Donny Navarro’s best skill isn’t easily measured.
The 5-foot-10 Navarro, who will be a senior wide receiver at Neuqua Valley this fall, doesn’t burn with speed. His size is modest next to teammates with more notoriety.
Navarro, though, has a talent that makes him a security blanket to quarterbacks. And a coach’s favorite.
“I’ve told everybody this, and they don’t believe it until they see it — Donny could get open in a shoebox,” Neuqua coach Bill Ellinghaus said. “The kid knows how to run routes.”
Navarro’s knack to find open space was on display June 30 through July 1 at the Red Grange 7-on-7 Tournament at Wheaton Warrenville South. Navarro led Neuqua in receptions. The Wildcats went 5-0 in pool play and 3-2 in the bracketed tourney.
Navarro, who had just seven receptions for Neuqua as a junior, is opening eyes on the 7-on-7 circuit.
Playing for the Naperville-based Midwest BOOM program alongside Neuqua teammate and Notre Dame recruit Isaiah Robertson, Navarro led the team in receptions.
In June, the BOOM beat the Cam Newton All-Stars, coached by reigning NFL MVP Cam Newton, to win the IMG 7-on-7 National Championship.
“It was unreal,” Navarro said. “We beat Cam Newton’s team twice. Each of us had our own role and we played it well.”
Navarro and the BOOM had extra incentive.
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Roman Niklos, the 4-year-old son of BOOM general manager and Neuqua assistant coach J.R. Niklos, was diagnosed with leukemia days before the team left for Florida.
“Our motivation was to win a national championship for Roman and J.R.,” Navarro said.
Navarro is realizing the fruits of his offseason labor.
For the first time he’s watched film of himself. He’s improved his vertical jump to 33 inches and lowered his 40-yard dash time to 4.7 seconds.
Navarro invited Neuqua quarterbacks Jack Bastable and Jake Eskoff to throw balls to him daily in his backyard.
“It’s a day-to-day grind,” Navarro said. “I’d catch 100 balls a day from every angle. It’s just repetition. I did a lot of things I thought my opponents weren’t doing.”
Opponents have noticed. At the Red Grange 7-on-7, Navarro made the spectacular catch as well as the mundane. He elicited respectful murmurs on opposing sidelines.
The high opinions extend to Navarro’s coach. In terms of the technical aspects of receiving, Ellinghaus compares Navarro to former Neuqua great Mikey Dudek (Illinois) and ex-Aurora Christian star Chad Beebe (Northern Illinois), both undersized receivers now playing Division I football.
“He might not have the top-end speed of those guys, but when you’re talking about running routes and setting up defenders he knows how to get it done,” Ellinghaus said. “He is open all the time.”
Navarro, who’s currently talking to Division II Minnesota Duluth and Minnesota State Moorhead, said it comes from necessity.
“For my size, I have to be able to run good routes, use my quickness and catch everything that comes my way,” Navarro said. “I use my quickness to my advantage.”
Between Navarro, Robertson and Navy recruit Owen Piche, the receiving corps should be a strength for a Neuqua team coming off a 7-4 season.
Who will be the quarterback for the Wildcats is not yet certain.
Bastable threw two passes all last season as the backup to Jack Stankoven. Eskoff transferred from Wisconsin last school year, but didn’t play football.
“We have the entire month of July to figure this out,” Ellinghaus said.
Either way, Ellinghaus expects a big year from Navarro.
“He’s come into his own,” Ellinghaus said. “We had a couple guys a little taller than he is, and last year we maybe locked into those guys a little bit too much. I look for Donny to have a great year.”
Joshua Welge is a freelance writer for the Naperville Sun.