Westminster Christian eyes another playoff berth
Most of the guys who carried the mail for Westminster Christian's 2015 playoff team are back.
That has fourth-year Westminster Christian coach John Davis thinking neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night can stay his Warriors from the swift completion of their appointed postseason rounds.
"We graduated half our team, but the guys who handled the ball 75 percent of the time are back, and that's a good place to start," Davis said. "If we stay healthy, I think we can make the playoffs again."
A pair of four-year starters return in running back Xavier Brown and wide receiver Scotty Graziano, and quarterback Tannor Park (6-foot-2, 155 pounds) is healthy after breaking his ankle in the final regular-season game of 2015.
Graziano is a two-time all-Northeastern Athletic Conference selection who does it all. In the last two seasons alone at wide receiver, he has 61 receptions for 1,112 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Last year, Graziano also rushed 34 times for 238 yards and 7 touchdowns and completed 8 of 21 passes for 173 yards and a score. Oh, and he played safety for the Warriors throughout.
Graziano is joined on both sides of the ball by Brown, the team's leading rusher and leading tackler a year ago. At running back, the 5-foot-11, 190-pound senior hopes to build on a junior season in which he gained 758 yards and scored 11 touchdowns in 71 attempts (10.7 avg.).
Park is a quarterback who takes care of the ball. In 9 games he threw 13 touchdowns and was intercepted just once. He completed 44 of 72 passes for 942 yards and rushed 52 times for 321 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Up front, the line returns left tackle Jake Cox and center John John Davis, the latter a long-snapping specialist rated No. 23 nationwide in the Class of 2017, according to his coach and father. Davis has a walk-on offer to long snap from Miami (Fla.) but is seeking better offers, dad said.
Another lineman, Nick Dumeras, worked his way into the rotation last season and is expected to start on both sides of the ball.
The offense could get a lift from Jake Miller, a transfer student from South Elgin.
Because the Class 1A Elgin private school will field a team of 19 players, several must play both ways. Graziano and Brown are mainstays of Westminster's 3-5 defense in the secondary and at linebacker, respectively.
Sam Huguely, who saw significant playing time last season, will start at cornerback. Davis returns at linebacker alongside Brown while Cox and Dumeras fortify the defensive front.
The program lost some quality coaches in defensive coordinator Terry Schabert and former Hampshire coach Dan Cavanaugh. Former Top Gun coach Elijah Pollack takes over as defensive coordinator.
"The usual suspects in our league like Chicago Hope and Ottawa Marquette will be tough, but I think we can make the playoffs," John Davis said. "I think if we can keep from doing anything dumb against teams that are our equals and we have a really good showing against some of the conference powerhouses, we have a good shot."