The Aurora Central Catholic Football program competed in it’s first 7 on 7 of 2011, last Tuesday evening (6/28) at Bolingbrook High School. The event featured 14 high schools from the Chicagoland area, ranging from Class 3A though 8A. For the Chargers, it was the first of 5 passing competitions they will participate in this summer.
“It give our young men the chance to get out and compete against other programs,” Head Coach Brian Casey said. “Our kids were excited to see someone other than their buddies across from them.”
For the Chargers, the evening saw contests against Bolingbrook, Chicago (Brooks), and Chicago (Englewood). Bolingbrook, an 8A school who has been to the playoffs each of the last 19 years, features a Spread/Pistol offense. Englewood, who finished 2010 8-1 in the Chicago Public School League, operated out of a 5-wide offense, while Brooks was a more traditional pro-style offense with two backs.
“Its always fun to play in 7 on 7′s during the summer,” Casey said. “In a given night, you can see 2 or 3 different styles of play offensively. I think we saw three different defenses as well, so it give us a chance to work our stuff against a variety of different looks.”
The format featured 2 – 10 play offensive possessions for each team, followed by each team getting 5 more offensive plays (50 plays total per game). For ACC, it gave a chance for a lot of kids to gain some valuable experience in “game-like” situations. Senior Marcus Jefferson (Aurora) and juniors Luke Dickerson (Sugar Grove) and Matt Nass (Aurora) turned in solid nights on offense for the Chargers. The event also marked the first time senior Kyle Clechenko (St. Charles), lined up at quarterback position. Clechenko served as a running back for much of the 2010 season.
“It was a bit different at first,” Clechenko said. “I felt I was a little hesitant early, but as the night moved on things started feeling good, I started gaining confidence, and it started feeling more natural.”
On the night, Clechenko connected on 21 of 44 passes, throwing only 2 interceptions.
“Kyle did a great job tonight,” Casey said. “He has been a quarterback for 6 months, and this was the first time he saw a defense. His fundamentals continue to improve each day, and you can tell his confidence level continues to grow with each pass thrown.”
Defensively, the Chargers were impressive all evening, limiting all three teams to a total of 4 plays over 35 yards. Juniors Tyler Nelson (Aurora), Javy Liz (Aurora), and Nass grabbed interceptions for the defense which spent a majority of the night in man-to-man coverage.
“Tonight confirmed that we have the potential to be very fast on defense.” Defensive Coordinator Eric Fulara said. “We saw some nice things from all the kids who played tonight. We had a few mental mistakes from time to time, but that is to be expected in June, overall a ton of positives.”
The Chargers will return to Bolingbrook for another 7 on 7, participating in the Nike Football – Bolingbrook Passing Jamboree on July 16th.
