While Naperville North’s Jack Zitko on pace for career bests, he’s focused on wins
Naperville North senior wide receiver Jack Zitko is not one for retrospection.
Zitko likes to look forward, not backward. That was evident when he was asked how he has improved since his junior season, when he had 36 receptions for 454 yards and five touchdowns and was named all-conference.
“I haven’t really paid attention,” Zitko said. “I’m trying to focus on going forward. We have a lot of big goals. This 3-1 start is really kicking us off.
“I haven’t been focused on (his play), but I think I’ve been doing pretty good. Now I’m just looking to keep our momentum rolling.”
Naperville North has won three straight games since its 45-13 loss to New Trier in the season opener, when Zitko had a 79-yard touchdown. He has 21 catches on 25 targets for 281 yards and two touchdowns after the Huskies’ 24-21 win over rival Naperville Central.
“He catches everything,” Naperville North coach Sean Drendel said. “He’s got great hands, so he makes big plays for us when we need them.”
The 6-foot, 175-pound Zitko made plenty of plays against Naperville Central on Friday night. He finished with a game-high eight catches for 63 yards.
Five of Zitko’s receptions went for first downs, and most of them came via short passes out of the backfield. Drendel has been moving Zitko around, sending him in motion at times to try to create mismatches.
“We’re just trying to find ways to get him the ball a little bit more,” Drendel said. “He had a long one in Week 1, and he had a huge one against Barrington, so we’ve had some big ones.”
The speedy Zitko doesn’t necessarily need a long pass to break a long gain. He has shown he can turn a swing pass into a big play.
“Zitko, you can put him really anywhere, be it that’s inside or outside,” Naperville North senior quarterback Dante Colasante said. “You know that he’s going to get the job done, and we try to get the ball to him as much as possible.
“He’s such a great playmaker that he can really turn the little gain into sometimes even a touchdown.”
Zitko is enjoying the expanded role and the new wrinkles in Drendel’s play-calling.
“It’s awesome,” Zitko said. “To be honest, I love really whatever I have to do to help my team win. Whatever he tells me to do, I don’t care if that’s O-line, edge work, I just do whatever my team needs for us to win the game.
“I’m just super happy that he’s moving me around and I’m getting all these opportunities.”
Zitko is also a starting guard in basketball but says football is his best sport and the one he wants to play in college. He has an offer from Division III power Wisconsin-Whitewater and is talking to a couple of Division I Football Championship Subdivision programs.
But Zitko’s main focus is helping the Huskies achieve their goals of winning the DuPage Valley Conference title and qualifying for the playoffs. It has been that way since the end of last season.
“I was just putting the work in, in and out, grinding in the offseason, showing up to everything I possibly can, doing extra things beyond just showing up to our school stuff, getting work in with my other trainers,” he said. “I think being locked in and trusting in what we’ve got going on is the biggest part. Just trust what coach says and do it to my best ability.”
Those abilities go beyond football skills. Zitko has a 3.9 GPA and is a team leader esteemed by his teammates.
“He’s been great,” Naperville North junior running back Jayke Collins said. “He’s one of the best role models on the team. He’s a captain. He’s super vocal. He’s always getting everybody hyped on offense.”
Drendel is hyped about Zitko.
“We’re just really proud of who he is as a leader,” Drendel said. “He comes to work every day and works his tail off.”