Expectation was the word of the day at both Naperville Central and Naperville North as the journey to DeKalb on Thanksgiving weekend officially began Monday.
For Naperville Central, two years removed from a Class 8A state title and after a nine-win year in 2014, expectations remain high.
“Everyone knows when the first day of camp is and we’ve all been talking about it, ready for it and just anxious for it,” Redhawks’ senior quarterback Conor Joyce said. “We were ready to get out here and get going.”
Joyce enters his second year at the helm of the Redhawk offense after completing 58 percent of his passes for eight touchdowns while running for 164 yards and six TDs.
With Iowa-bound Emmanuel Rugamba, Aurora Central Christian transfer Jeremiah Wiggins, Matt Lehmann and Jordan Crissy at receiver and Jack Piper at tight end, Joyce won’t be lacking in targets.
“We know there’s high expectations for this team,” Joyce said. “We have it upon ourselves, as well. We expect to do well. We don’t need to hear it from other people. We have it within ourselves. We just try to go 1-0 every day and get better each and every day.”
Naperville Central coach Mike Stine isn’t shying away from the expectations either.
“This team wants to be good,” Stine said. “They want to be better than good. We know to survive the DVC this year, you got to be a quarterfinalist-caliber team. So you got to be that first up front, just to get to the playoffs. If you can get there, you got a shot to make a run at the title. I know that’s what our goal is. Some of these guys were part of that two years ago.
“We felt—last year—we had a shot at it and we just came up a little bit short. So we have some high expectations, the players do. They’ve worked extremely hard to get to where they’re at, but there’s a lot of teams that feel that same way.”
While the Redhawks are aiming to fix what went wrong in their state quarterfinal against Simeon last November, Naperville North is aiming to put its 2-7 record from a year ago behind it.
After picking up wins against Neuqua Valley and Thornton to begin the year, the Huskies lost their last seven games.
The chance to start atoning for that provided excitement enough for Sean Drendel and his charges.
“When you were 2-7 last year, any time you get a chance to restart, it’s a great thing,” Drendel said. “I don’t know if it’s quite like Christmas. It’s a little warm for Christmas, but it’s a good way to get going. We were here bright and early and we got things done. We got better (Monday), which is what we’re looking for.”
A trio of quarterbacks, Luke Cegles, Dylan Fadden and Vic Slopecki, will be competing for the right to start the Aug. 28 season opener against Sandburg as Naperville North’s offense returns to using the double-wing.
Their 2-7 record in 2014 relegated them to the outside looking in on the postseason for the first time since 1996.
Needless to say, a sour taste has been lingering in the Huskies’ collective mouths since late October.
Monday represented the start of a journey in which they hope to make amends by getting back to playing football the way it’s expected to be played at Naperville North.
“Expectations at Naperville North are to be in the playoffs,” Drendel said. “Let’s not kid ourselves. I think Wheaton South a few years back didn’t make the playoffs and then they won state titles. So, in our league, expectations are to be in the playoffs. There’s no (doubt).
“We’re not expecting to be 5-4. We’re expecting to go win a conference title and win a state title. That’s expectations here. If you can’t accept that, then too bad. We just got to get better than we were last year.”
