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Immaculate Conception football team has potential |
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Written by Mike Miazga
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Friday, 27 August 2010 |
Youthful Knights strong in skill positions
In any walk of life, being good at a particular skill is always a checkmark in the positive box.
For the Immaculate Conception football team, checkmarks will be quite prevalent on the offensive side of the ball this season.
“I think we’ve got a good skill set,” said IC coach Mike Alberts. “We’ve got good wide receivers, good running backs and a good quarterback.”
But Alberts stresses the key for his offense in 2010 will be an offensive line that returns two starters from last year’s 4-5 team.
“The key is going to be gelling up front,” said Alberts. “If our line gels and comes through, I think we can be very good offensively. As our line goes, we’ll go offensively. And that’s true of any team offensively.”
That offensive line features returning starters Rob Rivera (Sr., LG) and James Peachey (Jr., C). Seniors Joe Little (RG), Brian Palermo (RT) and Kasey Lathrope (LT), junior Coleon Leverson (LT) and sophomore Christian Lopez (RG) will also be key contributors up front. The tight end is senior Pat Burke.
That unit will block for running backs Matt Mesnard (Jr.) and Jose Godinez (Sr.). Senior quarterback Cody Kotlow will throw to senior wide receivers Kyle Siranovic and Andrew Palash.
On the defensive side of things, Palermo and Rivera will play on the defensive line along with senior Joe Suereo in IC’s 3-5 set.
The linebacking group features senior Andre Wells and sophomore Joe Iavarone at outside positions with Lathrope, Godinez, Peachey and Mesnard manning inside positions.
Siranovic and Palash will play cornerback and juniors Anthony Iavarone and Dan Vatch will see time at free safety.
“Our defense will be much improved from last season,” said Alberts. “We’re better tacklers this year and we’re more aggressive on defense. In general, we’re better defensively.”
Playing with five linebackers is nothing new to IC.
“It seems to be the trend lately,” said Alberts. “When we first started doing it, we lacked down linemen. That’s why we switched to it. We usually have smaller kids that can run well. It’s worked out well for us.”
Alberts has seen plenty of progress with his squad since fall practices kicked off.
“We’re getting better at the little things like assignments and we’re getting better with our execution,” said Alberts. “We just need to clean a couple of things up. Getting into game week here will help with a lot of that. If we can get some question marks answered early on and get a consistent level of play, I think we can win some games.”
One hurdle the team will have to overcome is inexperience.
“We do have some inexperience,” said Alberts. “They have to get used to the speed of the game. If we can find a way to get to the level I think we’re capable of playing at, I think we can be pretty good.”
In terms of the Suburban Christian Conference Gold Division, Alberts lists St. Edward as the preseason favorite.
“I’m sure Ed’s will be tough,” he said. “They made the playoffs last year and their sophomores went 9-0. Beyond them, it’s tough to say. I think Ed’s is the frontrunner right now and everybody else is jumbled into the middle.”
Right now, Alberts is anxious to see his team in game situations.
“I think everybody is ready to play a game,” said Alberts. “We’ve had a long summer camp and a long set of doubles. The good thing is the first game is on the horizon. It’s game week.”
IC kicks off the 2010 season Friday at 7 p.m. in Norridge in non-conference action against Ridgewood.
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York football team has talent and experience on offense |
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Written by Mike Miazga
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Friday, 27 August 2010 |
Dukes open season at home Friday against Prospect
York coach Bill Lech has plenty of reasons to be excited about his offensive unit this season.
The Dukes return a nice mix of experience and skill on offense from last year’s team that went 4-5 overall.
“I like our experience in the offensive line,” said Lech. “I also like our skill set at the skill positions on offense. We have the potential on offense to score a lot of points. Our skill set is good to very good. We have to block up front. The good thing is we have experience on the offensive line. We bring back a lot of that.”
That experienced offensive line includes seniors Bob LeGere (6-3, 250, LT), Sean Crowe (6-0, 250, C), Jason DuBois (6-1, 205, RG), Eli Kosanovich (6-2, 275, RT) and Rob Crowe (6-4, 220, TE). Juniors Lucas Rasnic (6-1, 200) and Jake Ruprecht (6-3, 205) will play left guard.
Seniors Dan Falkenberg (5-11, 150) and Brendan Montgomery (6-0, 180) will play split end, while junior David Byerly (6-2, 170) will play slot. Senior Ryan Kent (5-9, 170) is at one running back, while senior Will Barnds(5-10, 195) and juniors Kenny Bosenberg (5-8, 180) and Nick Skuteris (6-1, 250) will all see time at fullback. Junior Jordan Preuss (6-3, 170) is the team’s extra receiver.
Senior Jim Nudera (6-1, 200) will start at quarterback. Junior Joe Lucca (6-1, 180) will also see time at the position.
On defense, York returns five starters. That group includes seniors John Groh (5-10, 205, NT), John Worley (6-4, 205, DE), RJ Kleinhans (6-0, 185, ILB), Skuteris (ILB) and Joe Paparone (5-10, 165, CB).
Joining Groh and Worley up front is junior Jason Scally (6-1, 233, DT).
Seniors Anthony Pezza (5-11, 170) and team captain Peter Kuchan (6-1, 175) are the outside linebackers.
Seniors Jon MacKenzie (5-8, 165, CB), Jake Rzeszutko (5-7, 135, S) and Phil Ganser (5-10, 170, S) round out that secondary for new defensive coordinator Bill Wienke.
“I like our ability to pursue and run to the ball,” said Lech. “It is going to be important for us to create turnovers. This is a defense that can be physical.”
Overall, Lech points to a number of key factors that his team must keep in mind this season.
“First, we have to protect the football,” said Lech. “We have to create turnovers and we have to make sure we don’t give up the big play on defense. On offense, we have to sustain drives.”
In the West Suburban Conference Silver Division, Lech sees Glenbard West as the team to beat right now. He also puts Lyons Township and Oak Park-River Forest in that upper tier of teams.
“I think Glenbard West is the best team in the league,” said Lech. “LT, Oak Park and us will be in that 2, 3 and 4 mix. I don’t know what order. Glenbard West is that good.”
Lech has been impressed with how the first few weeks of fall practice have gone.
“Our overall mentality is better than it has been,” said Lech. “I’ve got three new coaches on defense and one returning. They’ve all worked well together and have done a nice job with the defense. Offensively, we’ve had the same coaches going on four years. It’s nice to have that consistency.”
York will host Prospect Friday night in a non-conference game and will then welcome West Suburban Conference Gold Division member Morton in Week 2. York plays six home games this season and all nine of its regular-season games will be contested on artificial turf.
York has six teams on its schedule this season that made the playoffs in 2009 (Prospect, Oak Park-River Forest, Proviso West, Lyons Township, Glenbard West and Hinsdale Central).
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Timothy Christian Boys Basketball Team Shines At Calvin College Camp |
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Written by Mike Miazga
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Friday, 16 July 2010 |
Trojans went 5-2 in Michigan event What did the Timothy Christian boys basketball team do for part of its summer vacation? Try going up to a shootout at Calvin College in Michigan and playing well. “We had a really good time up there,” said Timothy Christian coach Jack LeGrand. Timothy went 5-2 in the event and won its pool with a 3-0 mark. The Trojans played the likes of Kalamazoo Christian, Calvin Christian, Grand Rapids Christian and Metro Suburban Conference foe Illiana Christian. “It was a good weekend for us,” said LeGrand. “Both of the games we lost we lost by a few points.” LeGrand felt the weekend was especially beneficial from a team bonding standpoint. “We had some great team bonding after the tournament ended,” said LeGrand. “A player on our team’s family invited all of us to their cottage. We spent the day out there playing on the water. We had a good time. It was great that Calvin College invited us up there. They have a nice facility and they put us up and fed us and gave us a tour of the college. They were very good for us.” The team also recently finished up play in the Hinsdale South summer league. LeGrand has seen strong play from a variety of sources of late. “Mark Penczak was phenomenal all weekend for us in Michigan. He’s definitely a leader for us,” said LeGrand. “Mike Pizzello has been playing nice basketball and Troy Ellens has had some nice games for us. Dan Leach, Chris Ridolphi and Matt Robinson and Nathan Boot also have played well for us. Chad Vos helped us out. We had a really nice team weekend. It was a definite boost for us. It was a positive weekend because we competed. It was a very competitive weekend. We played good competition and had some good games. It was a nice break to get away and play different teams than the ones we usually play. We saw some good teams.” Timothy competed in the Minuteman Shootout this past weekend at Riverside-Brookfield. “It’s been a pretty positive summer,” said LeGrand. “We took some lumps at Hinsdale South against some good teams. We’ve got most of our guys back now. We’ve had injuries. We’ve never really had everybody on the floor at the same time this summer. But the kids have been competing and have been playing more consistently. We’ve been stressing consistency. We’re getting close to getting that. Hopefully, the kids will keep working hard on their skills.” LeGrand knows his team will have to be prepared heading into the 2010-2011 season, especially playing in the MSC. “Our conference is going to be good again,” said LeGrand. “We have to be prepared each and every night. The good competition we are playing over the summer is going to have us prepared for that.” |
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