Three seasons into Jarve Lewis-Bey’s run as Curie football coach, expectations have grown.
Lewis-Bey took over a program that had four wins in the previous four years (one shortened by COVID), including a pair of winless seasons.
The Condors have been to the IHSA playoffs three straight years on his watch and haven’t had a losing record. This season ended on Oct. 23 with a 49-8 loss to Oswego East in the Class 8A opening round at Rockne Stadium,
That left Curie with a final 5-5 record that left Lewis-Bey wanting more.
“I’m disappointed on how the season played out,” he said. “Only because I felt throughout the season we just couldn’t stay focused. And not saying that we weren’t supposed to lose any games or anything like that — but the kids, when they lost focus, it was over.”
That sets the stage for the offseason and next year, when the players who were freshmen in Lewis-Bey’s first season will be seniors.
“We did have high expectations for (the current) juniors,” he said. “But we thought we would end the season a little better than we played this year. This was even though we made the state playoffs and all that — it wasn’t what we expected. We expected to play better.”
That said, there are a number of impact players returning. Two are freshmen: Isael Barrow-Salazar, who finished the season as the Condors’ No. 1 running back, and Treyvion Townsend, who spent much of the season as the starting quarterback.
Also coming back are junior receiver/defensive back Harper Edwards and sophomore quarterback/receiver/defensive back Ivan Nevarez-Valdez.
Edwards had five catches for 59 yards against Oswego East, including a 15-yard touchdown reception from Nevarez-Valdez.
“Harper has had a good year,” Lewis-Bey said. “We just have to get Harper to step up and understand that in order to lead, they got to follow you. You can’t be back there with them. So we’re just trying to develop him into a better leader.”
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