Chargers enter season thinking November

Updated: August 22, 2011 7:29PM

Think big.

That’s the mindset at Aurora Central Catholic heading into the 2011 season.

Think big plays.

Think big wins.

Think November.

“I would feel I’m cheating them if I don’t go big,” second-year head coach Brian Casey said. “The varsity guys have one mission, and that’s November. That’s a very realistic step for this program. We feel with the talent we have, we feel it’s a playoff team that walks in to (practice). November is asking them to win one playoff game.

“Any goal that we say, anything we talk about, we talk about playing in November. We feel with our schedule it’s attainable. … And we believe we can certainly go into that (Week 9) game with Aurora Christian with a conference championship on the line.”

The Chargers feel this way coming off a 3-6 season, the most wins the program has had since 2002.

The last time the Chargers won four games was 2001. The last time they made the playoffs was 1997.

They’re feeling confident about this season due in large part to some new additions on offense.

In six losses last year, ACC was shutout three times, held to seven points once and scored just 14 and 20 points in the others. In four of those losses, it was a one-score game at the half.

The offense just couldn’t generate enough big plays to keep an aggressive defense rested.

“We feel as a whole that our offense will be a lot more explosive with the people we’ve got,” senior and first-year quarterback Kyle Clechenko said. “We definitely feel we’ll be better than last year’s offense and we’ll score a lot more touchdowns.”

Clechenko moves under center from running back, giving the Chargers a fourth option in their version of the Wing-T, alongside speedsters Marcus Jefferson and Luke Dickerson. Steve Amoni adds a power element to the package.

Toss in the fact that four of last year’s starting offensive lineman return with a better understanding of their blocking assignments, and you can see the reason for optimism.

“We’ve got guys that can move,” Casey said. “Last year we relied on straight ahead type stuff. This year we have a lot more misdirection that we can use. The second year, the recognition the kids have is a huge plus, (and) the guys that we have coming back and joining the team have that explosiveness. We can take a play and 60 yards later we’re in the end zone. I’ll take that. Our defense may not like that, but if we do that enough we’ll outscore them.”

A more potent offense coupled with the expectation the defense will remain solid is what gives the Chargers hope that there will be another step taken with the program.

“We took that first step — we taught the kids how to compete. The next step is we need to teach them how to win,” Casey said. “Hopefully that will start snowballing in the right direction. Hopefully we get that weeks one and two and we get rolling from there. Who knows what could take off?”

Aurora Central
Catholic Chargers

Coach: Brian Casey

2010 record: 3-6

Top returners: Kyle Clechenko (Sr., QB), Marcus Jefferson (Sr., RB), Nick Holzer (Sr., LB), Kyle Ritli (Sr., LB), A.T. White (Sr., LT), Alex Karafiat (Sr., RG), Kyle Ritli (Sr., LB), Joe Anger (Sr., DL), Tyler Nelson (Jr., DB), Izzy Rosa (Jr., LG) Joe Cisneros (Jr., C) and Pat Marcoux (Jr., DL).

Key newcomers: Matt Nass (Jr., WR), Nick Tansor (Jr., DL), Jack McCarthy (Jr., DL), Steve Amoni (Jr., RB), Luke Dickerson (Jr., RB), Anthony Andujar (Jr., DB), Steve Belovich (Jr., RB), Brian Bohr (Soph., RB) and Cody Ekstrom (Soph., RB).

Outlook: The Chargers are looking to the take the next step in their rebuilding phase and make a push for five wins and the program’s first playoff berth this century. The Chargers have increased speed on offense and returns four starters on the offensive line. The defense will need to find new starters on the line and in the secondary.

Schedule

Aug. 26 Rockford Lutheran 7:30 p.m.

Sept. 3 Marengo 4 p.m.

Sept. 9 Immaculate Conception 7:30 p.m.

Sept. 16 Chicago Christian 7:30 p.m.

Sept. 23 at Marian 7 p.m.

Sept. 30 at Guerin 7 p.m.

Oct. 8 at Walther Lutheran 1 p.m.

Oct. 14 Wheaton Academy 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 21 at Aurora Christian 7 p.m.

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