Xander Salazar ended his junior season in a spot that no football player ever wants to be in.

He had his St. Charles East jersey on, but over a hoodie and sweatpants on the sidelines.

It was a fit that he wore in the final three games of the season after suffering a concussion during the first half against St. Charles North in Week 6.

Initially, Salazar was jealous of the fact that he didn’t get to finish out the season.

Heading into his senior year, though, he’s grateful now.

“Part of me believed that I let the team down, but that’s also what helped me become better,” Salazar said. “It just helped me grow in a way. It sounds kind of weird saying that, but it made me want to take it to another level and be better than I was before.”

It’ll be a hard bar to raise. In his six games as a junior, Salazar rushed for 567 yards on 104 carries and scored seven touchdowns. In all three full games against DuKane Conference opponents, Salazar rushed for over 100 yards and had multiple scores.

But if anyone knows how the 5-foot-6, 165-pound back performs under pressure, it’s Saints coach Nolan Possley.

“He’s the type of guy that if there’s any pressure on him, he’s going to run with it and he won’t shy away,” Possley said “So his leadership is next level. He’s one of the best leaders I’ve ever coached. I have no doubt that any amount of pressure he has, he’s earned it, and he wants to go and definitely have a huge year.”

Salazar’s injury forced him to miss games against some of the conference’s best in Batavia, Geneva and Wheaton Warrenville South for the Saints, which finished 2-7 for the second time in three seasons under Possley.

“Especially with the game of football, you never know what’s going to happen,” Salazar said. “I’ve been talking to lineman and we’ve been working together, building that chemistry. So really just as long as I give it my all, follow the game plan and play as a team, then you never know what can happen on Friday night.”

Running back won’t be the only offensive position where the Saints will have no lack of experience with wide receivers Sheko Gjokaj and Gavin Matejko both returning for their third season on varsity.

For Gjokaj, who’s led East in both receptions and receiving yards in each of the past two seasons, the goal is simple — win the most games they’ve had in a season since 2019.

“The last two years we’ve gone 2-7 and 1-8, and I’ve really seen what went wrong in those seasons,” Gjokaj said. “It’s really good for the three years of experience, because I can come into this season knowing what to do right and what we need to change.”

While the experience is a plus, the Saints also boast a roster filled with speed. And after spending the summer working with track and field coach Ben Provencher, it’s got the team feeling a bit faster compared to last season.

“If all the receivers aren’t doing well, we have Xander, who’s quick and gets the job done,” Matejko said. “And all of our receivers, I’m super confident in us. We’re fast. We can all be threats around the field. So I’m really excited to see it all come together on the field.”

The Saints will have some new faces around the field, including at quarterback with sophomore Cruz Herrera taking the starting role. But with the amount of experience on the field, especially at the skill positions, the veterans feel that the sophomore pass-slinger will have very little to worry about.

“Having a sophomore at the quarterback position is a big one,” Gjokaj said. “So I think us having the playmakers we do this year, and a majority of our offense coming back from last year, I think he’s fitting into a perfect spot. And I think the playmakers around him will help him out.”

For now though, St. Charles East’s focus is on their Week 1 game on the road against Lincoln-Way Central, who started last season with a 56-40 win over the Saints before making it to the Class 7A state semifinals.

With the amount of senior leadership from guys like Salazar throughout the roster and the mindset of working one day at a time, Possley thinks that the 2025 season could be a program-changer.

“These guys want to go out and prove everybody that they’ve really brought Saints football back, and this is a group I’m excited and believe that they can do it,” Possley said. “They have truly owned every day. And so for them, I think it’s just competing every day. Expectations for them and for me are really high, but we’ve got to take it one day at a time.”