A pair of freshmen playing bigger than expected roles have Curie’s future looking bright.
Isael Barrow-Salazar started the season as the Condors’ No. 2 running back and also was playing some defense, but now he’s the lead back.
Treyvion Townsend, likewise, didn’t become Curie’s starting quarterback until an injury to another player pressed him into service,
Now they’re developing chemistry for the Condors, who beat Urban Prep 34-0 in a torrential downpour on Oct. 1 at Rockne Stadium,
Barrow-Salazar ran 11 times for 121 yards and touchdowns of 13, 17, 3 and 3 yards for Curie (4-3, 2-2 Public League Red North). Ivan Navarro added a 5-yard scoring run for the Condors in a game that went to a running clock early in the second quarter by mutual agreement.
It was the latest big game for Barrow-Salazar, who ran for one touchdown and recovered a fumble for another score in a season-opening win against Crane.
“A lot of things have changed, a lot of expectations,” Barrow-Salazar said. “(But) all I have to do is just execute. And overall it’s just a great feeling becoming a (RB1) and having a great game like this and helping my team win.”
Townsend offers dual-threat capability, even though it wasn’t needed against Urban Prep. Barrow-Salazar is enjoying the ride with his fellow freshman.
“Trey’s my best friend,” Barrow-Salazar said. “We get a lot of work done together. We’ve known each other since summer. … Anytime we mess up, we get with each other, we talk about what we did wrong and (how) we should execute from there.”
Despite their youth, Barrow-Salazar and Townsend haven’t had to have many of those talks.
Between injuries and players leaving the team, the Condors’ depth chart looks different than in Week 1.
“That kind of bumped everything,” Curie coach Jarve Lewis-Bey said. “But both of them (Barrow-Salazar and Townsend) have stepped up and filled in and accepted that responsibility of being that guy.”
The changes have meant more hiccups along the way that Lewis-Bey expected.
“I still can’t put my hand on our last loss (22-14 to Prosser on Sept. 25) because we felt .. that we should have won that game,” he said. “I’m not taking (anything) from them. But without that one, we actually predicted ourselves to be right where we are now (record-wise).”
Curie has two more regular-season games left before moving on to the expanded IHSA playoffs, which go from 256 to 384 teams this season.
“We just have to continue to build depth so that … we have some guys who can rotate in and give some guys some breaks,” Lewis-Bey said.