Senior wide receiver/free safety Cam Stacy has been a major threat on offense for Maine South for two seasons, and a force on defense since he became a regular there for the final month of 2016.
Those skills were on display Friday as he caught four passes for 67 yards and a touchdown in Maine South’s 45-7 win over New Trier in Northfield. With the victory the Hawks clinched the Central Suburban South.
However, Stacy said his development, in particular his route running, has been the result of many years of hard work.
“It’s something I’ve always taken pride in,” said Stacy, a Park Ridge resident. “I knew from a very young age that I wasn’t the strongest or the fastest, necessarily. But I knew route-running was something I could do every single day by myself. So, I was out there, running routes, no ball, nothing, since third grade.”
Soon after he got to Maine South, Stacy identified additional steps he could take to maximize his talents on the gridiron.
“I stopped playing basketball after freshman year,” Stacy said. “I realized how the football program worked, how it was a 365-day-a-year grind, and to improve and get to the level I wanted to be, I had to do it year-round.”
After playing some special teams as a postseason call-up to the varsity in 2015, Stacy emerged as a pass-catching threat in 2016. He finished with 37 catches for 615 yards and five touchdowns for a Hawks team that captured the Class 8A state title.
This season he has 32 catches for 646 yards and 12 touchdowns.
During the run to the championship, Stacy became one of a handful of Hawks playing regularly on both sides of the ball.
The 5-foot-11, 172-pound Stacy said the decision for him to pull double-duty last season came after Maine South’s Week 7 loss to New Trier, which ended the Hawks’ 77-game conference winning streak.
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The loss served as motivation as the Hawks won their next seven games. Stacy said he’d been looking forward to last week’s rematch with the Trevians for nearly a year. With that win, Maine South (7-1, 4-0) clinched its 16th conference title in the last 17 years.
“Last year, after the loss (to New Trier), it immediately hit me that this group of (then-juniors) was going to have to come back and take back what is ours,” Stacy said.
In Friday’s victory, Maine South senior running back Fotis Kokosioulis, a Northern Illinois commit, carried 13 times for 181 yards and two touchdowns, becoming the school’s all-time leader in rushing yards (3,451) and tops in touchdowns (64). Matt Perez, a 2010 graduate, held both records with 3,391 yards and 63 touchdowns.
Maine South senior quarterback John O’Sullivan completed 13-of-18 passes for 271 and two touchdowns.
Stacy also had seven tackles on defense.
“(Stacy) is a tremendous receiver, runs some unbelievable routes, gets himself open all the time,” Maine South coach Dave Inserra said. “Defensively, he’s leading in the backfield. We put a lot of pressure on him to understand what’s going on and make calls.”
Inserra continued: “He’s got some real ability, is a bright kid and he plays with a little swagger, and that’s good. He gets our team playing with a little confidence.”
Dan Shalin is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Twitter @Pioneer_Press