Two-time baseball state champion Hara is glad he’s playing football at Libertyville again

Sometimes practicality comes before emotion. Libertyville’s Matthew Hara surmised as much when he decided to forgo football last year to focus solely on baseball.

After all, the baseball team had just won the Class 4A state title, with Hara in tow as a playoff call-up, and he wanted to play a larger role as the Wildcats attempted to repeat.

But Hara had played football for much of his life, including his first two years of high school, so he had mixed feelings.

“I thought I should take the year off from football to get the most out of my baseball ability,” he said. “The coaches wanted me to stay, but I thought football would get in the way of that.

“Then I would go watch the football games and think, ‘That should be me out there.’ It was tough to watch that, but I have no regret for what I did, and it all worked out.”

Indeed, Hara became the starting center fielder for the Wildcats, who won their second straight state title in June.

Of course, Hara’s mind soon turned to football again, and he returned to the sport. He has been welcomed back with open arms.

“What I’m enjoying the most about football is being back with the guys,” he said. “Baseball is definitely a team sport, but it’s more individual. In my opinion, football is the ultimate team sport because everyone has to do their jobs together to succeed, and that brings great chemistry.

“I’m having one of the best times of my life this football season.”

That’s high praise from someone with two state titles. But Hara has a lot of reasons to relish his comeback. The 5-foot-11, 190-pound senior is one of the most productive defenders for the playoff-bound Wildcats (4-2, 4-0), who have surged to the top of the North Suburban Conference with four straight wins.

Starting as a rover, a hybrid linebacker/safety, Hara has 45 tackles, including two for loss.

“We had heard he might want to play, and there he was on the first day of practice,” Libertyville coach Tim Budge said. “He made a lot of tackles his freshman and sophomore years, and he’s been unbelievable for us, making a ton of plays.

“He has really strong natural instincts, and he fills gaps really well. He’s been huge for us.”

Not that anyone expected Hara to contribute this much, not even him. It was a gradual process from the first practice to the first game.

“On the first day, that’s when it all hit me,” he said. “There definitely was rust from freshman and sophomore year, and I hadn’t earned anything yet because I wasn’t there. I had to work my way back up. Geneva wasn’t my best game, but it’s all come back since.”

Hara has also learned to appreciate the different ways he’s utilized.

“It depends on the scheme the offense is playing that week,” he said. “If it’s more of a passing team, I’m probably more of a safety. If it’s a running team, I’m up near the box more. Sometimes, I’m even up on the line. It’s always different.”

When Hara is in safety mode, there’s space in the middle of the field to cover, and he definitely feels at home there.

“It’s pretty much just like playing center field,” he said.

The baseball parallels don’t end there. Coaches turned to Hara to return punts during Libertyville’s 28-0 conference win over Stevenson last week after injuries depleted the depth there. Hara filled in more than capably with virtually no practice.

“I had one day of practice, probably catching around five to 10 punts,” he said. “On the first one (in the game), I didn’t feel comfortable catching it, but the second one I caught and it felt just like being in center field. I got to put on some moves and had a decent return.”

Hara is making his most significant impact on defense, however.

“There’s one thing he has a ton of that you can’t teach, and that’s aggression,” Libertyville senior running back Aiden Weaver said. “I’ve played with him my whole life, and he’s always loved being physical, and he still is.

“The things he’s good at make him an absolutely perfect fit for the rover. It would have taken anyone a second to get back going again after sitting out, but he looks like he’s back to his old self.”

Hara underscored that when he said he’s enjoying the week-to-week soreness that comes with playing football. He likes to hit.

“In the last game, I got a pretty nice hit on a guy,” he said. “I was playing safety, and I had to look to the left and to the right. The slot came crossing into the middle underneath trying to catch a pass, but I knocked the ball loose. That was fun.”