WW South quarterback Rogers is someone to believe in

Mr. Rogers’ neighborhood produced a big arm, and a leader of the Wheaton Warrenville South football team.

Tigers quarterback A.J. Rogers — sometimes Andrew James if his mother, Kelly, gets mad a him — lives on Rogers Avenue in Warrenville, a long block south of Al’s Pizza.

The street was named after its first resident in the 1940s, “Swede” Rogers, A.J.’s great grandfather. A.J.’s grandparents, Dennis and Martha, live next door, his grandfather a contractor who built a number of houses on the street and lived in four of them at one point or another.

A.J. grew up throwing the football in his backyard on Rogers Avenue. Now he and the Tigers, hosting Normal Community West in Saturday’s Class 6A quarterfinal game, are trying to own this town.

“I think every week we’ve gained some confidence,” said the 6-foot-2, 190-pound junior, whose brother, Zach, played three years of varsity football before graduating last May.

“We’ve had a few setbacks with Lyons and Geneva, but we knew we were right there, especially with that Geneva game (a 28-26 loss). We knew we were right there and we could compete with anyone,” A.J. Rogers said.

“I think those losses really fueled us to get to where we are now, and we’re playing the best football we’ve played all year.”

It helps that they’re coachable.

“I think that’s one of the things that makes these guys special,” said Tigers coach Sean Norris. “I think they really want to be great. And because of that they want to be challenged. They’re not satisfied with mediocrity.”

WW South (8-3) comes off a 45-14 win over Riverside-Brookfield in which Rogers completed 18 of 25 passes for 355 yards with touchdowns to Blake Ittersagen, Steven Harvey and Keenan Yarbrough.

On the season Rogers has completed 69% of his passes for 2,927 yards and 25 touchdown passes to four interceptions.

And to think he was ready to quit tackle football after one season of playing linebacker and safety as a sixth grader with the FCA Force in the Pop Warner League.

Rogers, then coached by his father, Dan Rogers — the starting left guard for WW South teams that won the 1995 and 1996 Class 6A titles — didn’t think he was good enough.

“My dad was like, ‘You’re going to have a better year, you’re going to have fun,’” A.J. Rogers recalled. “And then seventh grade I came back, played linebacker and running back, and had such a good time. I’ve loved it ever since.”

Dan Rogers urged his son to finish what he’d started.

“I had multiple conversations with him reminding him that my first year in football was very, very difficult, and reminding him that the first year in any sport was very difficult, and giving it another chance would be a great opportunity,” he said.

A.J. Rogers is one of seven varsity Tigers whose fathers played on state championship teams at WW South, Dan Rogers said. The mentality rubbed off.

“He was just always there for me, I guess, telling me how to treat others, respect people, play hard at all times. It was awesome,” A.J. Rogers said.

In eighth grade, A.J. moved to the Wheaton Rams, and to quarterback. As well as his father as a coach, also shifting to the Rams from the Force was Ittersagen, a converted running back. A receiver, he leads WW South with 49 catches for 739 yards and is tied with Harvey in touchdown catches with eight.

“A.J., he changed my whole view on football,” said Ittersagen, from a wildly athletic family including his parents, Bryan and Ali (Klaas), and uncles Kasey Klaas and Pete Ittersagen, a former NFL cornerback and kick returner in the Wheaton College Hall of Honor.

“It was his first year playing quarterback and I couldn’t believe it. This kid looked like a (Division I) quarterback already.” said Blake Ittersagen, whose father helped develop Rogers at the position. A.J. now trains with QB Era in Glen Ellyn.

“He’s very smart with the football, the toughest guy I know out in the field. He’ll take a hit, get blind-sided, and he’ll get right back up no matter what. Not afraid to use his legs, at all. His vision is amazing. I could go on and on,” Ittersagen said.

Let’s do that. Dan Rogers cites his son’s ability to audible to the right play, or adjust on the fly. A.J.’s “special” skill, his father said, is “to get everyone to believe in the team as a whole.”

It’s almost enough to get a street named after you. A few more wins, they’ll get a key to the city.

“Since a young age I’ve just been throwing with my friends in the backyard. They just always said I was, like, different, and threw better,” A.J. Rogers said.

“I’ve just had people around me that had confidence in me and trusted in my ability. I was really blessed to have the people in my life.”