Thursday, June 19, 2008 11:10 PM CDT
Will Casey, DuQuoin meet again in IHSA state playoffs?
BY BRIAN NIELSEN, Sports Editor
bnielsen@jg-tc.com
CHARLESTON — Who knows maybe a preview of an IHSA Class 2A state championship football game was staged this week at Eastern Illinois University.
For now, DuQuoin’s A.J. Hill and Casey-Westfield’s Mitch Snyder each got T-shirts for sharing top quarterback honors at the EIU football game.
“He and I talked a lot this week,” Snyder said. “We might see them during the year.”
This is contingent, for one thing, on DuQuoin dropping from its usual Class 3A to the smaller enrollment, which appears to be a good possibility.
And of course, it would depend on each school living up to some high expectations.
With most of its players returning from a 13-1 Class 2A semifinal season, Casey took steps toward preparation toward maybe even bigger things as 25 of its players participated in this week’s camp which
included some competition with DuQuoin during team segments.
“We got a lot of work with the team,” Snyder said. “It helps us bond a little bit all staying in the dorm.”
Casey chose to stay in Charleston through the camp rather than make the half-hour or so drive each day.
DuQuoin had 30 players at the camp while the rest of the approximately 150 participants were individuals from different schools, some staying for the entire camp and others making one-day appearances in one of several visits looking to impress college coaches.
Al Martin annually brings a big group to the Eastern camp, a practice that used to be more common.
Fewer schools bring large
contingents to a week-long camp in these days of busy summers for high school athletes but Casey is in its second year of having a good portion of its team at the EIU camp after attending others in the past.
“I think I like this one better,” said Casey defensive coordinator Rick Knust, spending the four days with the players at Eastern for the first time. “There is not as many numbers and it gives you more individual attention. They can also spend some time together, get away from mom and dad and let boys be boys.
“The last two days there have been a lot of one-day campers from bigger schools. We’ve competed well against them.”
In cases like DuQuoin and Casey, this week gave coaches extra days of preseason practice in helmets and shoulder pads before Casey goes in T-shirts and shorts to Saturday’s University of Illinois 7-on-7 competition.
“I haven’t put in anything new but I’ve mainly concentrated on the defense,” Knust said. “Mitch Snyder knows the offense better than I do.”
Snyder, who was one of the Warriors leaving the football camp in time for a Thursday afternoon basketball tournament at Casey, also got to work on his individual quarterback skills in segments run by EIU offensive coordinator Roy Wittke, whose former pupils include Tony Romo.
“It was great working with coach Wittke,” Snyder said. “He showed me a couple of flaws in my throws and taught me some things I can work on.”
While Snyder is looking to a college football chance, Austin Heise is preparing for his sophomore year at Charleston.
The son of EIU football secretary Richelle Heise, Austin has been around EIU coaches in the past but now got some serious instruction as the only Charleston player attending this camp.
“I learned a lot about dropbacks and throwing the ball,” Heise said. “We had some one on-on-time. The time we spend on special teams was good too working on holding (for place-kicking) and on punting.”
He admitted to have a tired throwing arm in a week that also included Wednesday night’s 7-on-7 competition with his Charleston team before heading to Saturday’s tournament at Champaign.
Heise was one of the younger participants at Eastern where some of the participants were already prospects to play at Eastern’s NCAA Football Championship Subdivision level.
“A great camp,” EIU assistant head coach Roc Bellantoni said. “It might have been the best we’ve had here.
“They got to know us and we got to know them. Part of it is to get guys better and ready for their season and part of it is recruiting and hopefully getting to know them better.”
Contact Brian Nielsen at bnielsen@jg-tc.com or 238-6856.
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