Countdown to kickoff: Boylan not resting on their laurels after outright NIC-10 title
The Titans are putting their focus on 2023 after a successful 2022.
ROCKFORD, Ill. (WIFR) - If you were to talk to this year’s Boylan team, you would have never guessed they were outright NIC-10 champs a year ago.
“We’re not really thinking about last year,” Boylan RB/LB Ryan Starck said. “We’re just focusing on ourselves getting stronger in the weight room and faster on the field, everyone’s working together and getting after it every single day getting better.”
The Titans enter as champions of the conference after one of the wildest finishes the conference has seen. Entering the final week of the regular season, the NIC-10 could have seen four teams tie for first until Boylan shut the door on that conversation with a win on the road at Freeport to claim the outright title.
“We learned what it takes to win something like that,” Boylan WR/CB Mason Caltagerone said. “But we’re not really focused on that right now we’re more focused on week one, our first opponent, coming out and going 1-0 this week.”
As for this year’s group, the team welcomes a lot of new faces on both sides but still retains a strong nucleus.
“It’s always nice to have the quarterback (Connor Dennis) back, it’s always nice to have a Rasheed (Johnson) come back and play, we have a (offensive) lineman or two in that same mix,” Boylan head coach John Cacciatore said. “While you want to say things are in place, they’re never in place.”
Meanwhile, on defense, while the secondary has experience, a majority of the linebackers and defensive linemen will be first-time starters.
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