Coal City moves up in class size

It's hard to follow up a football season that produced a 12-1 record and a semifinal appearance. But that's the charge for Coal City this season. Couple that with the losses of running back Noah Roseland and quarterback J.T. Blaine, who accounted for more than 3,000 yards between them last year, and there's cause for concern.

However, the Coalers have a long history of playoff appearances, and as they say, success breeds success.

One other thing missing for the Coalers: the annual rivalry game with Wilmington. Coal City moves up to the large school division of the Interstate Eight and, in a scheduling quirk, won't play the Wildcats for the first time since the sport came to Coal City.

Backfield: Junior Colt Smith will take over for Blaine under center. He may seem young, but he was a key part of Coal City's fourth-place baseball team last spring. Taking the reins from Roseland will be a group effort, with Robert McCluckie, Dan Marlin, Andrew Rankovich and Bobby Kroeger slated to see time.

"We have a stable of backs," Coal City coach Lenny Onsen said. "We can mix and match with power and speed.

"And Colt is a special athlete. He can run real well and he has a gun for an arm. Coach (offensive coordinator Dan) Hutchings should have some fun with him."

Linemen: Gone is the power duo of Nick Trotter and Alan Calderon, both three-year starters. Craig Warner, Christian Smith, Kevin Gear, T.J. Boyd and Mike Cerny are battling for spots up front.

Receivers: Kevin Gabehart returns from last year's team, while Alec Smith, Anthony Hakey and Jimmy Stahler will also rotate at the position. The tight ends figure to be Mitch Hibler and Ryan Collier.

Linemen: Rankovich returns at his end position, with Chase Odeen, Nick Nowdomski and Nate Carpenter also figuring to start up front.

"I like to have at least one starter back on each unit of the defense," Onsen said. "Our cupboard isn't entirely bare."

Linebackers: McCluckie is the returning starter, while Justin Anderson and Tiger Onsen (yes, the coach's son) also have earned a starting nod.

"My son is named after a cousin of mine," Onsen said. "He was born well before the golfer got famous."

Secondary: Gabehart is at cornerback, where he is the only returning all-conference player for the Coalers. He will be joined by Marlin at cornerback and Taylor Olson and Hakey at the safety positions.

"We've always made a name for ourselves with our defense," Onsen said. "We think we'll be pretty good. Practice has been encouraging. This is a good group of kids to work with. They have really been taking things in. They know they have some work to do, but we've really seen some improvement."

For the first time in a long time, the Coalers won't have anyone named Gockman or Rouse kicking for them. Marlin will handle the placekicking duties, while Mark Evans will be the punter. Coal City will be in its first year in the large school division of the I-8. That alone means a slightly different schedule, but not playing Wilmington? That's like Ohio State not playing Michigan.

"I loved that game," Onsen said about the Wilmington matchup. "The two programs have a lot of respect for each other and it's just a great atmosphere for everybody. No matter what week it was, it was always like a playoff game.

"But, we have to play who's on the schedule. We open with Seneca, which has a new coaching staff, and then we play Lisle, who we haven't seen in two years. We get to see Reed-Custer again this year, which is nice. Plano is always solid and won Class 3A the last two years, and Herscher won the large school division last year.

"It should be a very interesting year. I don't know if anyone is going to run away with the conference or anything like that. I think we have a chance to be better than people expect us to be."