Vargas-less Wildcats ready to move on

Ivan Vargas was Lake View football for the last two seasons.

No opponent could gameplan for the Wildcats without trying to figure out how to stop the hard-nosed running back. But he graduated in the spring and now Lake View needs to replace his leadership and all those yards gained.

"The leadership will be the easiest thing to replace because we've had four or five seniors step up and take over the team," Lake View head coach Mike Menczynski said. "But talent wise, it was easy to give Ivan the ball. We were able to do a lot of things with him. Without him we're going to have to spread the ball around and maybe we can pick some defenses apart."

Two of the kids who have stepped up to take control of the team are linebacker/fullback Nick Haderlein and linebacker/running back Marcus Daniels.

They truly believe this squad won't miss a beat without last year's Pioneer Press Chicago Group Football Player of the Year.

"I think our running backs now, Marcus Daniels and Mike Arce, will be fine filling in for (Vargas)," Haderlein said. "He's a great player but I don't think we'll have a problem filling his spot."

"(Vargas) was a big part of the team and he was a leader and that's how we're trying to act," Daniels said. "We need to listen, pay attention to the coaches and follow directions. If we do our plays right we'll be successful."

The key to success for this Lake View squad will be keeping opposing defenses on their heels. If the Wildcats can mix up their pass and run, opponents will have a hard time keying on one person.

"This will be one of the few years where we don't have (an offensive) philosophy," Menczynski said. "We'll try to mix it up and run multiple formations and we're focusing more towards defense this year. Create some more turnovers on defense."

The biggest area Menczynski is looking to see some growth is the passing game. The Wildcats would like to develop a deep threat and sophomore quarterback Sean McCarthy will need to figure things out pretty quick.

"I've always had senior quarterbacks who finally get the system and graduate," Menczynski said. "So, now I have a sophomore quarterback, but he doesn't know the system yet. But he's so strong."

Other key players will be wing backs/defensive backs Jarred Stiles and Adrien Wenda. Both players are just juniors but they had varsity experience last year and that will make a big difference.

Practice has been going pretty good and Daniels is just waiting for his team to finish the jelling process.

"We just have to keep growing as a team," he said. "We don't have that connection yet, but we're getting there. Once we play as a team we'll win as a team."

Lake View has a real interesting game to open the season as they take on St. Ignatius, Saturday, 5 p.m. at St. Rita.

"We open with St. Ignatius, so that will be a big test for us," Menczynski said. "The kids are excited because they want to play someone good.

"Everyone tells me you have to play big teams to get some recognition. But we just want to come out of the preseason 2-1 and without injuries. We have a lot of guys going both ways."

After that, Lake View takes on Collins and Juarez in a pair of non-conference games.