It’s been a frustrating season for Vernon Hills, but senior Erik Boehmer has been the least of its concerns.
Boehmer has been the Cougars’ most productive player on both sides of the ball, by a wide margin, as they have tried to put a season-opening six-game losing streak behind them.
“The goal at the end of the day is to win games, and I’ve tried to do whatever I can to help win games,” he said. “It definitely stinks to come out the first six weeks and go home with a loss. But I’ve been trying, along with my teammates, to have the same intensity.”
In Boehmer’s case, that’s been very apparent. The vast majority of his production has come at receiver and middle linebacker, and there has been a lot of it in each role.
Before Vernon Hills’ 50-34 Central Suburban North road win against Highland Park on Friday, Boehmer had 38 catches for 448 yards. Anthony Martorano had the second-most catches with 15.
“Erik Boehmer is the smartest guy on the field,” Vernon Hills quarterback Nolan Lazor said. “I like to think the quarterback is smart, but Erik is unlike anybody else. If you combine the intelligence with game awareness and his physical ability, he’s all you want in a great target.”
Boehmer started quickly for the Cougars (2-6, 2-2) on Friday with three catches in the first quarter, including a 73-yarder, and later caught a 15-yard touchdown pass from Lazor, his first score of the season. His previous long reception was 34 yards.
Boehmer and Lazor also combined on a trick play for another score. Boehmer took the snap on a jet sweep and threw back to a wide open Lazor in the left flats.
“We practiced that a few times,” Boehmer said. “Coach called it, and you could see Nolan was all excited going into the huddle. I was excited, and it worked out perfectly.”
So have the last two games for the Cougars, who have rolled up a combined 92 points against Niles North and Highland Park (4-4, 2-2) while the defense held both in check. It’s easy to see why high hopes were in abundance in Vernon Hills during the summer.
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Boehmer was always expected to be a big piece of the puzzle.
“We brought him up as a sophomore, and we could see that he could play anywhere,” Vernon Hills coach Bill Bellecomo said. “We even play him on special teams. We’ve got to keep him on the field at all times because he’s our heart and soul.”
Middle linebackers often earn that label, and Boehmer moved seamlessly into that position from his previous spot on the outside. The production tells part of the story. His 51 solo tackles through seven games were more than twice as many as Giacomo Urso’s 21 1/2.
But doing all the little things that often don’t turn up on the stat sheet have also distinguished Boehmer.
“Moving into the middle was definitely a change, and it took a few games to get it down,” he said. “But now the reads are coming to me. It slows down a little bit. It makes football a lot easier when you know what’s going on.”
He makes it look easy, and part of that comes back to the intelligence that Lazor raves about.
“It’s really about reading the defense, telling guys where to be, thinking ahead a play or two, thinking what the other team’s offensive coordinator is thinking up in the box and trying to match him,” Boehmer said.
Steve Reaven is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.