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Youth makes its mark with talent at Warren

As the third-largest high school in the state of Illinois, Warren has never had a numbers problem in football.

And that's why it's rare that sophomores make the varsity.

At some schools, coaches look to underclassmen to fill varsity roles when numbers are an issue. But at Warren, there are usually more than enough juniors and seniors in the program to fill any need.

Of course, there are sophomores who are just too good to leave off a varsity roster. Even at Warren.

This season, Warren has six of those sophomores. And all six of them will be starting for the Blue Devils, who are looking to improve on last year's 4-5 campaign.

"That's unheard of at our school," said Warren head coach Bryan McNulty. "We don't usually have a lot of sophomores up. This is the youngest team I've ever had. But it's not that we're desperate for guys. These guys belong."

Last year, the current sophomores went 9-0 as freshmen, and McNulty says he saw the stars of the group coming from a mile away since back when they were in youth football.

"These guys are young, but they are ready for these positions on varsity," McNulty said. "They are big and physical and fast and they are not intimidated at all by the older kids."

The sophomore starters include: wide receiver Juan Delcruz, who just turned 15 but is already 6-foot-3, 200 pounds, offensive lineman Matt Rich, who is 6-foot-1, 275 pounds, defensive lineman Willis Singleton, 6-foot-1, 270 pounds, middle linebacker Seamus Mellican, 6-foot-2, 225 pounds, cornerback Josh Turner, and kicker Adam Saul.

"This is just a really good group of football kids," McNulty said. "And they've already had a lot of success."

The trick will be trying to mesh the young kids with a solid group of veterans led by a major Division I reruit.

Senior wide receiver Micah Jones has already committed to Notre Dame. At 6-foot-4, he is a big target, but also has good speed.

"For a kid that is going to Notre Dame, Micah is really just one of the guys," McNulty said of Jones, who put on 15 pounds of muscle since last season, and will be the focal point of the offense. "He's doing a great job with our younger kids, and he's really developed a connection with our quarterback."

Senior quarterback Ian Schilling was Warren's back-up last year and got reps on a rotating basis. This year, Schilling will be the full-time starter.

"He was able to sit back and see a lot of things last year when he wasn't in," McNulty said of Schilling. "This year, he has blossomed into a great quarterback. He's confident, he's balanced and can both run and pass. He's got good vision. I think he's one of the best quarterbacks we've had in a long time."

Schilling and Jones join a list of five total returning starters on offense. The others are: Jake Vastine and Colman Even on the offensive line and Ryan Short at tight end.

Five starters also return on defense, led by three defensive linemen: Alex Jiang, Brandon Dietz and Taylor Krause. Teddy Lowe is back at linebacker and Octavian Dungee returns in the secondary.

"We are very young defensively," McNulty said. "But Teddy Lowe is as good of a leader as I've seen here in 11 years and that is really going to help us."

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