Can Guilford’s young veterans grow up fast enough to take on North?
Guilford is the most experienced team in NIC-10 football with 16 returning starters.
The Vikings are also relatively young: 14 sophomores started at least one game last year, and quarterback Greyson Weber is the only freshman in the conference to ever lead his team in passing, along with Belvidere’s Troy Vandenbroek, who did so in 2009.
“We have a lot of experienced kids who are ready to take on the challenge of another NIC-10 season,” Guilford coach Tony Capriotti said.
The Vikings will play for the first time Friday against a Belvidere North team that has gone 7-2 in the NIC-10 for four straight years and is hoping to win its first sole conference football title in school history. Guilford, 3-6 last year, hasn’t won the conference since its undefeated state championship season 42 years ago. But the Vikings knocked Belvidere North out of the title with a 14-7 win in the season finale two years ago and could compete this year — if they can beat North in the biggest game in the Rockford area in the opening week of the 2024 high school football season.
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“When you play against a group of young players, you expect a lot when those players come back,” Belvidere North coach Jeff Beck said of Guilford’s youthful experience. “I’ve always told our players that when they’re third year and they played on the varsity team as sophomores, we expect them to be seniors. It’s their second year of varsity football. I expect those players to be experienced, to be a year better, to be a year smarter in their strategies.”
That starts with Weber, who shared time at quarterback last year but has the position to himself this season, a year after throwing for 637 yards on just 78 attempts and averaging 8.2 yards per throw.
“He made some nice plays against us last year as a freshman,” North’s Beck said. “At the time, the moment didn’t seem to be that important to him.”
“He’s one of the best at knowing where to put the ball,” Capriotti said. “What I like most about Grayson is that he’s a team player who has the right assessment and makes the best decision for us to win. His coolness under fire really helps everyone stay calm on that side of the ball.”
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Guilford has struggled on offense in recent years. Two years ago, when the team was 7-2 in the league, was the only time in the last decade that the Vikings had a 1,000-yard runner. It was also one of only two seasons in the last 10 years that they had a 1,000-yard passer. With the return of Weber and leading runner Messiah Tilson, they could have both again.
“We talk to our kids about it all the time,” Capriotti said of being a threat both running and passing. “It’s very similar to basketball: Running is where you get to the basket, dunk the ball and force the defense to stop it. And passing is where you go around the corner 3. You have them defend every corner of the court and they play off each other. We don’t worry about how many yards we pass, we see what the defense takes away from us and then have enough answers to attack the other areas of the game.”
If Guilford can do that, the Vikings could have their best season in 40 years. But Belvidere North could have its best season. Ever. The Blue Thunder reached the Class 6A quarterfinals for only the second time last year, where they suffered a narrow 14-10 loss. They also have an experienced team. With a ton of experienced runners to support their option attack.
“But they’re bigger than us,” North’s Beck said. “Will our equipment be enough to hold the line of scrimmage and play the ball to our guys? Their defense is going to give us a lot of different opportunities. We have to be ready to attack what the defense can’t. Then we have to limit the big play on our defense. I always sound like a broken record, but if we limit the big play, we give ourselves a chance to be successful on defense.”
Matt Trowbridge is a sports reporter for the Rockford Register Star. You can email him at [email protected]. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @MattTrowbridge.
