Palatine succeeds with Bobbit triple play

There will invariably be the typical disputes which are hardly a display of brotherly love.

But when it comes time for pushing and shoving guys in the other jerseys, Palatine senior Chad Bobbit is glad to have younger brothers Cody and Jesse on his side.

"It's been a lot of fun for me," said Chad, who also played on the Palatine varsity as a freshman with oldest brother J.T. "As a little kid you always dream about playing with your brothers.

"The thing for me playing on the actual field is the trust factor. When I'm playing defensive line or fullback I always have one of my brothers behind me.

"Literally I have someone behind me in my family who has my back."

The Bobbits have helped put the 7-1 Pirates back into the postseason for the third consecutive year.

Now they're looking to get at least a share of a second consecutive Mid-Suburban West title when they travel across town to face unbeaten Fremd in Friday's highly anticipated 7:30 p.m. showdown.

"It's definitely unique," Palatine coach Tyler Donnelly said of having the three Bobbit brothers as starters. "They're three of our top players and they all play big roles."

Chad does a lot of the dirty work in the trenches on defense and helping his junior brother Cody run the offense.

Cody, in his first year as Palatine's starting quarterback, returned last week from missing two-plus weeks with a separated left shoulder. He's been on target with 70.5 percent of his passes (79-for-112) for 974 yards and 10 touchdowns with no interceptions and has rushed for 280 yards and seven scores.

And youngest brother Jesse hasn't played like a freshman with 4 interceptions and a blocked punt.

"It's just remarkable what he does," Donnelly said. "He was just killing people out there (Friday night against Conant).

"No one knew this - we knew Chad would be good and Cody obviously - but Jesse for a freshman is just amazing."

Then again, tagging along with Chad and Cody to play with the big kids didn't hurt Jesse's development.

"It helped going down to the park with my older brothers," said Jesse, who grew nearly half a foot in the last year to a solid 6-foot-1, 185 pounds and won the starting job in the summer.

"I'm probably surprised," said Cody, who thought Jesse might follow in his footsteps with a postseason varsity callup after a season of underclass experience. "I knew he'd be a good hitter but in the speed of the game, he's not a step behind like a freshman on varsity might be."

It's a transition Chad fully understands.

"My freshman year, it was crazy out there," Chad said. "He picked it up a lot faster than I did. I didn't know he'd be a playmaker as much as he's been."

And in certain key situations, Cody will be in the secondary along with Jesse.

"He tells me what to do," Cody said with a laugh.

"It's made an easier experience coming to high school and being able to play a sport with my older brothers," Jesse said. "If there's any questions I can ask them - especially because Chad is a team leader and knows everything."

Then Chad and Cody laughed because they know that kind of deferential treatment doesn't always exist in such a competitive family.

"Chad and Jesse went at it a few times - but only on the practice field," laughed Cody, who is also one of the Pirates' top baseball players.

"We'll have arguments over dinner," said Jesse, who also plays baseball and basketball. "It doesn't have to be about football to be competitive."

Chad also plays basketball and competes in track and field but football is definitely in the Bobbits' blood. Their dad Kevin was a head coach at Lisle and an assistant at Palatine and their mom Nancy has five brothers who played football.

The family affair was evident at the season opener when 30 relatives were in attendance. Kevin's mom drives up from downstate Bloomington for every game and Nancy's mom didn't let shoulder surgery prevent her from watching her three grandsons play their first varsity game together.

"At family parties we're always watching football," Cody said.

Even if the family rule didn't allow them to start playing organized football until the seventh grade.

"It was basically us playing backyard football," Cody said.

On Friday night, Chad, Cody and Jesse Bobbit will be playing together in a much bigger backyard.