5 football storylines to watch in Times area in 2024

The Illinois high school football season got underway Monday with the start of preseason practices. Here are some of the top storylines to watch in the Times area this season.

Seneca reloading, not rebuilding

The past two seasons have seen the Fighting Irish go 21-2, including last fall’s team that went 11-1. That team rushed for more than 3,600 yards out of its power-T offense behind a strong offensive line and advanced to the Class 2A quarterfinals.

Graduation has left Seneca with a number of spots to fill, including the entire offensive line and a pair of running back slots. However, senior Paxton Giertz, a Times second-team selection at wide receiver and defensive back last season who stepped in at quarterback midseason, is back after passing for 119 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions while rushing for 343 yards and three TDs on 36 carries.

“I told the kids from the start, ‘Are we going to reload or are we going to rebuild?’ " Seneca coach Terry Maxwell said. “I think they took that challenge, and they want to keep this thing going. Making it to the playoffs for a third year in a row would be a big accomplishment.”

Maxwell says one of the obvious keys to the season, which starts for Seneca at Tremont on Aug. 30, will be how well players can step in to new roles. He said many of them saw a good amount of playing time last year in the second half of games where the Irish had big leads.

Marquette looking to reach playoffs for 12th straight time

It’s said that success breeds success and that would definitely describe the Crusaders over the past decade under coach Tom Jobst.

Over the past 11 fall seasons Marquette is 101-21 and reached the playoffs in each of those campaigns, including ending last season 7-3 after a first-round playoff loss in Class 1A.

The wing-T Crusaders are hoping that the return of Payton Gutierrez, a senior and three-year starting running back/free safety who rushed for 652 yards and six touchdowns, junior Anthony Couch at quarterback, who finished last season 31 of 61 passing with five touchdowns, and a few guys along the offensive line can be the start of another special season.

“It has become the expectation here, and that’s not a bad thing at all,” Jobst said of reaching the postseason every fall. “Each offseason and season, the kids here work toward that goal, because it’s expected of them, and they expect it from themselves. It’s not easy to make the playoffs. It’s a long season.”

Ottawa hopes experience equals more wins

Pirates coach Chad Gross’ team will feature a relatively young roster, but according to Gross many of those players saw time last season and have worked very hard in the offseason to hopefully improve on last fall’s 3-6 mark.

One of those “young guys” who figures to play a key role is junior quarterback Mark Munson. Munson takes over as the signal caller for Colby Mortenson, who finished his Ottawa career third on the program’s all-time list with 2,025 passing yards.

“We have a lot of juniors on the roster this year, but not a ton of seniors. That said, many of the juniors saw time at the varsity level last season, some were two-way starters, and they’ve all worked hard to improve in the offseason,” said Gross, whose team opens the season Aug. 30 hosting Plano at King Field. “We bring back about half our starters on both sides of the ball, but a key will be four of those guys in our offensive line and a couple more that rotated on the defensive line.”

Streator’s new head coach hopes his club can outwork opponents

Over the past decade the Bulldogs have complied a 23-64 record, including a 2-7 mark last season, but new head coach Matt Cloe is banking on his experience and belief in “putting in the work first and letting the results follow.”

“There’s really no secret to it,” said Cloe, a longtime coach but first-time head coach. “It’s about relationships, treating people well. It’s about getting stronger, and you only get stronger by pushing weights. There’s no magic pill to it. And then, as far as football, it’s outworking your opponents, and we’re going to do that.

“I tell my coaches, ‘I challenge you to outwork me, because I guarantee you won’t.’ And I challenge our kids to outwork their coaches, because I can guarantee them, they won’t.”

Cloe, who comes from coaching and running weight-room activities at Shelbyville High School, will have to find a featured running back. But even with the graduation of all-state QB Christian Benning, Streator should be able to count on last year’s top pass-catcher WR/DB Matt Williamson (44 receptions, 681 yards, 10 touchdowns) and fellow senior QB/LB Isaiah Weibel to make a large impact.

Streator, which hasn’t reached the playoffs since 2017, will get its first chance to start things on the right track Aug. 30 when it visits Decatur Eisenhower.

Despite key losses, reloaded FCW dedicated to success

The Flanagan-Cornell/Woodland football co-op went 8-3 last fall and returned to the Illinois 8-Man Football Association playoffs in 2023 after a one-year hiatus.

According to head coach Todd Reed, despite losing a tremendous senior class that included a pair of 1,000-yard rushers, a key to last season was his player’s dedication in the weight room. He has seen this year’s group – which will feature a number of three-year starters – keep the trend going.

“We are really fortunate to have back-to-back classes that were huge – not only big classes, but great kids,” Reed said. “We had awesome seniors last year, and we follow with this group of seniors this year who have been in the program a long time and have bought into what we’re doing.

“Same kind of [offseason] game plan. These guys really bought into it when we were preaching weight room this offseason. They saw the reward from last year, and it really carried over to this offseason.”

The Falcons, which open the season Aug. 30 at West Prairie, will lean on last season’s top passer, wideout and lineman – namely seniors Seth Jones (QB/DB), Connor Reed (WR/DB) and all-state Aydan Radke (OL/DL).