50 years of IHSA playoff football: How WW South’s Beutjer and Schweighardt captivated the state

Beutjer and Schweighardt.

To Illinois prep football historians, the names glide off the tongue like a five-star steakhouse or trusted law firm.

In 1998 they captivated the state as Wheaton Warrenville South High School dominated like few teams before. Many longtime fans still consider it the best team in IHSA playoff history.

While the Tigers boast seven state titles, none are talked about as much as the 1998 group. And most of the talk focuses on quarterback Jon Beutjer and receiver Jon Schweighardt.

“I still get people who come up to me, who I don’t even know, and they say it’s the best high school team they’ve ever seen,” Beutjer said. “We got a lot of attention back then, but we tried to block out as much as we could. We just wanted to go out there to compete and win titles.”

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the IHSA football playoffs, the Daily Herald is looking back at some of the most memorable teams from our coverage area.

This chapter takes us to the home of Red Grange. The list of legends is a long one for the Tigers, but Beutjer and Schweighardt belong right at the top.

Friends since second grade, they grew up just a street apart and shared the goal of winning a state title at WW South.

Beutjer served as the program’s ball boy from second grade through eighth grade while Schweighardt’s older brother Tom played on the 1995 championship team. No two youngsters were more immersed in WW South football during the program’s first title runs in 1992, 1995 and 1996.

When it was their time, Beutjer and Schweighardt accomplished their joint mission with a flair rarely seen at the high school level.

“We just had those big goals and big dreams, and it was cool to do it with your friends,” Schweighardt said. “You build those memories, and it’s something you’ll always have.”

WW South rolled to a 14-0 record in 1998, winning by an average of five touchdowns. Only Naperville Central finished within 14 points (twice) and no one held the Tigers under 34 points.

Beutjer completed 65% of his passes for 3,940 yards and 60 touchdowns, still a state record. Schweighardt had 94 catches for 1,572 yards and 26 scores.

The bulk of their state and national records have been surpassed in the last 25 years, but at the time those numbers were unheard of at the high school level.

“We had fun soaking it up back then, but we were always taught humility and that football is a team game,” Schweighardt said. “We all did it together. You’re just really proud to have been a part of it.”

With receivers Eric McGoey, Jerome Collins and Brian Whitkanack along with 1,500-yard rusher Corrice Burns, it was an unstoppable offense anchored by a line featuring no big names but loads of skill.

Beutjer played at Iowa and Illinois, while Schweighardt was a Big Ten rival at Northwestern. McGoey played at Illinois and Collins at Notre Dame. On defense, linebacker Nick Duffy played at Northern Illinois and Brett Bell, a defensive back, at Wisconsin.

It was an incredible blend of talent led by a pair of hall of fame coaches in John Thorne, the offensive coordinator, and defensive guru Ron Muhitch, who won three state titles with the Tigers after Thorne retired.

“It was such a pleasure to coach them,” Thorne said. “All of those guys were so humble and totally unselfish. They just bought into that Red Grange philosophy we stressed.”

The offense got most of the headlines, but the defense was just as powerful. Schweighardt and Bell often sought each other out for one-on-one matchups in practice as iron sharpened iron.

Thorne created an offensive monster by shifting to a spread offense after the 1997 season to complement Beutjer’s abilities as a 6-foot-4 dropback quarterback.

When Beutjer suffered a concussion his junior season while running an option play, Thorne knew a change was needed. Thorne attended an off-season clinic on the spread offense and spent months fine-tuning it to be ready for Beutjer’s senior season.

Instead of his usual 24 7-on-7 matchups in the summer, Thorne upped it to 42 to immerse the skilled players in the new system. Ironically, it wasn’t until Schweighardt missed a camp at Purdue due to a broken nose that the scheme finally clicked for Beutjer.

During that time he forged a bond with his other receivers. When Schweighardt returned, the offense soared.

Opponents expecting the same WW South offense were in for a rude surprise. Beutjer threw for 6 touchdowns in the 1998 season-opening win over Willowbrook, and the rest is literal history.

“It all clicked because he started to read things better and get the two slots (Whitkanack and Collins) involved,” Thorne said. “From that time on, it just kept getting better and better.”

After their respective playing careers, Beutjer and Schweighardt transferred their talents to coaching. They even spent time with Thorne when he was the head coach at North Central College.

Schweighardt was on Chad Hetlet’s coaching staff during state title runs at Glenbard West, and he now coaches the Hilltoppers’ flag football team. Beutjer is the head coach at Lyons Twp., where the Lions are 8-0 and wrapped up the West Suburban Conference Silver Division title.

Both of them could have followed a path in college coaching, but instead they chose to teach and coach at the high school level. After everything prep football did for them, Beutjer and Schweighardt wanted to give something back.

“Our experience in high school and the impact our high school coaches had on us was one of the reasons we went back,” Beutjer said. “We love to have a positive impact on kids and watch them grow as individuals and athletes.

“And we love high school sports,” he said. “There’s nothing better than Friday night lights.”