fred@mahometnews.com

Twenty eight years.

Three hundred and twenty six games.

Those are some of the numbers in Dick Duval’s football coaching career at St. Joseph-Ogden.

His tenure, which ended with his retirement following the 2015 season, included spending approximately 2,600 days at the football field, whether for games or practices.

If that is put in terms of years, it’s a little more than seven.

Duval, who has been battling pancreatic cancer since April, 2020, is no longer coaching, but his presence at SJ-O will still be felt. And recognized.

Nearly 15 months after the St. Joseph-Ogden Board of Education voted to name the football grounds as Dick Duval Field, the official ceremony took place in front of a packed house on Friday night (Aug. 20) before the current Spartans’ squad conducted a preseason intrasquad scrimmage.

“As good of coach as Dick was, he is a better man and that’s something we all aspire to,” said football assistant Marshall Schacht, who worked on Duval’s staff for 23 years. “It’s appropriate they named the field that way.”

Current SJ-O football coach Shawn Skinner was convinced for years that his former coach would receive this honor.

“It wasn’t a matter of if they would do it, but when,” Skinner said.

***

Dick Duval wasn’t the first choice to be football coach at SJ-O when the search was on in 1988.

“They hired a man from Ohio to be the coach,” recalled a former player who was about to start his sophomore season at SJ-O, Shawn Skinner, “but he quit two weeks before the season.”

Duval was then offered the job, one which started so quickly after his hiring that for weeks he had to commute to the school from his home in the Kankakee area.

St. Joseph-Oden, an eastside Champaign County high school, didn’t have a reputation as a football hotbed at the time. In 14 of the previous 16 seasons leading up to 1988, the football team had a sub-.500 record.

There was one postseason playoff appearance in school history and that was only achieved the year before Duval arrived.

“Coach Duval came in under less-than-ideal circumstances,” Skinner said.

Some assistant coaches, upset with the ouster of the previous coach, chose not to return.

One of the first-year assistants who began working with Duval in August, 1988, was Bob Glazier.

Glazier worked with linebackers and wide receivers.

It’s the same Bob Glazier who, in 2021, is still coaching linebackers and wide receivers at SJ-O in his 34^th – and final – year on staff.

He learned quickly some of the special attributes that Duval brought to the program.

“He was very organized and had a tremendous attention to detail,” Glazier said. “He knew what he wanted to do, and he stuck with it.

“So many times now, guys go for the flavor of the day. People knew (when playing the Spartans) they were going to get a heavy dose of the tailback and play action.”

The transition into one of the state’s premier football programs didn’t happen overnight at SJ-O.

“His first year, for the first game, we had something like six plays (in the playbook),” Glazier said. “We were trying to figure things out and get something started.”

History showed how that worked out.

In the second year that Duval coached at SJ-O, the 1989 Spartans played in the Class 2A state championship game.

As he worked to build the football program, he aimed at something more. Duval wanted to see success across the board for all athletic programs at SJ-O.

“He truly believed you were not just a football player, but you could be a track star or a basketball or baseball player,” Glazier said. “That’s what turned things around for St. Joe.

“Athletes were doing more than one sport.”

Skinner – then a teen-ager who is now in his fifth year as football head coach at his alma mater – picked up on that mindset.

“It was the right time,” Skinner said. “I think kids and parents wanted that kind of leadership and guidance.

“There were not two- and three-sport athletes walking around the halls. He said, ‘If you’re good enough to play football, you should be doing other sports. You’re not just a football player.’”

Duval led by example. For 16 years, he also was the head baseball coach at SJ-O. His first 13 teams had winning records.

“And when the basketball team won state (in 2016), he was so proud because a lot of those kids were football players,” Schacht said.

***

The respect for the job Duval was doing, taking over a football program that Glazier said, “was floundering,” was noticed beyond the school district where he taught mathematics and coached.

In the fall of 1994, Tolono Unity hired a young football coach who found himself in a situation similar to what Duval faced the previous decade when he arrived at SJ-O.

Prior to Scott Hamilton’s coaching stint at Unity, the school had endured sub-.500 seasons in nine of the previous 12 years.

The southside Champaign County school had three playoff appearances on its resume.

“When I came here, it was very easy to tell the respect Dick had from everyone,” Hamilton said. “He was the face of the conference, the guy everyone looked up to.

“There are two ways you can go about things. You can sit and find excuses or you can find out what they are doing to be successful and try to do as many of those things as you can.

“When I started in ’94, it was the veteran against the young guy trying to get things turned around.”

Much like Duval, Hamilton got things rolling almost immediately.

His first Unity team made the playoffs as did the next 23 teams he coached at the school. Hamilton has guided five of his teams into state championship games.

When Unity and SJ-O met on the field, it was a fierce rivalry between neighboring schools.

The two coaches, however, became friends, which is how Hamilton describes their relationship.

“Two really good friends in a heated rivalry,” he said. “Up towards the end of his career, we’d do 7-on-7s and then go to Old Orchard for pizza and sit for hours talking football.

“More important than talking football, we talked about fun things we’ve experienced while working in Central Illinois.”

Hamilton believes the naming of Dick Duval Field was a natural choice.

“He changed the culture in this area when it came to football,” Hamilton said. “He demanded excellence, and he set the bar high.

“He’s probably as deserving as anybody.”

While Duval’s won-loss record was outstanding (251-75), Hamilton believes the recognition reflects more than his football coaching.

“He not only had good teams, but they were disciplined and did things the way you’re supposed to do things,” Hamilton said. “I believe he was rewarded equally for all of those things as much as the 250-plus wins.

“It’s for what he has done for so many people, not just at St. Joe, but for coaches and athletic directors around the area.”

**

For those looking for one word to describe Duval, Skinner offers his selection: “Consistent.”

Not only was Skinner a three-year player for Duval, he was an assistant on his staff the final four years that he coached.

“My oldest son (Shane) was a member of his last team that went to the Final Four (in 2013),” Shawn Skinner said. “The things he was saying before the Bloomington Central Catholic game (in the quarterfinals) and the Unity game (in the semifinals), he said to me as a junior in 1989.

“That’s because those lessons and those concepts don’t go out of style. That’s why he was able to endure. Those things don’t expire. They are universal.

“No matter the school or the sport you’re doing, they are truths.”

Duval helped make the playing experience so enjoyable that his former players want to help the tradition continue.

Among the current staff members for Skinner are former Spartans Nick Bialeschki, Ben Gorman, Dylan Koss and Dalton Walsh.

“We are molded in his philosophies, ideals and beliefs,” Skinner said.

Schacht points the finger directly at one person for the willingness of former players to return as coaches.

“The love and desire to come back is amazing,” Schacht said. “There truly is this family, and it all starts with Dick.

“Without Dick, it doesn’t go that way.”

Bialeschki teaches History at Danville High School and coaches the offensive and defensive lineman at SJ-O.

The 2006 graduate joined the Spartans’ coaching staff in 2012.

“A lot of the reasons I’m doing what I do are because of what he did for me,” Bialeschki said. “I love him more than he knows.”

Duval always had an emphasis on community and it was not a concept he merely gave lip service.

“When I came back (to coach), my wife and I had just started dating,” Bialeschki said. “In the football season, you are always busy.

“He showed me how to work through things as a husband and a father.”

In particular, Duval insisted that family time was of vital importance, even during the season.

“He always respected our family life and included family in his football functions,” Schacht said.

“A lot of programs have a lot of expectations, but there are a lot of sacrifices during the football season. Here, family was a priority. Every coach’s child has sat on Dick’s lap (at staff football functions).

“I don’t know if other coaching staffs have that because I have only coached here, but some of my friends in the coaching profession don’t understand that aspect.”

Schacht was schooled in Champaign and graduated from Central. His first connection to SJ-O was when he was assigned to do his student teaching there in the spring of 1994.

“I was a volunteer assistant in the baseball program for Dick and Bob (Glazier),” Schacht said. “They made me feel like family right away.

“Because of Dick and Bob, I participated in something special, and I haven’t left.”

While Duval’s players learned about football – and life – the assistants felt his teaching guidance as well.

“I became addicted to coaching with him,” Schacht said. “I learned about being a coach. I learned about being a man.

“He became like a second father.”

Schacht especially appreciated Duval’s management style.

“He never over-coached or over-reached into the different positions,” Schacht said.

***

St. Joseph-Ogden enjoyed unparalleled success during Duval’s tenure.

The football team never had a losing record in his 28 years on the sidelines. His teams won more than three-fourths of their games and he directed 25 consecutive teams into the postseason.

He coached teams into state championship games in four different decades. And, he is tied for 14^th on the all-time IHSA list for football coaching wins at one school with 251.

As the success mounted, so did Duval’s image.

Dalton Walsh – a current assistant coach – remembers entering high school in the fall of 2010 knowing that his football head coach was already enshrined in the state Hall of Fame.

“Coming in, I’d heard a lot of people say they were nervous, scared and intimidated (by Duval),” Walsh said. “I had those feelings as a freshman.”

Walsh soon gained a different perspective.

“He cares about his players,” Walsh said. “He pushed me to be a better player and a better person every single day.

“I’ve gotten to know him as a person the past few years and it’s cool to see that side.”

That side has little similarity to the image Walsh had pictured.

“As his kids say, he’s kind of a big teddy bear,” Walsh said. “The most special part for me is to know that side of him.”

Skinner said that Duval’s caring nature wasn’t reserved for those involved in athletics.

“He was easily one of the best teachers I’ve ever been around,” Skinner said. “If the best you could do was a C-plus, then you got a C-plus.

“If you were an A student and had a C-plus – if you were not living up to your potential – he sought you out and wanted to know why.

“He established expectations at the beginning, of doing things the right way. Some things he said in the middle of geometry were the same things he said on the field.”

Though intense on the field, Duval was fun-loving away from the game.

“On the field, he was all business,” Glazier said. “Away from the field, he liked to joke around and have fun.

“If anyone was having a problem, he’d be the first to step up and say, ‘How can I help?’ He’s a good guy who would go out of his way to make you feel welcome.”

Skinner said one lesson that Duval preached has remained with him throughout the decades.

“He taught me if you’re five minutes early, you’re late,” he said. “Get there 15 minutes early and show you’re invested and locked in.

“You know your expectations. Do your job, do what’s right whether it’s in math or on the football field.”

When that path is followed, Duval was confident that the end result would be positive.

“He really made school or life or sports that simple: ‘If you do the basic stuff well, you can’t ask for any more and most of the time, it will work out.’”

Duval remained committed to his players even following their graduations.

“One of the proudest moments in my life was as a senior in college (at MacMurray), he came to watch me play,” Skinner said. “I had one of the best games I had in college.

“He knows how much that meant to me.”

The football field at SJ-O is part of a bigger athletic area that – thanks to the urging of Duval – was named the Glenn Fisher Complex in honor of the school’s long-time janitor who cared for many of the facilities.

Now that Dick Duval Field has been officially christened, it’s up to the players to continue the football legacy.

Among the possible players in the future are three young boys whose grandfather is the person for whom the field has been named.

The post St. Joseph-Ogden names football field after Dick Duval first appeared on SJO Daily.

Historical dates don’t always reflect reality.

For example, children learn that slavery was abolished in 1863 when Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. 

But, because of the lack of Union soldiers in the Confederate state of Texas, approximately 250,000 persons were still enslaved, according to the History Channel. The proclamation, which stated “that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free” was not followed in Texas until June 19, 1865 when Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Texas to announce that the Civil War and slavery had ended.

Known to many African Americans as Independence Day, the day when enslaved Texans foud out they had been free for the two years prior, June 19 date became known as Juneteenth. 

It’s a word that the St. Joseph’s Jon Arteaga recently learned.

Arteaga, who organized the St. Joseph Peaceful Protest for Equality on June 5 in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, said that the whole picture wasn’t painted for him as a student when the abolition of slavery was taking place.

“A lot of that history is overlooked,” he said. 

“I didn’t even know about it until people started mentioning it with this movement that’s been happening “I’m just like, holy cow, this is really important. And I think it’s very important for us to highlight that especially in our community.”

After the June 5 protest, Arteaga joined forces with SJOnward, a racial equity group that was formed in 2017, but lost steam after hitting some roadblocks. Organizer Kelly Skinner reached out to Arteaga, asking him to become part of the leadership team.

The protest led to at least 80 new members in the SJOnward group, doubling their numbers.

With Skinner, Arteaga and others in the St. Joseph community working together, SJOnward now plans to host events every few weeks to keep the conversation going. The first event will be St. Joseph’s first Juneteenth Peace Walk & Community Rally on June 19 from 6 to 8 p.m.

“Juneteenth is widely accepted among the black community as an independence day, their freedom day,” Arteaga said. “We wanted to elevate that and kind of celebrate with them. This is an event that deserves to be celebrated, it should be a holiday. It should be something where people come together and talk about things that need to be talked about.”

The Juneteenth Peace Walk & Community Rally will begin on the south lawn of St. Joseph-Ogden High School where the Peaceful Protest was held. The group will march down Main Street to the St. Joseph Municipal Building where they will observe a moment of silence to remember the 8 minutes and 46 seconds that George Floyd endured before he passed away after having an officer’s knee on his neck as he laid on the ground.

The group will then move on to Kolb Park where speakers will share their stories and perspective. 

Community members like Sophie Gallo have made music and information less of a task by providing a microphone and speaker system. The group was also able to secure a generator.

St. Joseph-Ogden’s History Teacher Marshall Schacht will begin by talking about how black history is framed in textbooks and how it gets marginalized or abbreviated in lessons. He will also share additional information about the history of Juneteenth.Synthia Sydnor, a St. Joseph resident, will talk about her experiences growing up in St. Joseph and sundown towns. Then Heather will talk about her experiences as a bi-racial couple.

While the event will touch on some topics like upstaging and backstage and systemic racism, Arteaga said that SJOnward is already looking at smaller events and group settings where people can ask questions and have discussions about racism and racial equity.

Skinner plans to end the event with asking community members to make a verbal commitment to moving forward in the movement towards equality.

“A lot of the most effective times when people change their behaviors is when they do a public declaration of ‘this is something I’m going to change,’ Arteaga said. “Who knows how many people actually do it, but we hope that a lot of people do.”

SJOnward is also making the commitment to move forward with bi-weekly events that will focus on education, events, book groups, small groups and working with the school district to make effective changes. 

“We can teach our community as much as we want, we can hold endless amounts of events but if we don’t make real change, nothing’s actually going to change; we need to change the systems that are in place.”

The post St. Joseph to celebrate Juneteenth with community march to Kolb Park first appeared on SJO Daily.

It may not be a need that is always seen or known, but hard times are everywhere.

Even in his first year as Student Resource Officer at St. Joseph-Ogden High School, Champaign County Sheriff’s Deputy Shawn Hallett recognized that some students may not have everything they need.

He also knew that as teenagers, students might not be able to articulate their needs.

As a member of SJ-O’s Student Assistance Program, Hallett suggested that by setting up a centralized location within the school where students could grab something to eat or wear, some of those needs might be met.

Marshall Schacht, St. Joseph-Ogden’s Civics teacher and the coordinator of the Student Assistance Program, said that some of the students are struggling with poor nutrition, not having some of their needs met at home and a lack of a support system.

“If someone’s struggling in school, it might be due to reasons that are far beyond just not knowing how to organize their planner, it might be that they’re dealing with serious life issues,” Schacht said.

“We understand that St. Joseph, and the SJ-O community is affluent in comparison to some communities, but we do have people in need here,” he continued. “We have students that are in need here that don’t, maybe, know how to take advantage of those resources. And we wanted to provide those resources here at school.”

As part of the state-mandated service-learning component of any Civics course, the senior class stepped in to help provide the high school with SJO Shop and Go.

Only in its initial stages, the Shop and Go is currently open to students in the morning. The senior class takes turns making sure the non-perishable food items and clothing are ready for students who stop by to grab a quick bite for breakfast or a snack for the rest of the day.

Senior Lindsey Aden stepped up as point on the project.

“I feel like we have a very special senior class,” Aden said.

“I feel like we’re a pretty conglomerate group, and we all like hanging out with one another.”

While running the Shop and Go includes students who otherwise participate in school activities, Aden said the opportunity to work in the Shop and Go has brought forth some who may have been looking for a place to contribute.

“I’ve really seen people who you might not know that they would help other people or they might not stand out in other areas, and they help with this because they just like helping other people,” Aden said.

Within the first two weeks of opening, students have also approached Officer Hallett during school hours to get what they need.

Hallett said that there is going to be a time period where students have to learn that it’s okay to ask for help.

Aden said that the group is discussing what it might look like to have the Shop and Go open after school, too, in order to meet that need.

They are also taking note of what students who are coming might be in the upcoming months.

Schacht said that he knows there are students who don’t have a winter coat, personal hygiene supplies or those who will be without regular meals over winter break.

At this time, though, one of the problems is adequate space at the high school. Local churches have helped supply the group with non-perishable food items and the St. Joseph United Methodist Church provided a substantial monetary donation.

Schacht said that as the project evolves, it will be important to remember that the space they have been given for the Shop and Go also functions for many other groups and events throughout the year.

By focusing on serving the needs of students at SJ-O, Schacht believes that the space and project are manageable.

In recent years, Schacht has also seen that students, especially those without the resources they need, have become much more independent.

“We want to try to shoulder some of that burden and help them out,” he said. “Whether or not they’re getting the help at home or whether or not they need to seek another way for help, I’m hoping that we do reach those kids.”

Aden said that because the senior class is so diverse and involved, and because SRO Hallett and teachers at St. Joseph-Ogden are so connected, she believes that word can get out about the resources at Shop and Go.

“We kind of set it up (so that they will see) a friendly face,” Aden said.

“We’re hoping to, at least, so that way they’ll be able to come in here and get what they need without the pride factor and without feeling like they are embarrassed.”

The senior class is also looking forward to donating some of their Spartan gear so that students who may need clothing or may not have access or resources to purchase those items can obtain them.

Aden said that seniors, especially those who are the youngest in their family, are happy to give those items back to the school they love.

Schacht said that the Spartan seniors are also eager to give back to the community that they love.

In the fall of 2019, the Civics group was able to obtain the addresses of a few St. Joseph residents who may have fallen on hard times and were not able to rake their leaves.

“Without asking for anything, they did that and we still have some students who are actually going around on their own now and trying to find places to help out,” Schacht said.

The group is now looking to acquire addresses of residents who might need assistance shoveling their driveway after a snowfall.

With addresses, Schacht said that students will “have the ability of the students to go to them like on a snow day to be able to just carry their shovel down the street and take care of their neighbor.”

“If we could turn this community into kids that are willing to do that; and then when they go out to college and into the much bigger world, if they have that kind of attitude of looking out for their fellow person with understanding and compassion, there might be a need that they can address.

“Then we’re living in a much better world.”

To learn more about how to help with SJ-O’s Shop and Go, contact Marshall Schacht at mschacht@sjo.k12.il.us.

The post SJ-O Shop and Go helps to meet unspoken needs first appeared on SJO Daily.

By FRED KRONER
fred@mahometnews.com

St. Joseph, Ill. – St. Joseph-Ogden High School football captains went through a type of on-the-job training this summer.

As has been the Spartans’ custom for nearly a decade, long-time assistant coach Marshall Schacht coordinates a series of summer team-bonding and team-building activities.

From within the group of SJ-O students interested in playing football, four teams are picked, each with two captains.

The squad member selections are handled with a professional touch.

“Captains have a roster of players who have expressed that they plan to participate in football in the fall,” SJ-O head coach Shawn Skinner said. “Each team has a table and we simulate the ‘draft’ as a mock-up of what the NFL does.

“It’s a great way to introduce the summer workouts, and by having every player assigned to a team, there is a level of accountability to your captains that drafted you and your ‘summer’ teammates.”

Players earn points throughout the summer for attendance at all of the team activities such as weight room, seven-on-seven and Friday morning conditioning. Players also earn a point for gaining weight on their maximum lifts in the bench press, squat, deadlift and power cleans.

“It’s a chance to help broaden the strength and conditioning of the players,” Skinner said, “while at the same time putting them into a competitive situation and stressful situation. We can observe how individual players handle the various situations they are placed in.

“First and foremost, it is an opportunity where the players must lead themselves and work together and support the various members of their teams.”

Though many of the competitions are individual in nature, they also serve to promote the ‘summer’ team as well as the entire football program.

“We all benefit from the involvement as football is truly the most TEAM sport there is,” Skinner said. “Every player realizes they have a value, as the more present they are, the more points they generate for themselves and their summer team. Ultimately, we all get better from the summer competitions.”

One unique aspect is that multi-sport athletes are not penalized by participating in other summer activities.

“Multiple-sport athletes get points for attending camps of other sports that may require them to miss days from our activities,” Skinner said. “For example, basketball players missing a day because they are at a shootout with the SJ-O basketball team still can receive points for their football team by competing elsewhere.

“We WANT and NEED our players to participate in other sports, so we believe it’s important to acknowledge when they participate in those activities.”

Crayton Burnett, Blake Dable and Brayden Weaver are three athletes who will serve as football captains in 2019. They were the top choices in voting done by the team.

The SJ-O coaching staff will select a fourth captain on a weekly basis.

Skinner likes the idea of adding a rotating captain.

“This is a way to acknowledge and reward players throughout the season,” he said. “It could be a player who never misses practices, but may not get as much playing time for a variety of reasons.

“Multiple factors will go into the selection process. Our captains are first and foremost the representatives of our team, school and community. We expect them to be one of the lines of communication between the team and coaches.”

Dable, who didn’t miss any summer workouts, found the off-season activities advantageous in helping to establish leadership qualities.

“We have a draft where we pick our teammates who we believe will give us the best chance to win the summer,” Dable said. “Throughout the summer, we do various challenges every Wednesday that helps whoever wins, to win the summer in total points.

“During these challenges, it is the captains’ job to decide who is best for certain events. The captains have to control their team and show why they were chosen as captains for that summer. During the summer we accomplish three months of basic team bonding where we learn how to connect with each other in the best way possible, which really shows during the season. It also shows everyone who is really committed to the team.”

The Wednesday competitions start at 6 a.m. and last about 90 minutes.

The events range from tire flips to relay races to rope tug of wars to weighted-sled push and pulls to a weighted medicine ball toss to a variety of weightlifting drills.

There is more than pride at stake for the series of summer contests.

“The winning team gets to eat first at our Friday morning team breakfasts,” Skinner said. “We believe this is a valuable part of our off-season program and the players really embrace the opportunities to come together and work.

“It wouldn’t be possible without the time and organization that Coach Schacht puts into the program every summer.”

An additional challenge this summer was participation at an obstacle course that SJ-O graduate Jim Risley has put together at his rural Mahomet home.

Weaver, a repeat football captain, saw tremendous growth and progress throughout the summer.

“Every day in the weight room this summer I would stay well after my own workout was finished to try and help those who were not finished yet with their workout,” Weaver said. “It was important to me that everyone was working out and not simply there to be there.

“This summer has been the best team summer I’ve ever been a part of. The chemistry that this group has, especially the senior class, I think will prove to have a major effect on the outcome of games in the fall. And with all the younger kids falling in and helping the team in their own way, I think the team really has come together well.”

Burnett is the lone junior among the SJ-O trio of captains. He, too, saw positive strides made during the summer.

“We had team competitions on Wednesday mornings and those brought out my leadership qualities a lot by pushing people to be their best and be hard working and leading by example,” Burnett said. “A lot was accomplished this summer.

“We have worked really hard at our seven-on-sevens and in the weight room. There were many leaps forward on maxes.”

Weaver said previous captains were good role models.

“As a freshman and sophomore, everyone looks up to the juniors and seniors and emulates a lot of what they do,” Weaver said. “St. Joseph has a very rich history in every sport, not just football, and taking on the title of captain brings a lot of weight and significance to your name.

“I have learned that when you take the field with ‘Spartans’ on your chest, you have to take the field with the years of experience and success that have proceeded you. As a repeat captain, it is truly an awesome feeling because growing up I always imagined myself calling the coin toss and walking out onto the field first.

“Not a lot of people get to say that they represent a team in this way and I’ve had the privilege of doing it for two years now and I cannot wait to continue to try and bring success to the program with the rest of my team.”

Dable said he will follow the lead set by former team captains.

“I have experienced many different types of leadership,” Dable said. “I have learned that the most successful people in that position have been the ones who constantly motivated their teammates to be better and were always trying to set an ideal expectation for the team.”

Burnett expects the captaincy duties will extend beyond the playing field.

“Some of the roles that I see myself taking would be making sure everything is done the right way on the field, but also making sure everyone is getting in the weight room and doing their schoolwork,” Burnett said. “I have learned a lot from the past captains and listening to them lead and watching them carry themselves, has taught me well.

“It will help me be a vocal leader and a better role model to the younger players in the organization.”

Dable, a two-way lineman, also believes that eyes are on the captains beyond when the games are being played.

“Being a leader also makes me a better person overall because I know that I need to be a good person in order to set an example for the team” Dable said. “As one of the captains, there are many roles and responsibilities that you have to be involved with.

“Some of the most important roles are being someone who your teammates can look up to and being a responsible role model for not only the team, but for the whole community.”

Football is a passion for the Spartan captains.

“Ever since my fourth-grade year when I first started playing football, I’ve not been able to wait for fall to come around and bring another season,” Weaver said. “It is hard to believe that this is the last year I will wear the colors of SJ-O.”

A linebacker, Weaver hopes to play the game beyond high school, but for now is focusing on the nine-game regular-season, which will start at 7 p.m. on Aug. 30 at home against St. Thomas More.

SJ-O is coming off a 5-5 season.

“Team success as of the past few years has not been where we want it,” Weaver said. “And now as a senior captain, the first goal for me is to fight and try and win as many games as we can for the final season I get to play alongside all of my brothers that I’ve gotten the opportunity to play alongside since I was 9.”

In their self-evaluations, the three SJ-O football captains see traits in themselves that will be helpful in their upcoming roles.

“I would describe myself as someone who is very focused,” Dable said. “I would say that I am also someone who is very understanding and easy to talk to. I think one of my best qualities that helped me grow into a leader is not being selfish and always putting the team in front of myself.”

Added Weaver: “I really always go out of my way to be nice to people and see the world through the eyes of others. It is much easier to be nice than it is to be otherwise.

“I really pride myself in my grades and it is very important to me that I can balance my social and sporting life with my academics. I think naturally if you try and help people as much as I do, you tend to mold yourself into a leader position.

“I love being the one that the team looks up to and comes to with any issues or anything that they have because I really love being one of the cogs in the team. I try to help as many people as possible and set an example for the future and current Spartans.”

Burnett, the quarterback, describes himself as someone who “always tries to stay positive and push people to do their best. I would also say that I am hardworking and lead by example. That has helped me become a leader on the football team.

“Being a captain for the football team comes with a lot of responsibility. I am ready to take on the responsibilities of being one of the captains.”

The newly elected captains appreciate the vote of confidence from their peers.

“This year it is very humbling to have received the honor considering this season my teammates and I voted on who they believed should represent the team,” Weaver said. “The trust that my teammates instilled in me and my fellow captains is a big uplift and is very cool.”

Burnet expressed similar feelings.

“It means a lot to me to have my teammates respect me and vote for me to be one of the captains on the football team,” he said.

SJ-O will play five of its first eight games at home this year. In two of their road trips, the Spartans won’t leave Champaign County, traveling to Rantoul and to Unity, in Tolono.

The post Burnett, Dable and Weaver named 2019 SJ-O Football Captains first appeared on SJO Daily.