Prairie Ridge’s O-line surpasses expectations in QB Tyler Vasey’s record season

CRYSTAL LAKE – Prairie Ridge senior Ethan Goudschaal admits he had doubts about the offensive line in summer workouts.

Goudschall was a returning starter at guard, as were center Henrik Nystrom and tackle John Fallaw. But initially things were not clicking as four other players worked in and out at the other two spots.

“Everyone was thinking, ‘This isn’t going well. We’re not going to be a strong line this year,’ " Goudschaal said. “We didn’t know about the line. If you don’t have a good line, you don’t have a good defense either. But through the season, I thought we had a chance.”

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Angel Rodriguez settled in at the other guard spot and sophomore Zach Helland took the other tackle spot and what transpired has been historic. Landon Miller and Braedon Hatter have been the Wolves’ tight ends.

The line has paved the way for quarterback Tyler Vasey to set the IHSA season rushing record. Vasey has 3,609 yards as the No. 2-seeded Wolves (11-1) host No. 4 St. Ignatius (10-2) at 2 p.m. Saturday in the Class 6A playoffs semifinals.

Fullback Nathan Greetham is sixth in the area with 1,332 yards and running back Luke Vanderwiel has 393. The Wolves’ triple-option has proven as dangerous as ever behind the line.

“They’re a lot better than what I was expecting,” said Wolves coach Chris Schremp, who also assumes the role of offensive line coach. “There’s a couple of guys playing right now that I didn’t envision playing. Zach Helland is one of them. He’s getting the most out of his potential right now, as a sophomore.

“When you lose, who gets blamed? The O-line coach. Nobody’s blocking. I’m going to take control of that. If somebody’s going to get blamed, it’s going to be me. That’s always been my philosophy.”

Fallaw, who Schremp considers his best lineman, agrees with his coach.

“We’ve definitely passed my expectations, too,” Fallaw said. “As a whole, we’re a lot stronger than I thought we’d be. There’s not a side that’s stronger. We can run both sides or any gap we want. That really helps our offense a lot.

“We just do what we can to open up gaps. We play low and fire off the ball really fast and that kind of slows the defense down.”

People marvel at Vasey’s electrifying runs, while the quarterback quickly deflects the praise to his boys up front.

“They’re doing an excellent job,” Vasey said. “They really care a lot. If they don’t know something, they’ll ask a question, which is great. Instead of going through the play and messing it up because they didn’t know what to do, they’ll ask. They echo calls to each other.

“Everybody’s on the same page, we all know what’s going on. The offense is all family. I’m grateful for every single one of them. They’re doing an excellent job.”

The way the offensive line fires off the ball with hard, physical play excites Schremp. It has made for another enjoyable season for one of the state’s top Class 6A progams.

“I never expected us to be in the semifinals,” Schremp said. “I really didn’t. I didn’t think we had that kind of talent. I’m so impressed with this team. This is a team that we’re reaching our potential. As a coach, this is one of our best years of coaching. They are getting the most out of themselves. You see some teams that could have been better, could have played better. This is a team where we’re getting the most out of these guys.”

Naturally, the linemen enjoy working in front of one of the speediest players in the state.

“It’s fun. You just know with your block we will get somewhere with his talent,” Goudschaal said. “And with the other backs, too, carrying out fakes. It’s not all just Tyler, but it makes you feel that your blocks will produce something.

“We go out there after the defense stops someone or we get a kickoff, and we figure if we all do our jobs [we will score]. And I see Tyler. ‘Well, there he goes again.’ "

Fallaw missed three games with a broken bone in a leg, but was able to return for the playoff run. This is Prairie Ridge’s fifth semifinal appearance in seven years.

“It’s really cool,” Fallaw said. “There’s some plays when I think, ‘Oh, no, the play’s over,’ and I see him 40 yards down the field and say, ‘Well, all right.’ It’s definitely really cool to see how much he can do off what we give him.”