Luke Vanderwiel shines in 1st start at QB for Prairie Ridge in FVC win over Jacobs

ALGONQUIN – Junior Luke Vanderwiel found out that he was going to be Prairie Ridge’s starting quarterback a few weeks ago while on a family vacation in Indiana.

Vanderwiel’s brother, Joey, was the Wolves QB last season, and Luke made sure Joey was the first one in the family to know.

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It didn’t take long for Luke Vanderwiel to show what he could do at the position, breaking free for a 55-yard touchdown on a fourth-and-3 on the Wolves’ first possession.

Vanderwiel finished his first start at quarterback with two rushing touchdowns and a game-high 146 yards on the ground, and Prairie Ridge played shutdown defense in a 17-0 win against Jacobs in the season and Fox Valley Conference opener for both teams.

Vanderwiel ran 18 times for 8.1 yards a carry, also scoring on a 1-yard touchdown run with 10:23 left in the second quarter to give the Wolves a 14-0 lead. Kicker Gabe Porter hit a 40-yard field goal in the second half for the game’s final points.

“My brother was the quarterback last year. ... and I always thought it would be cool to lead the team,” Vanderwiel said. “I was nervous, for sure, on the bus ride here. But getting in the game, it’s all natural from there. All the practices, all the reps, we work harder than any team in the state in my opinion.”

The Wolves (1-0, 1-0) finished with 293 rushing yards on 48 carries, while the defense held Jacobs (0-1, 0-1) to 174 total yards (139 rushing, 35 passing).

“I think we did well carrying out our fakes and running counters,” Wolves senior offensive lineman Jack Pavlis said. “We got them pretty good on those. We just have to keep moving forward and getting our base plays down, so those continue to be 4-yard gains and a cloud of dust.”

On Vanderwiel’s first score, he followed his offensive line of Pavlis, Zach Helland, Ben Nystrom, Angelo Kay and Isaac Rodriguez, and bounced off a couple of missed tackles from the Eagles to give the Wolves an early lead.

Vanderwiel was excited to get the play call.

“We had two pulling guards, and then basically I just cut it up and it was wide open,” Vanderwiel said. “It was a great job by the O-line. Great play call by [offensive coordinator Joe Terhaar]. Just a good play all around. I was like, ‘Please call that play, I want to run it.’ It’s one of our best plays.”

Prairie Ridge first-year coach Mike Frericks said over the summer that he wanted to get the ball in Vanderwiel’s hands as much as possible.

At quarterback, he’s always a threat to make a big play.

“He just did a really good job of being composed and running the offense,” said Frericks, who earned his first win as a head coach. “He’s been playing varsity since he was a freshman. He’s been around, and nothing gets him rattled.

“If you give him that seam, he’s got the ability to break it. I look forward to seeing how he progresses throughout the year.”

Sophomore running back Jake Wagler added 83 yards on the ground, and fullback Jack Finn had 56.

Jacobs was led by junior fullback Caden DuMelle with 100 yards on 12 carries. T.O. Boddie had 20 yards, and Mike Cannady added 21.

Jacobs coach Brian Zimmerman lamented the missed opportunities by the offense.

“We played them the last two years and we consistently shoot ourselves in the foot,” Zimmerman said. “I think we were inside the 20 three different times tonight and couldn’t score. It’s going to be gut check time for our offense. I’m really proud of the way the defense played, but very frustrating from an offensive standpoint. We worked our butts off all summer and here we are not scoring any points with all these great weapons that we have.”