Inside high school football 

Two champs might return Downstate in 2000

By Bob Sakamoto 
Tribune Staff Writer 

November 27, 1999 

CHAMPAIGN - Don't be surprised if Naperville Central and 
Carthage make a return trip to state championship weekend 
next year. Naperville Central will welcome back nine returning 
starters from the team that played in Memorial Stadium on 
Saturday, including quarterback Owen Daniels, receiver 
Kevin Noel and defensive standouts Joe Alvarez, Luke 
Summers, Ryan Amberson and Ken Kottke. 

The Redhawks expect seven starters back from a defense that 
only gave up an average of 12.5 points a game. In addition, 
Naperville Central's sophomore team went 9-0, which could 
give coach Joe Bunge the best back-to-back classes in 
school history. 

Class 1A champion Carthage owns the state's longest winning 
streak at 28 games and will be shooting for its third 
straight title. The Blueboys graduate just four starters. 
Class 3A finalist St. Joseph-Ogden returns 10 starters. 

Naperville Central is likely to enter the season as the 
Chicago area's No. 1-ranked team. Right behind the Redhawks 
will be Lincoln-Way, the 6A semifinalist, which returns 13 
starters led by quarterback Casey Paus, running backs Lou 
Foytik and Joe Schimmel and defensive leaders Joe 
Bendoraitis and Jeff Gremley. 

Downers Grove North, which lost to Glenbard East in the 6A 
quarterfinals, returns 11 starters, including four 
sophomores. Rolling Meadows could become the Schaumburg of 
2000 with 10 returnees headed by Abe Jones, expected to be 
among the top running backs in the Midwest. 

De La Salle could be a force in the revamped Catholic Metro 
Blue as quarterback Kevin Gilmartin and tailback Frank 
Brown head up 10 returning starters. Naperville North 
should pose a challenge to Naperville Central in the DuPage 
Valley Conference with eight returning starters and future 
QB Jay McCareins. 

Just visiting: You might say Stillman Valley All-State 
offensive lineman Pat Babcock was making an "unofficial" 
visit Friday while helping lead his team to the 2A title. 
Babcock has narrowed his choices to coach Ron Turner's 
Illini program and Minnesota. 

Home-field advantage: That's one of the major incentives 
for hosting a state tournament--the opportunity to make 
some prize recruits feel right at home. Joliet Catholic's 
6-5, 260-pound All-Stater Mike Maloney lists the Illini as 
his top choice, followed by Northwestern and Northern 
Illinois. His All-State teammate, Mike Goolsby, has visits 
lined up for Notre Dame and Miami. Another Hilltoppers 
linebacker, Lee Sicinski, is the target of a late 
recruiting push by Wisconsin and Arizona State. 

What to watch: Along with Jones, Gilmartin, Paus and 
Daniels, some of the other top returning players include 
quarterbacks Brett Basanez of St. Viator and Steve 
Kolodziej of Schaumburg; running backs Donald Dorham of Mt. 
Carmel, sophomore J.R. Zwierzynski of Joliet Catholic and 
Mike Boyd of St. Rita; 6-foot-7-inch, 325-pound offensive 
tackle Joe Szczepanki of Bolingbrook; linebackers Lionel 
Williams of Addison Trail and Jon Boyajian of Naperville 
North; and defensive back Brett Bell of Wheaton Warrenville 
South. 

Copyright 2000 The Chicago Tribune 

You can see this and more sports news at 
http://www.chicagosports.com/preps/content/story/0,1984,57629,00.html

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