Football becomes important outlet for Round Lake’s Zenon Reyes, whose late mother is ‘always in my mind’

Round Lake’s Zenon Reyes found football at an early age, and the sport has been a constant companion for him ever since.

Little did he know just how important it would become.

As Reyes experienced traumatic life events, football took on more significance.

“I always found football to be really fun, and I have a real passion for it,” he said. “It was all I could ever think about, both inside and outside of school.

“As special as football is, it’s a distraction from everything else. I use it to deal with the things in my past that have hurt me.”

The primary source of pain for Reyes is the absence of his mother, Maribel Rico, who died of COVID-19 complications in January 2022.

“I felt her loss really deeply, and she’s always in my mind,” Reyes said. “I can never stop thinking about her.

“I try to celebrate her life and think of the good times. She was the one person who loved me for everything I am. She was always the life of the party. If she wasn’t at the party, it was boring.”

Reyes has four siblings, but they’re all older.

“I needed more of her love because I was such a small kid, and they always told me I was a mama’s boy,” he said.

After Randi Dey became Round Lake’s coach following the 2024 season, he met with each of the players, and he recalls Reyes expressing his preoccupation with football. When Dey learned about Rico’s death, he thought it would be good for Reyes if the program did something to commemorate her memory.

So the annual Mom Bowl debuted last season. Round Lake players’ mothers compete in a 7-on-7 game under the lights in the school’s stadium, fathers grill dinner for everyone, and the winning team receives a trophy that’s dedicated to Rico. A Dad Bowl was added this year so all parents who have died are honored.

“Zenon has been through a lot, and he means so much to his team,” Dey said. “One of our goals is always to invest kids into the community and to use sports to help lives. Hopefully Zenon has benefited from this and can use things he’s exposed to now in the future.”

In the present, football season is underway, so Reyes is focused on that. After starting at safety last season, when he recorded 40 tackles, Reyes has moved to linebacker for the Panthers (1-0).

Both Dey and Reyes agree that moving closer to the line is a wise move, largely because Reyes can better tap into his physicality despite his 5-foot-5, 150-pound frame.

“I just have that aggressiveness that most people don’t have,” Reyes said. “Players have always told me that they’d like to be as aggressive as me. I know I’m not the biggest or strongest guy, but I always try to hit people as hard as I can.”

Reyes eagerly entered the hitting zone during the Panthers’ 18-14 season-opening win over Larkin. He had three tackles with a sack and a forced fumble.

“It was a huge contrast to practicing and scrimmaging,” he said. “I felt like I was dreaming. It was amazing being back out there.”

The victory was particularly rewarding for Reyes and the Panthers, who have won more than one game only twice since 2015 and last finished a season above .500 in 2001. They began last season with a victory but lost their other eight games.

Win or lose, Reyes has a positive influence on the team, according to fellow captain Dylan Wright, a senior linebacker who had 10 tackles in the opener.

“He’s always looking out for other people and what’s best for the team,” Wright said. “What he says has an impact on people, and when he speaks, people listen, and what he says is always the right thing to do, on and off the field.”

That’s not easy to do.

“Obviously, things get really tough sometimes, but I have outlets, like going to the gym,” Reyes said. “But there’s a limit to how much pain gets blocked out. There is still some that gets through.”

As a senior, Reyes knows he’s on the cusp of another life shift. There aren’t a lot of open slots at the next level for 5-5 linebackers, so he will likely hang up his football cleats after this season.

“I’m trying to cherish every moment I have with my teammates because they’re my brothers,” he said. “I try to view every game like it’s my last and want to leave it all on the field.”

Reyes will lean on the lessons he has learned from the sport and his mother.

“I try to approach the future with confidence,” he said. “I’m looking at everything as if it’s new. I have to keep my grades high so I can get a steady job and a nice place to live.

“Try not to think of the past because your mind can get stuck there.”

Steve Reaven is a freelance reporter.