In the aftermath of his team’s loss to Neuqua Valley to end the regular season, Metea Valley’s senior running back Bryson Oliver was frank discussing the significance of the program’s first postseason appearance.
“That’s big to us. That’s very big,” Oliver said. “To have our picture up there on the Metea wall in (the school) for the rest of our (lives) … it’s going to be up there forever. To be the first class to make the playoffs in Metea Valley history and that’s what we’re looking forward to. But we’re not done yet. We’ve got a lot more work to do in the playoffs. We can do big things.”
Despite the Mustangs’ season concluding the next week with a 21-14 loss at Waubonsie Valley in the first round of the Class 8A postseason, it’s safe to say despite finishing at .500, the 2014 season was a success at Metea Valley.
Oliver was named Upstate Eight Valley Co-Offensive Player of the Year, along with Waubonsie Valley quarterback Zack Bennema, after running roughshod over opposing defenses to the tune of toting the rock 272 times for 1,701 yards and 18 touchdowns, establishing a pair of new program single-season records in the process.
Averaging just a shade over 170 yards a game, Oliver eclipsed the 100-yard mark nine times, with the Mustangs’ 48-6 victory over East Aurora on Oct. 10, which saw Oliver gain only 60 yards.
The program’s first winning regular season, guaranteed by a 45-27 road victory over Glenbard East on Oct. 17 and the program’s first postseason trip is the legacy seniors like Oliver, quarterback Kyle Mooney, wide receiver Nick Dodson and defensive linemen Erin Morgan will leave for future Metea Valley programs to build upon.
“We’ve always been looked down upon, always looked as like the younger team. So we’re hoping that we finally removed that stereotypical (status),” Mooney said.
Mooney’s 1,420 passing yards and 19 touchdowns, 10 of which went in Dodson’s direction, along with Oliver’s production helped lead an offense that averaged 32.2 points a game and eclipsed the 40-point mark five times.
After his team’s Class 8A first-round loss to Waubonsie Valley, third-year Metea Valley coach Ben Kleinhans spoke fondly of his seniors and the work the class has collectively done towards laying the foundation.
“I mean, it’s really these seniors, right? I mean, these seniors have invested so much and have been the most talented group we’ve had and have invested so much and kind of got us over the hump and really finished off laying the foundation for the program,” Kleinhans said. “Now it’s up to everyone else to kind of build it up. But, yeah, it was a season of firsts. First winning season, first playoff appearance and game and all that.
“That’s their legacy that they have forever and they’ll have a picture up on the wall (marking them as) the first team that did it, that really started it. So that’s important to us and that means a lot to us.”
With the program making the transition into the DuPage Valley Conference next year, along with Neuqua Valley and Waubonsie Valley, attention turns towards taking the next step.
Metea Valley’s 14-point loss to Neuqua Valley on Oct. 24 marked its biggest defeat of the year while three of its five losses were in single digits.
A pair of losses to Waubonsie Valley by a combined eight points and the 14-point margin in the loss to Neuqua Valley shows the gap between Metea Valley and its District 204 brethren is shrinking.
Finding a way to compete with their District 204 brethren, along with Naperville Central and Naperville North, will determine just how successful the Mustangs can be in the future.
But if the 2014 season is any indication, Metea Valley is indeed coming while harboring designs of working its way into the upper echelon of perhaps the toughest conference in the state.
“You just look back—we didn’t lose a game by more than 14 points all year and you think, ‘What could have happened? What could have been?’ Even (Saturday against Waubonsie Valley) or you know last week (against Neuqua Valley),” Kleinhans said. “A couple of those games (could have gone the other way). But we’re close. We’re close. We got to figure out how to beat some teams right here down the road and in our area. But we’re very close, so it’s still an exciting time for our program and building it.”
