November 29, 2024
Sports

High school football: Lemont football looks for another long playoff run

By CURT HERRON

Here are some of the leaders for the 2017 Lemont football team. (Front row, from left): Anthony Martin, Nathan Ascolani and Robert Nowak. (Back row, from left): Caleb Young, Austin Nagel, Marcus Mathias, Anthony Hanna and Jack Faron. (Curt Herron)

LEMONT – Most football programs would be very pleased to win their first 11 games and advance all the way to the quarterfinals of the playoffs.

But when you’ve played in three state championship games and had two other semifinal trips in the past 10 years, the bar has been set awfully high, as has been the case at Lemont.

So while the Indians certainly have nothing to be ashamed of after falling 27-20 to a quality St. Laurence squad in last year’s Class 6A state quarterfinals, coach Bret Kooi’s team would have liked to have gotten a bit further in the postseason.

With another talented veteran squad on hand for the upcoming season, Lemont spent the summer preparing for what it hopes will be another long playoff run.

The Indians last played for a title in 2014, when the seniors were freshmen and Kooi was in his first season with the program after succeeding Eric Michaelsen.

“Getting far in the playoffs was the culture before I got here and continues to be the culture,” Kooi said. “We’re working hard to try to get back to that state title game, and our goal is to get one sometime soon. My goal when I got here was to continue the tradition that Eric and his staff had built, and we’re knocking on the door, and one of these days we want to finish.

“I think what’s exciting not only about this group ... is that the kids have played together for a number of years, and they know what each other can do, so they have a close bond, and that all helps on the field. Coming out of the gates is going to be a huge thing for us. It’s something in the schedule that I think is a positive, and hopefully after the first four or five games we’re still stating it as a positive.”

On offense, the Indians will look to a number of veterans, including senior running back Anthony Martin, a four-year performer who started in the 2014 title game as a freshman.

Other seniors on the offensive side of the ball are quarterback Marcus Mathias, wide receiver Austin Nagel, right guard Robert Nowak, lineman Jack Faron and junior guard Anthony Hanna.

“I’m hoping to finish this last year with a championship, something that we fell short of in my freshman year,” Martin said. “I started in that game, and now I want to finish one of those games. Nothing comes easy so we’ve used this offseason to dig deep in order to figure out what we can get out of one another. This is a really close-knit group since all of us have been playing together since elementary school. We all have the fire and passion and know that we have the capabilities and coaching staff to play for a title.”

A pair of three-year performers lead the Indians on defense – senior outside linebacker Caleb Young and senior lineman Nathan Ascolani. Other seniors to watch on the defensive side include defensive back Tyler Gray, defensive tackle Ryan Jirik and lineman Faron.

“We have a mix of experience and some new guys who we feel confident about them, and coach [Willie] Hayes is bringing the intensity with the defense every day, so I’m pretty excited about the season,” Young said. “We’re hoping to make a run, but we have four big games to start the season, so we better be ready. We pretty much spend every single day together, so we get used to everyone. I definitely like how we pick each other up, and no matter what the situation is, we can usually just bounce back.”

Lemont will be tested right away with games at Batavia and Bartlett before hosting Hillcrest and Richards. Then they’re at TF South before facing Oak Forest.

With the memory of watching the program play in the state title game during their freshman season, this year’s seniors would like to end their careers with a similar playoff run.

“We’re certainly bringing it on the defensive side,” Ascolani said. “We play so well together, and it’s easy to bond because we’ve grown up together since we were little kids, and that’s what helps to make us a good team. Knowing our assignments and executing in games will be keys to winning games this year, especially in our first four games, which will be pretty tough. It’s nice to build on the leadership that’s been given to me the past few years and bringing it now. The biggest key for us is our pride.”