Ormseth led Crystal Lake S. to special season

The Friday night lights reflect off Drew Ormseth's helmet as the Crystal Lake South quarterback approaches the line of scrimmage, his head on a swivel, his eyes scanning for information his brain can process.

The Gators plan to pass on third-and-9, and the 17-year old from Lake in the Hills is trying to identify whether the defense is playing Cover-2, 3 or 4. He notes how the corners are positioned.

In his third-year as CL South's varsity quarterback, the savvy signalcaller checks to see if the outside linebacker has shifted farther out to cover the four-receiver formation the Gators are presenting. Ormseth calls the cadence, wary of blitzing linebackers.

Post snap he quickly runs through his coverage reads, mindful of the route combinations called. It's a vertical route, so he looks at the safety to see which way he's hedging. The safety stays put, but Ormseth decides in a flash he can beat him in a race to the first-down marker if he hurries.

He identifies space to run and takes off. The senior uses his speed to beat the safety to the sideline for a 12-yard gain and a first down. It's a deflating turn of events for a defense that thought it had accounted for every Gator.

However, few defenses could account for Ormseth, whose combination of skills and experience made him the single-most productive offensive force in the area this fall. The multitalented Gator was a legitimate double threat as he led his school to its first title in the Fox Valley Conference since 1993.

Ormseth completed 79-of-147 pass attempts (53.7 percent) for 1,438 yards. He threw 17 touchdowns and 8 interceptions.

He also rushed 135 times for 1,045 yards and 16 touchdowns and finished with a quarterback rating of 163.2.

“We've never had a kid run and throw for 1,000 yards in a season before, and I can't imagine too many high schools have,” CL South coach Chuck Ahsmann said. “I think that's special.”

For his tremendous senior season, Crystal Lake South quarterback Drew Ormseth is the honorary co-captain of the 2010 Daily Herald All-Area football team in the Fox Valley. He is the first honorary football captain from Crystal Lake South since the late Trent Steckel in 2002. He shares the award with senior running back Andrew Puccini of Bartlett.

Ormseth has come a long way from the role of game manager he was asked to fill as a sophomore starting on the varsity in 2008 to IHSFCA All-Stater as a senior.

“I switched from being just a part of the offense to being a main part of the offense,” he said. “There was a lot of pressure on me this year, but I kind of liked that. Being a three-year starter has helped me a lot. I've got it down, I guess.”

Ormseth's teams went 30-6 in his three seasons. He competed in 9 playoff games, the equivalent of a full regular season. That experience paid off this year as he excelled in the pistol offense. He led the Gators to their first football title in the Fox Valley Conference since 1993 and a school record of 11 victories.

“Every year he became stronger and quicker and this year he was extremely quick,” said Cary-Grove coach Bruce Kay, whose team lost to Ormseth's Gators in Week 8, 28-14. “They allowed him to run and make plays with his feet along with his arm. To me that's why he's so dangerous.

“He's unpredictable. Because he can pass the ball extremely well you want to put pressure on him, but the moment you put pressure on him he runs around you. It was a catch-22 problem with Drew.

“He made a number of plays in pressure situations, not only against us but against a number of teams. He's more than deserving.”

Ormseth has an official visit scheduled with Drake University and is in the process of securing a visit with Dayton, however, his days as a quarterback may be behind him.

“Position-wise, I probably won't play quarterback (in college),” he said. “I'll probably be a defensive back or a receiver. A lot of colleges just basically call it athlete.”

That's the right word for Ormseth, according to his coach.

“He can run, he can jump, he can throw, he can catch.” Ahsmann said. “He does everything for you. He's just a really good athlete. In fact, he can even kick if we needed him to kick. Fortunately, we didn't need that.”

Ormseth does have some film to show college coaches in the market for a defensive back. In extremely limited action this season in the defensive secondary, he came up with 3 big interceptions.

His first pick came in a clutch situation. Jacobs was driving for the tying touchdown in the fourth quarter of its homecoming game when Ormseth picked off a pass on fourth down to end the threat. He picked off 2 passes in the Gators' first-round playoff victory over Lake Forest.

The student with a 3.6 grade-point average has his priorities in order.

“School is definitely No. 1 since, obviously, I'm not going to make it to the NFL,” said Ormseth, who plans to study medicine or pharmacy. “I want to get a good degree, hopefully get money off and play football.”

He also possesses a giving personality. After Ormseth's team beat Cary-Grove in Week 8 to all but wrap up the Valley Division title, he asked for the game ball as a personal memento and had every intention of treasuring it. But on the way out of the stadium he spotted a handicapped girl named Emma, whom he had befriended a year earlier while on a team visit to Indian Prairie Elementary School in Crystal Lake and saw again just days before.

When Emma asked Ormseth for an autograph, he instead spontaneously awarded her the game ball, according to Ahsmann.

“I just decided to give her the ball,” Ormseth said when asked about the exchange. “I wasn't planning on it at all. I was actually going to keep the ball because it was the first time we beat Cary to win conference. I think it meant even more to her.”

“That is the type of quality kid he is,” Ahsmann said. “He wanted that ball but when it ultimately came down to it he gave it to somebody else. He is one of the best, not only on the field but in the classroom and out in the public.”