Questions to ponder as Elgin-area football begins

Updated: August 11, 2011 2:26PM

It’s time to break out the helmets and pads because high school football practices kick off all around the state Wednesday.

With the opening night of the season only 17 days away, here are six questions to ponder going into the 2011 campaign:

1. Can Elgin High build off last year’s success?

The Maroons enjoyed a breakthrough season in 2010, finishing with a 6-4 record and reaching the state playoffs for the first time since 2001. Now the goal is to make it back-to-back trips to the postseason.

Although Elgin lost several key contributors to graduation, the cupboard isn’t bare with several talented players returning. Senior Dennis Moore headlines the group and will likely be a big factor on offense and defense as a running back and defensive back. Like Moore, senior lineman Travon Hall and senior linebacker Elrich Keophilalay also earned All-Upstate Eight Conference River Division honors last fall for the Maroons.

Moore, Hall, Keophilalay and a few other core returners give Elgin a good starting ground, but depth always seems to be an issue for the Maroons. Getting back to the postseason will likely hinge on whether coach Dave Bierman and his staff can find enough capable players to fill in around the returning talent.

2. How will the area’s three new coaches fare?

New bosses are in place at Burlington Central, Dundee-Crown and Genoa-Kingston as Rich Crabel takes over the Rockets, Vito Andriola steps in to guide the Chargers and Travis Frederick takes charge of the Cogs.

Frederick is the only one of the three newcomers that inherits a team that reached the playoffs last year, but it will be a season of unknowns for G-K as it has seven new opponents on its schedule as a result of its move to the Big Northern Conference East Division from the BNC West.

Crabel will try to turn things around for a Central program that is in the midst of a three-year playoff drought. Slow starts plagued the Rockets the past few years, so some early success could go a long way toward helping the team avoid its first four-year playoff drought since the early 1980s.

When it comes to postseason droughts, Dundee-Crown is a virtual desert considering it hasn’t reached the playoffs since 1994, a stretch of 16 years. Andriola is charged with turning around a team that has lost 17 straight games dating to Week 1 of the 2009 season. Changing the program’s fortunes in one year won’t be easy, but don’t be surprised if a young and athletic Chargers team picks up a few wins and pulls a surprise or two in the ultra-competitive Fox Valley Conference Valley Division.

3. How will Hampshire and St. Edward be affected by changing conferences?

G-K isn’t the only local team switching divisions this year. St. Edward makes the jump to the Suburban Christian Conference Blue Division from the SCC Gold. Meanwhile, Hampshire starts a new era as the newest member of the Fox Valley Conference Fox Division.

The Green Wave is coming off back-to-back playoff appearances for the first time in program history, but that success coupled with its SCC Gold title last fall is the main reason coach Mike Rolando’s squad is making the leap to the highly competitive SCC Blue. Perennial state title contenders Marmion, Montini, Marian Central and St. Francis are all on St. Edward’s schedule this year, and the Wave might have to pick off a win or two against those powerhouses if it hopes to make a third straight trip to the playoffs.

The conference switch will be equally taxing for the Whip-Purs. Hampshire is coming off a 1-8 campaign in 2010, and the move to the FVC Fox represents a sizeable step up in competition from its days in the BNC. With that in mind, the Whips will have to show significant improvement if they hope to surpass last year’s win total.

4. Will the St. Charles schools be able to bounce back?

The 2010 season represented a dubious first for St. Charles East and St. Charles North as both schools missed the playoffs in the same year for the first time in the 10 since North’s varsity debut. It also marked only the second time since 1990 that a team from St. Charles didn’t qualify for the postseason.

Conventional wisdom says neither team will stay down for long, but there is work to be done on both sides of town.

Last season’s Saints were one year removed from winning the Upstate Eight Conference, but a rash of injuries and five straight losses to start the season doomed their chances as they went on to a 3-6 finish. A few talented players return for St. Charles East, but getting five wins is no sure thing.

The North Stars saw their area-best streak of eight straight playoff appearances end with last year’s 4-5 finish. A porous defense that allowed 34.6 points per game was a big culprit, and word is that St. Charles North might struggle keeping opponents out of the end zone again this year.

5. Which teams might surprise this year?

When looking at the list of teams that failed to reach the playoffs last year, St. Charles East, St. Charles North and Burlington Central jump out as the squads that have the best chance of getting back to the promised land this fall, but none would necessarily count as a surprise.

When it comes to teams that would genuinely rank as a surprise, look no further than Larkin and Streamwood.

Like their crosstown counterpart Elgin, depth is always a concern for Larkin, which has reached the playoffs only once in the past seven years. With that said, a scrappy attitude and a few talented players seem to get the Royals three or four wins every year, and taking that next step to win No. 5 and a possible playoff berth isn’t totally out of the question.

Compiling a 2-7 record last fall represented a step in the right direction for Streamwood, which finished 1-8 or worse each of the previous six seasons. A solid group of returning skill position players and a favorable schedule should help the Sabres raise the bar again. If Streamwood takes care of business in a few winnable games early in the year, it might just be able to get back to the postseason for the first time since 2002.

6. Do any local teams have a realistic shot at making a deep run in the playoffs?

Bartlett and South Elgin both advanced to the second round of the postseason last year. Expect the Hawks and Storm to be playing in November again this season.

South Elgin has four All-UEC Valley honorees returning this year, not to mention speedy senior Zach Gross, who impressed in limited action at quarterback last fall. A tough schedule awaits the Storm, but success is all this year’s senior class has known. Count on coach Dale Schabert’s team being in the hunt for the UEC Valley title.

With that said, there’s a good chance South Elgin will be chasing rival Bartlett in the UEC Valley standings. The Hawks are loaded on both sides of the ball and also return four All-UEC Valley honorees, including quarterback A.J. Bilyeu, who recently committed to Air Force.

Coming off an 8-3 finish last fall, this year’s team is drawing comparisons to the 2008 Hawks squad that advanced to the Class 8A semifinals. With that in mind, Bartlett fans might want to start getting their cold-weather gear organized because it could be a long and exciting year.

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