Four Benet players were named to the East Suburban Catholic Conference honor roll: senior offensive lineman John Cannova; junior offensive lineman Pat Flavin; senior defensive lineman Nick Melka; and senior linebacker Mike Runger. For the entire all-ESCC list, click here. The conference's individual awards are listed below.

Most Valuable Player: Julian Sipiora, St Viator
Most Valuable Offensive Player: Mike Perish, Marist
Most Valuable Offensive Lineman: Dan Foreman, Joliet Catholic
Most Valuable Defensive Player: Jake Stockman, Joliet Catholic
Most Valuable Defensive Lineman: Steve Lester, Carmel Catholic
Coach of the Year: Dave Mattio, Marian Catholic

Check out this feature on Central Michigan quarterback Dan LeFevour. Lars Anderson writes:

At Benet Academy...LeFevour played in a rush-heavy double wing. Because he attempted only a dozen passes a game, he attracted little interest from I-A schools. Even after he sent video to 30 programs, including Notre Dame and every team in the Big Ten, he received scholarship offers only from Central Michigan, Ball State, Eastern Michigan and Eastern Illinois. "I went to football camps and thought I had as much talent as anyone, but looking back I was just raw," says LeFevour, whom some NFL scouts rate as a first- or second-round pick. "I had to learn how to be a quarterback."

In what's shaping up as a banner year for Chicago-area quarterbacks, Lake Forest's Tommy Rees has verbally committed to Notre Dame. Tuesday's announcement means that Rees will join Downers Grove South's Chandler Whitmer (Illinois) and Wheaton North's Taylor Graham (Ohio State) as BCS-caliber quarterbacks. Rees' father Bill is a former UCLA assistant and front-office staffer for several NFL organizations.

As reported earlier, Glenn Earl is making a comeback with the Bears. The safety out of Naperville North and Notre Dame signed a one-year deal on Tuesday.

Earl spent the 2007 season on injured reserve and was released by the Texans in August 2008, after being selected by Houston in the fourth round of the 2004 draft. Earl then made 31 starts for the Texans, and secondary is one area where the Bears need a major upgrade.

This is for the two of you going through Signing Day Withdrawal. Offense-Defense, the organization that sent Waubonsie Valley kicker Mitch Ewald to an All-American game last month, has released its preseason watch list for the class of 2010. The 350 players include four from Illinois:

-Christian Lombard, Fremd offensive tackle verbally committed to Notre Dame last month.

-C.J. Fiedorowicz, Johnsburg tight end has reportedly received multiple offers from the Big Ten, Notre Dame and LSU.

-Lincoln/Laken Tomlinson, Lane Tech offensive lineman (see below).

-Corey Cooper, Proviso East safety/athlete verbally committed to Illinois.

(Note: The O-D list does not include schools or commitments - that information was culled from other sources - and it submits Tomlinson's first name as "Lincoln," which may be misspelled, since other Web sites refer to a "Laken." Or perhaps there's a case of mistaken identity - the point being that while rankings are interesting, those lists aren't gospel and errors like that undermine credibility.)

One recent trend in college football has been the high school senior enrolling early for the spring semester. Quarterback Jimmy Clausen did it in his transition from Oaks Christian (Calif.) to Notre Dame in 2007. And some Naperville-area soccer players have made similar moves - Greg Jordan (Central/Creighton) and Brendan King (Benet/Florida's Edison Academic Center/Notre Dame) to name two. Apparently major college basketball has caught on to this trend, as Seattle Times columnist Bud Withers points out within this national notebook:

You've heard of high-school football seniors graduating early to get a jump on college academics and spring practice? Hollis Thompson, a 6-foot-6 forward from renowned De La Salle High in the Bay Area, was due to enroll Wednesday at Georgetown, where coach John Thompson III says he will practice but not play this season.

Waubonsie Valley senior kicker Mitch Ewald has been selected to play in the Offense-Defense All-American Bowl.

The Indiana recruit is one of 88 players from across the country chosen for the Jan. 2 event, which will be broadcast live on the Fox College Sports network from the Coastal Carolina campus just outside Myrtle Beach, S.C.

In 2008 Ewald converted four of six field goals and 31 of 34 PATs for the Warriors. He also yielded touchbacks on 80 percent of his kickoffs.

Other players set to participate have made verbal commitments to programs such as Ohio State, Notre Dame, Alabama, Georgia and Florida State.

Illinois natives on the bowl's roster include: East St. Louis defensive back Tommie Hopkins; East St. Louis defensive end Ty Phillips; Simeon linebacker Tyrell Webster; and Hubbard linebacker Darius Moffett.