Wauconda’s Jake Becker tried football in sixth grade and didn’t enjoy the experience.
Given his size, he played with older kids in a faster, more hard-hitting game, while his friends stayed at grade level. He didn’t continue.
But things changed for Becker during the coronavirus pandemic more than three years later.
“I lost a lot of weight, which gave me the motivation to play sports again,” he said, “and then I played football and fell in love with it.”
Becker’s return to the sport has been good for the Bulldogs, who have won 12 straight regular-season games and 16 of 18 overall since he joined the program. The 6-foot-3, 230-pound senior is playing on both sides of the line this season, which Wauconda started Friday with a 49-0 win against Aurora Central Catholic.
“I think his senior year he wants to help us any way he can,” first-year Wauconda coach Chris Prostka said. “It’s a lot of snaps, a lot of fighting in there. He’s one of the bigger, stronger kids on the team.”
Becker played a little baseball in seventh and eighth grades but said he “wasn’t an active kid until freshman or sophomore year.”
He attended one of Wauconda’s football games when he was a freshman in 2019. By then, the wheels were turning, according to teammate Tyler Schmidt.
“I wasn’t too close with Jake, but we had mutual friends,” Schmidt said. “As a collective friend group, we kind of convinced him to play football. He was a big kid, tall and strong. It wasn’t hard to convince him.”
During his first season, which was pushed to spring 2021 due to the pandemic, Becker earned a starting spot on Wauconda’s defensive line. He has been there ever since, helping the Bulldogs win the Northern Lake County Conference last season.
Becker has added a major role on the offensive line — left tackle — following the graduations of four of Wauconda’s five starters in the spring.
His improved fitness is one reason he can play both ways. His summer routine, for instance, was simple: practice, gym and work. He also pitches hay and takes care of horses, among other jobs, on his uncle’s farm.
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Becker said he likes to spend a lot of time at Renegade Fitness in Wauconda.
“I’m always here,” he said during a phone interview at the workout facility. “It’s something that helps relieve stress too.”
Becker can make a case for the importance of the weight room to teammates, and that’s part of his leadership role.
“It’s definitely talking to the younger guys, trying to get them in the weight room,” he said. “It definitely helped shape me into a better player, and I think it will help them.”
Becker has come a long way, according to Schmidt.
“He had natural abilities, and he’s gotten better,” Schmidt said. “He always had that thing, that factor that sets people apart as a football player.”
Gregg Voss is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.