Kendall County notes: Plano’s Tim Young, a former lineman, runs wild in first game at fullback

Tim Young believed he was better suited for fullback, despite the fact that he had never played the position before.

Early returns indicate he was onto something.

The Plano senior, who previously played guard and center on the offensive line, made a smashing debut last Friday at fullback. Young ran for 159 yards on 21 carries with a 75-yard touchdown in the Reapers’ 17-14 season-opening win at Ottawa.

“Have to credit the track program. He got into track, became a guy that bought into the weight room, changed his body and got into track and running. The coaches found out he could run pretty fast,” first-year Plano coach Kyle Tutt said. “He did some great things in the 400-yard dash as a junior, took that momentum and brought it to football.

“He got better last Friday with every touch. Excited to see where he ends up.”

Young only played defense before high school, played center his first two years of high school and guard last season besides one play at running back.

But Young felt the progression of his speed and acceleration through two years of track made him a fit at fullback.

He talked to Plano’s coaches, and they decided to give him a chance. Young said he was at around 190 pounds, with “30 pounds of fat” last year. Now he’s around 180 with more muscle and a better build for fullback.

“I felt like it’s a better place; I was never really that built for line,” he said. “It’s a lot more running than I’m used to, but track got me used to that. I still get to block on pass plays.”

Young did a whole lot of blocking last season for all-state running back Waleed Johnson, but Tutt said it shouldn’t surprise to see Plano give its fullback so many touches.

“If you look at them statistically, they’ve always been a fullback-based team, but Waleed was super special,” Tutt said. “We were definitely going to be a fullback-based team. I didn’t think we were going to give him [Young] that many touches, but you take what the defense gives you. They were giving us the fullback.”

Tutt showed off his track speed – and toughness – on the 75-yard TD in the final minute of the third quarter that proved the game-winning score.

“Normally running that long isn’t bad, but having to run through that many people and breaking that many tackles, I was gassed. I barely made it to the end zone,” Young said. “The play was up the middle, and I wasn’t supposed to get that many yards. I bounced it outside and broke tackles.”

Oswego QB Connolly calm, composed in second year starting

Brett Connolly’s season opener was not without its hiccups.

During the second quarter of Oswego’s 30-7 win over Neuqua, the Panthers’ senior QB was pressured, fumbled and lost the ball. But it was one of the few instances that didn’t go as planned for the second-year starter.

Connolly was 11 for 14 for 148 yards with TD passes to Jeremiah Cain and Teddy Manikas, and ran for 28 yards and a score.

“Second year starting, felt a lot more comfortable with the year of experience playing different teams. That made a difference,” Connolly said. “I’ve been working with these receivers, so we’re all on the same page. It’s a lot easier to make reads when you’ve been doing it for a year. The game is a lot slower.”

Connolly is one of 16 Oswego returning starters. A coachable kid with a calm demeanor who doesn’t get too rattled, the experience of 10 career starts before Friday showed.

“Brett on Friday reaped the rewards of playing in all 10 games last year,” Oswego coach Brian Cooney said. “He was more comfortable in his reads, checking out of things we needed to check out of, putting ourselves in better situations. It’s something he did all summer facing our own defense, getting out of certain things before the play or when things break down being able to use his legs more.

“He’s coachable, he owns his mistakes and is able to move on. He is even-keeled and stays in that comfort zone, never gets too high or too low. He just has poise.”

That’s the poise of a kid who, while he played running back and defense in youth football, has the position in his blood. Connolly’s dad also played QB in high school, at Argo.

It also helps to have familiarity around him, as Oswego returns receivers Cain and Michael Kelly as well as running back Ayden Villa, return from last year. That experience has Connolly confident the offense can be more consistent. In its four losses last year, Oswego scored a total of 20 points. In the six wins, 198.

“I worked a lot with the same receivers I had during the offseason. It started in June, really at the end of May,” Connolly said. “I watched a lot more film of these teams we’re going to be playing, worked on my footwork. I definitely think this year we’ll put more points on the board.”

Banged up Sandwich ‘moving forward’

Sandwich coach Kris Cassie isn’t one to make excuses, but he could identify a few for a 54-32 Week 1 loss to Manteno.

His defense will be a work in progress.

The Indians lost their top two tacklers from last year, Jimmy Ramey and Caleb Jones, to injuries in the offseason – Jones a shoulder injury and Ramey double hip surgery. On top of that, Josh Lehman tore his ACL during wrestling season.

“We had to reshuffle the linebacking corps, and we’ve had to move some guys around,” Cassie said. “When you watch the film, Manteno was a little bit faster and a little bit more physical. We are feeling the effects of not having three different starters that are not going to be playing for us.”

On a bright note, junior Nick Michalek ran for close to 200 yards with a 71-yard TD. Sandwich scored 32 points despite two turnovers and some special teams mistakes – and the fact that the offensive line, too, isn’t whole. Hunter Krueger, Sandwich’s starting center, had knee surgery in July, and Tristan King was lost before the season started. Quinn Rome dislocated his shoulder in the first half last Friday, but Cassie is hopeful to have King and Rome back in a few weeks.

The schedule doesn’t get any easier. Sandwich hosts defending Class 2A champion Wilmington on Friday.

“We had a good film session Monday, and a good practice. All we can do is keep moving forward,” Cassie said. “Week 1 is done. Put it behind us.”

Yorkville wins stat battle in loss

Statistically, Yorkville’s 3-0 loss to Plainfield South looks like a game the Foxes probably should have been able to put away.

Yorkville outgained Plainfield South 247-150 in yards, led 13-5 in first downs and ran 52 plays to the Cougars’ 39.

But the Foxes were whistled for nine penalties and missed three field goals in the second half.

“Offensively we did some good things, but we weren’t consistent enough; our yardage, it wasn’t like we weren’t able to move the ball,” Yorkville coach Dan McGuire said. “We were able to move the ball but weren’t able to stack plays together. We put ourselves in predictable downs and distances, where first-and-5 at the 5 would end up first-and-20.

“It was a variety of issues, penalties or a missed block. Not a recipe for success.”

The Foxes’ issues offensively early on perhaps shouldn’t surprise.

Yorkville graduated five of its top six offensive linemen from last year’s conference champions, as well as its quarterback, tailback, fullback and one receiver. Junior quarterback Jack Beetham was 12 for 22 for 138 yards in his varsity debut. Luke Zook, also a starting safety, had eight carries for a team-high 61 yards, all in the second half.

“Zook is definitely one of the best athletes we have, but also in the flow of the game we want to keep him as fresh as we can,” McGuire said. “How we use him is more of a game flow thing than anything else, how we match up with who we play against.”