By Randy Whalen

Coming off its best season in over 50 years, the Joliet West football team is looking for more good things this fall.

Those things started at the Tigers summer camp.

The summer camp ended last week. But the expectations for this season have just begun.

"I'm expecting us to do better than last year," Joliet West senior left guard John Swift said. "We want to go 9-0 in the regular season, host another playoff game, and win this one."

The last time that the Tigers went 9-0 was in the fall of 1968. There were no playoffs then and there wouldn't be until 1974. But, with the exception of the 2020-2021 season, there have been since. Last season was the fifth time since 2014 that the Tigers have made the playoffs, but it was the first time they hosted a game. 

While that was a 39-6 loss to St. Ignatius College Prep, it still doesn't diminish Joliet West going 8-2 overall. It also raised the bar for the team's expectations and motivated the Tigers to improve this season.

"This camp we were more focused," Swift said. "It was a hurt feeling last year. Now we know where we want to be and to work hard for it."

A slew of seniors graduated from last season's squad. But with that season's success, the Tigers expect more this fall.

"We lost seven starters on defense and eight on offense," Joliet West coach Dan Tito said. "But I feel that the kids have bought into the expectations. The kids want to work hard, they want that pressure. We want the community to see that and to have that.

"Those expectations are a great thing for us."

The Tigers aren't going to back away from them.

"We definitely feel a lot more confident offensively," wide receiver Payton Turner said. "We still have a lot of seniors back and a lot of guys that played last year. A lot of us put in the work in the offseason.

"Last year we shocked a few people. Now we expect to be better than we were."

Fellow senior Cade Horvath, who returns at the free safety position, is also confident not only in the team but in himself.

"I'll have a pick this year," Horvath said. "Our core defense has a bunch of chemistry and was pretty phenomenal last year with an 8-2 season."

Horvath believes that will be the same story this season. 

"In our summer camp we got a lot of chemistry and grew as a team," he said. "From a defensive standpoint, we got to know each other and picked each other up."

Senior Antoine Brooks is expected to step in as the starting quarterback. He started one game at quarterback last season and helped the Tigers defeat Plainfield South 30-7 on September 29. That was big as Joliet West won the East Division of the Southwest Prairie Conference with a 5-0 record. 

"We have to set the tone in the first couple of games," said Brooks of the opener at Shepard on August 30 and the first home game on September 6 against Morris. "Last year showed how many people contributed for us to grow. 

"We expect to go back to the playoffs. But we also want to win a playoff game, that's what we want."

The summer camp, which started in June and ended the final full week of July, was more than just practices between the players. It was a time of not only preparation but bonding between the team.

"It flew by but we had a very eventful summer," Tito said.  "We went to Lorado Taft (in Oregon, Illinois) again on June 24 and 25 and it was great. It was beautiful there. It was about getting closer as a team and an awesome experience.

"We also had some joint practices. One was at West Aurora (on July 17) and another one was at home with Providence (on Tuesday, July 23). The goal of those was to be injury-free at the end. We're not trying to win the practice. It's just about getting better and competing."