New coach, same Knights: Fieldcrest looks loaded for success again

Less than a decade ago, success on the football field was a hit-or-miss thing at Fieldcrest.

Six playoff appearances over seven years, with two of those postseason runs extending all the way to the Class 2A state semifinals, has a way of changing things.

So much so that, even with a reduced schedule and with Derek Schneeman — the head coach who guided Fieldcrest to the past six years of that success including the only seven playoff wins in school history — no longer with the program as he takes over as offensive coordinator at DeKalb High School, success is an expectation for the Knights in this COVID-reduced 2021 spring campaign.

“We’re approaching [this season] with a very thankful attitude, a mindset that we’re thankful to have anything we do have,” said former Fieldcrest JV head coach and first-year varsity head coach Mike Freeman. “I just keep preaching to them that we have to embrace what we have.

“We can only play as many games as we’re given, take this opportunity to grow as a team and grow as better people. Ultimately, we want to win games, but as long as we come out and enjoy ourselves and have fun and make the memories high school football is all about, that’s the mindset we’re looking at.”

A trio of all-area seniors return to lead this spring’s Knights.

Two, OL/LB Travis Sunken and OL/DL Jordan Hochecker, are back after good 2019s on the offensive line and dominant performances on the defensive side. Sunken (6-2, 225) racked up 70 tackles two falls ago, while Hochecker (5-10, 240) accumulated 54 tackles with two fumble recoveries and an interception.

And then there is WR/RB/DB Jaxon Cusac-McKay, a Second Team member of the statewide Friday Night Drive Team of the Year who quite simply is electrifying to watch no matter the sport. Last season, the now 5-10, 170-pound senior took on a role in the backfield in addition to his proven receiving abilities, finishing with over 1,100 yards and 16 touchdowns from scrimmage, plus a six-pack of INTs from the secondary for good measure.

This will be his second senior-year high school football season, as while Illinois sports were shut down he temporarily transferred to Calloway County High School in Murray, Ky.

“Those names stick out, because this will be almost four-year starters for those three guys,” said Freeman. “They got a lot of playing time their freshman years because of some injuries we had.”

While those three provide fantastic cornerstones from which to build, they’re hardly the only proven plus-producers for this year’s Knights.

Expect to see names such as those of seniors RB/LB Austin Jefford, WR/DB Henry Lorton and QB/DB Cory Land — who served as a change-of-pace quarterback last season — all over the statsheet even more than in 2019, as all three step into even more prominent roles. In addition to Hochecker and Sunken, fellow 12th-grader Zach Cremer will lead the way up on the lines.

A few players with potential for a breakout season include WR/DB Andrew May, OL/DL Noah Nordstrom, RB/LB Ethan Stoeger, WR/DB Zach Keller, WR/DB Lucas Sidebottom, OL/DL Clayton Boland, OL/DL Elliott Rowland and OL/LB Skyler Nix.

Half of the 40-man roster is seniors, led by senior captains Jefford, Sunken, Hochecker, Cusac-McKay and Lorton.

“We have seniors for days to put in these positions,” said Freeman. “Last year was a close-knit group. but this team hangs out together, they eat together, they play video games together. Everything they do is together.”

“Our conference is giving us four games, and it doesn’t matter if it’s four or 14 games, we’re ready to take on the challenge.”

—  Fieldcrest football coach Mike Freeman

Like the rest of the Heart of Illinois Conference, the Knights are only playing a four-game schedule, the first three of which — a highly-anticipated March 20 showdown at Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley, March 27 at Deer Creek-Mackinaw and April 3 at Eureka — are all 2 p.m. Saturday kickoffs on the road. Fieldcrest will finish up at Veterans Park in Minonk on Friday, April 9, under the lights against El Paso-Gridley.

“Our conference is giving us four games,” Freeman said, “and it doesn’t matter if it’s four or 14 games, we’re ready to take on the challenge.”