2024 season preview: Scouting the Mid-Suburban Conference

East Division

Buffalo Grove

Coach: Jeff Vlk

2023 record: 6-4

Worth noting: After a solid 2022 season, last year was to be a rebuilding year for the Bison. They rebuilt so well, that they made the playoffs for the third consecutive year. Buffalo Grove graduated 40 seniors and returns just five starters from last year’s team. In addition, they could start up to eight sophomores. … Andrew Glenn and Ryan Guretz return to anchor the offensive line. They will be joined by Joe Godutto, Luke Wojtowicz and Jimmy Chang. They will be looking to protect Dylan Spedale, who transferred from Fremd to take over the quarterback duties. Jacob Hensley and Matthew Kaput will be at running back while Tyler Baker (19 catches, 232 yards), Braydon Wong and Vince Romano will be the wide receivers. The Bison will start two sophomores on the defensive line in Owen Erickson and Drew Carrison along with senior Hardidar Singh and junior Jack Carroll. Godutto could also be part of this group. Linebacker Alex Branas (95 tackles) and David Graham will be key to the defense. They will be joined by Baker, Jaleel Marshall and Xavier Dandridge in the defensive backfield.

Hersey

Coach: Tom Nelson

2023 record: 10-1, MSL East champs

Worth noting: For the second consecutive season, Hersey won its first 10 games and then got eliminated in the playoffs in a close game. Because of that, Hersey has upgraded its schedule to include 8A powers Warren and Maine South. That upgrade should help prepare quarterback Colton Gumino, who threw for nearly 2,500 yards and 35 TDs, for the next level. The three-year starter has committed to UCLA for next year. But Gumino will be without two of his two targets. Tight end Logan Farrell, who committed to North Carolina, may be lost to the season with an ACL injury. In addition, Chuck Meister, who was a RB/WR, opted not to play this season to focus on baseball. With Gumino, the Huskies still have eight starters back. Thomas Mulder and Sal Marabotti return to the offensive line and will be joined by Jackson Organ, Ben Zebron, DJ Maloney, Ehren Dammann and Jack Nolan. Grant Kalata, Jak Flaherty, Tyler Wentink, Luke Casey and Josh Riggs all are relatively new at wide receiver but have been working with Gumino all summer and should be ready. Same with tight end Logan Clark. Mulder, Nick Alquist and Connor Moga will hold down things on the defensive line. Sebastian Debicki and Clark return at linebacker and will be joined by Tilman Mulder. Jenkins, Grant Kalata, Tyler Wentink, Luke Koclanis, Jak Flaherty, Luke Casey and Josh Riggs will all be part of the secondary.

Elk Grove

Coach: Daniel O’Donnell

2023 record: 3-6

Worth noting: All of Elk Grove’s losses last year came to playoff teams. The Grenadiers feel they learned lessons from those losses and will be ready for this season with 12 starters back. Elk Grove returns three of its top offensive players. Seniors Daniel Pasterski, who was at quarterback the last half of the season and threw for 632 yards and eight TDs, along with RB/DB Daryl Hunt (326 yards, two TDs) and TE/LB Dylan Berkowitz (136 rushing yards, one TD, 132 receiving yards, three TDs) give the Grens options offensively. The offensive line will rely on seniors Michael Milovich, Jayden Erevia, Jack Bise and Spencer Tuiana. Junior Ignacio Taboada rounds out that group. Nick Jimenez returns at wide receiver. He will be joined by Ryan Tanner and Matt DiMaria. Trevor Detloff, Francis Romano and Ethan Otano will be the starters upfront defensively. Carter Bourget, Jayden Erevia, Nico Mendiola and Berkowitz will be at linebacker while Hunt, Jimenez, Maurion Smith and Myles Schwartz will be on the back end.

Prospect

Coach: Dan DeBoeuf

2023 record: 8-3

Worth noting: Prospect has been eliminated in the state playoffs the last three years by teams from the Catholic League. And in the past two seasons the Knights have not won the MSL East. They are looking to take a strong run at both this year thanks to the return of four of their best skill players on offense. Prospect has Jake Skoog back at quarterback, Noah Easter, who came on strong in the second half of last season, at running back as well as Nick Carlucci and Nate Cichy at wide receiver. With that group last season, the Knights averaged 54 points per game. Wide receiver Lucas Deines along with tight ends Jacob Sutton and Gordon Kemp should also be huge contributors. JJ Tsagalis returns to anchor the offensive line. He will be joined by Joe Morales, Dylan Heber, Carson Range and Erik Murray. On the other side of the ball, the Knights could start six juniors. Parker Ray is back to start on the defensive line. Connor Curran and Charlie Letzig, who are both juniors, will also start. JT Zei is back at linebacker with juniors Ben Galbreath and Jacob Pepsnik. Lucas Thomas, Jacob Bednarski and Tim Flynn, who are all seniors, will have juniors Will Fidler and Jackson Parrish alongside them in the defensive backfield.

Rolling Meadows

Coach: Robbie Gould

2023 record: 2-7

Worth noting: There will be lots of eyes set in the direction of Rolling Meadows this season with former Chicago Bears kicker Robbie Gould taking over the head coaching duties. Those eyes will need a telescope to see the Mustangs’ opener with the team and Gould making their debut in Pekin. Gould has 10 players back from last season including junior quarterback Joe Brigham, who threw for 1,236 yards and 10 touchdowns. Tight ends Sean Kerr (10 catches, 162 yards, two TDs) and Peyton Wiles (10 catches, 82 yards. two TDs), who has an offer from Wayne State, also return. Vinny Piccolo and Evan Gonzalez will be at running back and Jack Andersen at wide receiver. Lucas Brickman, David Prado and Liam Riley will key the offensive line. Kerr and Wiles are solid returnees at linebacker and be a main factor for the defense. Dominic Mandarino will anchor the defensive line while Gunnar Woetzel and Andersen will be major contributors in the defensive backfield.

Wheeling

Coach: JeMarcus Moody

2023 record: 1-8

Worth noting: Numbers are good and with 12 starters returning, things are looking up for the Wildcats. Wheeling, which has six starters back on each side of the ball, has not been to the playoffs since 2016. Wheeling returns starting quarterback Justin Ghbea, who threw for 915 yards and five touchdowns last season. They also return four starters to the offensive line in Angel Jimenez, Pablo Morales, Damian Maldonado and Hunter Adams, with Aleks Kwasnik or Evan Watanuki battling for the final spot. Grant Schuerman will be at running back with Joey Nitti and Nicholas Montesinos at tight end and Christian Campos and James Lawson at wide receiver. The defense will be solid with Michael Krakowski, Nitti and Nicholas Montesinos at linebacker. Eduardo Juarez, Watanuki, Jimenez and Morales on the line, and Scheuerman, James Lawson, Christian Campos and Justin Ghibea in the defensive backfield.

FIVE PLAYERS TO WATCH

Joe Brigham, Rolling Meadows, jr. QB: Threw for 1,236 yards last year in a part-time role

Logan Farrel, Hersey, sr. TE: North Carolina commit, but out for season with ACL injury

Colton Gumino, Hersey, sr., QB: Committed to UCLA

Daniel Pasterski, Elk Grove, sr., QB: Led Elk Grove to a strong finish last year

Jake Skoog, Prospect, sr., QB: Has drawn college interest

FIVE CAN’T MISS GAMES

Week 1: Hersey at Warren

Week 2: Palatine at Prospect

Week 3: Maine South at Hersey

Week 5: Prospect at Rolling Meadows

Week 7: Hersey at Prospect

West Division

Barrington

Coach: Joe Sanchez

2023 record: 12-1, MSL West champs

Worth noting: The Broncos are coming off their best season since 1998, and they are hoping to improve on that this season. They get a great jump on that with the return of Nick Peipert at quarterback. Peipert, who committed to St. Thomas, is coming off a season where he threw for 2,905 yards and 35 touchdowns while leading an offense that averaged 35 points per game. Peipert will have a new group of wide receivers to throw to in Matt Kania, Jacob Dorn, Austin Munson, Charles Oztekin and tight end Ian Tepas. But Peipert spent the summer working with them and is ready to pick up where he left off. He will be protected by returnees Owen Fors, who has nine D-1 offers, and Bryan Galovich, who also is back. Ben Knuth, Gabe Galovich and Aidan Sharpe-McClary should fill in quite well. Calvin Jackson, who saw some time at running back last year, will get most of the carries. The defense boasts six returning starters led by DE Jack Burzynski, who has three D-1 offers. Soran Leahy, Vaughn Werner, Ryder Carani, Clarence Jackson and Charlie Ploder will round out the front line. The linebacking corps is headlined by returnees Cole Slatter and Josh Peipert along with Jett Kohanzo, who saw some action last season. … The secondary has Lucas Marin and Brooks Howard back. They will be joined by Finn Karam, Michael Audino, Keegan DeGoman and Duke Matiyow.

Conant

Coach: Anthony Donatucci

2023 record: 3-6

Worth noting: Conant began the season strong, going 3-2. But the Cougars lost their final four games to close out the season on a disappointing note. The Cougars return seven starters from that team. They also look to have plenty of competition and depth at each position. The Cougars backfield demonstrates that. Brady Teschner and Tyler Marchese are battling for the quarterback spot while Josh Barnett, Jalen Davis and Nicola Iacoviello all will be playing at running back. The offensive line looks set with Tyler Alston, Lukas Hernandez, Evan Mueller, Yash Patel and Charles Clark. Similarly. at wide receiver there is Bradley Biedke, Chase Garcia, Andrew Elder and Grant Kurt.

On the defensive line, the Cougars are looking at Nathan Watson, Chris Ramos, Jahari Avery, Jaiden Thorney, Palos Portilla, Tarik Yurtsever and Devon Kemp. The linebacking corps is also deep with Jackson Spizzirri, Jacob Barnett, Aiden Underdown, Joshua Barnett, Jacob Serrano, Teschner and Christian Heishman. The secondary will have a rotation of Spencer Jerome, Evan Kirk, Nathan Kutella, Abhimanyu Sarma and Caden Spizzirri.

Fremd

Coach: Lou Sponsel

2023 record: 3-6

Worth noting: Fremd has not qualified for the playoffs for three years. The last time that happened was from 1988-1991 when they went four years in a row. The Vikings are looking to change that this season with the most explosive quarterback-wide receiver combo in the conference. Johnny O’ Brien, who is a junior and committed to Northwestern, and Brenna Saxe lit the air up last season together and should be even more deadly this year. Marquan Brewster will be at the other wide receiver spot. The tight ends will be a combination of Davyn Kuhl, Luke McIlhon and Cannon Dudley. The offensive line should be the best in the last four years led by Mikey Varon, who has D-1 offers. Sid Yalamanchili, Stathi Regopoulos, Chuluunbat Bayarbat and Owen Jakubczak will also be stout for the Vikings. The defensive line should also be solid with Will Klimas, Alex Foreman, John Stevens and Anthony D’Ambrosio. Linebackers will be McIlhon, Troy Pepe and Tom O’Brien. The secondary will be made up of Aiden Patel, Jason Hardy, Kuhl, Michael Murray and Saxe.

Hoffman Estates

Coach: Tim Heyse

2023 record: 6-4

Worth noting: Success continues to come to the Hawks, who have qualified for the playoffs the last three years and six of the last seven playoff seasons. Hoffman looks to keep that streak going with 11 starters back from last season. To do that, the Hawks will rely on returning quarterback Nate Cleveland, who threw for 2,212 yards and 20 touchdowns while rushing for 175 yards and four touchdowns. Cleveland also plays linebacker and has committed to Minnesota next season. Cleveland lost nearly all of his surrounding skill players. Liam Patrick is the only returnee at wide receiver. He will have Torey Baskin, Jerami Harden and Dunmi Oginni with him along with tight end RJ Russell. While the bad news is the lack of returning skill players, the good news for the Hawks is the strength of its offensive line. It could be the best one that Hoffman has put together in years. Zander Vanna-Teske, Nate Manley, Tony Carlson, Anthony Elenz and Isaiah Luellen are big and athletic. The Hawks will be flying to the ball on the defensive side. Cleveland, along with Will Carlson and Dunmi Oginn, make up a formidable linebacking corps. The secondary of Javon Leach, Jamie Wisdom, JMari Jackson, Patrick and Brycin Baldwin could be the most athletic in the area. They will have the defensive line of Jaquan Fields, Jett Hermes and TJ Jordan putting up pressure upfront.

Palatine

Coach: Corey Olson

2023 record: 6-4

Worth noting: Palatine headed into last season with high hopes. Unfortunately for the Pirates, the season ended with a thud. So, this year, Palatine is tempering their expectations. But there may not be a reason to do that thanks to 17 returning starters. Three of those are D-1 players: DE Jaylen Willams (Michigan), OL Parker Brault (Marshall) and WR Ryan Donnelly (Tennessee State). The Pirates return four starters on the offensive line in Tony Balanganayi, who is junior and getting some D-1 interest, Evan Downer, Brault and Frank Stark with Nikko Jones and Jacari Travis. Wide receivers Donnelly, Jake Flores and Kole Fager all have experience while Jordan Bostick is also highly touted. The Pirates will have nearly a new backfield to operate with. Will Santiago, who played at times last season as a sophomore, will take over at quarterback. Jesse Blake Jr., who also saw limited action as a junior, and sophomore Ray Gaspard will be at running back. Williams, who had 25 D-1 offers, leads an improved defense that surrendered 25.5 points per game last season. He is joined upfront by Jailen Maiden, Nick Fontanetta and Kam Bickel. Three-year starter Trey Widlowski anchors the linebacking corps with D’Mitry Smith, Joe Reiswig, and Julien Bey, Rufus Clark, Jeff Greiwe, Ethan Hunt, Detton Teitjens and Jacob Stark all are back in the secondary.

Schaumburg

Coach: Mark Stilling

2023 record: 2-7

Worth noting: Schaumburg played better last season than its record indicated. The Saxons were in three games last season that could have gone another way. They need those games to go the other way this year as Schaumburg has not been to the playoffs since 2017. Lucas Waegner returns at quarterback to lead the Saxons. He will be joined in the backfield by sophomore running back Vincent Heydecker. .They will operate behind an experienced offensive line that includes returnees Mathias Zubcek, Jaden Buchanan, Jaidan Hernandez, Zach Lane and Kendall Johnson. Javonte McCoy and Ray Black return at wide receiver and will be joined by Alex Christian and Jack Baker. The defense also experienced with Brandon Carver, Borys Sepko and Caden Zuniga upfront. Trey Teschner and Jimmy Frejd return at linebacker along with Nate Vanden Boom and Amriyon Smith. Kile Gough, Rafael Medeiros, Nate Perera and Rocco Fontela all have experience in the secondary.

FIVE PLAYERS TO WATCH

Parker Brault, Palatine, sr., OL: Committed to Marshall

Nate Cleveland, Hoffman Estates, sr., QB: Committed to Minnesota as a linebacker

Johnny O’Brien, Fremd, jr., QB: Committed to Northwestern

Nick Peipert, Barrington, sr., QB: Committed to St. Thomas, Minn.

Jaylen Williams, Palatine, sr., DE: Committed to Michigan

FIVE CAN’T MISS GAMES

Week 2: Palatine at Prospect

Week 4: Barrington at Maine South

Week 6: Fremd at Palatine

Week 8: Hoffman Estates at Barrington

Week 9: Barrington at Palatine

STEVE SOUCIE’S PREDICTED FINISH

(* - Projected playoff qualifier)

East Division

Hersey*
Prospect*
Rolling Meadows*
Buffalo Grove
Elk Grove
Wheeling

West Division

Barrington*
Palatine*
Hoffman Estates*
Fremd
Conant
Schaumburg

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