciting," said Hilltoppers coach Chad Hetlet. "They play hard and they're really talented."
Unfortunately, injuries forced some of the sophomores into action. Running back Joey Zito, who rushed for 54 yards and a 30-yard touchdown in Saturday's 42-0 win over Oak Park, filled in for senior Trace Sorey. Hetlet said Sorey should be available Friday against Proviso West after recovering from a knee injury.
Running back-receiver Kendall Johnson rushed for 79 yards, including a 45-yard touchdown, and caught a 38-yard pass. Nick Garland plays left tackle and Nathan Marcus is a tight end. On defense Erik Strittmater sees time at linebacker.
That's five sophomores in the lineup of one of the state's elite teams.
"The sophomore class is special," Hetlet said. "It's one of the most talented classes I've seen."
The sophomore team, 72 players strong even with the five players on varsity, improved to 4-0 last weekend and has outscored its opponents 146-6. The defense has yet to allow a touchdown.
Running to victory: Last week Willowbrook coach Mark Olson decided to mix things up with his practice routine.
Instead of the typical game preparation of a Monday afternoon, Olson led his team on a 1.2-mile jog north to the Prairie Path in Villa Park.
Then came a detour.
Instead of continuing on the run Olson took his team to a surprise barbecue feast at the house of an assistant coach who lives near the Prairie Path.
"The season's a little bit of a grind and we had to take a step back and reassess," Olson said. "You want to work hard, but it's a game and you want to make sure you're still having fun."
Willowbrook responded with its first win of the season by beating Proviso East 21-0 on Saturday. Three interceptions by the defense and 270 rushing yards by the offense led the way.
It's back into the fire Friday at West Suburban Gold favorite Downers Grove South, but Olson hopes the message of last week carries over to this weekend.
"It was good to just sit back, eat a burger with the guys and take a short break from the hard work," Olson said. "You like to see the work pay off like it did last week."
Attention grabber: Wheaton Warrenville South receiver Titus Davis has played tremendous football in the season's first four games, and colleges are starting to take notice.
The 6-foot-2, 175-pound lightning-fast senior attracted a coach from Toledo at last week's game against Naperville Central, and Davis responded with 5 catches for 122 yards and touchdown grabs of 76 and 15 yards in a 38-13 win.
Tigers coach Ron Muhitch said the University of Illinois requested tape of Davis, who has 16 catches for 414 yards and 6 touchdowns this season. He's averaging 25.9 yards per catch.
"He's starting to attract attention," Muhitch said. "He fits the talent level that those schools need."
Every second counts: York trailed Proviso West 14-13 as the final minute approached in Friday's West Suburban Silver game in Elmhurst.
After York ran a play to set up a fourth-and-2, nine players remained in the huddle as the Dukes and kicker Sean McDaid prepared for a 37-yard game-winning field-goal attempt.
Where were the other two players? Quarterback Jimmy Nudera and fullback Will Barnes were on the sideline practicing long snaps.
Earlier in the game York muffed an attempted field goal, which led coach Bill Lech to switch things up late in the game. He inserted Nudera as the holder and Barnes as the long snapper. Both had experience at those positions last year, but the sudden move was the first time either had seen time at those special-teams positions this season.
Leading up to the field-goal attempt, the duo feverishly practiced snaps as the play clock wore down. Lech then called a timeout that allowed Nudera and Barnes to continue practicing during the stoppage.
When play resumed, the snap and hold were perfect. McDaid blasted the ball for the field goal and a 16-14 victory.
"The snap was a seed," Lech said. "It was perfect. The way Sean hit it, it would have been good from 50 yards."
The Wheaton Bowl: Wheaton Warrenville South and Wheaton North clash Oct. 1. This Friday, St. Francis and Wheaton Academy do the honors at Wheaton College.
"It's the Wheaton Bowl, the private school championship in the city of Wheaton," said St. Francis coach Greg Purnell.
"We hope that we can move the ball and play a good football game. We're coming in after a couple of weeks of getting our fannies kicked, and we've got to get after it," he said.
This game is more than about any rivalry, which sees St. Francis leading 1-0 since Wheaton Academy resumed its varsity football program in 2007. St. Francis is done with the favorites in the Suburban Christian Blue, losing to Marmion and Montini, and looks to regain momentum.
Wheaton Academy is "trying to keep the momentum of our season," Warriors coach Ben Wilson said.
"We're right where we wanted to be," he said. "We wanted to be 4-0 going into this game."
He noted Wheaton Academy has quite a few players from West Chicago and St. Charles, so while there is somewhat of a connection with the Spartans, "it's not like a backyard brawl mentality."
"Our No. 1 goal is to win the conference, and this is a nonconference game. For us it's just another game we want to win. For us it's not the biggest game of the year and the season's not over if we don't win," Wilson said.
"At the same time it'd be great to make a statement and win in a nonconference game."
Mind-boggling: You'll never hear football coaches considering a loss a moral victory. If there is such a thing, Lisle's 34-28 overtime loss to Wilmington was it.
The Lions held the undefeated Interstate Eight Conference power to 219 yards of offense. That's been unheard of in Sanko's tenure at Lisle, which has featured losses in all 14 of his meetings with Wilmington.
"That's mind-boggling to me," Sanko said of his defense. "I don't think we've ever held them under 400 yards, ever."
He credited defensive end Terrence Allen, who had an interception and a fumble recovery that led to Lisle's last 16 points. Lisle trailed 14-0 early in the first quarter and 21-6 at halftime before storming back. Daily Herald correspondent Nate Brown, who covered the game, called Lisle's defense "unbelievable."
"For the first time I saw us wearing them down," said Sanko, who before the game challenged his players to "do something that no one else has."
For those who believe this Wilmington team is not as strong as, say, the last two squads that each went 11-1 or the teams with a 36-3 cumulative record between 2002-04, off the top of his head Sanko said five other Wildcats teams "that we got killed by" were not as good as this year's club.
Still just 1-3, Lisle's goal is to ride the momentum of a great effort.
"We can save our season, but we have to start winning here," Sanko said.