Five men, all Central grads, show up faithfully each Friday at 4:45 p.m. ready to share their expertise. Yet they never call a play. They never orchestrate an offense or assemble a goal-line defense.

Dressed in matching shirts and hats, they go about their job with painstaking precision for the next six hours.

"We don't cheer," says Bob Highland, a 1967 Central graduate. "We can't really show any favoritism."

Such is life on the chain gang, the group that handles the down and line of scrimmage markers during Central home games.

The five-member gang will be at the field's nerve center again Saturday as Naperville North takes on Central in the state championship quarterfinals. The game kicks off at 1 p.m. at Memorial Stadium.

"It's always interesting when these teams play," Highland says.

The gang, of course, knows interesting football when it sees it. Together, the group has worked 464 games, 1,856 quarters and 27,840 official minutes.

Otto Keisch serves as the gang's unofficial dean, having worked the Redhawks' sidelines for the past 40 years. His seniority entitles him to work the "down box," which shows what down the upcoming play is.

Highland joined the chain gang in 1975. Two years later, Larry Berger was enlisted.

In 1983, Keisch recruited his nephew, Gene Foster. Foster, who graduated from Central in 1973, now serves as the chain gang coordinator.

"We've done this so long we have it down to a science," Foster says.

The gang rounded out its roster in 1990, when Naperville police Sgt. John Murr volunteered to help. For the past decade, the group has spared Central administrators the chore of having to find someone willing to stand in the rain or cold on a Friday night to help a high school football team.

"They're excellent," Central Athletic Director Marty Bee said. "They're the best."

The chain gang takes pride in its work; of that there is no doubt. The men quickly adapt to the quirks and intricacies of various referees. They know who uses his left foot to mark the down and who prefers his right.

They've never had an injury, either; they've never been clobbered by a tailback as he charged out of bounds.

"It's come close," Murr said. "But we're smart enough to know if they come within 10 yards to drop the stick and run."

Most importantly, the men are smart enough to understand the game and their role in it. They realize they're there to help the referees, not make calls or give Central coach Joe Bunge advice.

"Even if we wanted to tell him (Bunge) what he should do, we wouldn't," Keisch said. "We want to keep our jobs."

The gang downplays its combined 116 years of service to Central, saying they work only a half-dozen Fridays a year. The reality, however, is their job requires a lot more dedication than they let on.

The men do the job without compensation, save a new Redhawks hat or sweatshirt each year. The position does entitle them to free admission to all DuPage Valley Conference games and complimentary press box beverages during halftime.

Despite the paltry pay, the gang has no complaints about the work. They don't offer a single negative aspect of the position.

"It's the best seat in the house," Berger says.

"It's been really exciting to watch this team," Highland adds.

The gang takes its job so seriously it won't make a prediction on Saturday's game. They want to appear and act impartial, even if their hearts belong to Central.

All five men graduated from the school, though none played on the football team. The closest any of them came to the gridiron was Highland's two-season stint as varsity manager during his junior and senior years.

It's a deeply rooted loyalty that harkens back to a time when Central was the only high school in town. They're part of an endangered species of Naperville residents who remember - and still wish - the school's original mascot was the Redskins.

Highland displays his objections by wearing a "Central Redskins" baseball cap while working the sidelines. The rest of the gang members wear "1999 State Champions" hats, but admit they haven't warmed to the name Central Redhawks, either.

"I just can't get over it," Keisch said. "I don't think we're going to get over that one."

The lingering disappointment, however, cannot compare to the excitement of being part of Central's football tradition. Through the years, the gang has been able to watch some of the Chicago suburbs' finest players - stars like Kent Graham, Chuck Long and Dave Garnett - grit it out in Memorial Stadium.

They've also witnessed a state championship and the current 25-game winning streak. And last month, they worked the chains as a record-breaking 15,000 spectators attended the North-Central game.

"It was really incredible," Foster said of the recent cross-town classic. "I've never seen anything like it before."

Given the number of seasons among them, that's saying a lot.