Asked about the transition to a new coach, Iroquois West High School star quarterback Trace Coleman shrugged as if it was no big deal. "This is our third new coach in four years," he said. "It's nothing new." | Glance | Team facts

New coach D.J. Harris would love to see the same old production from Coleman.

The 6-foot, 160-pound senior completed 122 of 218 passes last season for 1,604 yards and 17 touchdowns en route to Pantagraph All-Area honorable mention.

Coleman, who threw for 1,247 yards as a sophomore, led the Raiders to the Class 2A playoffs last year and a 6-5 record, which included a 4-3 mark to tie for third in the Sangamon Valley Conference.

Iroquois West, which co-ops with Crescent-Iroquois, and fellow Pantagraph area squads PBL and Tri-Point figure to be among the teams looking up to defending SVC champion St. Joseph-Ogden, the 2006 Class 3A state runner-up.

Iroquois West

Harris spent the past four years as an assistant at Olivet Nazarene. Prior to that, he coached three years at Herscher and four at Kankakee. He replaces Ryan Pearson, who is an assistant at Pontiac.

Harris plans to mix some of Pearson's option offense with the spread passing attack used by R.J. Haines in 2005.

Directing this hybrid offense will be Coleman, who is among four returning starters on offense. He completed 75 percent of his passes in this summer's Pontiac 7-on-7 Tournament.

"He looks really good," said Harris, who has six returning starters on defense. "His arm strength is better than last year. He is taking charge.

"We have no fulltime starters back as receivers, but we have upperclassmen who can catch."

Among them is Andrew Rippy, a 6-2 wide receiver who was also an SVC special mention safety a year ago. Fullback Eric Zuniga returns from a knee injury while backup running back Kyle Kosik also returns.

Blocking for them will be third-year starter Wade Redenius at center. He also started on last year's defensive line with Jordan Schroeder, who will move to outside linebacker.

Other returning defensive starters are all-SVC first team linebacker Ethan Johnson, Kosik at linebacker and Matt Ulrichs in the secondary.

Defensive end Kyle Clark and wide receivers Freddie Rodriguez and Angel Sanchez showed promise in the preseason.

Harris, whose says his 22-man varsity lacks depth, rates improvement on special teams a priority.

"Iroquois West could have won three more games last year if they had played better on special teams," he said.

PBL

The key for second-year coach Jim Zenner's squad will be how quickly talented juniors adapt to the speed of varsity football.

"We are pretty inexperienced at the skill positions," said Zenner, who will replace four-year starter Tyler Overstreet at quarterback with junior Kendall Cox.

Cox, the son of junior high coach Dave Cox, has been getting varsity experience in basketball since he was a freshman.

"Even though he is a junior in years, in athletic terms he is more experienced than a regular kid coming off the sophomore level," Zenner said.

The most experienced receiver is Tom Rubarts, who caught 20 passes last year for 352 yards. The only starter back on the offensive line is guard Adam Carlson.

Senior Bobby Wright, who rushed for 329 yards last year, will be used primarily at linebacker. Potential ballcarriers include Jake Kaufmann and Ricky Tester.

The defense will be led by Pantagraph All-Area honorable mention nose guard Mark Smith. Other key defensive returnees are end Richie Malivuk, who will move to linebacker, and Rubarts at cornerback.

"We're excited," said Zenner, whose team was 5-5 overall last year and 5-2 in the SVC, good for second place. "I think we are a more athletic team than last year."

That may not translate into more wins though because the league has improved, according to Zenner, who added, "If we don't make the playoffs, I'll be disappointed."

Tri-Point

Tri-Point snapped a 25-game losing streak in last year's season opener en route to a 2-7 record. The Chargers take a one-game winning streak into tonight's opener at Milford.

Tri-Point, which co-ops with Donovan, hopes to continue improving with the help of four returning starters on both offense and defense.

Third-year coach Will Patterson felt a positive vibe in preseason camp where 41 men reported for duty.

"Energy is high," he said. "The kids are expecting to win. They feel they should improve a notch."

Mike Brantley, who has two years of junior varsity experience at quarterback, will play behind an offensive line featuring returning starters Jeremy Fagan at center, Jake Berger at right tackle and Zach Jepsen at right guard.

A fourth returning starter is wide receiver Phillip Clapp.

"Brantley's got good mobility," Patterson said. "He throws a good ball. He has a good grasp of the offense."

Left guard Jake Mynatt should help make the offensive line a team strength.

"I think our linebackers will be better this year," said Patterson, whose returning defensive starters are linebackers Colin Davis and Brad Balazs, defensive lineman Kyle Morris and cornerback Steven Jackson.

Look for Jackson, Davis and Nick Stevenson to be the team's top ballcarriers.

Patterson expects inside linebacker Justin Sauberli to help a unit which allowed 350 points last season.

"That's a lot of points in nine games," Patterson said. "That was our focus in the offseason."