Before Friday, Metea Valley senior Tito Ajibola had never started a varsity football game, not that anyone could tell.
A native of Nigeria, Ajibola moved to America with his family when he was 6 years old and quickly adjusted to the new culture. He did the same when he played football for the first time just two years ago.
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“I played a little bit of soccer,” Ajibola said. “I tried basketball for a little bit. But football was just always easy for me.”
Ajibola tried football at the behest of friends Marcus Sewart and James Harris, who are senior wide receivers for the Mustangs, and didn’t need much time to make an impression. He was on the varsity team as a junior, although his playing time was limited by a broken metatarsal in his right hand.
“He does a good job,” Metea Valley coach Patrick Sheehan said. “He’s just a solid, solid kid.”
Ajibola, a tight end/linebacker, made his first career start Friday night and shined on both sides of the ball during the Mustangs’ 27-10 season-opening road loss against St. Charles East. He was one of the bright spots on defense and also led the team in receiving, finishing with five catches for 102 yards and the Mustangs’ only touchdown.
“Tito did great,” Metea Valley junior quarterback Iggy Amorrortu said. “He had an excellent game both ways.”
St. Charles East led 21-3 in the third quarter before Amorrortu completed three consecutive passes to Ajibola, capped by a 45-touchdown strike.
“He plays his heart out no matter what,” Amorrortu said. “He doesn’t let other things affect him, and he just plays his ball. He proved it today.
“He hasn’t started until his senior year, and to see what already he did for us today — making saving tackles, and I think he’s the one that caught it all the way down there between five people.”
Amorrortu was referring to his final completion of the game, a 37-yard heave into a crowd that Ajibola pulled down at the Saints’ 6-yard line. It provided a glimpse of the pair’s burgeoning chemistry.
Amorrortu transferred from Wheaton St. Francis after last season and quickly got to work with Ajibola.
“When he first moved here, we became friends easily,” Ajibola said. “We would go to the park, throw the ball around and just perfect our craft. I feel like we have that chemistry.”
As good as Ajibola was on offense, he was happier with his performance on the other side of the ball.
“Actually, I feel like I did better on defense,” he said. “I had a decent amount of solo tackles, but I would grade myself a C-plus.
“Can’t get anything higher than a C, though, since we lost the game. This is leaving a bad taste, but we’ll use it to motivate.”
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Indeed, the Mustangs have plenty of things to fix. Their defense was gashed for 420 total yards, and they committed 110 yards of penalties, including several personal fouls.
But Metea Valley won’t lack for motivation with players like Ajibola. Senior receiver/safety Charlie Larson said the team wants to win a conference title for the first time.
“That will take a lot of work,” Ajibola said. “But I’m willing to put in that work.”
Ajibola knows playing in college will be a steep climb for someone with so little experience, but he points out that Uar Bernard, a Nigerian-born defensive tackle, was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the seventh round of the 2026 NFL draft despite never having played organized football before. Bernard is the first player from his area of Nigeria to reach the NFL.
“If the opportunity is granted to me, I would definitely jump on the opportunity to play college,” Ajibola said. “But in the past, I haven’t done enough of going to camps and stuff and combines. I feel like I should have done more of that and maybe today would have been a better outcome.”
But Ajibola believes his future is bright, with or without football. His mother, Ijeoma, is a registered nurse who has inspired him to serve others.
“I want to go to medical school,” Ajibola said. “I want to be a nurse anesthetist or an anesthesiologist.”
Amorrortu wouldn’t doubt him.
“I think he can be anything he really wants to be, to be honest,” Amorrortu said.
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter.