Future is bright at Wheaton Warrenville South, but seniors are ready to win now

It's no stretch to suggest Wheaton Warrenville South will be one of the best teams in the state in 2027.

The Tigers have gone 5-2 this year in a tough conference, and have just six senior starters — three on each side of the ball.

This is the story of those seniors.

Sure, the future is bright, but there is no next year for a high school senior.

“They're really the glue that has held the team and the program together,” head coach Sean Norris said. “They do it with the little things, like the energy they bring to practice, the relationships they have together. They're great leaders, great kids.”

Linebacker Clark Jensen is typical of the group. He's a classic Wheaton hard-nosed linebacker, who also jumps in on offense at times.

Caden Schwichtenberg is the only senior starter on the offensive line, next to three juniors and a sophomore. He was originally pegged for a defensive role, but slid over to offense when injuries created a need.

According to Jensen, the balance of classes was a bit different when they played youth football for the Wheaton Rams.

“The class behind us, up until our quarterback A.J. Rogers got here, I don't think they won a game, for the Rams organization, at least,” Jensen said. “Then I think the next year, they actually lost in the championship. A.J. brought them to the championship the first year he came into Rams football.”

That was when the juniors were in eighth grade. Meanwhile, the current seniors were going 2-5-2 as high school freshmen.

“All of our games were close,” Jensen said. “We only had one game against Geneva where we got blown out, but the rest were one-score games. We always worked hard, our senior class.”

Once in high school, the current junior class went undefeated on the lower levels, so there were really no surprises when this team came together. There figured to be plenty of juniors in the lineup, which can make for a tricky team chemistry.

“In the summer, I feel like we really grew as a team together,” Schwichtenberg said. “We bonded as brothers. At the beginning, we didn't really know each other. In the winter when we were lifting, seniors didn't lift with juniors, juniors didn't lift with seniors.”

The Tigers make an annual trek to the Carthage College team camp in the summer. While there, the goal is for juniors and seniors to room together to help build familiarity.

“You just get closer as friends,” Jensen said. “Then all the friend groups kind of combined and everyone becomes friends with everybody and then you just grow as a team.”

The senior class has a couple of unique stories. Defensive end Chris Riggs is back after not playing football as a junior. He played as an underclassman, but never on varsity. At 6-foot-4 and 230 pounds, he brings an imposing presence to the defensive line.

“Teammates were always talking to me,” Riggs said. “I knew I'd regret it if I didn't, because it's one more year in the grand scheme of things, and it's just one last ride with them. I knew I had a natural ability to play.”

Then there's offensive lineman Mitch Goblet, whose high school career got off to a promising start. He played the sport for the first time as a freshman and got promoted to the sophomore team.

But then knee surgery took away his junior season and the rotten luck continued when he tore his ACL on the first day of this year's fall camp. Since this is his last chance at high school football, Goblet decided to delay surgery and see if he could still contribute.

“It's hard playing without an ACL, but I'm trying to make it work,” he said. “There have been some setbacks. I love this game so much. It changed me. If I didn't play freshman year, I wouldn't be the guy I am right now.”

Goblet has played in a couple games this season, so he at least made it back on the field. There's no telling when a need for an extra offensive lineman might arrive during the playoffs.

“For the last two or three years, the only thing I wanted to do was play football,” he said. “Opportunities kept getting taken away from me, and I'm just going to try as hard as I can to bring them back.”

At this level, there are no medical redshirts. The future is bright at WWS, but the present is still very important.