Anthony Taormina motivated to contribute in all three facets for St. Charles North

St. Charles North senior wide receiver Anthony Taormina is looking to add a new title this season.

A three-year starter, Taormina is an established leader in the program. He’s become a consistent threat catching the ball, but he’s motivated to help the North Stars on defense.

“I played a little bit my sophomore year defensively on the varsity,” Taormina said. “I got a chance to play both ways. I like playing both ways.”

“I feel I’m smarter and more deliberate in what I do, plus more invested in the playbook.”

—  Anthony Taormina, St. Charles North senior

Either way, Taormina is slated to be a player to watch in Kane County this season. He showed his ability to be an impactful player on offense and special teams during his junior season, catching 20 passes for 307 yards, tallying three carries for five yards and returning 17 kickoffs for 357 yards.

Taormina said he’s motivated to become a bigger contributor for the North Stars in his final season.

“Last year was a very solid year for me, a big jump and improvement from my sophomore year and I hope to do that again for my senior year,” Taormina said. “I feel I’m smarter and more deliberate in what I do, plus more invested in the playbook. I’m trying to help people around me get better.”

At 5-foot-11 and 170 pounds, Taormina said he gained about 10 pounds of muscle during the offseason to help him absorb hits while also punishing tacklers. Taormina said he’s already noticed a difference in his game with the added strength and weight this summer.

“It’s helped me out a lot,” he said. “I also ran track this offseason and have gotten a lost faster, which is great. I’ve been in the weight room a lot.”

St. Charles North coach Rob Pomazak said Taormina is a reliable player with excellent leadership skills.

“The thing about Anthony is he’s not a five-star [recruit], but he’s one of my best leaders,” Pomazak said. “He’s a three-year starter. He does a lot of things behind the scenes. He’s a high academic kid who is a gym rat and a great team leader. He’s pretty good on the football field and [I’m] excited to see what he can do on the field as a senior.”

St. Charles North should have a prolific offense with several key starters returning from a unit that averaged 26.4 points per game and won the DuKane Conference regular-season title. The North Stars (10-2) had their 10-game winning streak snapped in a 28-7 loss to St. Rita in the playoffs. Pomazak said he’s encouraged by the play of his offense this summer, especially quarterback Ethan Plumb.

“I think we’re cautiously optimistic this year,” Pomazak said. “We have seven three-year starters from a couple of years ago. The return on investment is what we’re looking for. We’re excited about a lot of things. We have a good, big quarterback in Ethan Plumb, a nice set of skill receivers with Anthony Taormina, Jake Mettetal and then Jake Furtney at the tight end is a difference-maker. We’re really excited about our running back Joell Holloman. He was kind of a second running back behind Drew Surges last year, but he’s going to be the feature back. We feel the sky is the limit.”

Pomazak said his defense remains a work in progress, but he’s starting to see the unit come together in the early part of several competitive 7-on-7s.

“Defensively, it’s a little bit of a rebuild because we lost quite a few players, but we still feel we have a good nucleus with some talented returning starters,” Pomazak said. “Both of our cornerbacks are back in Jaden Harmon and Michael Hyde. Our linebackers in Riley Sprindis, Peter O’Hara and Jake Furtney are all back. We have senior Mack Kramer coming back from an injury. He’s a real difference-maker. There will be some opportunities at defensive line, so we will see.”

Taormina, who picked up his first offer from Macalester College on May 18, said the offense is brimming with potential.

“Of course, we have Ethan throwing the ball, so that’s very solid,” Taormina said. “We have a very good line this year, and I got great receivers around him. Our running back, Joell, is pretty solid, too.”