By Drake Skleba
For the Bugle
On August 24, 2018, Joliet Central Head Football Coach, Brett Boyter’s, Steelmen, soundly defeated the host Spartans of Romeoville, 26-6, in a Southwest Prairie Conference opening game. The win was the first season-opening victory, for Joliet Central High School, since 1988.
One must remember, that between the years 1993-2009, the two Joliet schools, Central and West, combined their athletic programs and were known as Joliet Township High School. The 1996, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2005 and 2006, Joliet Township Steelmen varsity football squads, won their season-openers.
Still, it was a great accomplishment for Boyter’s Steelmen. The Steelmen (1-0, 1-0) were led by their senior quarterback and team captain, Jared King on offense and inside linebacker, team captain, Ke’Andre Wiley, on defense.
“Jared, who calls the signals for us, on offense and Ke’Andre, who calls the signals for us on defense, did an outstanding job of directing us,to this victory,” Boyter said.
Wiley, picked up a pair of key quarterback sacks and the Steelmen “D”, led by senior captain, defensive end, Damaras Stanley, blocked a pair of Spartan punts.
“We left a lot of points on the field,” King said. “We have to work hard and get better, in that area of our game.”
“Friday night, we went out and executed on everything that our coaches taught us this summer and came up with a huge victory.” Wiley said. “Our defense is very disciplined. Our preparation was the key to our success. The two sacks I had, have to be credited to my teammates, Damaras Stanley and Jaren Smith, who opened the lane for me to the quarterback. We are more than a team here at Joliet Central,we are brothers.”
Friday night at Romeoville, was a great victory, for a football program, that endured a 57-game losing streak, between 2010-2016. The Steelmen, who went 0-9 in 2017, put a quick end to that nine-game losing streak, on Friday night.
“This is a special group here at Joliet Central,” King added. “When we were freshman, we played on the sophomore team and won our first three games. On the sophomore team the following year, we won our opener. This group has developed a way to win our first game. The win was special for us. I didn’t even know that it had been that long, since we had won a season-opening game.”
“We have Plainfield East here on Friday, for our home-opener. We would love to go 2-0, in front of our home crowd. We will be ready.”
Plainfield East will invade Joliet, on Friday night at 6:30. The Bengals will be looking for their first win of the season, after falling to Oswego East, in Week One.
“This was a special win for us,” Boyter said. “We had a great two weeks of practice and a great summer of workouts. The kids played well on both sides of the ball. We have to look ahead now to Plainfield East on Friday. They will be hungry for their first win of the season and we must play well.”