High school football 2026: Storylines to watch in Lake County

With Wednesday marking the first day of football practice at high schools throughout Illinois, here are some tidbits to get the excitement levels even higher across the Lake County gridiron scene.

New coaches: Grayslake Central and Lake Zurich both have new head coaches this fall.

Brent Pitt takes over at Central from veteran area coach Brent Pearlman. Pitt, however, is no stranger to the school as he starts his 24 th year there. He’s coached in the football program, served as head boys track and field coach and also spent time as head wrestling coach. Prior to Central, Pitt, in his 29 th season coaching, coached at Antioch. A former 3-sport athlete at Downers Grove North, Pitt competed in track and field at Western Illinois University.

Pitt has plenty of reason for optimism with players such as offensive lineman Jack Patten (drawing college interest), linebacker-tight end Andrew O’Neill, running back Ray Ray Wright (back healthy after dealing with 2025 injuries), running back KenYe Pendleton and wide receiver-safety Andy Monzanga on the roster.

Pitt said the team still is dealing with the devastating loss of sophomore-to-be Brayan Monzanga, who drowned in an accident in the Chain of Lakes in July. “Our players and coaches have rallied around one another and honored his memory by showing up every day with purpose, resilience and a commitment to each other,” he said.

Over at Lake Zurich, one of 10 Lake County teams that made the 2025 playoffs and the one that advanced the furthest (to the 7A quarterfinals), the Bears turned to a familiar high school and college coaching face in former Harper College, Hersey, South Elgin and Elgin Larkin coach Dragan Teonic. Teonic replaced Ron Planz, who is now teaching and coaching at Barrington (Broncos’ offensive coordinator).

Teonic coached Harper to the 2008 NJCAA national title, directed Hersey to a 2013 conference title (first in 37 years) and went 51-9 at South Elgin with five conference titles in a row. He comes into this season with 101 career wins.

Teonic takes over a Lake Zurich team that has been to the state semifinals 11 times in the last 24 years and has a front 6 on defense that is as good as the Bears have had in a decade, he said. However, the Bears return no offensive starters from the 2025 team.

Teonic has high praise for players such as Jackson Lewandowski, who he said is a future Division I college football player climbing the recruiting rankings, Arturo Zariana (“a workhorse and unselfish kid who does everything well”) and Brock Rubicz (“the leader of our team. A hard-nosed throwback-style football player”).

Antioch happenings: Two-way starter senior Harrison Victor has a neat backstory with the program.

When he was 6 years old and battling cancer, as his wish with the Make-A-Wish Foundation, he asked to lead the Antioch varsity team onto the field before a game. Fast forward to 2026 and Victor is thriving and starting both ways for the Sequoits, who are coming off an 8-3 season and a second-round playoff appearance. We’ll have more on Victor in the coming weeks.

Also, Antioch coach Brian Glashagel noted assistant coach Del Pechauer is starting his 50th consecutive year coaching football at the school, starting in 1977. Pechauer preceded Glashagel as Sequoits’ head coach and directed Antioch to 7 playoff appearances.

Life after Stewart: All-state running back Aaron Stewart is off to the University of Illinois and Warren Township coach Bryan McNulty said this year’s team is as about as young as he’s had, especially on the defensive side.

But that’s not stopping McNulty’s usual enthusiasm by any stretch. Center Jayden Muirguia has several college offers, including Wisconsin-River Falls and Wisconsin-Oshkosh, and had a 600-pound back squat in the offseason. “He’s our leader without a doubt,” McNulty said. “He’s a great kid, who is tough and strong.”

Quarterback Xavier Vinson has some Division III offers, including Carthage, while left tackle Emmanual Gahima has several Division III offers as well as a Minnesota-Mankato Division II offer. Junior defensive linemen Kaden Millbrooks (6-4, 275) and X’Zavion Yarborough (6-2, 280) also should be getting college interest, McNulty noted.

Junior tailback Johnny Randolph (5-11, 180) played behind Stewart last season and is squatting 500 pounds now. “Pound for pound he is our strongest kid,” McNulty said. “His running style is different than Aaron’s, but we are extremely excited about him.”

Bulldog record-breakers: Defending Northern Lake County Conference champion Wauconda has a pair of players who are on the cusp of program records. Brady Rudolph has a chance to become the Bulldogs’ all-time leading tackler, needing 37 to do so, while Luke Sickmeir needs 31 receptions to set the program career mark and 400 receiving yards to break that all-time record.

Wildcats drawing college interest: Coach Tim Budge’s Libertyville squad has no shortage of players with aspirations to play at the next level. Of course, senior tight end Brock Williams committed to the University of Texas in the spring. His twin brother, Reid, is a 2-year defensive starter for the Wildcats.

Budge added middle linebacker/running back and 3-year starter Kaden Butt has an offer from Western Illinois, while offensive line leaders Aleks Nikolich and Colten Siebert also have been drawing college interest, as have returning starters Charlie Paden and Lukas Melton at the Division III level.