Crystal Lake Central quarterback Jason Penza ready to bounce back after injury-filled junior year

Last season didn’t go according to plan for Crystal Lake Central’s Jason Penza.

The Tigers starting quarterback suffered a broken ulna bone in his right throwing arm in a Week 1 loss to Huntley, a crushing blow for a team hoping to build off an 8-4 season and a Class 6A quarterfinal playoff appearance.

Penza (6-foot-2, 185 pounds), now fully healthy, is thrilled to be back for his senior year.

“You don’t realize how much you miss it until you’re gone,” said Penza, who played in 2 1/2 games last year. “It’s my senior year, my last chance and it’s super exciting. Football has been my whole summer. I can’t get to wait to get started.”

It’s my senior year, my last chance and it’s super exciting. Football has been my whole summer. I can’t get to wait to get started.”

—  Jason Penza, Crystal Lake Central QB

Without their dual-threat quarterback leading the way, the Tigers (2-7) finished with two wins for only the second time in 17 years.

Because of the injury to Penza, the Tigers had to move top receiver George Dimopoulos to quarterback. Penza was able to come back and start for the Tigers in Week 9, throwing for 303 yards, four touchdowns and adding two rushing TDs in a 55-49 loss to Prairie Ridge. The Wolves went on to become the Class 6A state runners-up.

Dimopoulos caught three of the four touchdowns thrown by Penza against Prairie Ridge. That connection should continue to grow this fall.

“We’ve been playing together since the eighth grade, so this is the year we’ve been looking forward to,” Penza said. “We’ve been talking about senior year for a long time.”

Dimopoulos, who recently committed to Northern Illinois University, said Penza was very helpful when he made the switch to QB.

“He was in my ear every practice, just helping out with footwork and making sure I had the right reads,” Dimopoulos said. “I was running the ball nonstop at quarterback, so it definitely helped my field vision.”

Penza felt Dimopoulos excelled in a difficult situation. The Tigers suffered more key injuries during the season, including to receiver Griffin Buehler, who had 25 catches for 531 yards and three touchdowns.

“He’s like my brother. I kind of became his coach,” Penza said. “He didn’t really understand the timing of things right away but he had a pretty good sense of what he was doing at all times. I think he did a really good job with what we had left.”

Central coach Dirk Stanger felt Penza learned a lot last season, despite being a spectator for most of it.

“As bad of an experience it was for him, it was a big positive for him to be able to step back and see the game from a coach’s perspective,” Stanger said. “Seeing what the defense does, getting the reads and where you should go with the football.

“I think that was a big benefit for him. We told him, ‘You’ve got to become a coach and a student of the game. You have to observe things more, so you can implement them when you’re back out on the field.’ ”

Stanger is confident that Penza is one of the top players in the Fox Valley Conference.

“He’s definitely very dangerous running the ball,” Stanger said. “It’s uncanny how much he reminds me of [former Marian Central QB and current New York Jets backup] Chris Streveler. Just with his athleticism, his ability to throw the ball, his leadership, and his approach. I know he’s dying to be out there for a full season.”

The Tigers open the season Aug. 25 at Huntley. Penza thinks this year’s team is the most talented group he’s been a part of.

“We got a ton of guys,” Penza said. “I think we’re 10 deep right now, 10 guys I can throw the ball to and be 100% confident they’ll be able to catch them and make a play out of it. That’s something we haven’t really had before. We all had to play up as sophomores because we didn’t have those big kids ahead of us.

“I’m looking to go deep into the playoffs. No guarantees, but I think we can be conference champs. And something we’ve talked about a lot is scoring a lot more points.”

Stanger has high expectations, too.

“I told these guys, my expectations haven’t changed,” Stanger said. “We want to win conference, and we want to win a state championship. That’s the expectation we have at Crystal Lake Central. I told the guys two years ago when we got to the quarterfinals, that it’s what should happen at a minimum.

“Obviously, last year was a step back because we had some injuries, but the expectations have to be higher. That’s something we’re trying to establish in this program.”