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player ready...At the end of a 5-5 season that failed to meet expectations, Brad Johnson looked back a few months and wondered if a lax summer attitude by some was to blame.
When Bret Kooi stepped down as Lockport’s coach unexpectedly in April, the senior middle linebacker and Class 3A 189-pound state wrestling champion looked ahead and stepped forward.
“I went to our AD with some of the other seniors and told him we need to be in the weight room, we can’t wait for a new coach,” Johnson said. “Last year we had the talent, but we went 5-5 because kids over the summer didn’t go for everything. This year we made sure everyone was lifting and doing speed stuff.
“We were going to do 7-on-7 by ourselves, but we didn’t know how to set it up, so we just made sure everyone was working on getting bigger and faster. That definitely brought us together with the junior group.”
Don McKillip, who coached both groups as sophomores, was a popular choice among players when given the job five weeks later, and the Porters have hit the ground running in 2011.
Lockport (2-0) will find out how far it has come and how much further it has to go Friday night in an early Southwest Suburban Blue showdown with No. 6 Lincoln-Way East, the two-time defending conference champion.
“Lincoln-Way East’s offense is very dynamic,” Johnson said. “We’ve had some trouble against the pass in the first two games. They know it. They watch film, and with those receivers and that quarterback, they’re going to try to expose it.
“We’re trying to get ourselves better. Freshman year and sophomore year the games were close. It is the same class. I know we have a shot if we play up to our potential.”
Johnson has turned potential into production in the classroom as well as the gridiron and wrestling room. He’s being recruited by Illinois, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma and Michigan for wrestling and North Dakota State and South Dakota for football.
McKillip, Lockport’s third head coach since 1960, has no doubt about Johnson’s future success after watching him lead his peers through a difficult transition.
“He’s just one of those kids you can always count on to help the team,” McKillip said. “He has been there before. He knows what it takes to get to the top of his particular sport. The rest of the guys don’t have to look much farther than what is lined up right across from them.”
Lockport at No. 6 Lincoln-Way East
When:
7:30 p.m. Friday
Where:
201 Colorado Ave., Frankfort.
Last meeting:
Lincoln-Way East won 45-14 in 2010.
Records:
Lockport 2-0, Lincoln-Way East 2-0.
Players to watch:
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Lockport — Dexter Taylor, Sr., 5-11, 170, RB (218 yards rushing); Billy Reed, Sr., 6-1, 190, QB; Brad Johnson, Sr., 6-2, 220, LB. Lincoln-Way East — Blake Winkler, Sr., 5-11, 180, QB (7 TD passes); Jay Yancy, Sr., 6-4, 195, WR (3 TDs); Matt Solner, Sr., 6-2, 265, DT.
FYI:
Lockport coach Don McKillip praised the play of backup quarterback Kyle Smart, who subbed for injured starter Reed the last two weeks. Reed is expected to get the call against the Griffins.
X and O factor:
Lincoln-Way East’s offense has scored 94 points despite spending much of the second half on the sidelines the past two weeks. Winkler, an Ivy League recruit, has two Division I receivers — Yancy and Illinois-bound J.J. Robertson — at his disposal.