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Willowbrook senior quarterback Arthur Palicki is starting to hit the home stretch of a long and fruitful career.
A four-year varsity player, the 6-foot-4, 205-pounder has been engrained in the program, helping lift the Warriors on several memorable playoff runs.
As he prepares for his final season, Palicki said he pushed himself throughout the offseason to become a more complete player for a program with a stunning run of playoff success in the past few years. Palicki said working out together with his teammates has been a staple throughout the past few months.
“I’ve taken great strides this offseason to be the best I can be for the team,” he said. “I’m not the only one that has been working hard, though. All of the Willowbrook football team has been hard at work in the gym as well as on the field. We have been going to the field working on speed and agility since last season ended. Along with the speed training, we get together multiple times a week to get our timing on routes that will be run in the season so the balls can be in their hands at the right time for them to make plays.
“The hard work that everyone has put in this offseason is dedicated toward one common goal: Win as many football games as possible.”
Willowbrook coach Nick Hildreth said Palicki, widely known as “AJ”, brings a strong arm and loads of leadership to his young team this season. The Warriors are coming off a 5-5 season, the program’s fewest wins in a nine-game regular season since 2015.
“AJ is a four-year starter who is getting heavy college interest,” Hildreth said. “I’m looking forward to seeing what his experience provides this season. I’ve never had a quarterback with that much experience. I’m excited to see what he can accomplish this season. As a team, we’re still working and trying to find our identity. We have a lot of new guys in new spots. We’re still very junior heavy. At some point last year, we had 10 sophomores playing varsity.”
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Regarding individual workouts, Palicki emphasized hitting the weight room to bulk up and better absorb hits. He credits strength coach Steve Malock for pushing him.
“Some of the specific things I’ve been working on this offseason are my throwing mechanics to make myself as accurate with the football as I can be, as well as improving my overall speed and athleticism,” Palicki said. “Working on these things has helped my game evolve so now I can do many of the things that I wasn’t able to do well before, such as throwing on the run and being a running threat in the read option. My physicals haven’t changed very much. I’ve gained around 15 pounds since last season, which is thanks to our strength coach Steve Malock. He pushed the whole team to get stronger and faster, which has made our football team a lot more explosive. He’s a great coach.”
Palicki said last season’s Class 7A first-round playoff defeat to Wheaton North is still haunting some of the returnees. It marked the second straight year the Warriors’ season ended in the playoffs against Wheaton North. Last year, the Warriors suffered a 35-14 defeat to Wheaton North. They dropped a 10-3 decision to the Falcons in a 7A quarterfinal in 2021.
“The whole team has pushed themselves and each other throughout this offseason and into summer camp because we all have the same mentality to win football games at any cost,” Palicki said. “Last year’s loss to Wheaton North in the first round of the playoffs has driven us to push beyond what we thought our ceilings were. That loss drove us to work harder than ever because we never wanted to feel the way we did after that loss ever again. We will only get back what we put into training.”