Former Illinois WR Mike Dudek’s Neuqua Valley records motivate Will Kalish, who is ‘really, really good’ too

Neuqua Valley junior receiver Will Kalish has never met Mike Dudek and hasn’t watched him play in person.

But Kalish has seen the highlights on YouTube. Dudek set Neuqua Valley’s records for receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns before he graduated in 2014, and he later played at Illinois.

“He’s one of my biggest idols,” Kalish said. “He actually went here, so I compare myself to him as much as possible, just kind of see where I need to be if I want to be a player like him.”

Dudek is an aspirational figure for Kalish, who feels driven to greatness as he gets in the groove of his second varsity season.

“I didn’t get a lot of targets because it was a senior-heavy team, but I still had one kind of breakout game last year,” Kalish said. “Against Homewood-Flossmoor, I had two touchdowns.

“That was all I had, but it was still a good year, really good for development.”

The 6-foot, 160-pound Kalish is determined to have a breakout season, and he has had a great start for the Wildcats (1-2).

Kalish caught seven passes for 167 yards and three touchdowns in the Wildcats’ season-opening 44-22 loss to 2025 Class 8A state runner-up Oswego. He followed that up with seven catches for 102 yards and a score in the Wildcats’ 27-14 win over Minooka.

“For sure it’s a breakout year,” Neuqua Valley senior quarterback Drake Mennecke said. “He’s already proven that within the first two weeks.

“His route running is really good, and he’s able to shake off defenders and make catches that make me look good.”

The Mennecke-to-Kalish connection is looking good, which is by design.

“With the receiver stuff, it really starts in January, morning lifts, going to the field with Drake as much as we can,” Kalish said. “It all starts in the offseason, but the season is when it really starts.”

Did Kalish expect to be so successful against Oswego?

“I’d been working all summer, so I was kind of ready for it,” he said. “I didn’t know it was going to be three touchdowns, but I was definitely ready for something because they didn’t know who I was. Nobody knew who I was.”

Now they do. Unbeaten Hersey focused on stopping Kalish last week and held him to two catches for 9 yards in the Wildcats’ 49-14 loss.

That wasn’t a shock.

“Going into this game, we both definitely knew that Hersey was going to be on him a little bit more just from his past two games and him balling out,” Mennecke said. “He’s already shown in the first two games what he’s capable of.”

Kalish was feeling frustrated after the Hersey game, but he realizes that adjustments are a constant part of the chess game between offenses and defenses.

“It’s definitely annoying having a little target on my back, but it’s also a privilege,” he said. “The DB coaches come up to me after almost every game, and they’re like, ‘Oh, yeah, we were scared to death about you.’ It’s pretty cool.

“But it’s also annoying because they’ve got this hard cover-2 scheme that they’re running. It’s messing up our routes.”

Perhaps not for long.

“Will is really, really good,” Neuqua Valley coach Bill Ellinghaus said. “Teams are taking notice. He’s a great threat on offense. He can run with the football a little bit. We give him some jet sweeps and stuff.

“But he catches everything. You throw it near him, and he’s catching the football.”

Neuqua Valley senior Joshua Repmann, who plays receiver and tight end, lauded Kalish’s approach to his craft.

“This kid, he works hard every day,” Repmann said. “He’s always here early, working with Drake, getting passes in.

“He’s a great locker room guy, always hyping people up, making sure people are good, and he’s a good team captain.”

Kalish, who also plays basketball and runs track, isn’t going to let one tough game keep him down.

“I just want to keep going,” he said. “After this game, as much as I know I have a target on my back, I’m really disappointed. I really wanted more for myself.

“But it’s also going to grow. It’s one of my first games going into it where people know who I am. It’s just going to go up from here.”