Central’s football team fumbled their playoff chances for the first time since 2012, finishing the season with a 4-5 record.

Members of the highly-competitive DuPage Valley Conference (DVC), head coach Mike Stine knew this season was not going to be easy.

A contributing factor to the team’s difficulties were holes left by last year’s stars such as wideout and lockdown corner Manny Rugamba and two-year starting quarterback Conor Joyce.

“We just didn’t have [the star players] this year,” Senior quarterback Patrick Ryan said.

The recent graduation of many seniors left new, inexperienced players with spots in the starting lineup, which caused further complications.

With ten new starters, Ryan attributed the team’s slow start to “getting into the rhythm” of playing together as a team.

These two obstacles showed up on the team’s offensive line.

After this occurred, Stine saw players struggling and decided to focus his efforts on shaping his team’s  attitude.

“You can’t control opponents but you can control effort and attitude,” Stine said.

Over Stine’s years at Central, this has been his philosophy. His number one goal is to build off-field character for his players.

“The fun part as a coach is watching the process of the team growing,” Stine said.

It was chemistry that allowed the football team to keep a positive mindset, even as the team faced hardship on the field.

Despite not making play-offs, Stine recalls an “outstanding positive attitude” among the team members.

Stine listed several players contributing to the positive mindset of the team. Among them are seniors Laddie Skarecky, Joe Gannon and Kyle Bennington on defense and Trevor Campbell, Christian Nussbaum and Ryan.

However, Ryan remained focused on improvement throughout the season.

Looking ahead to next year, both Ryan and Stine point to junior AJ Deinhart as the player who will make the difference. Deinhart was a captain for the team this year and was one of the most productive players on offense.

Ryan spoke very highly of Deinhart, both on his ability to play and as a leader in the locker room. Both he and Stine see Deinhart as the undisputed leader for the team on and off the field.  

Another supporter of Deinhart is running back coach Adam Freed.

“The sky is the limit for A.J.” Freed said. “He’s a once in a decade player”

Freed believes Deinhart will able to lead the team next year as he continues to improve his game.

“You win the game of football as a football team,” Stine said. “You have to be great in all three phases.”

This will be the goal for the football team as the 2017-2018 season approaches.