The Benet football team will look
to build on the 2012 season, an 11-2 campaign which ended in the Illinois Class
7A State Semifinals. The Redwings begin
the year at Downers Grove South, who is looking to rebound from a disappointing
4-5 season which ended a playoff-qualifying streak of 15 years. Next, Benet hosts South Elgin (2012 record:
4-5) in the first of four home games this season. Benet’s only regular season loss in 2012 came
at St. Patrick (7-4), and the Shamrocks will visit Benet in week 3 for the
first time since 2009. The marquee matchup
of the 2013 season comes the following Friday night when the Redwings visit
defending Class 6A State Champion Crete-Monee (14-0). The Warriors enter the season ranked #4 in
the state according to Maxpreps.com, and Benet begins the season ranked
#20. The Redwings will then travel to
Marian Catholic to visit the Spartans (1-8), whom Benet crushed 44-6 last
season. Benet’s following game is Homecoming
against St. Viator, which enters the season ranked #43 in the state. Then comes the rivalry game which Benet
dominated 49-0 last season when the Redwings travel to Nazareth for Benet’s
only day game this year on Saturday, October 12th. Next, Benet visits defending ESCC co-champion
Marist (8-2), the highest preseason-ranked ESCC team at #18. Senior Night occurs on October 25th
against 2012 Class 5A State Semifinalist Joliet Catholic (9-5). Benet defeated the Hilltoppers 31-21 at
Joliet Memorial Stadium to clinch a share of the 2012 ESCC crown in the last
regular season game.
The
Redwing offense which averaged 32.3 points per game last season has adopted the
no-huddle scheme. The offense will likely
rely more heavily on highly-recruited junior quarterback Jack Beneventi. Other returning offensive starters include
senior tight end Nick Surges and senior tailbacks Nick McTarnaghan and Porter
Ontko. Senior wideouts Patrick Peterson
and Joe Weidenbach will have to replace all-conference receiver Jack Euritt and
ESCC Player of the Year Jack Toner.
Benet’s
defense held opponents to 13.3 points per game in 2012 but has lost 7 of its 11
starters. Defensive linemen Steve Tyznik
and Charles Melka graduated, as did all-conference
linebacker Tim Veselik and ESCC Defensive Player of the Year, linebacker Jack
Crain. Further, Toner started at
cornerback, and all-conference safety Pat Runger graduated as well. Look for what Coach New has planned for the
2013 defense.
Lastly,
John Duvic, the only kicker named to the 2012 all-conference team, returns for
his senior season. Duvic is the 41st-rated
kicker in the country and the #2 kicker in the state according to ESPN Football
Recruiting Nation. He has an offer from
Army and has been recruited by Indiana and Wisconsin.
This
reporter would love to make a win-loss projection for the 2013 season, but the
unknowns on defense make this extremely difficult. However, I do expect the regular season
record to compare favorably to last year’s.
Now let’s stop talking and play football.
