2009 Illini Land of Lincoln Teams:
Harlan
Harper
King
Manley
Marshall
Robeson
Team Outlooks (Part 1)
Harlan's Tashaun Johnson (5-11; 160lbs; jr) passed for over 1000 yards last year and seems to be developing into one of the city's top junior Quarterbacks.
Harlan
2008 record = 6-4
Most impressive 2008 Win = 33-14 over Manley
Worst 2008 Loss = 36-26 loss to a 5-5 Clark team; or a 68-6 annihilation to a very good Antioch team in the first round of the playoffs.
Neilski's take on Harlan: Harlan had an 18 point halftime lead versus Clark last year after quarterback Tashaun Johnson passed for 4 first half touchdowns. All they needed to do was hold on and they would take conference outright. But Clark stormed back in the second half for a 36-26 win.The win was apparently demoralizing as Harlan lost their next game 40-6 versus CVS in the first round of the Public League playoffs and then got crushed 68-6 versus a very good Antioch team in the first round of the playoffs. The good news for Harlan is that star Quarterback Tashuan Johnson returns. Johnson (5-11 160lbs) will only be a junior this year. Johnson passed for over 1000 yards last year as a sophomore. He seems to be developing as one of the top QB's in the city. Johnson will also be helped by the return of Joseph Wright, Harlan's leading rusher last year. Wright at 5-11, 195lbs ran over his opponents last years while averaging 6.8 yards every time he touched the rock. Defensively, the Falcons return Carva Tucker, their leading tackler and at 6-0, 215lb a solid built linebacker. To top it off Harlan made some off season news when they hired Keith Brookshire as their new football coach. Brookshire was a long time assistant coach for Morgan Park under legendary coach Lexie Spurlock.
My outlook on Harlan is that based on their returning skill players from last year in Wright at tailback and Johnson a multi-dimension quarterback, Harlan would have already been good this year. Combine the returning players with an expert football coaching from Brookshire, Harlan has the makings of a very good football team in 2009. I expect Harlan to challenge if not be the favorite for the conference title and they should perform much better in the city and state playoffs.
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