Payton Gutierrez poised for another big season in Marquette’s wing-T offense

Those who have followed the Marquette football team since head coach Tom Jobst took over the reins 14 years ago with his wing-T offense in hand know that on any given night any player can produce a big game.

The wing-T uses deception in the formation and its motion to its advantage to keep defenses off balance, which the Crusaders have used to have their defeated opponents scratching their heads after many a game.

The offensive set normally rewards running backs with a mix of speed and strength.

Enter senior and three-year starting back Payton Gutierrez.

“I feel like we try and take whatever the defense is giving us and a lot of times that changes over the course of a game,” Gutierrez said. “That means there are going to be games where I may not get the ball as much or gain as many yards as someone else, but that’s OK.

“I think doing the things like making a good fake or making a good block are just as important if the offense is going to work. To me the numbers and all that don’t mean anything if we don’t win. Winning the game means way more than any individual stuff.”

The Crusaders finished last season 7-3 and 6-1 in the Chicagoland Prairie Conference on their way to an 11th consecutive playoff appearance. Gutierrez ended last season with 90 carries for 652 yards and six touchdowns and made nine receptions for 104 yards. He also returned a punt 55 yards for a touchdown and was a Times All-Area second team honoree.

“In our offense, everything and everybody has to do their jobs to make it run smoothly,” Gutierrez said. “It’s important that we all know what and where we are supposed to be on any given play. There are a lot of moving parts with our offense, a lot of things we can do, so we all have to be on the same page every single play. We had it last year, and I feel we will have it again this year, which is an offensive line that is going to be physical and creates space for the running backs.”

Marquette started last season with a tough loss in Week 1 but bounced back to win seven of its final eight regular-season games.

Gutierrez shined bright in a number of those wins, with three rushing TDs against Elmwood Park, three carries for 78 yards and two scores and the aforementioned punt return TD against Westmont, and then exploded for 191 yards on 26 carries and a TD against Ridgewood.

“We’ve talked about being ready to go right from the kickoff of the first game,” said Gutierrez, who also plays free safety on defense. “I think last year as a team we weren’t exactly ready, and even though our first opponent was pretty good, we didn’t come out playing like we should have. It was a shock to all of us, but I guess the plus was we got things together that next week of practice and played better and kept getting better as the season went along. This year we want to come out full speed right from the start.”

Jobst says that while Gutierrez has been blessed with a solid amount of natural talent, he is also made himself a very good player with his hard work.

“Payton is a very strong kid that also has very good speed and runs very hard. He is a very steady player,” Jobst said. “This will be his third year as a starting varsity running back so he has a lot of experience and knows our offense probably better than anyone. That said, we are always trying to figure out ways to get players like Payton into positions to make plays or ways we can take advantage of his talents. We expect a lot from our offensive linemen as far as creating gaps, but he is a kid that can really find the smallest of those and make something out of them.

“He’s a quiet kid, but his work ethic and play on the field speaks for itself. I feel like he is going to have a really good season for us on both offense and defense.”