Kaneland ready for challenges that Northern Illinois Big XII East presents

Not many conferences can boast the type of playoff success the Northern Illinois Big XII East had last year when 60 percent of its teams reached the state semifinals.

First-year Kaneland coach Pat Ryan is expecting more of the same this year.

While the Knights have nine starters returning on offense including quarterback Jack Douglas and three linemen, heavyweights Morris and DeKalb also have experience that will test Kaneland.

"Our whole schedule is tough. Every week is a battle," Ryan said. "For us it's going to be a matter of staying disciplined and not turning the ball over and not making mistakes and finishing games."

The Knights finished 1-3 last year with a lone victory over Yorkville.

DeKalb won the conference at 4-0 ahead of 3-1 Morris. Both those teams reached the semifinals, as did Sycamore. After a 5-4 regular season, the Spartans won three playoff games.

Morris brings back nearly its entire offensive and defensive lines and is Ryan's pick as this year's preseason favorite.

"I think Morris, they were the team that really gave it to us good last year (34-3), and I know they have a lot of guys coming back and are big up front and physical," Ryan said. "They are going to be tough."

Six starters return on defense for DeKalb, and the Barbs also have quarterback Noah Valin back.

The Spartans have a new quarterback but three starters return on the offensive line, plus running back Peyton Wiegmann. Sycamore has reached the playoffs eight straight years.

Ryan sees the Barbs and Spartans battling behind Morris.

"It's probably a tossup between DeKalb and Sycamore," Ryan said. "DeKalb is so athletic. They seem like they have athletes all over the field. They have an offense that is tough to defend and play hard on defense with a good scheme.

"Sycamore, they are well-coached and they just seem to reload each year and is a good quality football team."

Yorkville brought up the rear last year at 2-7 overall and graduated much of that team, though Ryan said the Foxes have a couple skill position returnees to keep an eye on.

After going 4-5 last year, Ryan knows Kaneland needs a signature win or two to get back to the playoffs.

"To walk away and say we went 4-5 but lost to five playoff teams including three semifinalists, it's hard to say that we were bad, those other teams were just better than us," Ryan said. "For us going into the year, to be a playoff team, we have to beat playoff teams."