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Published Apr 21, 2021
Rochester coach Derek Leonard: 'Be loyal to central Illinois'
John Supinie  •  OrangeandBlueNews
Columnist

CHAMPAIGN – This long list of names of those who got away from Illini football recruiters is easy for Derek Leonard to put together.

And he’s just talking about kids from the Springfield area.

Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin sent players to the Power 5 Conference schools. Eric Peterman was an accomplished wide receiver at Northwestern, where Lindy’s and Phil Steele rated him as a preseason all-conference pick prior to the 2008 season. In his final regular season game, Peterman caught eight passes for 111 yards and a touchdown against the Illini. Then there’s former SHG star Kenni Burns, who played his way up the depth chart as a running back at Indiana, and he’s still an assistant coach in the Big Ten Conference.

That’s ancient history for you?

OK, how about Nick Broeker, a former SHG offensive tackle who went to Ole Miss. He’s rated as a top five prospect at his position in the 2022 NFL draft. And former SHG star Albert Okwuegbunam played at SHG before signing with Missouri. The 22-year-old Albert “O’’ was a fourth-round draft pick with the Denver Broncos a year ago.

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