Never enough: One of 10 kids, Skokna aims to lead North Central to another title

Thomas Skokna, an All-America receiver for North Central, wears the No. 7.

His older brother Luke wore No. 7 at North Dakota, while younger brother James was No. 7 for Hinsdale Central this fall.

There's a reason. It represents the seven brothers in the Skokna family. Add the three sisters and that's 10 kids total. Skokna may not have the largest cheering section at Sunday's Division III title game in Canton, Ohio, but it's sure to be near the top.

North Central leads the nation in scoring offense, while Wisconsin-River Falls is first in total offense. So Skokna, with a Division III-best 23 touchdown catches, should play an important role.

Skokna was named a first-team Division III All-American, made the list of Gagliardi Trophy semifinalists and has 1,226 receiving yards, eighth best in the country.

There would be perfect symmetry if the Cardinals (14-0) were playing in their seventh straight Division III title game, but this is only the sixth. North Central is aiming to win its fourth championship since 2019.

The last time the Cardinals lost a game was two years ago in the final against SUNY-Cortland. Skokna was on the field for only a couple plays on special teams that night but exploded last season as a junior and piled up 94 receiving yards in the title game victory over Mount Union.

“He's done a great job of growing in this program,” North Central coach Brad Spencer said. “He didn't dress as a freshman, JV player as a sophomore. Stepped into a starting role as a junior and now one of the leading receivers in the country as a senior.”

All seven Skokna brothers played high school football, and four have played in college so far. Naturally, that led to some strong competition at home.

“We were just very active,” Skokna said. “It helps that you can suit two whole basketball teams. There was always a two-by-two basketball game or playing catch in the living room.

“We also live next door to a parking lot, so we would play in there too. I think that toughened us up, getting tackled on that thing.”

So why 10 kids? Well, that's a question for Skokna's parents, Nick and Tracey.

The couple met at a theology class and got together after the man Tracey was with at the time decided to go into the priesthood. Nick comes from a family of eight kids and has a twin brother, who then had eight kids.

“We really didn't have a number,” Tracey said. “We wanted to be open to however many God gave us, that's what I would say.”

At one point, there were more girls than boys. The two oldest are boys, then they had three girls in a row, followed by four more boys. James is the youngest, Thomas is the eighth.

The family lives in a 100-year-old, four-bedroom farm house — one bedroom for girls, two for the boys. They managed to find a Mercedes sprinter van that would fit the entire family.

“It only seemed unusual when we'd go out to dinner,” Nick said. “There would be so many, people would always look and then you'd realize, 'Wow, this is a lot of kids.' When we were at home, it didn't feel like a lot.”

Sometimes to give their wives a break, Nick and his twin brother would get together and take all the kids to the pool.

“They would ask, 'Which daycare are you with?'” Nick said with a laugh. “Because we'd literally come in with 18 children.”

Being the youngest in a large family has its advantages, because those kids grow up playing against good competition. The Skokna brothers take mentoring seriously. In fact, Luke Skokna is back at Hinsdale Central as a phys ed teacher, and helps coach younger brother James. North Central has already made James a recruiting priority.

“Being in a big family is so fun,” Thomas said. “If I'm just trying to play a video game or play catch with someone, all I've got to do is run upstairs and somebody's going to be up there ready to play or whatever.

“My parents, I don't know how they did it. They should be saints, because there's so many of us and I'm sure we weren't easy on them.”

Maybe another national title would be a nice way to thank them.