April 27, 2024
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Flanagan-Cornell/Woodland enters 8-man season wiser, stronger

By J.T. Pedelty
Flanagan-Cornell/Woodland junior Kesler Collins high-fives head coach Todd Reed after a hard-nosed first-down catch and run Friday, Oct. 7, 2022, at the Wood Shed in rural Streator.

Flanagan-Cornell/Woodland's Kesler Collins high-fives head coach Todd Reed after a hard-nosed first-down catch and run last season at the Wood Shed in rural Streator. (Katy Arnold )

When it comes to improving on last fall’s disappointing 2-7 campaign, the Flanagan-Cornell/Woodland Falcons feel it’s all about time.

The time a young team spent learning on the field last season, and the time the Falcons have spent in the weight room ever since.

Now, the Falcons believe it’s their time.

FCW opens in Flanagan against West Central to start the Illinois 8-Man Football Association season on Friday, Aug. 25. When they do, the Falcons will be returning six starters on both offense and defense who are another year wiser and, thanks to a team-wide commitment to the weight room, stronger.

“Our strengths coming into this season are experience from last year’s team and the amount of time kids put in the weight room in the offseason,” fifth-year head coach Todd Reed (18-17 record) said. “We knew at the end of last year we had to get stronger to be able to compete every game.”

Of the returners for the Falcons, seniors are expected to lead the way.

That includes RB/TE Kesler Collins, OL/DL Drew Novotney, OL/DL Emerson Weber, TE Kenny Eutsey, OL/DL Noah Fink, OL/DL Josh Lane, OL/DL Logan Dennis, OL/DL Logan Steinquist, WR/DB Isaac Follmer and RB/DB Payton Quaintance, who’s expected to be a workhorse for the Falcons after sharing carries a year ago with the graduated Jesse Simpson.

“Payton Quaintance will be getting a majority of the carries at tailback, as he has a year of varsity experience under his belt,” Reed said. “We need to improve offensively by holding our blocks and taking care of first level before our linemen/running backs climb to the second level.”

Also back on offense are last year’s backup QB Seth Jones (“great arm, smart football IQ,” Reed said), C/DL Aydan Radke, WR/DB Zandar Radke and OL/DLs Blake Ruddy and Calix Stout. The Falcons’ attack will be bolstered by the likes of RB/LB Brennan Edens and OL/DL Blake Ruddy, both of whom missed last season with injuries, sophomore RB/LB Leelynd Durbin and a trio of speedy receivers — Connor Reed, Jonathan Moore and Jaron Follmer — who have shown playmaking ability throughout the summer.

On the defensive side, expect linebackers Toby Hansen and Collins along with defensive back Quaintance and lineman Aydan Radke to be the backbone of a unit looking to improve on the flinch-inducing 48.8 points per game it allowed last season. The Falcons admittedly had a fierce schedule, playing seven of the I8FA’s playoff teams, and scoring is higher in the wide-open eight-man game, but that number will need to go way down for FCW to realize its goal of returning to the eight-man playoffs for the fourth time since making the move to eight-man following three consecutive winless 11-man seasons from 2016-18.

“We need to improve defensively by swarming to the ball and gang-tackling,” said Reed, “keep our linebackers free to flow to the ball and work at getting better on our pass coverage. …

“[Our] team goal is making the playoffs and taking it one game at a time to get there. Our kids are hungry this year and have worked hard to get to where they are today. Now it is time for them to see the rewards on the football field!”

Flanagan-Cornell/Woodland will open the season with three consecutive home contests. The homestand starts with the aforementioned opener at Flanagan followed by St. Thomas More visiting Woodland on Sept. 1 and Milford-Cissna Park coming to Flanagan on Sept. 8.