Bublitz, Plainfield South aim to maintain momentum

Updated: August 22, 2011 9:30PM

The Plainfield South football team never has qualified for the state playoffs two years in a row.

That’s one of many challenges facing the Cougars and new coach Ken Bublitz.

Last season, Plainfield South went 9-2, won a share of the Southwest Prairie Conference championship and reached the second round of the Class 7A state playoffs before being eliminated by league foe Minooka 41-38.

Now Bublitz, also the Cougars’ boys basketball coach, will make his football coaching debut when Bolingbrook visits Plainfield South for Friday’s season opener. He takes over for Mike Briscoe, who stepped down after five seasons.

Bublitz has been a football assistant for 25 years in Streator and Plainfield. He spent the past six seasons as an assistant at South.

“I want to build on coach Briscoe’s foundation and maintain a successful program that parents, players and our school and community can be proud of,” Bublitz said.

Bublitz will rely heavily on the play of senior quarterback Austin Howarth and senior receivers Dantrell Wright and Ryan Turk this season.

Howarth, 6-foot-2, 220 pounds, threw for 1,179 yards 15 touchdowns and four interceptions while splitting time in the Cougars’ run-and-shoot offense a year ago.

He completed 55 percent of his passes, ran for four touchdowns and caught six passes, one of them for a score.

While he might not total that many yards or TDs this year, he will command an offense that averaged better than 45 points per outing a year ago.

Wright was a big part of the Cougars’ offensive machine, catching 51 passes for a league-leading 825 yards and 14 touchdowns during an all-SPC season. Turk averaged nearly 10 yards per catch in 2010.

Sergio Reyes is the Cougars’ top returning offensive lineman.

“We have a solid foundation to build on,” said Bublitz, the fourth football coach in program history. “Experience in key positions will help bring the younger players along. And leadership from our seniors will be critical for our team success.”

Although South might not match its offensive fireworks of a year ago, a better defense could be the key to an even better season in 2011.

Plainfield South returns senior linebacker Jacob Meeder from a defense that allowed nearly 20 points per game a year ago.

Although the 2010 Cougars featured the best offense and defense in the conference, nearly half of the points they allowed last year came during the final three weeks of the season.

Senior defensive back Darius Jefferson, junior linebacker Sean McGrail and sophomore linebacker Clifton Garrett are some of the varsity newcomers expected to shore up the defense.

Last year, the Cougars went 8-0 through the first two month of the season, only to lose two of their last three games. The first was for the outright league championship and the second was to Minooka in the second round of the state playoffs.

“I expect the league to be very competitive and very wide open,” Bublitz said.

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