Future looks bright for Eagles

Maybe Antioch High School's football team won't have all the fun next year. That Lakes team could be rebuilding quite quickly.

Before embarking as head coach of the Eagles, Luke Mertens did a stint at St. Rita High School. That's where he helped coach quarterback Mike Kafka. In the fourth game of the 2008 season at Northwestern, Kafka completed 18 of 27 passes for 177 yards against Ohio State.

Mertens notes there is a quarterback from the sophomore team who reminds him of his former prodigy.

At 6-foot-4, 185 pounds, sophomore quarterback Nick Hibbing is one player to watch in the future.

"He's a very talented quarterback," Mertens said.

Another player to watch is wide receiver Josh Pohlman (6-2, 170).

"He (Pohlman) is an awesome player," Mertens said. "He would have started on the varsity for us this year, but I wanted to leave our sophomore group together."

The future indeed looks bright. Both the sophomore team and the freshman team finished with 6-3 records.

"There is a lot of excitement surrounding our freshman and sophomore groups," Mertens said.

Recap: Certainly, one of the highlights of the varsity campaign was the play of Chris Heerema. In addition to his 34 tackles, the senior led the club in 4 fumble recoveries, including 3 in one game, and 8 tackles-for-loss.

"He was probably our most important player," Mertens said. "He played both ways all game long. It was clear many teams ran away from him."

Heerema made the NSC all-conference team along with linebacker John Androus.

Josh Gaido, Justin Hotle and Erik Stone were honorable mention selections.

Hotle had a nice season at quarterback. The senior crossed over the 1,000-yard mark.

"I thought he had a great year," Mertens said. "He was one of the main pieces to our team."

Jeremy Neuman led a balanced receiving group with 18 catches for 285 yards, including an 84-yard TD catch.

Kevin Kelly (15-242) paced the team with 2 touchdown receptions.

"By the end of the season, he ended up being a big-play guy," Mertens said.

Gaido led the team in rushing (153-628 yards, 8 TDs).

"Like last year, he was our workhorse offensively," he said. "Every team knew that as well, focusing on taking him out of the game plan. He had to fight, claw and spin for every yard he earned this year."

The Eagles (3-6) fell short of a winning season.

"We are obviously disappointed with our record," he said. "However, I am very proud of how our team stuck together this year. Our kids never quit."

Down on the Farm: In addition to Hibbing and Pohlman, the sophomore team got help from the versatile James Zell.

"He's a dynamic player who gives us big-play capability," said Mertens of the running back/defensive back.

Brandon Grant should lend help on the offensive line. Devin Grote also can play on both sides of the ball.

The freshman stars of the future could be Chris Hoffman, Alan Gomez, Donte Arnold, Michael Pfeiffer, Dan Pawlak and Jake Meeks.