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Marton will lead Streamwood into battle

The Streamwood offense had several position vacancies heading into fall practice but quarterback wasn't one of them.

For the third straight season that spot belongs to Brendon Marton, now a 6-foot-5, 200-pound senior.

And as Marton goes, so go the Sabres.

"It all starts with him," third-year Streamwood coach Don Guindon said. "He's been our leader in the off-season. Even in basketball season last winter and spring he was getting kids in the weight room. And he was getting guys out to throw with him, which is good because we're really young. If we're going to go places, he'll be the one leading us there."

Marton and the Sabres finished 3-6 last season, 1-5 in the Upstate Eight Conference's River Division. He completed 54 of 129 attempts for 853 yards and 8 touchdowns, was intercepted 5 times and scored 1 rushing touchdown in 27 attempts.

Protecting Marton are returning bookend tackles Julian Flores (6-3, 270) on the left side and Elijah Beach (6-4, 240) on the right. An athletic junior, Beach runs the 40-yard dash in 4.75 seconds and can dunk a basketball, Guindon said.

Junior Jamel Sheppard (5-10, 170) played more defense than offense as a sophomore but he and senior Erik Jopek (6-0, 175) will be common targets for Marton along with tight end Jordan Ramirez (6-1, 175).

The defense returns more experience. Two-way starter Beach is back at end alongside senior lineman Austin Lukaszewski (5-11, 235). Ramirez and junior Adrian Rico (5-10, 175) return as outside linebackers. Sheppard anchors a young secondary.

Streamwood opens with nonconference games against Maine West (away) and Mundelein before embarking on its final season in the Upstate Eight Conference River Division. The UEC will contract by four schools next year and add Glenbard South to form a 10-team conference without divisions, in the process reuniting the five District U-46 high schools in the same conference for the first time since UEC division play began in 2010-11.

The Sabres start the 2017 season with 75 players in the program - 50 sophomores, juniors and seniors combined and 25 freshmen.

"It's not the biggest roster and when we've played some of the bigger schools like Batavia, St. Charles North and St. Charles East the last couple of years it's been tough because we're usually outsized," Guindon said. "We're not the biggest team but we're not the smallest either, and our kids are going to play as hard as they can. This is who we have and this is who we are, so let's push each other to be the best we can be."

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