Romeoville hoping to crash the Class 8A playoff party

A lot has happened in the world since Romeoville last qualified for the IHSA football playoffs. The Cubs won the World Series, Donald Trump was elected president of the United States – twice – and there was a COVID-19 pandemic.

The Spartans were one win away from making the playoffs last season for the first time since 2013, winning three of their final four games en route to a 4-5 record. Quarterback Richard Conley was named the Southwest Prairie East Offensive Player of the Year, and he returns this season to try to lead his team back to the postseason in his third year as the starter.

Romeoville recently competed against Morris, Plainfield Central and Dwight at a 7-on-7 competition at Morris.

“We went from one win my sophomore year, which was my first year starting, to four wins last year,” Conley said. “Being one win away from the playoffs last year has been the motivation this summer.

“We really feel like we can pick up that fifth win and get the program back into the playoffs. It would be really cool if we were the team that started a tradition of Romeoville being in the playoffs.”

Conley did it all for the Spartans last season, completing 101 of 195 passes for 1,227 yards and eight touchdowns while running 74 times for 475 yards and four touchdowns. Those numbers came in just seven games as he missed two games.

The Spartans have been busy this summer, working together three weeks in June and three weeks in July. Besides the Morris 7-on-7, they also competed in another 7-on-7 at Sandburg.

“We have been building,” said Romeoville coach Justin Trovato, who is entering his fifth full season. “The first couple of years, we built up the numbers in our program, and then last year we were very close to making the playoffs.

“We did lose a lot of skill position players from last year, but we have three experienced offensive linemen coming back as well as a tight end-hybrid type of player. And, of course, Richard Conley. Richard is one of those guys that’s the first guy to practice and the last guy to leave. His leadership is a key for us, and the rest of the guys follow his lead.”

Trovato also pointed out that the Spartans’ defense returns only three starters, and one of those players is changing positions this year.

“On defense, we will be young and kind of small, but we will be fast,” Trovato said. “On our side of the conference, the size issue won’t hurt us too much because of how fast we are. The kids have been putting forth a really good effort this summer, and we can see the progress.

“With the technology we have today to be able to film practice and look at that film right away, we are able to correct things much faster. The biggest thing is that these guys love football. They love being on the field and competing, and I think that will transfer over to Friday nights.”

Even though Conley is a true double-threat on offense, he is still trying to make himself a better version of that.

“I’ve been working on throwing on the run a lot this summer,” Conley said. “Last year, I either threw it or tucked it and ran. Once I was running, that was it. I was running the ball.

“This summer, I have been working on getting bigger and stronger, keeping my eyes down the field and looking for an open receiver when I run. I want to make it harder for the defense to figure out what I am going to do.”