Stagg Football Aims to Get Off on the Right Foot

Stagg Chargers

Coach: Brian Buglio, fourth year (7-20 career record).

Last year: 0-9 overall, 0-7 in the Southwest Suburban Red.

Opener: Aug. 26 vs. Thornton Fractional North, 7 p.m.

Outlook: "I expect our team to be very competitive," Stagg coach Brian Buglio said. "Our goals have been set high and our expectations are just as high. Week 1 is a very important week for us. We feel like earning a victory in our opener will really put us in a great position to meet the rest of our goals."

Offense

Backs: QB Nick Murphy returns for his senior season. Running backs Joey Avitia and Matt Klimasz will split duties. Klimasz also started last year. Fullbacks Joe Falk and Ehab Refati are the junior big men. Other starting candidates include Don Randick, Jeff Henderson, Mo Mansour, and Vito Cali.

Line: Nick Gonzalez and Declan Harty are seniors at tackle and will lead this group. Rounding out the line are guards Alberto Nunez and Vince Jakelski and centers Nick Loughlin and Jacob Knaperek. The senior linemen saw limited action a year ago and will need to adjust to the speed of varsity play in a hurry.

Tight ends/receivers: This senior-heavy position group will be led by Paul Schall, Will Maske and Khalid Abour.

Defense

Linebackers: Seniors Dan Pryzbylski and Mo Mansour are the only returning starters in this group. Juniors Jeff Henderson, Ehab Refati and Brad Burrell round it out the LB corps.

Line: The starting four will be juniors Victor Cieslak and Joe Julien and seniors Ryan Dahleen and Abdulla Hasan.

Secondary: Senior leaders include Will Maske, Allen Jones and Pat McHale. The juniors that will see time are Don Randick, John Sinclair and Ossama Alowaid.

Coach Brian Buglio said: "We need to be disciplined in everything that we do, in all phases of our game. Most importantly, we need to limit our mistakes."