Ready to step in: Fremd in a good place with Will Clark following Johnny O’Brien at quarterback

Fremd’s Will Clark knows he will have huge shoes to fill this season.

But the junior quarterback is also confident that his own shoes are very comfortable.

Clark will be the starter this season when the Vikings begin their 2026 campaign at Lake Zurich on Aug. 21. That’s the same place former Fremd quarterback Johnny O’Brien had his breakout game two years ago.

In that game O’Brien completed his first 15 passes in a huge win for Fremd. O’Brien led the Vikings the next two seasons and became one of the few two-time Daily Herald All-Area football captains.

Clark said he studied while being O’Brien’s understudy.

“I learned a lot from Johnny, like my footwork,” Clark said. “I know I have to keep my feet moving in the pocket. If I stop my feet, I'm done in the water. I also learned how to command the offense better and become more vocal as a leader.”

Clark did see some action last season as a sophomore. That came in Week 7 against Barrington last season when O’Brien was forced to sit out due to a leg injury.

Clark played well at times that game. He drove Fremd down the field for a touchdown early, but Barrington won 23-7, and Clark threw three interceptions.

Clark played in the second half of the Vikings’ final regular-season game. He threw a touchdown pass in that game against Schaumburg. The lessons he learned against Barrington were important in the Schaumburg game.

“The most important thing was not getting my head down because whenever I threw an interception I was putting my head down,” Clark said. “But now after I threw an interception today, I kept my head high, and I moved on.”

That interception came Wednesday when Clark and his Fremd teammates had a controlled scrimmage with Loyola. In that scrimmage Clark showed that he is ready for the challenges that he will face this season.

“I think that was the first time he's seen one of the better defensive fronts in the state coming at him,” Fremd coach Lou Sponsel said. “And I think he handled it well. He doesn't see that in practice, and so you need to see that before you get into Friday Night Lights. This is Will's first time seeing it, so we got to make sure these scrimmages or these joint practices this summer he gets to see that, so that when he gets the Friday Night Lights, it's much slower.”

Clark said he was prepared for Loyola because of his experience last season.

“That baptism helped a lot,” Clark said. “Loyola brought a lot of pressure and they are a very physical team. I learned that I can actually hang with these guys.”

Sponsel said he doesn’t expect Clark to be perfect.

“I told him, we want you to make hundreds of mistakes over the summer,” Sponsel said. “So that's what our philosophy is. Go make mistakes, full-speed mistakes, and then we will go learn from them, so that we get better.”

Sponsel said he is not looking for Clark to jump into O’Brien’s spikes.

“You know he's not going to fill Johnny shoes,” Sponsel said. “He needs to fill his own shoes. Will needs to fill Will's shoes. He needs to figure out who he is and what he does, what he does well. And he's doing a great job.”

Sponsel said Fremd didn’t run O’Brien much last season because the Vikings didn’t have to. Clark’s athleticism will change that this season.

“He's mobile and he's a dual threat,” Sponsel said. “Now it's getting back to the film and watching it and seeing what the areas are I can improve. What throws and where my placement trajectory has to be better. Where do my eyes need to go when pressure's coming? So, it's all those details, the quarterback details of the game, that we will look at.”

Clark, who has already drawn interest from South Dakota State, said he can’t wait for his team’s home opener Sept. 4 against Metea Valley.

“It's very exciting,” Clark said. “I can't wait to play for a home crowd on Friday nights. The atmosphere is going to be electric.”