Titans Rely on Strong Senior Leadership As Team Heads to Playoffs

One is elusive and vocal. The other is fleet of foot, and quiet in demeanor. But together Glenbrook South senior tailbacks John Strickland and Kyle Kwasniewski are giving opponents a reason to take notice.  

The running backs, whom veteran coach Mike Noll called "our best two players, no doubt" earlier this season, have taken turns finding the end zone for an offense that averaged 33.6 point per game during the 2010 regular season. It has been an up-and-down season for the Titans, who started 0-2, ripped off five wins in a row in resounding fashion, then dropped their final two contests to finish 5-4.

During the midseason winning streak, GBS averaged nearly 45 points a game, and the defense pitched two shutouts and allowed only 21 points total.

"We got healthier and started practicing better," Noll said before the Week Seven win over Niles West. "We played two really good teams the first two games and we weren't ready for that. We were young, inexperienced and injured early. When you start out 0-2, it's a test of your character, of your mettle, [but] I think we passed."

Strickland has caught fire since getting off to a bit of a slow start. He's carried the ball 150 times for 1,058 yards and 10 touchdowns, including a career-high 258 yards and two scores on 29 carries against Evanston. In addition to being a constant threat carrying or catching the ball out of the backfield, he leads the team with four interceptions, and caused a fumble that he returned for a touchdown against rival Maine South.

"I love running the ball, but defense is the best because you get to hit people, intercept the ball," Strickland said. "Offense is about scoring points, but it's more about setting the tone on defense."

A speedster who hits the seams hard and has been an running back in the GBS system from day one, Kwasniewski missed much of last season's Class 8A quarterfinal run due to injury. In 2010, however, his speed to the edge has allowed him to score touchdowns on the ground, through the air, even on special teams (a 93-yard kickoff return against Niles North). Both backs line up a few yards to either side behind quarterback Matt Jenkins, and when one is toting the rock, the other is leading the way to help open up holes in the defense.

"We have good senior leadership, and it's nice to have a senior blocking for you," Kwasniewski said of Strickland. "We do a lot of [play fakes], and it offers a good alternative for the defenses."

In addition to an outstanding running attack, the Titans have found a good connection in Jenkins' favorite new target, wide receiver Max Pompilus.  The aerial tandem provides GBS with the type of offensive balance it hopes to achieve every game, Noll added.

"We don't want either one of them carrying [the ball] 25-30 times, we'd like them both carrying [it] around 15," Noll said. "Now when we get in a big game, we will look at what the defense is giving us and ride the hot hand. If one guy has to carry it 20-25 times in a big game, so be it."

This is the first time GBS has entered the class 8A playoffs with a 5-4 record— it's worst record since the IHSA playoffs were expanded to eight classes in 2001. Second half struggles have doomed GBS during their current two-game losing streak. In a game that decided the Central Suburban League South championship, the Titans were blown out in the second half of a 55-16 defeat to rival Maine South. In week nine, underdog Evanston erased a 31-0 halftime deficit to stun the Titans, 34-31.

Now, the 11th-seeded Titans are hoping to regain some of their midseason magic as they head to sixth-seeded Barrington to open the state playoffs Friday night. Both teams come in a bit banged up and on the heels of consecutive tough losses. It's a difficult game on the road against a good Broncos team, but Noll and his players hope strong senior leadership and skill at tailback will help them get the job done.