The men in the middle

The ball always ends up in someone else's hands, but in football, everything starts with the center. Dixon's Ben Esgar and Sterling's Damien Virtue begin every offensive play for their teams, snapping the ball to the quarterback before blocking the opponent's noseguard. Tonight, when the Dukes and Golden Warriors face off in Sterling, each center will line up across from one of the Sauk Valley's biggest, meanest players all game long. Virtue, a senior, will line up across from Dixon's Jon Phillips, a 6 foot-2-inch, 250-pound senior who's being recruited by Northern and Southern Illinois. Esgar, a senior who also starts on the Dukes' defensive line, has to deal with Sterling's rotation of 6-foot, 245-pound Zach Gallentine and 6'5, 270-pound