Belskis begins new era at Aurora Central Catholic
Briefly reflecting on his hall of fame coaching career at Downers Grove South, John Belskis recalls exactly one game in which his team got physically handled.
It was a 1998 playoff game against Lincoln-Way, which won the battle and the war 34-0. It obviously sticks in Belskis' craw and is what he wants to avoid as Aurora Central Catholic's new head coach.
"That's our goal in our program, to get our kids to where we're going to bring it every game," said Belskis, in his third year at ACC but first as boss after Brian Casey accepted an administrative position at Montini in May.
"If we can out-block and out-hit you, we've got a decent chance of winning the game," said Belskis, who noted his players' great accountability over summer and preseason.
Coming off a third straight playoff appearance, ACC's longest since a five-year run from 1993-97, this is a squad lacking senior experience. Ben Ariano heads a group of five seniors on the preliminary roster. The 230-pound linebacker is a three-year starter whose 70 tackles last season ranked third on the team.
A model citizen according to Belskis, Ariano will be hard to get off the field on both sides of the ball plus special teams.
"He's kind of the heart and soul of our defense," the coach said.
With Belskis now handling offense after two seasons as Casey's defensive coordinator, incoming defensive coordinator Dan Woulfe, formerly of Waubonsie Valley, inherits players such as junior linebacker Brandon Warren, lineman Brant Krpan, defensive back Patrick Flanagan and another of those seniors, lineman Joe Dempsey.
Several of ACC's top players will go both ways, such as junior defensive back-receiver Griffin Zajac. In 2014 he finished second in tackles with 71, plus 4 interceptions, but nearly all his offensive numbers came via special teams. The Chargers brain trust hopes to get Zajac the ball in a variety of ways, as they did last season with all-area player Brandon Babler.
Behind some good size and experience on the offensive line - 280-pound Jairo Varela, 270-pound Micah Miller and 240-pound center Jacob Ishmael for starters - is junior quarterback Johnny Belskis, the coach's son. An accurate passer with some savvy, it's hoped Johnny Belskis, backs like Ariano, junior Danny Lagateo and sophomore Ryan Cerza, and receivers Zajac and Chris Patrick will keep defenses guessing.
Shoring up special teams is a big goal. To that end John Belskis gained Benet transfer Jake Mueller, a junior long-snapper; and sophomore kickers Brennan Hare and George Yanez.
"We're going to be young," the coach said. "But they put numbers on your jersey, not your year in school. We've got to play like seniors."