Crete-Monee’s Derrin Couch would love to see the vacant property at 955 Main St. in Crete thrive again.
The senior quarterback said he doesn’t remember much about the miniature golf, go-kart and video game center that used to occupy that space, which closed in the mid-2010s.
But that didn’t stop Derrin, his older brother, Dabion, and a family friend, Jacob Rankin, from becoming a three-man wrecking crew in cleaning up the property earlier this year.
“We have a plan that hopefully we can make enough money to buy the property,” Derrin said. “And we want to turn it to what it originally was — a fun place for kids.”
It was once known as Adventure Trails, then Spanos and the Crete Family Fun Center.
In the meantime, Couch and his teammates are hoping to have some fun as the Warriors — who are No. 9 in the Daily Southtown preseason rankings — will play their first season at the Sportsplex, the school’s new stadium.
“It looks very good,” Couch said of the facility. “I like it a lot.”
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There’s a lot to like about Couch’s game after he threw for 2,082 yards and a school-record 41 touchdowns last season as a junior.
He just missed making it into the top 20 of the Illinois High School Association record book for most passing TDs in a season.
But the eight TDs that Couch threw Oct. 4 against Thornridge earned a tie for third with eight other players for most TD passes in a game. He was the first in the state to throw for that many TDs since 2017, according to the IHSA.
The number that concerns Couch the most, however, is Crete-Monee’s win-loss record. Last year, the Warriors went 6-4 and lost in the first round of the Class 6A playoffs for the first time since 2017.
“A lot of people were amazed by my numbers, but I don’t really brag about myself,” he said.
Three players are back who caught 112 passes for 1,919 yards and 34 TDs for the Warriors.
That includes Dorian Patterson, a senior who totaled 53 receptions for 980 yards and 21 TDs. He has offers in hand from Northern Illinois, New Mexico and Miami of Ohio.
Patterson enjoys being a tag team with the 6-foot-3, 200-pound Couch. Last season, both were named Class 6A all-state by the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association.
“He can throw the ball with accuracy and he has good pocket awareness,” Patterson said of Couch. “He has great instincts.”
Crete-Monee coach John Konecki also will be leaning on Couch for leadership this season.
“He does a nice job leading the guys and they follow him,” Konecki said of Couch, who has an offer from Upper Iowa. “He understands what he’s doing and his skills continue to improve.
“He’s the field general and does a good job running the offense.”
Couch does a good job running, too.
As a sophomore, he finished seventh in the 300-meter hurdles and eighth in the 110 hurdles at the Class 3A state meet. He didn’t qualify in those events this spring as a leg injury slowed him down.
Still, Couch may have had the quietest all-American performance in 2024. The IHSA doesn’t have a javelin category, but as a member of the Illinois Flames, Couch took eighth with a throw of 159 feet, 5 inches at the AAU Junior Olympics in Greensboro, North Carolina.
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“Everybody knows I’m a good thrower,” Couch said. “I can throw the football far. I do the discus in track and I throw that pretty far. So the coaches said, ‘Try the javelin.’
“The first time I picked it up, I threw it super far.”
Quick hits
Team: Crete-Monee
2024 record: 6-4
Offensive leaders: Derrin Couch, senior, quarterback; Dorian Patterson, senior, wide receiver; Karion Young, junior, wide receiver; Isaac Lovett, senior, offensive lineman.
Defensive leaders: Jayden Marshall, senior, defensive back; Anson LaBranche, junior, linebacker; Aven Atkins, junior, linebacker/defensive end; Jaiden Elias, senior, linebacker/defensive end.
X-factor: D’Arion Yarbrough, senior, wide receiver/defensive end.
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.