Naperville North’s Matt Heinz had one of the best seats in the house last season as he watched the passing attack put on by Drake Davis, Nick Calcagno and Ryan Laurenzo.
That trio has graduated, but Heinz is ready to take over for the Huskies as a senior wide receiver.
“With Cal and Laurenzo gone, you have to take some of the workload on yourself,” Heinz said. “But I’ve been looking forward to it for honestly since my freshman year. So I feel like I’m ready for it.
“I learned a lot under Cal and ’Zo. I feel like I can build off of that and try and have a great senior year.”
The Huskies, who finished with a 6-4 record, averaged 32.9 points in 2017. Heinz had 22 catches for 436 yards and two touchdowns, but those numbers should take a dramatic climb in 2018.
“I feel like my speed definitely helps me out, along with my route running,” Heinz said. “But I work more on my foot speed to get in and out of cuts even quicker, get some more separation.
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“I definitely have been working a lot on my foot speed to try to help me out.”
Senior Cliff Vickers and junior Anthony Gabrione have been competing to take Davis’ place at quarterback.
Big shoes to fill, no question.
Davis, a transfer from Bureau Valley, delivered 3,409 total yards and 32 TDs in his only season at Naperville North.
Vickers was sure to try and soak in everything he learned from Davis to prepare for leading North’s offense.
“I think, for me, it’s a little bit of athleticism, elusiveness,” Vickers said. “Because if a play breaks down, I have the athleticism to get out of the pocket and make something happen with my feet.”
Senior Ameir Wilbourn, who rushed for 245 yards and three TDs last season, and sophomore Elijah Jordan will provide a suitable one-two punch in the backfield.
Naperville North coach Sean Drendel knows games are won at the line of scrimmage. And he likes what he has been seeing early on.
“I think our strength is our depth,” Drendel said. “Our O-line and D-line, we have a lot of nice players up front. So I like the way the two classes have come together.
“We’re a pretty cohesive group. Our brotherhood, our teamwork together has been outstanding.”
Senior linebackers Andrew Reinhard (58 tackles) and Bo Richter (32 tackles) will lead the defense.
A defensive coordinator by trade, Drendel also has reason to be optimistic with the secondary. Grant Pass (34 tackles) and Sean Doyle (16 tackles) headline that unit for defensive coordinator Chris Arthurs.
“They’re not overly intimidating, but their play is very intimidating,” Drendel said. “So those two (Doyle and Pass) have had great camps for us as defensive backs, which we thought they would.”
Blake Baumgartner is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.