Benet's 'head and shoulders' better
New offense, the spread, will debut
LISLE -- Benet made the investment last year, hoping the dividends would be paid out over the next nine weeks.
The Redwings began teaching the spread offense -- their staff traveled to Central Michigan to study pass patterns and blocking schemes. Chippewas quarterback Dan LeFevour -- a Benet graduate and an outsider in the Heisman Trophy race -- shared his insights with young players.
(Jon Cunningham/For The Sun)
2008 record: 2-7
Coach: Gary Goforth
SCHEDULE
Tonight at Oswego East High School 7 p.m.
Sept. 4 vs. Montini Catholic 7:30 p.m. (Benedictine)
Sept. 12 at St. Joseph 1:30 p.m.*
Sept. 18 vs. Carmel 7:30 p.m. (Benedictine)*
Sept. 26 at Nazareth Academy 1:30 p.m.*
Oct. 2 vs. St. Viator 7:30 p.m. (Benedictine)*
Oct. 9 at Joliet Catholic Academy 7:30 p.m.*
Oct. 16 at Marist 7:30 p.m.*
Oct. 23 vs. St. Patrick (Benedictine)*
*East Suburban Catholic Conference game
Defensively, Benet switched from a 4-3 front to a 3-5. And it finished last season 2-7.
"We knew last year was gonna be a major, major rebuilding year," Benet coach Gary Goforth said. "So we installed a new offense and a new defense. I give a lot of credit to the kids. They did a nice job picking it up. But we needed to do that. We needed to pick a year and just do it.
"We're running the same thing (now). We have a better grasp of it, both offensively and defensively."
Tonight at Oswego East, everyone else will begin to see what kind of returns the Redwings are getting.
The Benet staff made calculations based off the types of players they've historically drawn -- more wide receivers and linebackers, but not enough overpowering running backs or defensive linemen.
The spread was also supposed to help undersized offensive linemen find better angles. But this year's group, from right to left, goes something like this in terms of pounds: 240, 240, 270, 240 and 230.
"The blocking schemes (were) refined from last year," said Patrick Flavin, a 6-foot-7-inch junior offensive tackle. "We sort of did a prototype last year. Now everybody's on the same page."
They will protect a new starting quarterback in 5-11 senior Luke Terna, who likes to keep the ball and run with it. Depth will again be an issue, as senior John Cannova will be forced to play both ways at center and nose guard. Flavin and Cannova basically represent the only two returning starters on offense.
"I've worked out a lot this offseason and made sure I was physically conditioned to do it," Cannova said. "It's something that I wanted to do since the season ended."
The Redwings definitely noticed that they were picked to finish last in the East Suburban Catholic Conference by the Chicago Sun-Times. And that they were predicted to finish well behind St. Joseph, a program that until last year had endured five consecutive 0-9 seasons.
"This team knows what we're capable of," Flavin said. "We use that as motivation, not to bring us down."
It won't be easy in the ESCC, a 10-team league that sent six to the playoffs last season. Quarterback Mike Perish -- who helped eliminate Naperville North from last year's Class 8A tournament and has verbally committed to Western Michigan -- is back at Marist. Joliet Catholic has won at least a share of each of the last five conference titles.
"We feel we can compete with every team we play. Does that translate into victories? We'll find that out on game night," Goforth said. "We're head and shoulders better than we were last year at this time."
