Saints banking on strong leaders

Allen, Friel headline SC East contingent

Leadership is often a critical component of a football team's success, and St. Charles East coach Ted Monken thinks his team is strong in that department as the Saints begin their quest for a fourth straight trip to the playoffs.

That leadership begins with senior running back Wes Allen (6-1, 180) and senior linebacker Pat Friel (6-3, 215), both of whom return after earning first-team All-Area honors.

Allen enters this season as one of the area's top players at his position after running for 2,347 yards and 32 touchdowns the past two years. The same can be said of Friel, who led East with 83 tackles in 2007.

"There are so many teams that have good football players and those kids know they are good and they don't have the pressure of someone pushing them so they don't work as hard," Monken said. "We are really fortunate this year that our kids have not taken the low road. Our best players have been our hardest workers."

At quarterback, East plans on keeping defenses off balance by using a combination of the size of senior Tim Russell (6-5, 195) and the athleticism of senior Danny White (6-0, 180). White will also see time at wide receiver, where he'll join senior Paul De Bord (6-2, 185) as East's top targets.

Anchoring the offensive line will be senior left tackle Blake Griffiths (6-3, 275), junior left guard Andrew Bradburn (6-1, 270), senior center Brennan Walls (6-3, 280), junior right guard Rafael Flores (6-0, 285), junior right tackle Eric Olstad (6-2, 255) and junior tight end Jess Striedl (6-2, 205). Senior fullback Kyle Wiebe (6-2, 195) and junior fullback Andrew Gomez (5-10, 250) will join Allen in the backfield.

On defense, East lost all four starters from last year's front line and will turn to seniors Jeff Marsh (6-1, 225) and Ricky Hagedorn (6-2, 230) and juniors Jonathan Voytilla (6-3, 240), Mark Lindholm (6-3, 254), Josh Spudich (6-1, 221) and Tim Gran (6-0, 220) to fill the gaps.

Seniors Peter Chacon (5-11, 160), Jack Leopardo (6-1, 183) and Eian O'Brien (5-10, 185) return to the defensive backfield and will be joined by junior newcomer Matt Payne (6-1, 180).

Senior James Sheehan (5-11, 170), sophomore David Lyon (5-11, 203) and junior Phil Bucaro (5-11, 170) will join Friel at linebacker.