Waubonsie Valley football preview

Updated: August 15, 2011 11:56AM

Waubonsie Valley

Coach: Paul Murphy

2010 Record: 8-3 (Lost 34-28 in double overtime to Homewood-Flossmoor in Class 8A second round)

Top Returners: Senior WR Demetrius Gray, Junior RB Austin Guido, Senior QB Mitch Stefani, Junior LB Austin Lacke

Key Newcomers: Junior QB Dylan Warden

Outlook: Ushering in a fourth different quarterback in as many years, Warriors’ offense will be led by Gray and Guido combination. Finally over first-round playoff hump, can Warriors make deeper postseason inroad?

Heading into last season, the mantra surrounding the Waubonsie Valley football program was simple: Week 11.

In prep football circles, Week 11 represents a second-round playoff game.

Exorcising the demons that a nine-year streak without a postseason victory brings, Waubonsie Valley finally made its way into the second round with a 33-7 first-round victory over Brother Rice, the program’s first since a 17-14 victory over Thornton in 2001.

Much like a year ago, the trick now is finding a way to go further, a challenge it faces along with one of its District 204 brethren, Neuqua Valley, which has never made a state quarterfinal appearance in its 13-year history.

“Our slogan this year is unfinished business,” Waubonsie Valley coach Paul Murphy said. “We ended up being (Upstate Eight Valley) co-champs with Bartlett. We want to try to be full champs in the conference. We got very, very close, losing in double overtime in the second round to Homewood-Flossmoor. We need to take that next step, get into the quarterfinal round to prove that we’re one of the top programs in the state of Illinois and I think our kids are motivated by it. They accept the challenge and we’ll see if we’re good enough to take that next step this year.”

Coming ever so close to beating Homewood-Flossmoor before eventually falling, 34-28, in double overtime in the Class 8A second round after wide receiver Demetrius Gray fell agonizingly close to a potential game-winning TD at the goal-line, finding a way to use that disappointment as fuel towards a successful postseason charge in 2011 is crucial.

Breaking in a fourth quarterback in as many years, the Warriors hope either senior Mitch Stefani or junior Dylan Warden can successfully follow in the footsteps of Tyler Castro, Kenny Clay and Tommy Kolzow while bringing the program somewhere it hasn’t been since 1994, a state quarterfinal.

Stefani attempted only three passes in 2010, completing one for 13 yards, and ran eight times for 20 yards.

“Mitch Stefani is very intelligent. He doesn’t panic,” Murphy said. “Right now, he’s making very, very good decisions. The better athlete and the one with more talent is Dylan Warden. He’s got a great upside, but until we go after him, I’m not sure how he’s gonna react to pressure, how he’s gonna react to blitzes, how he’s gonna react to game situations. He’s got a ton of athletic ability. When he was a freshman and sophomore, he could get out of trouble because he’s got such great feet, but it takes a little more than great feet to run the varsity offense. We got to wait and see how he responds once the bullets start flying.”

Aiding whoever wins the job will be the services of senior Gray and junior running back Austin Guido, the team’s top returning rusher.

Gray was second on the team in receptions and receiving yards a year ago with 26 and 478, respectively, while leading the team with eight touchdowns.

“He’s had an outstanding summer and he’s come out of the gates. There’s no question he’s our best athlete on the football field on either side of it,” Murphy said of Gray, who has offers from Ball State, Akron and Illinois State and is also receiving interest from Wisconsin.

Guido, meanwhile, burst onto the scene with a 211-yard performance in the Class 8A first-round triumph over Brother Rice and ran for 567 yards on 99 carries, including six TDs, for the entire season.

While Guido will shoulder a significant part of the offensive load, another Austin, junior linebacker Austin Lacke, who had 58 tackles last year, will look to fill the shoes of linebacker/defensive end Devon Morgan, who had 56 tackles and six sacks while earning all-Upstate Eight Valley Division accolades and now is at Dayton.

Half of the starting secondary is gone, as well, with the departures of Trey Waldman and Jakobi Johnson---both 2010 Naperville Sun All-Area Prep Football Team picks.

While Waldman led the team with five interceptions last season, none of the returning members in the secondary own interceptions, with senior Malik Spikener owning the most tackles with 27.

How quickly either Stefani or Warden gets accustomed under center and the defense comes together after several key departures will have a lot to deal with whether or not Waubonsie Valley will get to play a 12th game this fall.

“Because we’re so young right now, it’s getting better every week,” Murphy said. “Stay healthy, obviously. No. 2, we have 66 varsity players right now. This is the first year the split with Metea affected us because we only have 22 seniors. We got to make sure we’re healthy and improving every week because I think we’re gonna be a dynamite football team the second half of the season as these juniors get more varsity game experience under their belt.

“For our young guys, to me, it’s playing with confidence. If we play with confidence, we stay together (and) we get good leadership from those 22 seniors, I think this group can be as good as any team I’ve had here.”

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