Staying sharp in the heat
By MARK JOHNSON
-
mjohnson@morrisdailyherald.com
Though the football season opener Aug. 28 at Glenbrook South is still about a month away, the Minooka Indians have kept busy during the past few weeks.
Like many other teams, the Indians have spent the summer participating in 7-on-7 passing camps to sharpen their skills. Minooka kicked off the summer schedule in mid-June when it participated at one such camp hosted by the University of St. Francis.
Last weekend, the Indians went to Chicago for a couple of nights for a camp at the St. Xavier University. They recently returned from a camp in Bolingbrook, and ended their 7-on-7 season this weekend with a camp at Joliet Township.
"I think we've confirmed some things, in our own minds," said Minooka coach Bert Kooi. "One of them is that we should have a solid linebacking corps, with some depth there. We have some corners returning for us. These things have reinforced confidence in us that we should be pretty good defensively."
Several defensive players have made positive impressions on Kooi during the camps.
"I think Tyler Hoeg has demonstrated this summer he can be one of our better defensive backs," said Kooi. "Brandon Haase is back for a third time at linebacker, and we know what to expect from him. He should be a ton. Timmy Meier had a great summer. He played linebacker for us last year, and it's really his spot. He's earned control over it, as has Matt Powers, so that's three of our linebackers. We have a young kid, Parker Parzych, with the inside track to be our Sam linebacker. He'll do a nice job, and we have some other guys who can step in and do a nice job, so we have a little bit of depth at the linebacker spot."
Hoeg considers the summer work helpful for his individual development.
"I feel like I've gotten a lot better since last year," he said. "My tackling is a lot better. When we got a bunch of Cover 1 reps, that made it a lot easier."
Like Kooi, Hoeg is impressed with the Minooka linebackers.
"I'd probably say our linebackers are the most improved, because we have more senior leadership there than we did," he said. "Matt Powers, Timmy Meier and Brandon Haase are good at that."
Minooka is more unsettled at this point on the offensive side.
"Obviously that (offense) has been a big concern," said Kooi. "Mitchell Brozovich was hurt in baseball, and it's basically hit or miss as to whether he'll be back this season. We have a senior coming back with really very little experience at the quarterback spot. He played there some his freshman and sophomore years and then got moved last year, so he's a guy we're trying to get retrained back there. He's a great leader and very athletic, and that's Cory Krakowski. He's been pretty spot-on this summer, learning and doing what we ask him to do."
If Krakowski can stabilize the quarterback position, Kooi is confident the Indians can piece together a productive backfield.
"We've got our two running backs and are trying to find a fullback," said Kooi. "Jake Bukovina, who moved in from Ohio, he looks like the front-runner. Garrett May is one of our running backs, and he was, I think, our second-leading rusher behind Elliott Allen last year. Along with Garrett, we have Kyle Banks, who was one of the leading rushers on our very successful sophomore team last year. Cody Omatto has also done some nice things."
At their most recent 7-on-7 performance, the Indians gave their best effort, according to Hoeg.
"Bolingbrook was probably our best one," he said. "I think we're starting to see that our defense can be pretty solid. And lately, our offense is starting to come along."
