Second-year DeKalb QB Cole Latimer focused on getting Barbs to playoffs

MAPLE PARK – Cole Latimer’s 2024 football goal couldn’t be more straightforward.

“I want to bring us to the playoffs for sure. That’s our main goal,” the DeKalb junior quarterback said after a recent 7-on-7 event at Kaneland. “Winning season for sure. Last year 3-6, only beating Metea twice, it wasn’t the best year, for sure. Everybody saw that. It wasn’t that good.

“My goal this year is to bring us to a winning season, bring us to the playoffs.”

Latimer finished last year completing just over 50% of his passes for 1,849 yards and 11 touchdowns. But he also was interception-prone, throwing two each against Neuqua Valley and Naperville North.

The main focus of the summer, Latimer said, has been better utilization of his footwork when throwing the ball and reading his progressions more.

“Having that year last year on varsity, the experience, it helped me a lot,” Latimer said. “I think I made a big jump. I’m doing a lot of stuff better than I did last year, for sure.”

The passing game could take on added importance for the Barbs this year as they search for their second playoff berth under coach Derek Schneeman, who enters his fourth year as head coach.

The Barbs graduated Talen Tate, who had more than 100 carries last year. Mariyan Dudley saw some action, and Travis Moore and Cam Matthews should be in the mix for carries, as well.

Not only is Latimer back, but so is wide receiver Davon Grant, a 6-foot-4 matchup problem for a lot of teams who had 42 catches for 936 yards and six touchdowns. He has seven NCAA Division I offers heading into his senior year. Derrion Straughter also lined up at receiver for most of the season.

“Me and Davon and Darion, our first year on varsity, we were throwing it around, but definitely we would give it off to Talen a lot more when we felt like we were under pressure,” Latimer said. “But now we have that year under our belt all together. Our connection is just getting stronger every time we throw the ball together.”

Schneeman said he’s not worried about the running back situation. But he also said Latimer is ready for a bigger role on offense.

“It’s part of him taking the next step, too,” Schneeman said. “Last year it was nice for Cole to have that security blanket in the backfield. It felt like every time we needed a big play, we could give it to Talen. This year Cole’s going to have to ... be the guy we’re going to look to to make the big play when we need it.”

Schneeman said he’s been pleased with how the summer has gone for Latimer, who splits time with the Barbs and his travel baseball team – he was a first-team member of the 2024 Daily Chronicle All-Area Baseball Team.

He said one of the biggest areas Latimer has worked on is understanding that even with a deep threat like Grant, a 5- or 6-yard pass can be just as crucial in some situations as the deep ball. He said Latimer is starting to understand how to work the short game to produce results in the long game.

“In any quarterback, you want them to have a little bit of that moxie or whatever you want to call it where they feel like they can make every throw, want to make the big play,” Schneeman said. “It’s always better to rein that in than try to coach that into somebody. Cole has always had that moxie, that ‘it,’ and he’s taken to it well.”