IHSA football preview: St. Bede looks to make 4th straight playoff appearance, advance further

If St. Bede hopes to extend its playoff streak to four consecutive seasons, the Bruins will have to get through a challenging regular-season schedule.

St. Bede’s 2024 slate includes six playoff teams from last season, and its opponents went 53-38 last fall with three teams that won double-digit games.

The Bruins open at Tri-Valley, which went 10-1 last season, and they also have nonconference games against 2023 playoff teams in Eureka (5-5) and Bloomington Central Catholic (11-1) before closing against Class 5A Ottawa. In the Chicagoland Prairie Conference, St. Bede faces playoff teams in Seneca (11-1), Marquette (7-3) and Dwight (5-5).

“We have our work cut out for us,” St. Bede coach Jim Eustice said. “We’re going to really have to coach and have our kids ready to play. We have to be able to stop the run a little better on defense than we were last year and still be able to be effective on offense like we’ve been.”

Despite the challenging schedule, Eustice said the Bruins hope to return to the playoffs and get past the second round for the first time since 2011.

“This group of seniors has never been part of a team that’s not been [to the playoffs], so they want to keep the tradition going,” Eustice said. “Our seniors have been great in the offseason. The leadership has been fantastic. Our goal is to get in. We’ve made it to the second round a couple times, but we want to get past that.

“With our schedule, if we can get into the playoffs, I think we’re going to be battle-tested for anybody we’re going to see in 1A. But on the other hand, we have to be ready to play every week or we might not be around Week 10.”

The Bruins return a strong core of starters on both sides of the ball.

St. Bede has a big hole to fill on offense with the loss of all-area quarterback Max Bray, who threw for 1,421 yards and 11 touchdowns and ran for 1,006 yards and 19 TDs last fall. Juniors Geno Ferrari and AJ Hermes are battling to take over at QB. Ferrari saw some varsity action last season.

“Neither one has done anything for us to say, ‘You’re the guy,’ but neither one has done anything to not be the guy,” Eustice said. “They’re both great kids, both great athletes and both good students.”

Eustice said whoever is not the quarterback will likely see time elsewhere on offense and definitely on defense.

Sophomore Landon Marquez will be the lead running back after running for 303 yards and two TDs on 44 carries last fall. Senior Halden Hueneburg got some carries last fall, while sophomore Brennen Hirst also will run the ball.

“We’re trying to develop the run game, being able to deceive and be more powerful,” Hueneburg said. “We have to have that competitive mindset.”

The Bruins have plenty of options at receiver, including juniors Carson Riva (18 receptions, 175 yards, three TDs in 2023) and Jose De La Torre (10 rec., 88 yards). Seniors Aidan Mullane, Marco Rizzi and Phillip Gray and junior Drew Carboni also will be in the mix.

The offense will operate behind a veteran offensive line that returns four starters. Seniors Mason Moreno and Jake Migliorini return at tackles, while senior Garrett Connelly and junior William Sramek are back at guard. Senior Jaxon Kozak steps in at center.

Eustice said the Bruins will have to be better defensively after struggling toward the end of last season, allowing 57 points per over their final three games against Marquette, Seneca and Hope.

“You can’t say injuries (are the reason), because everybody has injuries, but we had some linebackers go down last year midseason, and we struggled,” Eustice said. “We played some good teams like Marquette, Seneca and Hope, and we kind of got trampled. We had some young guys who were overmatched, and they’re back, so that’s a good thing. We have to be better at stopping the run than we were the last half of last season.”

Moreno and fellow seniors Jack Maschmann and Gavin Marquez return on the defensive line, while Connelly, Sramek, Hueneburg and senior Grady Gillan are back at outside linebacker. Gray, junior Trajan Raffety and sophomore Niko Pappas will play in the outside linebacker/defensive end spots.

“We’re working on getting in the gaps and filling,” Maschmann said. “I think we’re going to be strong (defensively).”

Riva and senior Ryan Nawa are back in the secondary after seeing playing time last fall, while senior Logan Pineda will play free safety.