Kaneland "D" is back again

Nine months ago when Kaneland's football season ended, there was no better defense in the Fox Valley. Oh sure, Mooseheart had allowed fewer points, but then Mooseheart didn't play anywhere near the competition Kaneland had. In addition, Kaneland had 6 players named to the Suburban Prairie All-Conference defensive team and senior tackle Steve Goldman was named conference defensive player of the year.

In their nine regular season games Kaneland "D" gave up only 11.5 points a game, held their opponents to just 26 points in the second half and allowed only 6 points in the third quarter. Plus, opposing quarterbacks were held to a low 31 percent completion percentage.

1996 marked the third straight year Kaneland students could stand proud when watching their Kaneland "D".

But, will Kaneland's tradition carry into this season? According to Defensive Coordinator Rich Kearney, he's not sure yet, "We can be average, we can be good, or we can be very good. Whatever we are, we will get better and better, and by the time the playoffs come around, we should be pretty darn good."

To start with, the core of the Kaneland Defense is its linebackers, with all the starting linebackers returning from last year. In the middle, is All-Conference and All-Area middle linebacker Rusty "The Rock" Pozen. Unfortunately a summer injury may cause Pozen to miss the first few games.

On the outside are senior Ian Thomas and junior Kyle Schrader who also made last years All-Conference and All-Area teams. In addition, last year's starting safety Ryan West, with 105 tackles and the third All-Area and All-Conference returning player, is moving up to LB, making an outstanding linebacking crew purely awsome. Add senior offensive center Adam Wallace, juniors Mike Lemmer, Jason Cornell, and sophomore Bill McKeown, and you have a group of linebackers other coaches will be drooling over.

However the line is a different story, with only one starter returning. That's senior Chad Herst, who will be creating havoc again at quick end. The good news is that both Anthony Parrilli (quick tackle) and Brian Herra (Strong Tackle) are back as seniors. They both saw plenty of action during the previous campaign and should be more than ample at anchoring the line. Add B.J.Mires who will move from LB to strong end and the line shapes up a bit small, but quick and tough.

From there the coaches have plenty of options, from size with seniors Casey Barrett and Brad Thill, to youth in juniors Kurt Long, Mark Needham, Jason Harley, Max Andrews, Seth Mates, Jason Stayner and sophomores Brian Stacker and Will Schmidt.

"Our lineman will go in and disrupt the play, take out blockers and penetrate. Then we look to our linebackers to make the play. Our seven up front men play attack and react defense. That puts a awful lot of pressure on our secondary, but that's way we like to play", states Kearney.

That defensive backfield will be young and totally reconstructed. However, the corners are loaded with speed and quickness with juniors P.J. Fleck and Shaun Wenz. Senior Luke Peterson looks to take over at strong saftey, while the free saftey spot will probably be filled by senior Aaron Seibens or junior Eric Delaney, whoever is not running the offense at quarterback. Senior John Morong should also see plenty of playing time at DB.

Relief in the backfield comes from senior Josh Miller and juniors Shaun Anderson, Colin Baumgartner and Jared Lackey. Ryan West can also move back to the backfield if needed.

The good news is the Knights look lighting quick at nearly all defensive positions. "I'd much rather be small and quick than a big and slow", comments Kearny. "Yea, we're very quick on defense", adds Thorgesen.

The bad news is that early in the season depth may be the Knights biggest (and possibly only) problem. A concerned Head Coach Joe Thorgesen states, "We need to stay healthy".

So can the Knights continue to wave the "D" banner high again this year? Oh yea!


Reprinted with permission of the Elburn Herald

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