CN100 Sports Football Preview: Week 1 - Notre Dame vs. Thornton

HARVEY – Notre Dame and Thornton each went 8-1 in the regular season last year before suffering disappointing losses in the first round of the playoffs.

This year, the two teams will kick off their seasons on CN100 against each other at 1 p.m. Saturday. The game will be shown at Noon and 4 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 28, and 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 30. You can also watch it anytime in HD with Xfinity On Demand by clicking Get Local and CN100. X1 users, look for Get Local under the Xfinity Services tab.

In 2015, his first year at the helm for Thornton, Dontrell Jackson continued the fine tradition of longtime head coach Bill Mosel who spent 29 years at the school and led the Wildcats to a state title in 1990. Jackson, one of Mosel’s former quarterbacks, helped his alma mater return to the playoffs for a second straight year.

Jackson will be breaking in a new starter under center in senior Lamari Battle, and he intends to start one running back and four receivers in their offense.

Senior Anthony Hayes gets the nod in the backfield after rushing for 310 yards last year, third on the team. Thornton had a pair of 1,000-yard rushers in 2015.

All four receivers are seniors, but lack varsity experience. Allante Davis and William Storey are among the starters. They also start on defense at cornerback. Donnell Martin and Taron Williams will figure into the passing game, as well.

The Wildcats have a young, fast defense. All three starting linebackers are juniors (Deondre Brown, Delonte Jones and Derrius Matthews). A pair of juniors start on the defensive line, as well (Jamal Jones and Djuanyel Thompson). Thornton does have two experienced safeties in seniors Derrick Love Jr. and Swasey Rankin.

Notre Dame has reached the playoffs in nine of the past 10 years, and the Dons are hoping to return with a new quarterback as Junior Tom Drabik takes over under center this year.

Jake Sarnecki and Mike Valdez, who also starts at defensive back, fill the backfield as running backs. Senior Brendan Cravens and junior Ray Neylon get the nod at receiver with big senior Brendan Niewinski lining up at tight end.

“We still have some positions up in the air,” Notre Dame coach Michael Hennessey said. “Our expectations are to get off to a good start and be tough and competitive in the (East Suburban Catholic). To do that, we need a balanced offense and an offense that keeps possession and moves the chains.”

The Dons have some experience returning on defense. Up front, junior Kyle Gallagher and senior AJ McInerney start at defensive end with seniors Nick Prozanski and Joe Zanca taking care of the middle.

Two seniors (Tom Hackett and Lucas Polakow) and junior Jake Martin will man the linebacker positions.

Seniors Matt Doherty and Aidan Flood join Valdez in the defensive backfield, along with Ty Gavin.

“Defensively, we need to play relentlessly hard and communicate properly,” Hennessey said. “We have great energy and anticipate an excellent first game against a very tough, fast Thornton team.

- Paul Johnson, CN100 Correspondent

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