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Johhny Daniels(6-5,240lbs) of Foreman
Foreman has never produced a Division I athlete. That is all about to change as Johnny Daniels(6-5,240lbs) picked up his first offer. Northern Illinois University from Dekalb liked the 6-5 240lb OL/DL enough to make him an offer. Other schools may be coming soon as Illinois, Iowa State, Michigan, and Michigan State are some of the schools who have expressed interest.
Track Guys Running Cross Country
400 meter runner Ajay Joseph(so) is expected to be one of the leaders for Von Steuben.
Von Steuben's number one runner for most of the last two years was Michael Gulan- an all-city and state meet qualifier 400 meter runner. Gulan is one of those type of runners I consider a track runner first and then a cross coutnry runner second. Gulan has graduated but it appears that the trend of track runners leading Von Steuben will continue.
Most of the top returnees are track athletes first. Anthony Hudson(sr) made the varsity finals in the long jump. Alcides Diaz(sr) is a strong 400 meter runner that ran on the very good Von Steuben 4x400 team that nearly qualified for the CPS finals, and AJ Joseph(so) ran one of the fastest open 400 times last year for a freshman.
All three are expected to play a big role in Von Steuben's cross country team this year.
"We are getting better as program. We were one of only 7 schools that fielded complete scoring teams in the freshman, sophomore, and varsity levels at the city meet. Of course, the usual suspects Lane, Jones, Mather, Northside, and Whitney Young had full teams. But us and believe it or not Urban Prep Bronzeville had complete teams.
Look out for new school Solario in the next few years. They had complete freshman and sophomore teams. Curie will be strong next year but after their seniors graduate, Solario may sneak up there.
We finished 11th at the varsity level last year. Our goal is to make the top 10, but it will be tough. Curie, Hubbard, and Steinmetz are always there," said Von Steuben coach Eli Yurich.
Losses:
Michael Gulan, Dwayne Ford, Roberto Cervantes, Noel Valdivia
Key Returnees:
Anthony Hudson(sr-70th last year @ varsity city)
Hameed Weaver(sr- 87th @ varsity city)
Alcides Diaz(sr-97th at varsity city)
Ajay Joseph(18th at freshman city)
William Pawelko(27th at freshman city)
Nicholas Rodriguez (50th at soph city)
Stephen Schintgen(52nd at soph city)
Manuel Meneses(60th at soph city)
Over the Hump- What Next?
Last Year: 7-3 overall; 1st place with a 6-1 record in the Chicago Big Shoulders Conference.
Taft always seemed to come in 2nd in Chicago Conference play. But last year, they finally went over the hump and did enough to win conference. The Chicago Conference win did not come easy. They had to survive close wins versus Foreman 24-21, Steinmetz 10-7, and Mather 14-7 to win conference. Their only conference blemish last year came on a 7-0 upset by Schurz.
Defense was strong last year as Taft recorded 3 shutouts and gave up 20 points in its 6 conference wins. Their season ended with a 66-26 thumping by a Darvell Harris led Dunbar team.
Quick Take:
Samer Zabadneh(6-1, 200lbs, sr, QB/P) will be one of the top contenders for the starting quarterback slot. Taft always seems to get QB's with good height and size. Zabaddneh at 6-1, 200lbs. Although last year Zabadneh only saw limited action at the QB position as he was the back up to starter Kurt Klumack(now graduated). Zabadneh was the punter for Taft last year.
In addition to QB, Taft will have a complete remake in almost every position as Taft graduated almost everybody from it's starting ranks. The few people returning with some good experience include Jonathan Figueroa(5-9, 155lbs, WR/DB), Demarcus Heglar(5-10, 145lbs, jr, WR/DB), and Martin Shine(6-1, 220lbs, sr, OL/DL).
One question that will be answered shortly when the IHSA releases schedules and conference alignments (hopefully by the first week of July) is what conference Taft will play in. Taft won a Chicago Conference so they are eligible to be moved up to the Illini conference if they choose to. But I have heard talks that Taft may decline the invitation and choose to stay in the Chicago Conference. That may be a wise move as Taft is in class 8A and if moved to the Illini conference the prospects of playing a Simeon, Dunbar, or a Curie may not be too appealing at this stage of Taft's program.
Players to look out for:
Samer Zabadneh(6-1, 200lbs, sr, QB/P) (likely starting QB)
Jonathan Figueroa(5-9, 155lbs, sr, WR/DB)
Demarcus Heglar(5-10, 145lbs, jr, WR/DB)
Martin Shine(6-1, 220lbs, sr, OL/DL)
Benjamin Jasterbski(6-3, 205lbs, OL/DL)
Earl Taylor(5-11, 220lbs, jr, LB) and Harper hope to repeat as conference champions and move up the rankings in the CPS.
Last Year: 10-3 overall, 5-0 and first place finish in the Illini-Heartland conference. First Round State playoff win over Payton. CPS playoff wins over Harlan and Dunbar.
Quick Take:
Harper is one of the more underrated CPS football programs. All they do is win every year and finish high in conference most years. Last year was a really good year for Harper. Not only did they win conference with an undefeated conference record, but they also won 2 CPS playoff games. The first was against Harlan which was expected. The second win was a 40-14 upset of a very good Dunbar team which Harper lost to 40-24 earlier in the year.
Hopes are high in Harperland this year due to their returning talent.
It starts with stud Antoryio Barton(5-11, 215lbs, sr, RB/LB). Barton is one of the better players in the city and returns as the top rusher and top tackler for Harper. At 5-11, 215lbs he is hard to bring down as a running back. Barton also plays linebacker where he is a force on the defensive side.
Barton has lot's of help on both sides of the ball. Malik Harris(5-10, 265lbs, sr, OL/DL)(pre-season all-city OL candidate) and Mario Williams(5-8, 250lbs, sr, OL/DL) will help on the line. Lorenzo Herbert(5-10, 175lbs, sr, RB/CB) and Sandillo Wright(6-1, 170lbs, jr, CB) will help as corner backs. Wright got some quality play time last year as a sophomore and will contribute more this year. At 6-1, 170lbs, he is one of the bigger corners in the city.
Harper has one of the best linebacker corps in the city. Look out for Devin Davis(6-0, 205lbs, DE/FB/LB)(top returning sacker, one of top freshman DE's in city), Kevin Whitehead(5-10, 185lbs sr, LB/FB)(2nd in team in tackles last year), and Earl Taylor(5-11, 220lbs, jr, LB). Davis got some good playing time last year as a freshman and will surely get more as a sophomore. At 6-0, 205lbs, he mainly plays DE but can also play linebacker. Whitehead was the 2nd leading tackler last year. Taylor is an upcoming young player who has good size at 5-11, 220lbs.
Harper is one of those teams to look out for this year.
Players to look out for:
Antoryio Barton(5-11, 215lbs, sr, RB/LB)(pre-season all-city RB candidate; top returning tackler)
Malik Harris(5-10, 265lbs, sr, OL/DL)(pre-season all-city OL candidate)
Mario Williams(5-8, 250lbs, sr, OL/DL)
Lorenzo Herbert(5-10, 175lbs, sr, RB/CB)
Sandillo Wright(6-1, 170lbs, jr, CB)
Dennis Barnes(6-1, 190lbs, sr, S/WR)
Devin Davis(6-0, 205lbs, DE/FB/LB)(to returning sacker, one of top freshman DE's in city)
Kevin Whitehead(5-10, 185lbs sr, LB/FB)(2nd in team in tackles last year)
Earl Taylor(5-11, 220lbs, jr, LB)
Darvell Harris(sr) continues his list of off season accolades as the Sun-Times named him the Male Athlete of the year. The official word is the Harris wants to attend Eastern Illinois University to run track and play football.
Jeris Pendleton (6-2,315lbs,DT) made Dunbar proud by signing a contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars of the NFL. Pendleton has gone a long way. After starring at Dunbar, he said he originally wanted to attend Michigan State before getting side tracked. He took on jobs such as housekeeping at a nursing home, construction, and security guard. Finally at the age of 24 he decided to go take formal football again. He walked on and played two seasons at Joliet Junior College where he was a 2nd team all american. His performance earned him a scholarship to Ashland. Finally, at this year's draft the Jacksonville Jaguars selected him in the 7th round and recently signed him to a Pro contract. Word is he is a phycially gifted genetic freak. See him squat 575lbs 7 times.
Lane is seriously beefing up it's summer sports camps:
http://www.lanetech.org/files/summercamps.pdf
It's not just swimming and water polo.
There are now camps and formal summer conditioning for basketball, girls basketball, soccer, cross country, baseball, football and even wrestling.
Many of the camps are open to youngsters as young as 6th grade.
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