IC Catholic tight end Eric Karner has known quarterback Dennis Mandala since they were 6 years old.
Karner has been catching passes from Mandala since they started playing flag football, and that might continue for several more years. The seniors have committed to play at Texas A&M.
“I didn’t even know as of a year ago I’d be going to play SEC football,” Karner said. “So to go play with him is something that in my mind is unbelievable.”
The 6-foot-5, 220-pound Karner, who had more than 20 Division I offers, committed first. The 5-9, 170-pound Mandala later committed as a preferred walk-on. They didn’t plan to go to the same school.
“He earned that himself,” Karner said of Mandala. “He’s a good player.”
That’s an understatement. Mandala led the Knights to a 13-1 record and the Class 3A state title last season, throwing for 2,651 yards and 37 touchdowns.
Mandala passed for 200 yards and four touchdowns in a 48-17 win against Williamsville in the state championship game. Two of those scoring strikes went to Karner, who averaged more than 16.3 yards per catch as a junior.
More Top Picks Best Weighted Lap Pads For Classrooms
“He’s really gritty,” Karner said. “People look at him, and they think he’s small. But he won’t care who hits him.
“He’ll go out there, and if he messes up, he’ll admit to it and go out there and fix it right then. I think that’s what is special about him, is he doesn’t stop and doesn’t let anything get in his way.”
Neither does Karner, who has played receiver, tight end, defensive end and defensive back during his career at IC Catholic (3-0). He runs like a receiver, blocks like a tight end and can catch nearly everything thrown his way, which is an attribute Mandala appreciates.
“I just know he’s going to get the ball from me,” Mandala said. “If it’s not exactly where it’s supposed to be on my part, I know he’s going to go get it and at least make every effort to get the ball.”
That’s a quality that coaches prize too.
“You saw the size and the upside that he brought just because of the athletic traits he has and the movement ability,” IC Catholic assistant Matt Bowen said of Karner. “Now it’s more about the development and the teaching, learning how to watch tape, learning how to watch defensive backs and coverage rotations and what that’s telling you.
“He’s done that, and that’s why he got to the point where he had 20-plus offers.”
Bowen, who played safety for seven seasons in the NFL, was a quarterback and defensive back at Glenbard West, so he’s well-versed on the qualities that recruiters want. He said Karner’s production spiked at the end of last season, when he made several big catches.
“In the state championship, he had another touchdown on a vertical throw, and that’s where you saw the matchup ability,” Bowen said. “He has the size, the frame and the catch radius. So Dennis can put the ball on the front shoulder or the back shoulder, and Eric will make a play.
Karner’s best may be yet to come.
“He’s really not even close to his ceiling yet,” Bowen said. “When you talk about someone’s ceilings in terms of traits that he has and what he projects when he gets older within a college weight program and nutrition, that’s why he had the type of recruiting.”
Bowen foresees Karner as a tight end who can flex outside, like many in the NFL do. Karner said Texas A&M has similar plans.
“My height is really part of my game, so I can go up and get the ball,” he said. “They want me to be about 250, more of a receiving type, or a Mike Evans.”
There’s no reason to doubt Karner is capable of it.
“SEC coming up to Elmhurst, Illinois, tells you a lot,” Bowen said. “They’re looking for a certain type of talent and a certain type of body frame, physical tools and someone that they think has a ceiling they’re not even close to reaching yet.”
The Knights reached the pinnacle last year, winning their fourth state title under coach Bill Krefft since 2016. But this season they face a big challenge just to make the playoffs as they have moved to the CCL/ESCC, where their opponents include bigger schools such as defending Class 8A champion Loyola, defending Class 5A state champion Nazareth, 2022 Class 4A semifinalist Wheaton St. Francis, 2021 Class 5A state champion Fenwick, Marist and Benet.
Karner and Mandala are ready.
“I love it,” Karner said. “Our whole lives, we’ve been proving people wrong. People say, ‘They’re a small school, they’re overrated’ — this and that — but I think that coach Krefft and all of our coaching staff do a great job of making sure that we don’t take that type of disrespect.
“We’ll go out there, and we’ll really put a beating down on a team that thinks they got us.”
It will be a team effort.
“The small-school thing doesn’t really matter to us,” Mandala said. “We just listen to our coaches, and whatever they need us to do, we play our game and trust in our teammates and trust in each other. We’re all brothers.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.