Benet football preview

Updated: August 15, 2011 11:52AM

Benet

Coach: Pat New

2010 Record: 5-5 (Lost 49-7 to Wheaton Warrenville South in Class 7A first round)

Top Returners: Senior RB/WR Nick Mankowski, Senior RB/LB Michael Odom, Senior LB Jim Lynch

Key Newcomers: Junior QB Kevin Weller, Senior WR Bobby Hayes, Junior WR Jack Euritt

Outlook: After reaching postseason for first time since 2006, Redwings will look to build on New’s first year. Replacing running back E.J. Howe and wide receiver Connor Nelligan won’t be easy task.

With a nine-game regular season serving as the road map, the goal for every high school team is to get to five wins and reach the playoffs.

Last season, under first-year coach Pat New, Benet reached the postseason for the first time since 2006 by getting to that magic number of five.

Its reward for getting those five wins? Being handed a first-round date with eventual Class 7A state champion Wheaton Warrenville South by the IHSA and receiving a decisive 49-7 loss.

The lessons learned by going up against the top team in the state might serve the Redwings well as they prepare for the 2011 season.

“It really is. You play the best team in the state and everybody else, you’re not as intimidated by those other teams, if you ever were intimidated,” said New, a 1987 Benet graduate. “Let me put it this way: when you play the best team in the state, it certainly gives you a different perspective. It was a tough experience for us in the playoffs. It was a great experience to play the best.”

Looking to help the Redwings build on seeing that different perspective will be junior quarterback Kevin Weller, a transfer from Neuqua Valley who helped lead the Wildcats’ sophomores to an 8-1 record last year.

Weller will take the reins from senior Nick Mankowski, who completed 63-of-111 passes for 814 yards and eight touchdowns as a junior last year.

“Physically, he’s a beast,” New said of Weller. “I like guys (that are big). He’s big and durable. He throws a nice ball. He’s got some zip on the ball, too. I’ve been real pleased. I really like his attitude. He’s really dedicated, so I’m excited about him.”

As a way to try and offset the production lost because of the graduation of running back E.J. Howe, who ran for 1,038 yards and seven touchdowns in 2010, Mankowski will be used as both a running back and a receiver.

Mankowski ran for four touchdowns from the quarterback spot last season, and will be joined in the backfield by senior Michael Odom, who played on defense last year.

Replacing the production of all-everything wide receiver Connor Nelligan, who caught a team-high 42 balls for 574 yards and nine touchdowns, will be more of a team effort.

“Nelligan’s a tough guy to replace. We got Steve Cahill at the wide receiver, who’s got some speed and got some athletic ability,” New said. “We got Bobby Hayes, who’s more of a possession-type of receiver with great hands. We’re hoping one of those seniors step up and try at their best to replace Connor.”

With only three returning starters on defense---senior defensive end Trevor Krajewski, senior defensive tackle Quinn McCracken and senior linebacker Jim Lynch---the onus early on will be on the Redwings’ offense to mesh together quickly and put some points on the board.

Perhaps the most important lesson Benet has taken from having to go up against Wheaton Warrenville South, the two-time defending Class 7A champs, right out of the shoot as a 16th seed a year ago is the need to try and grab a sixth win along the way, so it doesn’t have to be in that precarious and unenviable spot again.

“That’s a big (thing). We were talking as coaches. We said, ‘Man, it’s like, you gotta, at some point, improve to the point where you’re better than 5-4,’” New said. “I’m not being a defeatist and saying that a 5-4 (team) can’t beat a 9-0 (team), but if you’re a 5-4, you’re gonna get matched up with a 9-0 every year.

“It just makes it really tough. Your likelihood of being a one-and-done is a lot greater as a 5-4 than as a 7-2 or 6-3 (team).”

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