FOOTBALL One of the area's most popular sports is back this week with running lines, trenches drills and dummy sleds. The fresh smell of a hint of fall air Thursday and Friday made it feel like a fall football night, and it's welcome after several humid, hot weeks. That's right, area football is back for the eight Kenosha County high schools, along with Carthage College on Saturdays, and fans are eagerly anticipating what players, schools and coaches have in store.
With practice officially getting under way Tuesday, seven of the eight schools are opting for long, afternoon practices, with breaks of course, while Westosha Central is taking advantage of the cooler temperatures with morning sessions. Excitement is in the air, but it will be a big transitional year for area teams. Many star players are gone from a year ago, and it will be a challenge for first-year varsity players to step up right away and perform on Friday nights.
It's still early on, with only a few practices for all teams, but there's a few things we can deduce from last year. Here are three questions that will start to be answered Thursday, Aug. 22 when the season kicks off with the annual Lighthouse rivalry between St.
Joseph and Shore land Lutheran. 1. Where have all the QBs gone? Yes, this is a reference to Paula Cole's "Where have all the cowboys gone?", but for real, where have the quarterbacks gone? Star signal-callers like Eric Kenesie (St.
Joseph), Brock Koeppel (Westosha Central), Devin Wheaton (Bradford) and LJ Dagen (Indian Trail) have all graduated, and it could become a big challenge for these four teams, all of which made the WIAA postseason in 2023. Both the Lancers and Falcons won playoff games. Dagen was the All-County co-Player of the Year, Kenesie was a first team all-state talent at defensive back and all-conference at quarterback, Koeppel threw for nearly 2,000 yards with 25 touchdowns and four interceptions and Wheaton could run and pass with the best of them.
Koeppel's 2,550 total yards were the most in the county, ahead of superstars Jayden Gordon of St. Joseph and Dagen. Tremper quarterback Mason Prozanski also earned all-county honors, and he's graduated as well.
But there is some experience coming back for the 2024 season, including Christian Life's Monchie Gunter, Wilmot's Brock Kibler and Shoreland Lutheran's Mason Sittig. Although Wilmot, Christian Life and Wilmot combined to win six games last year, one more year of experience for their quarterbacks, who all showed flashes of success last year, will be huge. It's too early to know who will become this year's Dagen or Koeppel, and those are big shoes to fill, but it will be interesting to see some fresh faces emerge.
2. Who has the best chance to make the playoffs? Last year, St. Joseph capped off an incredible three-year run with another undefeated regular season before losing in the second round of the playoffs.
Indian Trail, sparked by Dagen's dominance on the ground and through the air, finished the season strong and made it to the postseason. Westosha Central also had a big year and won a playoff game, and Bradford snuck into the playoffs as well. With senior leaders, big-time stars and solid play, half of the area teams made it to the postseason.
So who has a chance to go this year? Well, Matt Rizzo has developed a powerhouse at St. Joseph, and the Lancers actually lead the area in returning all-county players with three — linebacker Campbell Kuiper, offensive lineman Brian Ortega and fullback and linebacker Dominic Santarelli. With strong potential running options after the departure of the area's best running back and all-county co-player of the year Jayden Gordon, the Lancers may be in good shape, especially in the Midwest Classic Conference.
The Midwest has broken into large and small schools, and St. Joseph, the defending conference champion, has the luxury of playing in the small division. Zach Rizzo, Matt's son, will start at quarterback, and he is certainly set up for success, and the junior at least got a taste of varsity action last season (7 for 8, 110 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT).
Indian Trail boasts the services of 2023 all-county running back, receiver and quarterback Sam Callow, an exceptional talent who should see more time under center this season. All-county offensive lineman Brendan Grabot is also back. Central has top running back Landon Taylor, a 2023 all-county pick after running for 900 yards including 168 in a playoff victory.
He was second in voting for the all-Southern Lakes Conference defensive player of the year with 5.5 sacks, 109 tackles and 16 tackles for loss. Indian Trail, Bradford and Tremper should have tough sledding with the Racine schools along with football powers Franklin and Oak Creek, and Central and Wilmot won't have it any easier in the Southern Lakes, which features the 2023 WIAA Division 1 state champion Lake Geneva Badger.
St. Joseph will have a good shot at going back to the postseason, while Shoreland Lutheran and Christian Life hope to take major strides. 3.
What games do you not want to miss? The season kicks off the right way Thursday, Aug. 22 with a classic rivalry game in Somers, where private schools St. Joseph and Shoreland Lutheran battle it out for the Lighthouse Trophy.
The Lancers have dominated the meeting in recent years, and they should have enough experience to be favored again. Wilmot and Bradford will once again kick off the season Friday, Aug. 23 with a battle in Kenosha.
The two teams should be more evenly matched than in last year's opener when the Red Devils rolled. Tremper travels to rival Bradford Friday, Sept. 6 in the county's oldest rivalry, and Indian Trail hosts Bradford the next week, Sept.
13, and the Hawks travel to Tremper Sept. 20. With no real front-runner for best team in the city with so much turnover from last year, look for these games to be intense, entertaining contests.
Westosha Central travels to Wilmot Sept. 6 in one of the area's best rivalries, and the Falcons host big games against Burlington Sept. 13, Waterford Oct.
4 and Badger Oct. 18. Friday Night Lights will be back in a couple weeks, and football fans have plenty to look forward to from Kenosha County squads.
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