Week 3: St Charles North Standouts

Week 3 Matchup: Wheaton Warrenville South vs St Charles North was one heck of a game that went down to the wire. It was a defensive dominant battle throughout the first half with each offense being able to move the ball more after the 2nd half adjustments. Momentum was swinging back and forth but in the end, it was Wheaton Warrenville South that came away with the 12-10 win against St Charles North with the game-winning field goal leaving 4.5 seconds left on the clock. <hr /> [player_tooltip player_id="118827" first="George" last="Litgen"] 6’2 200 22’ LB <a href="https://twitter.com/G_Litgen4">Twitter</a> Mr. Litgen does a good job of filling holes in run support. Once he takes his read step, he pops his hips to attacks downhill where he takes blocks head-on and gets off of them to make the tackle at the line of scrimmage. To limit this young man Wheaton Warrenville South went to spread and Trips formation to push Mr. Litgen out of the box. While out of the box, he made his mark in other areas of the game by covering sideline to sideline utilizing his closing speed and squaring up to the defender to make open-field tackles. In pass coverage, he does a good job of getting hands-on the receiver for the re-route. This young man also times his blitz well, the times he did he was able to get a step on the offensive lineman blowing past him resulting in disrupting the play in the backfield. <img class=" wp-image-57611 alignright" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2020/10/Paolo-Gennarelli-300x282.jpg" alt="" width="268" height="252" /> [player_tooltip player_id="20904" first="Paolo" last="Gennarelli"] 6’2 280 22’ OL <a href="https://twitter.com/Gennarelli2022">Twitter</a> Mr. Gennarelli is a mauler on the offensive line. He fires off the ball getting hands-on quickly to create running lanes for his teammates. As he does so, he either drives the defender back 5 yards or pancakes the defender where both happen by keeping his feet driving through the whistle. This young man also works up to the 2nd level blocks where he's able to seal the inside linebacker. In pass protection, he stays square at the snap of the ball where he checks his gap responsibility before going to double with the center if nobody is in his gap. Drew Surges 6’0 185 23’ RB/DB <a href="https://twitter.com/drew_surges">Twitter</a> Mr. Surges got it done on both sides of the ball for his team. On offense, he bursts through the line of scrimmage where he keeps his feet driving fighting for extra yards. On defense, he fills holes in run support and once he diagnoses the play after popping his hips on his read step he attacks the ball carrier. This young man has the closing speed to cover sideline to sideline and makes open-field tackles. His reaction time is quick as seen early in the game. He was dropping back in pass coverage when the opposing receiver tipped the ball, Mr. Surges had a split-second reaction diving for the ball to come away with the interception. https://twitter.com/Jamaskane/status/1437413259586461701?s=20 [player_tooltip player_id="158055" first="Soren" last="Erickson"] 6’3 215 23’ DL <a href="https://twitter.com/sorenerickson1">Twitter</a> Mr. Erickson did the little things for this defensive unit this past Friday night. He fills gaps in run support where he holds his gap responsibility. If the play is going away from him, he'll go straight down the line of scrimmage for the backside pursuit to make the tackle on the play. On passing downs, this young man uses his hands at the point of attack to shed the block resulting in getting pressure on the quarterback and he doesn't give up on plays by playing through the whistle. Brody Geary 5’10 170 23’ DB <a href="https://twitter.com/BrodyGeary">Twitter</a> Mr. Geary attacks downhill to fill holes in run support where he meets the ball carrier at the line of scrimmage occasionally. He has the closing speed to cover sideline to sideline not allowing the ball carrier to turn the corner and can make open-field tackles. Jake Furtney 6’3 215 24’ LB <a href="https://twitter.com/JakeFurtney">Twitter</a> Once Mr. Furtney takes his read step and diagnoses the play as a run he fills holes in run support. During passing downs, he fires off the ball using his hands at the point of attack resulting in getting pressure on the quarterback. This young man has a good frame and is only a sophomore, be on the lookout for how he develops as he can become a standout player for this team in the near future. [player_tooltip player_id="161508" first="Ethan" last="Plumb"] 6’3 195 25’ QB <a href="https://twitter.com/Eplumb_10">Twitter</a> Mr. Plumb is the signal-caller for his team getting the starting job as a freshman. He has the ability to get the ball off under pressure with the defender right in his face making the level 3 throw downfield. When he does this, it results in the ball being put in the receiver's basket for a completion. If you flush this young man out of the pocket he's able to do one of two things. He'll either make the throw on the run where he's off-platform and flips his hips to put extra velocity on the ball or he'll pull the ball down to scramble where he's not afraid to lower his shoulder to get a few extra yards. When he steps up in the pocket he can either put zip on the ball or put a touch on the deep ball and when he can get the ball out quickly when running RPOs. Notables Joey Curzon 5’10 170 22’ DB <a href="https://twitter.com/joey_curzon">Twitter</a> Benjamin Dehut 6’0 175 22’ DB John Vendl 5’11 180 23’ RB <a href="https://twitter.com/JohnVendl">Twitter</a> <hr /> Be sure to follow @jamaskane regarding news & information for Illinois High School Football, @PrepRedzoneIL, and @PrepRedzone.