Belvidere North opened the 2025 NIC-10 football season Friday with a 21-13 win over Guilford on Aug. 29, the only team in the conference with as much star power as the Blue Thunder.

Ben Bucher and Erick Roman, who combined to average over 14 yards per carry as juniors, each had long touchdown runs on the same play — a pitch play around right end. Nathan Alexander, who averaged 28 yards per catch last year, caught a 53-yard pass on third-and-20. But Bucher and Roman only moonlight on offense. Their full-time jobs are on defense, where Bucher is one of the NIC-10’s fastest — and biggest — defensive backs and Roman is the league defensive MVP at linebacker. Well, you can add Alexander to the list of Belvidere North offensive stars who may be even better on defense. His 16-yard sack from his

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