Milledgeville shooting for deep run this season

Over the past several years, Milledgeville has boasted some of the best skill-position players in the area. This fall will be no different.

Despite losing standout quarterback Connor Nye to graduation, the Missiles will once again have talent and depth among their playmakers.

“We’ve got some nice pieces back with good experience. We’ve got a lot of different guys who can carry the load this year, and I think we have some athletes who are mismatches for teams,” longtime coach Jason Wroble said. “If we can get the ball to those guys in space, we have a lot of playmakers who have the potential to take it the distance every time.

“There’s not just one guy now, we have several, and teams are going to have to pick their poison.”

Nye leaves some big shoes to fill. The quarterback was a three-time first-team All-State pick who ended his career as the Illinois 8-Man Football Association’s all-time leader in passing yards (4,244), passing TDs (75) and total TDs (112). He served as a security blanket for Wroble and offensive coordinator Brad Grenoble.

“Connor was one of those types of players that you don’t get many of in your career as a coach,” Wroble said. “There was his pure ability, but also his understanding of the game and what to do with the ball. There were times when Coach Grenoble would call a play and I’d think, ‘Oh no, how is that going to work?’ and Connor would make some spectacular play with his arm or legs.”

Nye may be gone, but Milledgeville brings back guys such as seniors Micah Toms-Smith and Dalton Adamec and juniors Karter Livengood, Konner Johnson and Spencer Nye, who all are weapons on both sides of the ball.

Toms-Smith had more than 1,000 yards of total offense and 15 touchdowns last season, while Johnson amassed more than 850 yards and 15 TDs, and both also were weapons on special teams. Livengood had 526 receiving yards and nine TDs, and also had 10 tackles for loss, 11 sacks and four fumble recoveries. Spencer Nye ran for 311 yards and three scores, and added nine TFLs, 6.5 sacks, five interceptions and five fumble recoveries.

That’s why Wroble is excited to see what his team can do.

“I think a lot of the guys we’ve got right now are defensive-mindset guys,” he said. “We’ve got guys who love it when they’re playing defense, who want to fly around the field and make plays, just wreak havoc on the other team’s offense. They play fast and physical, and they’re excited to bring that to the table again this year.”

The Missiles come into 2024 with a chip on their shoulders, as a second-round playoff loss to rival Polo ended last season a little earlier than they would’ve liked. The offseason work began almost immediately for some of the veteran players eager to get back this fall.

“The kids are chomping at the bit. They’re all pretty excited to get back after it, and the coaching staff is excited, too,” Wroble said. “Obviously, that exit from the playoffs against our rivals left a sour taste, and I had some kids only a couple of weeks after football was over last season come up to me and say, ‘I wish next year was here already.’ We’ve had good summer turnout, a lot of guys working hard with conditioning and in the weight room, and I like the team we’ve got. We’ll see what we can do when the rubber meets the road.”

Despite having success, the playoffs haven’t gone the way the Missiles would like. They were upset by Amboy in their first year in the I8FA in 2021, then fell to eventual state champion West Central in a close game in 2022. Last year, Polo avenged a regular-season loss to Milledgeville with a playoff victory.

That second-round hurdle is something the Missiles are eager to get over this fall.

“It’s been a monkey on our back, and the kids want to get it off,” Wroble said. “At the end of last season, a player wrote ‘One and Done’ on the whiteboard in the locker room, and it’s been circled and seen the whole offseason. Hopefully, it’s enough bulletin-board material to motivate the guys to prove ourselves in the playoffs.”

Despite that hunger to make a deep playoff run, Wroble says the focus still will be on the week-to-week grind, not the end result in the postseason.

“I tell the kids that the football season is a marathon, not a sprint, and we have a long way to go to get where we want to be,” Wroble said. “We obviously have to focus on each game, that’s key, but the big goal is to advance farther than we have the last couple of seasons.”

Schedule: Aug. 30 Ashton-Franklin Center; Sept. 6 at Alden-Hebron; Sept. 14 at Orangeville; Sept. 20 Rockford Christian Life; Sept. 27 at West Carroll; Oct. 4 Polo; Oct. 11 at South Beloit; Oct. 18 River Ridge; Oct. 25 at Hiawatha