St. Charles East eyeing playoff return
Successful football teams often lean on senior leaders. St. Charles East has those.
"We've got a core group of seniors who are great leaders," said Saints coach Bryce Farquhar. "They've got high demands for themselves and high demands for our team."
"They" being linebackers Jack Russell, Mitch Guillaume and Jack Morgan and running back Cam Canales.
"Those four have just gone above and beyond in taking the program to another level," Farquhar said.
The level they seek would be higher than last year's 4-5 record, which knocked the Saints out of the playoffs after qualifying in 2012 and 2013.
St. Charles East basically clobbered each team it should have, but couldn't snag a big win over a winning team.
To get back to Week 10 juniors will also be a big part, starting with quarterback Zach Mitchell. Coming up late last season as a sophomore after Farquhar tried two other signal callers, including returning senior defensive back Aiden Wright, the younger brother of former Saints gunslinger Jimmy Mitchell showed promise.
In limited reps Zach Mitchell completed 18 of 37 passes for 245 yards and 2 touchdowns including a 52-yarder to returning back Justin Galante, another junior. Mitchell also ran for 108 yards on 6.8 yards per carry.
"He's just an athletic kid," Farquhar said of Mitchell. "He can do anything we ask him to do. He's got great feet, he's got a great arm."
Last season the Saints asked a ton from since-graduated running back Ramon Lopez. His 12 touchdowns matched the rest of the team.
One reason for Lopez's predominance was Canales' season-ending broken collarbone in the Saints' first game. He's back, bringing a 575-pound squat.
"We've had a great tradition of running backs at St. Charles East and I really think that's going to stay the same," Farquhar said.
Youth will be served in many areas including up front. Juniors Max Schumann and Logan Waxman are among the team's biggest offensive linemen at 275 and 260 pounds, respectively.
Obviously the goal is to open holes for Canales and Galante and give Mitchell time to hit senior receiver Nick Candre, who doubles as a college kicking prospect.
It's a big plus Guillaume and Russell return in the middle of the 4-3 defense, last season's Nos. 2 and 4 leading tacklers. Another plus is former Geneva star and NFL prospect Pat Schiller on board as a linebacker coach.
Schiller brings "a lot of energy and enthusiasm," Farquhar said.
That partners well with senior leadership.
"We didn't have a great year last year, 4-5," the coach said. "We weren't as competitive as we wanted to be, but their goal is to rise as one and bring everyone together to raise the level of play and their expectations."