Growing up, Evanston junior wide receiver/safety Gerrad Lamour wanted to be like NFL wide receiver Randy Moss. There was just one problem.
“I was a little, chubby kid,” said the 5-foot-10, 165-pound Lamour, who lives in Evanston. “I remember (when I was 10) a kid on my youth football team telling me, ‘You’ll never be a receiver because you’re fat.'”
That’s when Lamour’s mother, Nikita Legrone, stepped in to help her son work toward his goal.
“I said I wanted to be a receiver, and she said, ‘Are you sure?’ Ever since then, she has taken me to run the hill (at Evanston’s James Park). She helped me run routes and watch film and learn new routes,” Lamour said.
His mother also helped him with his speed and hands as he grew older. She didn’t let Lamour wear receiver gloves until freshman year in order to help him get a better feel for the ball.
The hard work paid off. Lamour just completed his second varsity season and played both ways in 2017 for an Evanston team that reached the Class 8A state playoffs.
Though Evanston fell 58-7 to defending state champion Maine South in its playoff opener on Friday, Lamour showed what he could do on both sides of the ball.
He caught a 41-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Drew Dawkins early in the second quarter. Later, playing safety, he made an acrobatic deflection of a pass in the end zone, which was then intercepted by junior cornerback Malik Ross.
“Gerrad is a two-year starter with a lot of ability. He’s a kid with a bright future,” Evanston coach Mike Burzawa said. “He definitely has a lot of athletic ability, good speed, a good football IQ. He’s had a good year.”
After starting at wide receiver for much of his sophomore year, Lamour pulled double-duty this season as a part of a defensive backfield that featured three other juniors in their second varsity season: Ross, safety Michael Axelrood and cornerback Trenton Bertrand.
Lamour said the four, who also play wide receiver, will be expected to provide leadership for the Wildkits during the offseason and the 2018 campaign.
“We all play different roles as leaders,” Lamour said. “(Ross) doesn’t talk that much, but shows more by example. Ax and I talk and encourage people to try their best. (Bertrand) is the underdog because he went from Freshman B to varsity starter. So, for the kids who want to give up (on football), he can tell them to just keep fighting and not give up.”
The Wildkits have other talented players scheduled to return next fall. Though Dawkins, a two-year starter at quarterback, will graduate, junior Ben Tarpey, this year’s backup, is expected to return. Sophomore running back Quadre Nicholson is another skilled player who saw time in 2017.
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The defensive line also should have experience next season: It featured junior starters Collin Olla-Chatman, Troy Gallimore and Cion Miller-Smith this year.
Evanston finished the 2017 regular season with a three-game winning streak to secure the program’s seventh postseason berth in eight years. However, the Wildkits have not won a playoff game since 2003, and Lamour said taking that next step will be the focus in 2018.
“Our goal should not be to just make the playoffs, but to make it past the first round,” Lamour said. “We haven’t made it past the first round, and we want to be that team (that does). We want to be the team everyone remembers that just never gave up, and that was striving to get past the first round by working hard in the offseason.”
Dan Shalin is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Twitter @Pioneer_Press