Jordan's Road Trip Round 3: Wheaton North Standouts

In this Round 3 Matchup, we have Willowbrook hosting Wheaton North. There’s no doubt the weather played a part in this game as it was freezing cold, snowing on & off as well as wind doing the same throughout this contest. With that being said, it was mostly a defensive battle. Wheaton North got on the board first with a field goal with 5:54 left in the 1st quarter. From there, it was a defensive battle with both teams making stops until we catch a break in the 2nd quarter with Willowbrook hitting a field goal to tie the game with 8:40 left in the 2nd quarter. Wheaton North would respond with [player_tooltip player_id="20863" first="Mark" last="Forcucci"] getting into the endzone off a 1 yard QB sneak giving them the lead 10 to 3 with 3:41 left in the 2nd quarter. This would be the score heading into the half and things would stay quiet until late in the 3rd quarter when Tyler O’Conner gets an interception for Wheaton North as Willowbrook was in scoring position. Taking that opportunity away from Willowbrook meant Wheaton North could take time off the clock before giving the ball back to Willowbrook. Willowbrook had one final drive where penalties forced them to punt on 4th & long. As Wheaton North was driving down the field, Willowbrook’s defense did a good job of forcing 3rd downs. The most crucial one comes on the play that sealed the game, Wheaton North hikes the ball on 3rd & short. Willowbrook’s defense meets the ball carrier at the line of scrimmage looking as if it’ll be marked short for 4th down but 23’ RB Luke Beedle had other plans as he keep his feet driving just enough to gain the 2 yards needed for the 1st down. With no timeouts left for Willowbrook, Wheaton North goes into victory formation to close this one out to advance to the Semi-Finals for 7A. Final Score: Wheaton North 10 Willowbrook 3 <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BK0iVtK9m_I&t=8s">Game Highlights</a> <hr /> #77 Nathaniel Stevens 23’ OL 6’5 320 <a href="https://twitter.com/N_Stevens_62">Twitter</a> Mr. Stevens gets hands-on and keeps his feet driving resulting in the defensive lineman being driven back to create running lanes for the ball carrier. This young man can also get to 2nd level blocks hooking the inside linebacker thus creating a bigger hole. #5 [player_tooltip player_id="20863" first="Mark" last="Forcucci"] 22’ QB 6’1 185 <a href="https://twitter.com/ForcucciMark">Twitter</a> Mr. Forcucci puts zip on the ball to make level 1 throws to his receivers in tight coverage and flips his hips when throwing on the run to add extra velocity on the ball. If there’s nobody open downfield he can pull the ball down to scramble and ran a handful of QB design runs throughout this game. With the weather having an impact on this game, his legs came in handy for Wheaton North to extend drives. https://twitter.com/PRZJordan/status/1459633446666391556?s=20 #33 [player_tooltip player_id="135840" first="Ross" last="Dansdill"] 23’ LB 6’4 220 <a href="https://twitter.com/rdansdill10">Twitter</a> Mr. Dansdill fill holes in run support where once he diagnoes the play he attacks downhill quickly. This results in him either meeting the ball carrier at the line of scrimmage or making the tackle in the backfield for a tackle for loss. He also isn’t afraid to lower his shoulder to deliver a heavy hit when using his closing speed to make the tackle in open space. https://twitter.com/PRZJordan/status/1459649200409427974?s=20 #34 Rex Kroger 22’ LB 6’2 210 <a href="https://twitter.com/rexkroger">Twitter</a> Mr. Kroger fill holes in run support where he can meet the ball carrier at the line of scrimmage for no gain on the play. He takes on his blocks head-on and can get off the block to make the tackle. #4 Seth Kortenhoeven 22’ WR 6’2 195 <a href="https://twitter.com/sethkort">Twitter</a> Mr. Kortenhoeven runs jet sweeps out of the slot where he can bounce plays to the outside and has the speed to turn the corner. He has a good frame to him standing at 6’2 195 and has a quick initial burst to him as well. https://twitter.com/PRZJordan/status/1459641752336351248?s=20 #27 [player_tooltip player_id="172084" first="Walker" last="Owens"] 24’ RB 6’2 190 <a href="https://twitter.com/WalkerOwens9">Twitter</a> Mr. Owens is a patient runner that follows his blocks and waits for the running lane to open up. Once it does, he uses one cut to go and get upfield. Late in the 4th quarter, he had a carry that all but helped to seal this win. He took the handoff, saw the running lane open up and used his quick initial burst to hit the hole hard paired with keeping his feet driving to gain 7 or so yards on the play. This was crucial as it kept Wheaton North’s drive going as they continued to wind down the clock. https://twitter.com/PRZJordan/status/1459643048128913415?s=20 #37 Trent Gabriele 22’ DL 5’7 170 Mr. Gabriele fills gaps in run support and can make the backside chasedown tackle by playing through the whistle. This was seen all night as it resulted in tackles downfield, QB pressures, QB sacks, and tackle for losses. He’s a high motor type of player that uses his quick get off the ball to make an impact on the defensive line. https://twitter.com/PRZJordan/status/1459639728408612874?s=20 #42 Fred Elftmann 22’ LB 5’11 175 Mr. Elftmann fills holes in run support and can meet the ball carrier at the line of scrimmage. If it wasn’t [player_tooltip player_id="135840" first="Ross" last="Dansdill"] making the tackle on the play, it was this young man who was. He flows to the ball and takes on blocks head-on to close the running lane that opens up when doing so. #30 Luke Beedle 23’ RB 6’1 185 <a href="https://twitter.com/beedle_luke">Twitter</a> Mr. Beedle is a hard runner that keeps his feet driving to fight for extra yards. He had two back to back key carries at the end of this game which sealed the win for Wheaton North. The first was him breaking an arm tackle to gain 8 or so yards on the play instead of only gaining 4-5 yards. This is important because it set up a 3rd and short as opposed to a 3rd and 5 for Wheaton North. On 3rd down, they gave the handoff to this young man who ended up getting met at the line of scrimmage looking as if he was going to be stuffed on the play. But, with his second effort and playing through the whistle he managed to keep his feet churning to get enough yards for the 1st down thus sealing the win for his team. https://twitter.com/PRZJordan/status/1459651462187958286?s=20 Notables #16 Marques Boddie 22’ DL 6’0 230 <a href="https://twitter.com/MoneyBoddie">Twitter</a> https://twitter.com/PRZJordan/status/1459637827373867008?s=20 #66 Adrian Hible 22’ OL 5’7 215 #52 [player_tooltip player_id="165485" first="Chuck" last="Neidballa"] 22’ DL 6’0 190 <a href="https://twitter.com/CNeidballa">Twitter</a> #7 Devon Neal 22’ DL 5’11 190 #10 Tyler O’Connor 23’ DB/K 6’1 165 <a href="https://twitter.com/TylerO1520">Twitter</a> https://twitter.com/PRZJordan/status/1459648217176547329?s=20 <hr /> Be sure to follow <a href="https://twitter.com/PRZJordan">@PRZJordan</a> regarding news & information for Illinois High School Football as well as <a href="https://twitter.com/prepredzoneIL">@PrepRedzoneIL</a>. Want to be ranked? 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