Wheaton Warrenville South takes a three-game winning streak and a 5-2 record into Friday, Oct. 9, when the Tigers host Lake Park at 7 p.m.

The Tigers are 4-1 in the DuKane Conference after a 35-7 rout of St. Charles North on Oct. 3. Junior quarterback AJ Rogers threw three touchdown passes to Steven Harvey and ran for a 24-yard score in that game, according to Shaw Local's weekly recap.

What makes the run striking is who is driving it. WWS has only six senior starters, three on each side of the ball, head coach Sean Norris told the Daily Herald in an Oct. 6 feature by Mike McGraw. Norris called the seniors the glue holding the program together, crediting their energy and the relationships they have built since youth football with the Wheaton Rams.

Among them: linebacker Clark Jensen, a two-way contributor; Caden Schwichtenberg, the lone senior on an offensive line otherwise filled by juniors and a sophomore; and defensive end Chris Riggs, who stands 6-foot-4 and 230 pounds and returned to football this fall after sitting out his junior year.

The most striking story belongs to offensive lineman Mitch Goblet. He picked up football as a freshman, lost his junior season to knee surgery, then tore his ACL on the first day of fall camp. Goblet delayed the repair to play his final season and has appeared in a couple of games.

"All of our games were close," Jensen told the Daily Herald, recalling the senior class's 2-5-2 freshman season. "We only had one game against Geneva where we got blown out, but the rest were one-score games. We always worked hard, our senior class."

The full Daily Herald feature details how the seniors and a talented junior class bonded over the summer at a Carthage College team camp.

A junior-heavy roster means the program's future looks strong, but the seniors are focused on the present. Shaw Local's playoff outlook described the Tigers as "definitely headed back to the postseason" with 36 playoff points. The open question is whether WWS lands in the Class 6A or 7A bracket after reaching the 6A second round last season.

Beyond Lake Park (2-5, 1-4), a Week 9 trip to Batavia could put a share of the DuKane title in play if Geneva stumbles. Kickoff against Lake Park is at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 9.