Always great to be back out at St. Charles North...and it's been a year or two since my last stop so it was good to get caught up on the North Stars along with getting to talk with the coaches from most of the schools.
Schools in attendance:
St. Charles North
Wheaton Warrenville South
Yorkville
Moline
Hersey
Elk Grove
Kankakee
Schaumburg
Again I get the feeling this wasn't exactly what the IHSFCA had in mind when they came up with this event.... but it's the first year so hopefully this will grow from here on out. The field of teams here was pretty solid overall and in all honesty I didn't see a bad team all day which is NOT always the case at any 7on7. Some teams are harder to judge at these things (Moline/Yorkville are both generally run first offenses) than others....but again the field was smaller than expected but still worth checking out. I was able to spend basically my my entire morning here and with a limited amount of teams I came away feeling I saw more than I needed to get a better idea on all 8 teams.
St. Charles North- The North Stars ended up winning this 7on7 and after a slower first game start along with a few games closer than they wanted....I felt North had the best overall talent here on both sides of the football and things started to kick in. North has the luxury of having two standout quarterbacks in the Plumb brothers (junior Ethan and sophomore Matt) who at times rotated each series and unless you knew these two would be hard pressed to tell one Plumb brother from the other. Ethan Plumb will be the starter in 2023 for the North Stars and his maturity for his young age, his overall physical tools (6-foot-3, 215 pounds) and upside is unquestioned. I said two years ago that by the time he reached his senior year he would be a Power 5 quarterback and I see no reason to back off that prediction. The North Stars also have a nice core of offensive skills led by senior LB/TE Jake Furtney and while the North Stars might not have a big time burner/freak...they have a deep core of just very solid receivers and backs. The defense was solid for the most part and made some big stops when it counted. Nothing ever comes easy in the Dukane and I'm no where close to picking a conference champion just yet.....but know that the North Stars from a skills standpoint are going to be a very good team in 2023.
Wheaton Warrenville South- The Tigers and head coach Sean Norris is just someone I openly root for, and having to be the next guy taking over a historic program from THE guy is no easy task. WWS looked pretty solid here.....not spectacular but not poor or down really....a good sigh after last year's 3-6 regular season record. The Tigers have talent and senior Matt Crider is just a terrific all around athlete and also back is multi-year starting QB Luka Carbonaro which is a plus....the defense has some nice athletes and the overall numbers, talent level and just the overall vibe is always pretty upbeat and positive.....which is a very good thing. I can see this team getting back to say 5-4/4-5 and as mentioned above...nothing comes easy in the Dukane.
Yorkville- I didn't get to actually talk with Dan McGuire (my fault) but I was impressed with the Foxes and Yorkville's program has really surged over the past handful of years under McGuire. The Foxes always have linemen and backs and will again look to run the football first....yet the Foxes used two pretty solid quarterbacks who I thought made some really good throws. The remaining skills are solid with good overall numbers and depth has really never been as high. The defense has play makers in Ben Alvarez along with junior S Luke Zook and junior WR Dyllan Malone and both junors will be on multiple recruiting lists sooner rather than later. If the Foxes can again run the football effectively....the play action passing game should be more than fine and the defense also will be strong again.
Moline- The Maroons are basically a ground and pound run first offense....and what impressed me here is that the Maroons ran it's base offense, worked on it's overall play action passing game then also got some really good reps for the defense. Moline has impressive numbers and a pretty high talent level in 2023. Moline also graduated some key kids from 2022 but I liked kids like WR/DB Chase Stephens along with senior WR Zander Ealy here along with a defense that athletically hung with the best teams here.
Hersey- The Huskies are going to win a lot of games and score a lot of points in 2023. Start with junior QB Colton Gumino who was throwing the football as well as I've seen from him here. Gumino has gotten bigger, stronger and thicker from the last time I saw him. Gumino makes good reads and decisions, has a quick, smooth and accurate release and just seems to know where to go with the football more times than not. The Huskies were missing a few kids (again welcome to summer 7on7 where NO ONE has a full roster) but the overall numbers and depth/talent on the skills side is was evident. The defense? Yeah wasn't a great day and at times the defense looked a bit lost....yet again this is 7on7...I know that the Huskies when full staffed will be ready to roll and will also see better days this fall. Lots to like here for sure.
Elk Grove- Well for the second straight summer I've seen the Grens and for the second straight time.....they impressed me. Elk Grove was not one of the top teams here....but they more than competed in every game here. The new staff seems to have gotten these kids to remain on board and overall I can see this team winning games in 2023 and challenging for maybe a second straight state playoff bid? I still need to learn mroe about the Grens this summer but I'm not backing down from what I saw here......this is a good team again in 2023.
Kankakee- The Kays have a new head coach in Miles Osei who ironically coached last season at Elk Grove. The Kays still have a ton of speed and skills...and 4 star ranked OT Marques Easley was just hanging around with his team to remind us all that the Kays also have some linemen as well in 2023. QB Larenz Walters was really solid here and will be a big key for the Kays this fall. Also the Kays offensive backfield is stacked again with speed and athletes. Defensively the Kays also can stack up and cover pretty much everyone here and OLB Kenarius Chandler is a name to watch along with another 2-3 names who will develop into potential FBS level recruits. Expect another big season from Kankakee.
Schaumburg- The Saxons have struggled for some time now and I'm hoping what I saw today is a good sign of things to come. Keep an eye on sophomore WR Cam Anderson who has impressive size and reach and at least from the offensive skills standpoint the Saxons look capable of putting up some offense in 2023. Overall the Saxons also battled all comers here.
Next: Friday IHSFCA Class 6A/5A/4A 7on7 at Glenwood HS in Chatham
Schools in attendance:
St. Charles North
Wheaton Warrenville South
Yorkville
Moline
Hersey
Elk Grove
Kankakee
Schaumburg
Again I get the feeling this wasn't exactly what the IHSFCA had in mind when they came up with this event.... but it's the first year so hopefully this will grow from here on out. The field of teams here was pretty solid overall and in all honesty I didn't see a bad team all day which is NOT always the case at any 7on7. Some teams are harder to judge at these things (Moline/Yorkville are both generally run first offenses) than others....but again the field was smaller than expected but still worth checking out. I was able to spend basically my my entire morning here and with a limited amount of teams I came away feeling I saw more than I needed to get a better idea on all 8 teams.
St. Charles North- The North Stars ended up winning this 7on7 and after a slower first game start along with a few games closer than they wanted....I felt North had the best overall talent here on both sides of the football and things started to kick in. North has the luxury of having two standout quarterbacks in the Plumb brothers (junior Ethan and sophomore Matt) who at times rotated each series and unless you knew these two would be hard pressed to tell one Plumb brother from the other. Ethan Plumb will be the starter in 2023 for the North Stars and his maturity for his young age, his overall physical tools (6-foot-3, 215 pounds) and upside is unquestioned. I said two years ago that by the time he reached his senior year he would be a Power 5 quarterback and I see no reason to back off that prediction. The North Stars also have a nice core of offensive skills led by senior LB/TE Jake Furtney and while the North Stars might not have a big time burner/freak...they have a deep core of just very solid receivers and backs. The defense was solid for the most part and made some big stops when it counted. Nothing ever comes easy in the Dukane and I'm no where close to picking a conference champion just yet.....but know that the North Stars from a skills standpoint are going to be a very good team in 2023.
Wheaton Warrenville South- The Tigers and head coach Sean Norris is just someone I openly root for, and having to be the next guy taking over a historic program from THE guy is no easy task. WWS looked pretty solid here.....not spectacular but not poor or down really....a good sigh after last year's 3-6 regular season record. The Tigers have talent and senior Matt Crider is just a terrific all around athlete and also back is multi-year starting QB Luka Carbonaro which is a plus....the defense has some nice athletes and the overall numbers, talent level and just the overall vibe is always pretty upbeat and positive.....which is a very good thing. I can see this team getting back to say 5-4/4-5 and as mentioned above...nothing comes easy in the Dukane.
Yorkville- I didn't get to actually talk with Dan McGuire (my fault) but I was impressed with the Foxes and Yorkville's program has really surged over the past handful of years under McGuire. The Foxes always have linemen and backs and will again look to run the football first....yet the Foxes used two pretty solid quarterbacks who I thought made some really good throws. The remaining skills are solid with good overall numbers and depth has really never been as high. The defense has play makers in Ben Alvarez along with junior S Luke Zook and junior WR Dyllan Malone and both junors will be on multiple recruiting lists sooner rather than later. If the Foxes can again run the football effectively....the play action passing game should be more than fine and the defense also will be strong again.
Moline- The Maroons are basically a ground and pound run first offense....and what impressed me here is that the Maroons ran it's base offense, worked on it's overall play action passing game then also got some really good reps for the defense. Moline has impressive numbers and a pretty high talent level in 2023. Moline also graduated some key kids from 2022 but I liked kids like WR/DB Chase Stephens along with senior WR Zander Ealy here along with a defense that athletically hung with the best teams here.
Hersey- The Huskies are going to win a lot of games and score a lot of points in 2023. Start with junior QB Colton Gumino who was throwing the football as well as I've seen from him here. Gumino has gotten bigger, stronger and thicker from the last time I saw him. Gumino makes good reads and decisions, has a quick, smooth and accurate release and just seems to know where to go with the football more times than not. The Huskies were missing a few kids (again welcome to summer 7on7 where NO ONE has a full roster) but the overall numbers and depth/talent on the skills side is was evident. The defense? Yeah wasn't a great day and at times the defense looked a bit lost....yet again this is 7on7...I know that the Huskies when full staffed will be ready to roll and will also see better days this fall. Lots to like here for sure.
Elk Grove- Well for the second straight summer I've seen the Grens and for the second straight time.....they impressed me. Elk Grove was not one of the top teams here....but they more than competed in every game here. The new staff seems to have gotten these kids to remain on board and overall I can see this team winning games in 2023 and challenging for maybe a second straight state playoff bid? I still need to learn mroe about the Grens this summer but I'm not backing down from what I saw here......this is a good team again in 2023.
Kankakee- The Kays have a new head coach in Miles Osei who ironically coached last season at Elk Grove. The Kays still have a ton of speed and skills...and 4 star ranked OT Marques Easley was just hanging around with his team to remind us all that the Kays also have some linemen as well in 2023. QB Larenz Walters was really solid here and will be a big key for the Kays this fall. Also the Kays offensive backfield is stacked again with speed and athletes. Defensively the Kays also can stack up and cover pretty much everyone here and OLB Kenarius Chandler is a name to watch along with another 2-3 names who will develop into potential FBS level recruits. Expect another big season from Kankakee.
Schaumburg- The Saxons have struggled for some time now and I'm hoping what I saw today is a good sign of things to come. Keep an eye on sophomore WR Cam Anderson who has impressive size and reach and at least from the offensive skills standpoint the Saxons look capable of putting up some offense in 2023. Overall the Saxons also battled all comers here.
Next: Friday IHSFCA Class 6A/5A/4A 7on7 at Glenwood HS in Chatham
