Sandburg Football Puts It All on the Line

Sandburg Eagles

Coach: Dave Wierzal, (25-16, 4 years).
Last year: 8-3 overall, 5-2 in Southwest Suburban Blue.
Opener: Aug. 26 vs. Andrew.
Outlook: The Eagles expect to be competitive for a conference championship and to be competitive in the playoffs. In the early going, they will call on their offensive and defensive lines to carry the team.

Offense

Backs: The Eagles have no returning starters in this position group. Anthony Adams, Ron Johnson and Nate Stramaglia are competing for the QB position. Front runners at RB include Lemonte Booker, Alec Melone, and Dan Rey. Front runners at FB include Mike Rago and Trevor Dapkus.

Line: G Mike Thornton, G Jerry Blake, C Jon Egan and T Dan Feeney are returning starters. Ben Lunak, Aistis Gaidomavicius, and Anthony Pripusich. "The strength of our offense right now is the four returning starters," Wierzal said. 

Tight ends/receivers: Nick Lehnerer, Joe Fischer and Maher Ayyash. Lehnerer has looked good this summer and has some playing experience from last year.

Placekicker: Teddy Vergados can kick field goals from the 30-yard line in. It will be his first year starting.

Defense

Linebackers: Mike Rago, Jerry Blake, Ryan Coghlan, Steve Wiley, Dan Greenfield, Brian Dace, Omar Aqel. Mike Rago is a returning starter. 

Line: Dan Feeney, Brenden Pindel, Mike Thornton, Luke Lonergan, Aistis Gaidomavicius, Alec Kraus, Josh Guerra. Pindel and Feeney have playing experience from last year. 

Secondary: Kyle McMahon, Nick Lehnerer, Miles Taylor, Eddie Zilinskas, Brendan Conlon, JoJo Chinwah and Alec Melone. "We graduated our entire secondary last year," Wierzal said. "Lehnerer has looked good during the summer, but all the positions are still up for grabs."

Punter: Kevin Kenes needs to emerge here. He will compete with Teddy Vergados for the position. 

Coach Dave Wierzal said: "We have a solid core to build around, but we have a lot of untested athletes who will have to meet the challenges during the season."