Palatine's Delaney helps Loyola pin down opponents

Most high school football players hoping to wear the uniform number of their favorite Chicago Bear would probably choose 34 or 54.

But Loyola senior Paul Delaney doesn't plan to be the next Walter Payton or Brian Urlacher.

So, Delaney's dad Tom had suggested a number which would probably register only with hard-core Bears fans and trivia buffs.

"When I talked to my dad about which number I should pick out," said Delaney, "he said 'Bob Parsons' 86 - he's the one who taught you to punt.'"

Those fourth-grade lessons from Parsons have paid huge dividends for Delaney and Loyola.

The 6-foot-3, 210-pound Delaney, a Palatine resident, is averaging 41.8 yards on 52 punts as the 11-1 Ramblers visit unbeaten Class 8A defending champion Maine South in a 1 p.m. Saturday semifinal in Park Ridge.

Loyola coach John Holecek doesn't de-emphasize Delaney's contribution to a stingy defense which has allowed only 83 points behind Northwestern-bound end Chance Carter.

"Before every game I tell Will (quarterback Forsyth) to trust our defense and trust our punter," Holecek said. "(Delaney) is a difference-maker.

"He has been a huge part of our success. Not a little, but a huge part. He's done some amazing things."

Take last weekend's 24-7 quarterfinal win over Mt. Carmel which was fueled by special teams. Delaney, an all-Chicago Catholic League second-team selection, had 4 punts for a 50.8 average with a 61- and 62-yarders and three that were downed inside the 20.

"I try to help out our defense as best as I can," said Delaney, who has 25 punts which have been downed inside the 20. "If I'm able to pin them down far in their territory they're limited in what they can do and it helps our defense."

Delaney started playing football and punting in the fourth grade in the Palatine Amateur Football Association.

"One of my coaches (Dick Quagliano) had Bob Parsons come and said, 'Anyone who wants to learn to punt, we've got an ex-Bear punter to teach you,'" Delaney said. "I wanted to try it out and he started working with me after practice a couple of times a week."

Parsons had been the Bears' regular punter from 1974-83 and averaged a career-best 41.3 yards in the strike-shortened 1982 season.

"It was great," Delaney said. "It gave me a foundation to start on. It wasn't just willy-nilly - it was what you need to do to succeed in punting."

Holecek knew his search for a punter was over last year when he saw Delaney. He averaged 36.3 yards and then went to off-season camps at Michigan and Wisconsin-Whitewater to improve.

"He's really taken it on himself to develop that skill and he's done a great job," Holecek said. "He's probably going to get better in college.

"I would expect him to be able to walk-on to a Big Ten school and I wouldn't be surprised if he was starting in a couple of years."

That's the goal for Delaney, an honor roll student with a composite ACT score of 28 who hopes to study international business with an emphasis on Chinese.

Delaney, whose sophomore brother Robert and freshman brother Patrick play football at Loyola, doesn't just punt, either. He usually sees action at tight end and has caught 8 passes for 130 yards.

And in an interesting twist, Delaney wasn't aware that Parsons also played tight end for the Bears from 1972-76.

"Last year I wouldn't let him play any offense because he was too valuable," Holecek said. "This year he's grown stronger and he's a good athlete.

"Mentally he's as strong as he is physically. He's got it all."