Shamrock football looks to build off last season’s success in Coach Adam Guerra’s third year as Head Coach. Last year’s team went 5-4 in a tough ESCC conference and just missed making the playoffs in the final game of the season.
This year, Coach Guerra returns quality senior players including OL/DL Joe Fanning, OL/DL Kwame Achampong and RB/LB Vince Waters, who all played big roles on defense last season. RB Eric Wozny, Jr., WR/DB AJ Fitzpatrick, DL/FB Carl Reina, LB Jake Nunez, RB/DB Michael Rahlfs and WR/DB Victor Matkowski are among other returning seniors who played really well last year.
“A lot of these guys may not have starting experience but they played a lot and that’s going to pay dividends this season,” Guerra said. “It’s also their third year in the system – on offense and defense. I think that’s sometimes underrated for high school kids but they’ve literally been running the same plays for three years. That pays dividends down the stretch.”
“On defense, we’re one of the more athletic teams – we’re not the biggest, and we’re not small, but we are athletic. We can all run,” Guerra added. “It’s really fun and a good thing in high school football to have guys who can all run.”
Senior Aidan Larson takes over the quarterback position from Jack O’Rourke. “We need a lot out of the QB position,” Guerra said. “Larson’s got to make good decisions. His number one job is to make sure he makes everyone around him better. I think if we play our run game and solid offense, with our defense, we will be able to get a lot of wins this season.”
The season kicks off at Evanston this Friday at 7:30 pm. Junior Varsity plays at 5 pm. The home opener is Saturday, September 7 vs. Glenbrook North at 7 pm. JV will play at 4 pm.
