Huntley’s Chet Andrews played 1 year of high school football and is walking on at Iowa State

A year ago, when Huntley’s Chet Andrews considered playing his first year of high school football, he might never have imagined this.

Andrews had the right frame at 6-foot-3 and 210 pounds. His family’s athletic pedigree is without question since sisters Sam (NCAA Division II Truman State) and Ali (Illinois) played college basketball on scholarship.

But who goes from one season of high school football to having a chance to earn a scholarship at a Power Five conference school?

Andrews certainly made the most of his one varsity season, recording 12 sacks and earning consideration for the Fox Valley Conference Lineman of the Year.

As his sack total grew, so did college interest. Andrews recently accepted a preferred walk-on offer at Iowa State and will join the Cyclones this summer for workouts.

“It wasn’t until the end of the season that I realized I could do this in college,” Andrews said. “By the end of the season, I had really developed a love for the game and wanted to continue it. It was really crazy when these schools are reaching out to me.”

Andrews said his father, Chet, and Huntley physical education teacher Mike Naymola, the Red Raiders receivers coach, both had a hand in him playing football.

“Coach Naymola would bring it up about, ‘Why don’t you play football next year?’, ” Andrews said. “My dad really encouraged me to go try it out. I played one year in middle school and I was pretty good, but I tried to focus on basketball. My dad really pushed it this year, so I gave it a shot.

“All through my life I’ve been pretty explosive, pretty strong. I’ve always lifted, and that’s a big part of what I do in sports. My dad thought I could succeed. I listened to him and we tried it out.”

Andrews also had a preferred walk-on offer from FCS North Dakota and has visited Illinois, Northern Illinois and Valparaiso. Illinois and NIU had not made walk-on offers, while Valpo, which plays in the Pioneer Football League [which does not award athletic scholarships], had offered a roster spot.

Andrews played some baseball while he was growing up and played one year of middle school football, but basketball always was his main sport. He is a forward for Huntley’s 24-3 basketball team that is in second place in the FVC.

“We saw in the summer that he could move, his motor was high, and he was just raw,” Raiders defensive coordinator Paul Reinke said. “We didn’t get all the reconditioned pads back [until later in the summer], so we couldn’t really tell what he was going to be like with pads on.

“We get the pads on and I was like, ‘Holy cow! He’s not afraid to hit either.’ Then we got into the early part of our games and he just started to flourish. We really saw him take off, and he honed his skills throughout the season and turned himself into a really good football player.”

Andrews announced his presence in the season opener with two sacks against Crystal Lake Central. The Raiders lost that game, but opponents began taking note of No. 9 with their scouting report.

“You don’t get to those kinds of places unless you drip with some athleticism, right?,” Huntley defensive line coach Matt Milazzo said. “He starts with a really good base. When you get to know him, you seen an individual with an exceptional work ethic.

“Someone willing to learn and who will do anything he can just to get better. When you put all those pieces together, you see something that happens with a lot of growth, and he’s someone who heads to Iowa State with his best football ahead of him.”

Preferred walk-ons receive roster spots with the understanding that they eventually can work their way to scholarship status. Andrews said 130 players are listed for Iowa State’s roster and 110 will go to fall camp. He will head to Ames, Iowa, in June, take some summer classes and work out with the team.

Until then, Andrews, who was a Northwest Herald All-Area first-team selection, is working with trainer Pat Wenzel at Davis Speed Center. Wenzel trained both of Andrews’ sisters, and Andrews has trained with him since the fifth grade.

Huntley’s coaches were excited when Andrews joined the team a couple weeks late in its summer workouts. They really took note in the Red and Black Scrimmage a week before the season opened.

“He doesn’t know anything but 100 mph. That’s what serves him well. He gets a lot of effort plays in there too,” Milazzo said. “First seeing him move around and you think, ‘We have one year with this kid. He’s athletic.’ I worry that the offense was going to take him. Being around players, he was a game-changer. I got very fortunate to work with him on the defensive line. There’s a lot of positions Chet could go and play. He’s just a difference-maker. That’s just him.”

Andrews was behind the game with learning plays and terminology, but he did his best to catch up.

“The toughest part was learning about the game, learning all the plays, what my role at defensive end was,” he said. “Before this I didn’t really watch football on TV, I really wasn’t involved. I had to learn the plays, different movements, different fronts. That was definitely the toughest.”