Depth, returners, quarterback play look to be Streator’s keys to success

When it comes to a recipe for success this fall, fourth-year Streator head coach Kyle Tutt doesn’t have a lot of seniors — the Bulldogs have six, to be precise — as ingredients.

What Tutt and the Bulldogs do have are good numbers from the junior and sophomore classes providing a step up in terms of overall team depth, an expectation of improved play along the lines and third-year starting quarterback Christian Benning.

“Coming back from last year, we have lots of returners,” Tutt said, “but we’re still pretty young. I think we have six seniors, but we feel pretty good with the guys we have out there.”

At the top of that list is Benning, an all-around athlete who is already Streator’s single-season and all-time leading passing yardage leader. He enters his senior season with 2,750 yards passing after a 132-for-244, 1,418-yard, 13-touchdown campaign a year ago with an additional 329 yards and four TDs rushing.

Tutt knows the coaches on the Bulldogs’ schedule will be aiming to stop the dual-threat QB.

“Yeah, good luck. That’s where we’re leaving it at,” Tutt said. “We’re going to put the ball in his hands, and he’s going to be able to run or pass, and he’s going to make the right decision and hopefully not the wrong decision. But he’s going to be that guy. ...

“He’s a great athlete, and he’s competitive. We think when you give the ball to somebody like that, you have a great opportunity to be successful.”

Fellow returners such as Matt Williamson (like Benning, a Times-All-Area first-team selection after compiling 43 receptions for 481 yards), OL Anthony Dominic (a three-year starter moving to center to anchor the O-line), WRs Anthony Mohr (a special teams standout last season) and Jake Hagie (who’s been impressive this summer) and RB Isaiah Brown (who will be spotted by Jordan Lukes) are all proven, experienced juniors.

They, along with Benning and fellow key pieces such as WR Liam Martin, OLs Malachi Hankins and Luke Gebhardt and TEs Zach Schultz and David Harcharik will power what Tutt calls his ‘multi-formational RPO” — run-pass option — offense. Isaiah Weibel, coming off a strong season quarterbacking the sophomore team, will serve as Benning’s backup, with Williamson also having quarterbacking experience.

Gebhardt, Hankins and Dominic are the cornerstones around which the Bulldogs’ O-line will be built.

“Those are three guys we’re going to lean on,” Tutt said. “Then it’s finding the other two guys who want to step up and earn those other spots and be starting linemen.”

On defense, Tutt has seen Weibel grow into a leader from his linebacking spot. Fellow main-rotation linebackers project to include sophomore Cole Winterrowd, James Pawelczyk, Harcharik and Liam Martin. The defensive backfield, a strength of last year’s defense despite Streator’s 39.0 points per game surrendered during a 2-7 season, will trend younger but still fast with Collin Jeffries, Jordan Lukes, Jaiandre Williams and Quintin Goforth leaders.

As for the defensive line, Tutt cites it as the area ripe for the most improvement, led by the likes of Eric Moton, Jorrick Black, Tyrese Hendricks, Aidan Stevens, Dylan Childers, Kalon Kistantear, Tyler Barbee and possibly Martin.

“The D-line is somewhere we’ve spent a lot of time, and we brought a coach in specifically to work with the D-line,” Tutt said. “We’re hoping that we can improve there.”

Astute readers may have noticed there are few if any Bulldogs scheduled to play both ways. That is by design, with the coaching staff deciding it’s the best way to take advantage of the depth the large junior and sophomore classes bring and get the most out of its players while also adding the potential for starters to contribute more on special teams.

Streator opens one last time against East Peoria, hosting the Raiders on Aug. 25 before heading up Route 23 the following Friday to resume the state’s third-oldest rivalry against Ottawa in Week 2. Then the Bulldogs enter Illinois Central Eight Conference play, where they’ll need to do better than last season’s 1-6 showing to make the playoffs for the first time since 2017.

“Always, without a doubt, we want to be on a playoff run,” Tutt said. “Our goal is to see where we compete in our conference, and then hopefully get into the playoffs, because we feel our conference is good enough that, if we can get there, we’ll have seen a high level of competition.”