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Football: Hoffman Estates huddles up with strength in numbers

Mike Donatucci looked to the future two years ago when, because of low numbers on his Hoffman Estates sophomore program, he shut that team down completely.

But instead of not having a place for his sophomores to play, Donatucci brought them up to work with the varsity team and staff.

"This was the best-case scenario for our kids," Donatucci said. "If we continued with our sophomore program, we would have had kids hurt and most likely, never coming back to play football.

"This way we can monitor their progress and we can get them in our JV games."

Well, those sophomores are now seniors, and Donatucci has 62 players out for football as the Hawks, who are coming off consecutive 4-5 seasons, look to qualify for the playoffs.

"I am happy with where we are at," Donatucci said. "It has been a good summer. Since we are in the third year of this, it is a lot easier. We are not fighting the same battles."

The Hawks will need to retool quite a bit on offense after losing their backfield and top wide receiver to graduation last year. Despite that, Donatucci feels that his offense can be even more explosive this season thanks to wide receivers Jayvon Blisset and Danny Banahan.

Austin Coalson takes over at quarterback, and Donatucci likes his athleticism and ability to throw the ball.

"He is a lefty and reminds me of (former Fremd quarterback Pat Brown)," Donatucci said. "He is a very heady kid and is doing a great job for us."

Jaylyn Johnson, Tyae Grace and Jaylin Alexander will be rotating at the running back spot while Mishan Bradford will be at fullback.

The trio will find an inexperienced but smart offensive line of Francisco Hurtado (6-0, 265), Brandon Sheppard (5-11, 245), Ryan Edwards (5-10, 230), Angel Fernandez (5-9, 270) and Jorge Morales (6-1, 256), the only senior in the group, to run behind. Three of the starters are AP students, which gives Donatucci some flexibility in blocking schemes.

"We lost a ton on the offensive line," Donatucci said. "But we have smart kids and that helps."

Defensively, the Hawks will be flying high in the defensive backfield, which is their most experienced unit. Anijel Jones, Trevon Hall and Clevontae Jackson will all have experience and will keep teams honest in their passing game.

Alexader returns to play outside linebacker and will be joined by Jimmy Burks in the middle and AJ Wiebel on the other side. La'Mere Barnes will anchor the defensive line and will be joined by a group that includes Eric Delaney, Dan Ferina, Shawn Brown and Bradford.

"Despite our numbers, depth is still an issue," Donatucci said. "There has been some great leadership shown by our seniors and it is paying off."

Even with a team that has nine seniors, Donatucci knows that the hard work and dedication to the program these past three years show dividends.

"If our big guys come through we will be fine," Donatucci said. "We also need to stay injury-free - like everyone else."

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