A big push for success at Fremd

Mike Metzen and Mike Rumps weren't prime candidates as freshmen to eventually help Fremd continue its tradition of football success.

Metzen had never played before and Rumps had only played for a year in third grade. They both admitted they weren't highly motivated when they decided to come out their first year.

A lot has changed in four years for Metzen and Rumps The starting guards have helped drive the Vikings to an 8-0 start and at least a share of a Mid-Suburban League record seventh straight West title going into Friday's much-anticipated cross-town showdown visit by 7-1 Palatine at 7:30 p.m.

"I can't imagine high school without football," Rumps said.

"It's a great family atmosphere," Metzen said of the Fremd program which has an MSL record 15 straight playoff berths under Mike Donatucci.

Metzen and Rumps will be doing a lot more than soaking up the supercharged atmosphere as they did on the sideline last year when Palatine won the regular-season meeting and Fremd returned the favor in the first round of the Class 8A playoffs.

Both worked their way into starting roles alongside Notre Dame-bound tackle Christian Lombard and the solid junior trio of center Brian Bobek, tight end Jack Konopka and tackle Evan Schaeffer.

"I think the coaches placed us well," Metzen said of the staff which includes line coach Eric Wenckowski. "I think we fit in well and we just have a great group of guys. We're all friends and we joke around in practice."

And they're smart enough to know their glory comes from the monster year by senior running back Evan Wright (1,579 yards, 22 touchdowns).

Rumps has a 4.2 grade point average, scored 30 on the ACT and wants to go into mechanical engineering. Metzen holds a 3.9 weighted GPA, scored 28 on the ACT and is interested in business technology.

"Everyone is extremely intelligent on the line," Rumps said.

Coming out for football turned out to be one of the smarter decisions made by Rumps and Metzen.

The 5-foot-10, 235-pound Rumps played in the third grade for Bobek's dad Jeff, who is a Fremd varsity assistant.

But Rumps didn't return until he was convinced to give it another shot just before his freshman year started. Metzen was also a late convert.

"Like Rumps, I really had no motivation," Metzen said.

That started changing as Metzen played with the "A" team and Rumps was on the "B" team and missed five weeks with a broken foot.

They continued to work toward becoming significant contributors. Metzen saw little snippets of action last year and was in line to start but Rumps was down on the depth chart this summer.

Rumps was shuttled back and forth between offense and defense when his path to the starting lineup was inadvertently paved by Metzen.

"I'll do whatever the team needs me to do," Rumps said. "In the 'Green and Gold' (preseason) scrimmage, Metzen was injured and somebody else didn't do well, I got to go in and that's how I got my spot."

But similar to many of their teammates, Metzen and Rumps had prepared themselves for their opportunities during an even more rigorous than usual offseason.

While much of the focus is on Fremd's size and power up front in its run-oriented attack, Rumps and Metzen said speed and precision has also been crucial to their success.

"I think we're more physical than last year but this year we emphasized speed and getting quicker," Metzen said. "We're not faster than anyone but we can get to the point to do what we need to do."

Said Rumps: "We run so much zone (blocking) we need to have a pretty quick line. We work harder than everybody else to get plays to work."

Metzen and Rumps found their hard work has paid big dividends on and off the field.

"I'm really excited about my post-high school career and what this program has done for me," Metzen said of his improved work ethic.

"I never would have expected it," Rumps said. "If you had asked me before high school if I'd be on a football team that's 8-0 right now and has high playoff aspirations I would have said you're crazy.

"But almost every kid dreams of playing high school football and it's always been a dream for me."