Suburban Life notes: Wheaton Academy’s Jeremy Johanik follows brothers’ footsteps, eager to key playoff run

Wheaton Academy senior Jeremy Johanik understands the pressure of high expectations.

His father is the head coach at Wheaton Academy.

His two older brothers, Derek and Peter, both donned a Warriors’ jersey.

Jeremy Johanik, a two-way starter at center and defensive end, is a key cog in the Warriors’ quest to make another long playoff run this season. Wheaton Academy last season reached the Class 4A semifinals.

Jeremy Johanik said football is in his family’s blood.

Johanik started playing football when he was five years old but is now a senior leader. Peter Johanik is still making headlines on the field, recording two sacks in Wheaton College’s opener last week.

“It’s crazy looking up watching my brother Peter in his senior year when I was a freshman,” Jeremy said. “To think those guys are so big and I just worshiped them. It’s kind of crazy finally getting here and realizing that there’s a lot more responsibility on you in getting whole team together and culture wise.”

Jeremy Johanik said he takes pride in being a leader and also following in his brother’s footsteps. This marks the ninth consecutive season a Johanik has played center for the Warriors.

“My brother Peter has always been my role model,” Jeremy said. “I’ve always looked up to him and tried to follow in his footsteps, especially moving from the defensive line to linebacker which is exactly what he did. The biggest thing he taught me was to be hungry to hit somebody. When I was a scout offensive lineman in my freshman year, it was tough to block him because he hit so hard, but also his leadership was big. You could see how everybody looked up to him in so many ways.”

The good news for the younger Johanik – and his father – is he’s completely healthy this season. Jeremy Johanik said he played last season with two bad shoulders, causing him to resort to severe measures several times during games to stay on the field. Johanik underwent offseason surgery on both shoulders. In two games this season, the 6-foot-1, 215-pound Johanik has 26 tackles and one forced fumble. As a junior, Johanik racked up 92 tackles, two sacks, two interceptions and recovered a fumble in 12 games.

“Last year I had upwards of 20 shoulder dislocations mid-game but now I’m playing more free and with a lot less pain,” Jeremy said. “My shoulders are now an afterthought.”

Jim Johanik said his son is part of an impressive group of players on his team with high expectations. The Warriors (1-1) defeated St. Charles East last week to carry some momentum into Friday’s home game against Chicago Christian.

“Jeremy is ahead of where Peter was at his age in terms of experience, football knowledge and physicality,” Jim Johanik said. “He’s the leader of the defense and the most physical kid on the field. We have an incredibly talented team but are still learning how to work together and jell together as a team. Our upside is tremendous, which puts the onus on our seniors to provide the necessary leadership. This is probably the most talented team we’ve had as a program on an individual talent level.”

Montini faces tough test Friday

Two games. Two shutouts.

At this point of the season, Montini is on a roll. The Broncos, a team full of seniors, crushed Hyde Park 49-0 and defeated Hillcrest 21-0 in a pair of tuneup games that helped build confidence for their arduous Chicago Catholic League White schedule. The Broncos have a formidable task at Marist on Friday.

“This is a great group of seniors and they have been awesome and are very excited,” Montini coach Mike Bukovsky said. “They have worked very hard. Our goal was to be 2-0, so we can be ready to start the Catholic League slate this Friday. Obviously, right off the bat, we play a very storied team and a very good program in Marist.”

The RedHawks, coached by former York coach Mike Fitzgerald, defeated Morgan Park in their opener and narrowly beat Brother Rice 34-27 last week.

“I think number one we have to be able to put together some drives and we’ve got to be able to hold the ball and control the ball through our running and passing game,” Bukovsky said. “Defensively, they are very big up front and have very good athletes at the skill positions. It will be a great challenge. We have to play very sound fundamentally.”

Bukovsky said his defense is ready for the challenge of testing themselves against an elite offense.

“We basically have 10 starters back on defense, so we knew we had a chance to be a good team,” he said. “We knew to have week three circled. We also have to make some plays on special teams. Our defensive line has played very well. We have four guys really playing well in JC Hayes, Nicky Castaldo, Doug Mateo and Namari Anderson. It starts with those guys upfront. They deserve a lot of credit.”

Extra points

Fenwick (2-0) has a big challenge taking on Joliet Catholic on Friday. The Friars have relied on a big-play offense, scoring 64 total points against Oak Park-River Forest and St. Ignatius… Benet (2-0) looks to keep its record undefeated in Friday’s road game against De La Salle.