Waubonsie Valley’s Jake Julian rattles off the random numbers like he’s buying a lottery ticket.
It’s not that the senior nose guard doesn’t know his approximate weight. It’s that size just doesn’t matter to Julian.
“I’m 100, 113, 175 pounds, I don’t know,” Julian said. “Either way you have to play football. It’s not about size.”
It’s not at all about size with the 5-foot-8, 170-pound Julian, who’s full of fight.
He speaks with a steely focus and demonstrative attitude on any topic, but particularly Saturday’s Class 8A second-round game against host Lincoln-Way East (8-2).
The Warriors (6-4), the 31st seed, seek their second playoff upset of this postseason after knocking off Hinsdale Central.
Lincoln-Way East, though, boasts a big roster, close to 130-deep with an infusion of 40 or so players from since-closed Lincoln-Way North, and a huge offensive line.
Julian doesn’t need to be reminded, and he doesn’t care.
“They say they have a lot of big boys but we’re going to try to get them,” Julian said. “It’s been an incredible adventure.”
Indeed, it has. Julian’s first sports love was wrestling, a passion that hasn’t faded.
He wrestled for eight years, but gave it up after his freshman year. He gets emotional talking about a possible return.
“I’m thinking about starting again,” Julian said. “I stopped because football came into my life. I wouldn’t consider myself a football player, but I’m playing a lot. Wrestling got me in the right mindset.”
Waubonsie football has done well with wrestlers.
Max Ihry, last year’s Naperville Sun Football Player of the Year, was a two-time state qualifier and now competes for the Northern Illinois wrestling team. Tyler Caldwell, a three-year starting lineman, also was a state wrestling qualifier.
Julian, a two-year varsity starter, likewise has seen his skills on the mat transfer to the football field.
“He’s one of the smallest kids we’ve ever had, but people hate trying to block him because he’s so darn quick,” Waubonsie coach Paul Murphy said. “He disrupts everything offenses do and gets in their hip pocket.
“Being a wrestler he understands leverage, which works to his advantage.”
An all-conference selection by the DuPage Valley, Julian leads Waubonsie in sacks (nine) and tackles for loss (13), with 42 solo tackles, 20 assists and seven hurries.
Who is 37? That was was a question every opposing coach around the DVC asked Murphy this season, and Julian’s non-stop motor is a big reason why.
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“He’s that little fly that’s always biting your ankle,” Waubonsie defensive coordinator Ron Griffin said. “He’s a pain in the butt to opponents because he’s so quick off the ball.”
Lincoln-Way East will provide a challenge. The Griffins offensive line is big like Hinsdale, but Murphy considers them more athletic.
“They like to pull their linemen as well,” Murphy said. “It gives Jake opportunities to make plays from behind. We’re going to see. It will be their size against our quickness.”
Julian does carry a bounce to his step, and not just talking about football.
“What I’ve been focusing on a lot lately is music,” Julian said. “I play it a lot. I feel that it brings me to a different level in a spiritual sense.”
Julian plays guitar and synthesizers. He considers music a big part of his future, along with football and physics.
He loves listening to music before games, listing Radiohead, Flying Lotus and Death Grips as his favorite artists.
“It’s the idea of losing yourself and getting into the game, getting into the music,” Julian said.
Julian hopes the beat goes on Saturday.
“It’s been a journey with these guys,” Julian said. “We’ve been working left and right and we’re going to see how far we can go with it.”
Joshua Welge is a freelance writer for the Naperville Sun.
PLAYOFF GAMES TO WATCH
Benet at Normal Community
When: 3 p.m. Saturday.
Outlook: Redwings (8-2) seek first quarterfinal appearance since 2012. Normal (9-1) is the highest-scoring team in the 7A field, averaging 45.3 points during regular season. Quarterback Grant Price has thrown for 1,586 yards and 14 TDs. Varshaun Dixon ran for 1,350 yards and 20 TDs in the regular season. Benet’s Erik Jones has two pick-sixes in last four weeks.
Waubonsie Valley at Lincoln-Way East
When: 6:30 p.m. Saturday.
Outlook: Can the 31st-seeded Warriors’ playoff magic continue? Charles Robinson comes in off record-breaking 214-yard, four-TD game. Waubonsie (6-4) needs to keep offense balanced behind Nate Ashford and continue to have Tanner Westwood minimize turnovers. Lincoln-Way East’s only losses were against unbeatens Homewood-Flossmoor and Bradley-Bourbonnais. The Griffins (8-2) rotate quarterbacks Jake Arthur and Max Shafer.