Fox Valley stars make commitments
Several area football players will continue their careers next season at the FCS (I-AA), Division II, Division III or junior college level. Here's where some of the local talent is headed.
Bartlett: Daily Herald All-Area honorary co-captain Andrew Puccini has committed to the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. Puccini (5-foot-9, 180 pounds) led the Hawks to the second round of the Class 8A playoffs after rushing for an area-best 1,267 yards and 16 touchdowns on 174 carries.
Puccini will be joined at UW-Platteville by teammate Brian Polubinski (6-2, 210), an All-Area defensive lineman who registered a team-high 73 tackles. Polubinski finished fourth in voting for UEC Valley defensive player of the year.
Defensive back Aaron Thabuteau (5-7, 170), who saw some time in the backfield during his two varsity seasons, will play Division-III Football at Lake Forest College.
Thabuteau was a first-team all-UEC pick, as were defensive lineman/tight end Mark Pszczolkowski (6-2, 245) and offensive linemen Dan Pawlus (6-3, 245) and Zach Shriver (6-2, 265). Pszczolkowski will play next season for the University of Chicago. Pawlus and Shriver have yet to make decisions between offers from Division III schools.
Burlington Central: All-Big Northern East defensive back Brandon Westergaard will play next season at Elmhurst College. Westergaard (5-10, 175) finished among the area's top 10 rushers after carrying the ball 142 times for 779 yards and 8 touchdowns.
Running back Tim Maroder (5-99, 185), whose season ended on the second carry of the season when he tore the ACL and meniscus in his left knee, has a decision to make. Maroder has offers to play football at Wisconsin-Whitewater, which has won three of the last four Division III national championships. He also has offers from Augustana and Wisconsin-LaCrosse.
However, Maroder could also wrestle collegiately at Northern Illinois University. "I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet," Maroder said last week while attending the Class 2A Rochelle sectional. "Either way I have good options."
Two-time All-Area running back Tre Llanes has offers to play football, but he'll wait and see how the upcoming track season plays out before making a decision, according to Rockets coach Aaron Wichman. Llanes finished last season as the area's fifth-leading rusher with 847 yards and 11 touchdowns on 130 carries.
Cary-Grove: Guard Kenny Pistorious (6-4, 245) has offers from Chicago's North Park University and Aurora University but remains uncommitted at the moment.
All-Area defensive back Dan Sarillo (5-11, 185) has an offer to play next season at North Park but has yet to decide if he will play football in college, he said Thursday.
Crystal Lake South: In addition to offensive linemen Jake Bernstein (Vanderbilt), Fahn Cooper (Bowling Green) and Phil Hespen (Drake) and all-state and All-Area quarterback Drew Ormseth (Drake), the FVC Valley champion Gators will send a fifth player on to the college level: lineman Alex Richardson (6-2, 245) has committed to North Park University.
Elgin: Jordan Dean will take his considerable talents to North Central College in Naperville. A two-time All-Area selection who was named the Upstate Eight River defensive player of the year, Dean gave his commitment to the coach John Thorne's Cardinals on Super Bowl Sunday.
Huntley: Addison Erb, hampered by injury late in the season (6-4, 295), has committed to I-AA Drake.
Larkin: Class 7A all-state wide receiver Trevor Whitehead has yet to commit to college program, though he has received interest from plenty of D-II and D-III schools. He is currently debating whether or not to join the team at I-AA Southern Illinois as a walk-on.
Whitehead (6-0, 180), lauded by Larkin coach Mike Scianna as a precise route runner, made 74 catches for a school record of 1,278 yards (17 avg.) and 7 touchdowns.
Hampshire: Lorenzo Brandon (5-11, 185), a fullback and linebacker who lost a good chunk of his senior season to injury, will play next season at the College of DuPage.
Jacobs: Three Golden Eagles will play football next fall in addition to All-Area lineman John McMahon (Drake).
Adam Bogdan (6-1, 170), a wide receiver and defensive back, will play for North Central College in Naperville. Brad Jenisch (5-10, 195) was a defensive lineman for the Golden Eagles, but he is projected to play linebacker at Illinois Wesleyan, according to Jacobs coach Bill Mitz.
And linebacker Grant Rizza (5-11, 210) is still deciding between offers from Benedictine University in Lisle or Dubuque.
St. Edward: In addition to quarterback Ben Lehman (Valparaiso), the Green Wave will send three players to the next level from the most successful team in school history.
Center Zach Trisilla (5-10, 255) will continue his career at Aurora University and Mark Olenek (5-9, 155), the team's kicker and a defensive back, will play at St. Joseph's (Ind.).
Class 4A all-state wide receiver/defensive back Sam Pozezinski (6-3, 190) has yet to make a decision, but he has been in regular contact with St. Thomas (Minn.), according to Wave coach Mike Rolando.
South Elgin: Several top-notch members of the Storm's second-round playoff team have passed on college football offers in favor of college life as a nonathlete, said South Elgin coach Dale Schabert.
One player who intends to play at the next level is running back/kick returner Brad Birchfield (5-11, 205). A Class 8A all-state pick also named the Upstate Eight Valley offensive player of the year, he has multiple offers from smaller schools but intends to walk on at I-AA Illinois State, according to his coach.
Birchfield was a three-year varsity starter who scored 104 points last season, including 17 all-purpose touchdowns. He scored twice on kick returns, once on a punt return and twice on pass receptions to go with his 12 rushing touchdowns.