‘I just had so much fun’ Players, coaches reflect on an unprecedented spring season

DEKALB – Tears strolled down Parker’s Brown’s face as the reality of his high school football career was ending sunk in even further.

“I just had so much fun this year,” said Brown, Wheaton Warrenville South’s senior quarterback, following Wheaton South’s 28-21 loss to St. Charles North on Saturday. “These guys, they don’t quit. It’s been so fun playing this year.”

It’s a difficult circumstance to internalize, as hundreds of senior football players across Illinois likely feel similar emotions in the wake of an unprecedented spring football season now in the rearview mirror.

Just six months ago, the possibility of playing an IHSA football season was highly uncertain. Rallies and social media movements across the state rose up in hopes of playing at all. Their pleas were eventually answered.

The hard work, however, was just beginning.

“We didn’t even know if we were going to have a season,” Brown said. “But, yeah, we came up short. All these guys, they’ll sacrifice anything for anyone; we’re all brothers. I’ve built so many relationships and friendships through [the] entire [program], so that’s all that matters.”

“We’re a family here,” Brown continued. “We’re a family. Everyone looks out for everyone and no matter ups and downs, everyone stays together. That’s what Tiger football is.”

Across the field, the North Stars were celebrating in elation.

“I just think over [these] past nine, 10 months that we’ve been working out together, I think we just got a really tight-knit group over time,” North Stars senior Jordan Nubin said. “This season, we all just really came together. We all had a common goal to go 6-0, we didn’t finish the way we wanted to...but, I’m always happy.”

“No matter what, I wouldn’t come out of that game,” Nubin continued. “I’m going to get in as many plays as I can, man. My last game, I’ve got to get in as many plays as I can.”

North Stars senior wideout Steven Hein played through a wrist injury, but came up with a crucial 12-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter to put the North Stars up 21-7.

“My wrist was hurt, and I knew I had to come through for my teammates,” Hein said. “I turned around and I saw the ball. I was thinking: ‘This is it. It’s my last opportunity. It’s my last game as a high school player’, so, I came through; I made the catch. It was for my teammates.”

“It felt just like a [state title] game,” Hein said.

Northwestern-bound lineman Carmine Bastone sparkled in the trenches as a two-way player all season.

“This feels great, but [I’m] going to go onto college and keep working,” Bastone said. “There’s always more work to do, but you know, [we’ll] celebrate right now because this is big.”

To Bastone, the lasting impression of his North Stars team will be the team grit.

“We’ve been battling ever since we didn’t know if we were going to have a season,” Bastone continued. “We’re just out here just trying to play. I think that’s the important thing of it all: [We’re] just some kids that want to play football.”

In the afternoon slate, Batavia lost in a 16-7 heartbreaker to Wheaton North. NIU-bound Trey Urwiler will soon compete on the very same field his high school career ended on.

“This one’s going to burn for awhile. You get pushed into a hard situation this year, and I just feel bad, you know?” Urwiler said. “Just wish I could give the guys a win.”

On Friday, Glenbard North prevailed over Geneva 28-14. It was capped by senior wideout Tyler Sworst’s first touchdown catch of the season.

“This season, [there was a ] lot of perseverance,” Sworst said. “We had to keep struggling through the COVID. Practices not the same, season is not the same [and] a lot of [team] injuries. I think it was a good job by this team [to] keep pushing forward and never giving up.”

“Football, for awhile – even now – means a lot. It means a lot to me. “Probably the main thing in my life. I love it. I can’t go a day without it,” Sworst said.

Not every football season got its proper finale, however.

Some programs missed multiple weeks due to COVID protocols, which forced game cancellations. Burlington Central and St. Charles East are just two examples of Kane County Chronicle coverage area programs who were unable to compete in the final week of the season.

Burlington Central was on the bus ride to McHenry on Friday when the game was cancelled mere hours before kickoff.

“Right when I picked up my phone, and I saw [McHenry coach Jon Niemic’s] name, I knew it,” Burlington Central coach Brian Melvin said. “My heart sank. I answered; he goes ‘Brian, you guys got to turn around.”

Melvin had to get off the bus to hear the rest of the conversation.

“...The moment I hung up the phone with John to the moment I got onto the bus looking at my kids, I wanted to cry, Melvin continued. “That’s all I wanted to do. I couldn’t imagine that I had to tell them that they were done before they knew they were done. It was hard.”

The Rockets returned to Central and headed to ‘Rocket Hill.’

“They were just having fun on the field,” Melvin said. “That was special. It was special...These kids are great. I love coaching at Burlington Central. I love these kids. They’re so phenomenal.”

The Rockets rollercoaster season included losing by a touchdown to Cary-Grove Week 1, initially trailing Huntley 14-0 in Week 2, and losing starting quarterback Mark Ganziano to a wrist injury two days before playing Hampshire in week three before defeating Dundee Crown 13-6.

“They’re just a solid group of kids,” Central assistant coach Kevin Sabo said. “That’s the only way you can describe them: They’re a solid group of kids and they really had a strong bond this year. With everything they went through, they held their heads high the entire year.”

“Just the adversity that our kids faced during the season paled in comparison to what they faced this entire year, Melvin said.