If Oak Park-River Forest maintained statistics on minutes played, it’s a good bet that Breshawn Wilkerson would lead the Huskies football team in that category.
For the first two years of his career with the Huskies varsity, Wilkerson has been a three-way player on offense, defense and special teams.
He showed that sort of athletic promise going back to his first game on the freshman team, when Wilkerson scored two touchdowns against Downers Grove North.
He filled up the stats sheet again on Friday, Oct. 16, in OPRF’s 35-7 victory at Lyons in the West Suburban Silver. The Huskies (7-1, 4-1) scored the game’s first 28 points and cruised behind a potent offense that produced over 300 yards in the first half and a stifling defense that limited Lyons (5-3, 2-3) to 30 total yards before halftime.
Senior running back Antonio Cannon rushed for a career-high 271 yards on 16 carries and scored TDs on runs of 94 and 19 yards.
On Lyons’ second series of the game, Wilkerson — a 6-foot-2, 190-pound outside linebacker and wide receiver — broke free and sacked Lyons quarterback Ben Bryant for an 11-yard loss. Later in the first quarter, Wilkerson lined up behind center and took a snap out of the Wildcat formation for a 4-yard gain.
As a receiver, his first of two catches came in the second quarter and it went for 28 yards. Senior quarterback Keegan Smith located him across the middle of the Lyons defense on the first play after Keyon Blankenbaker intercepted Lyons quarterback Ben Bryant at the Lyons 26.
Wilkerson’s production is a bit surprising for an athlete considered primarily a basketball player in seventh grade at Brooks Middle School. Wilkerson did not play football until he ran into OPRF freshman coach Donie Collins.
If it wasn’t for the chance meeting with Collins, Wilkerson likely wouldn’t be playing football for the Huskies.
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In the second week of preseason practice, Collins noticed Wilkerson and a friend watching practice from the mall just outside the school. Collins approached the two and asked them, “Why aren’t you playing?”
“No one asked,” they responded.
He invited the two to practice the next day and they both showed up.
“Football has helped much more in basketball. It has made me a tougher person,” Wilkerson, who started every game for varsity basketball coach Matt Maloney last season as a guard, said. “I picked it up really quick.”
Wilkerson said he attributes coaches such as Collins for his ability to learn the game quickly.
“None of this surprises me,” Collins said. “He’s a hard working kid. He never gets tired. He has a bottomless tank. Physically, he’s special.”
Twitter @geomwilcox