Stateline Preps: Any football sleepers?

The best way to describe the football contenders in the Stateline would have to be Usual Suspects.

Of course, there’s Big Foot, Brodhead/Juda and Hononegah. Those are the three teams that figure to contend in their conferences.

That’s been the case over the past few years and it really shouldn’t surprise anyone.

But, then there’s the teams that are somewhat flying under the radar this season.

What about Beloit Turner? Can the Trojans make it back to the WIAA playoffs for the first time since 1992?

I don’t know, but when you have running back like Nolan Byrom, it can’t hurt your chances.

Will Beloit Memorial be a better team? They’ve struggled over the past few years and it doesn’t help playing in the ultra-competitive Big 8 conference, but can the Purple Knights make the necessary improvements to reach respectability?

What about Parkview? Second-year coach Jon Lyon likes the makeup of his offense, as he should. With two signal-callers like Nick Melton and Kyle Woodworth, the Vikings are heading in the right direction.

Clinton’s spread offense has people talking around the Rock Valley Conference, but will it translate into more victories?

I haven’t seen a better high school quarterback in all the practices I’ve been to this summer than North Boone’s Alex Albrecht.

I saw Albrecht complete 11 straight long balls at a recent practice and the 12th one fell incomplete because it was dropped.

His outstanding touch put him atop the quarterbacks at this point, but with North Boone’s difficult conference (Big Northern East), it’ll be an uphill climb for the Vikings’ playoff hopes.

Dennis Schwab can actually put together schemes this year for South Beloit. The second-year head coach barely had time to catch his breath last year. The SoBos are quietly confident that they can be better than last year (1-8), but so are a lot of teams in the preseason.

Will the SoBos improve enough to make a run at a postseason berth or will the numbers game catch up to them?

I’m not sure about the answers to a lot of these questions, but I do know that all these teams are sleepers in the Stateline.

Which one will wake up in time for a special season?

Who knows?

I thought I’d throw one more question at ya.

For more editions on the Stateline Preps Blog, check back for updates throughout the week.

Also, check out next week’s Prep Football Preview section, set to be released Wednesday, Aug. 26.

Beloit Turner running back Nolan Byrom will be a big part of Turner's playoff hopes.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 21st, 2009 at 8:11 am and is filed under From the Sideline. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.