Streator aims to be dangerous, hopefully all the way to the playoffs

When asked about how their league looks this fall, football coaches across the Illinois Central Eight Conference interchangeably used the words “dangerous” and “explosive” to describe the Streator Bulldogs.

While it’s exciting to have big-time playmakers returning such as RB/DB Aneefy Ford and record-setting QB/LB/P Christian Benning, the Bulldogs this season are hoping those explosive, dangerous big plays translate to more wins than the 3-6 record of a year ago, maybe even to Streator’s first playoff appearance since 2017.

“I think we had a great summer, were really able to excel in our 7-on-7s,” third-season Bulldogs coach Kyle Tutt said. “We had a lot of our varsity guys with us throughout [the summer], which I thought was a great commitment to how successful we want to be.

“We’re catching the ball a little more, making plays a little more, we’ve had a few more interceptions [defensively] than we had last year. We just really feel some of those things we were talking about in the offseason are coming to fruition.”

Benning returns after setting Streator’s single-season passing yardage record last fall with 1,314. The big-armed, athletic junior is on track to break the school’s career passing yardage record of 2,239 yards, held by John Benckendorf, this season.

“If you’ve noticed, our playbook evolved throughout all last year,” Tutt said. “Because Christian has been with me a few years now, we feel he has a really good handle of it, so we’ll be able to do some really neat things with RPOs (run/pass option). That allows Christian to be Christian, and also allows Aneefy to be Aneefy.”

Ford was a big-play machine last season as a junior, spending most of his time split out wide. He’s still likely to line up outside at times, but the plan is to primarily use him as a running back to get the speedster more touches, not only on handoffs but on screen plays, option sweeps and wheel routes.

Another two-way starter, senior Jeremiah Brown, will be a featured wide receiver, with Anthony Moore, Jeremiah’s younger brother Isaiah Brown, splitting-time-with-soccer Parker Phillis, Isaiah Dembo, Ryan Smith and an intriguing transfer from Ottawa — DJ White, who can also take carries at running back, as can the younger Brown — also expected to be featured at receiver.

While the skill positions, the offensive line brings some questions. Those question marks do not, however, include senor line leader Manuel “Sabby” Nieto — like Benning and Ford, a Times All-Area First Team performer — or junior Anthony Dominic, both back after strong 2021 campaigns. Center Jett Austin along with Jack Sorenseon, Aidan Stevens, Austin Taylor and Manny Villalobos all figure into the conversation up front.

“We’ve got some guys back who are really going to lead the way in that with Sabby Nieto and Anthony Dominic,” Tutt said, “then a couple other kids who are going to fill those roles for the guys we’re missing from last year. ... When you talk about what we can do offensively, we feel we’re good if we’re physical up front.”

Stopping opponents in crunch time — an early-season strength in the Bulldogs’ 3-0 start, with those three wins coming by a combined 12 points — developed into an issue as last season went on. Tutt feels good about his defensive line, again led by Nieto and featuring many of the same players as the O-line, and extremely solid in the secondary, where Ford, Phillis and the Browns will patrol.

Linebacker, however, is a question mark after the preseason and likely season-ending injury suffered by returning Times All-Area standout WR/LB Jake Luckey. Benning will return to two-way duties as a linebacker opposite either White or senior Jesse Porter, while the physical James Pawelczyk will man the middle. The talent is there, but depth and leadership in the corps are works in progress.

“Jake covered a lot of things for us,” Tutt said. “He was such an emotional leader for us, and he was a coach on the field for us, calling a lot of the defense. That’s a big question for us on defense: Who’s going to be the next guy?”

Adding depth on the roster are juniors Michael Greer, Collin Jeffries, Eric Moton II, Blake Weibel, Kalon Kisantear, Zach Schultz, Dylan Taylor and DeShawn Young; as well as sophomores Josh Cameron and Anthony Mohr.

Streator opens the season Fri., Aug. 26, at East Peoria a week before what should be an excitement-filled home opener in Week 2 against old rival Ottawa on the night the Bulldogs’ field is renamed “Doug Dieken Stadium.” From there, it’s into ICE Conference play Weeks 3-9.