Junior running back Rowan Slovick didn’t know what to expect for St. Charles East.
Heading into last Friday’s season opener against Metea Valley, Slovick was eager for some carries but was slotted in as the backup on the Saints’ depth chart behind starter Johnny Solano.
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“I wasn’t really nervous because I didn’t know how many opportunities I was going to get,” Slovick said. “As soon as I saw (Solano) go down, Johnny has given me a lot of advice.
“The O-line has really pushed me, helped me and picked me up as soon as I got in.”
After Solano left the game with an injury, Slovick got way more opportunities than he could have imagined. Slovick rushed for 170 yards on 27 carries as St. Charles East rolled to a 27-10 win.
Junior quarterback Cruz Herrera talked to Slovick at school earlier in the day, not knowing that his big chance was right around the corner.
“He said, ‘I just want the rock, I just want the rock,’” Herrera said. “I was like, ‘You’re going to get it. John’s going to get tired. You’re going to get the rock.’ I didn’t think he’d get it that much.”
Those conversations weren’t just limited to game day, however. St. Charles East coach Nolan Possley heard from Slovick during the offseason as well.
“All summer long, he’d have meetings with me and go, ‘Coach, I just have to get on the field,’” Possley said. “He was behind Johnny playing that second running back role.
“We just told him, ‘Trust it. Trust it.’ For him to get his opportunity in game one and seize it like that wasn’t surprising for us, but man did we feel great for him. That was really cool to see.”
It doesn’t mean that Slovick wasn’t nervous initially. As much as you can prepare, until the whistle actually blows, how someone will react is the great unknown.
“First couple drives I was nervous, but all the guys around me just fell into the flow and we got going,” Slovick said. “It was just a great game for everyone.”
Possley wasn’t worried about having to change up the game plan with Solano out of the game, either. That’s due to the intense preparation Slovick put in this summer and in preseason practice.
“That was the nice thing, we stuck with it,” Possley said. “Because he’s one of those all-in guys, he knows the offense as well as anybody. We didn’t skip a beat with what we wanted to call.”
It’s also something Slovick takes pride in.
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“I study the playbook,” he said. “I try to use my IQ. I spend a lot of hours in the books, talk a lot with my friends. All I think about is football. All I think about are these guys.”
It doesn’t hurt he’s running behind a big, athletic offensive line led by junior left tackle Liam Barrett, who is following in the footsteps of brothers Austin and Dylan with double-digit Power Four offers.
“Any time he can get behind big Barrett and run, it’s a fun answer for us,” Possley said.
Possley pointed out that Solano shouldn’t be sidelined very long. Pair that with Slovick’s breakout effort and a stout offensive line, the Saints suddenly could be looking at a turnaround season.
They haven’t made the playoffs or won more than two games in a season since 2019.
“I know he can play, so I knew he had it,” Herrera said of Slovick. “We saw what Johnny did last year after another injury. Having two of them will be great. We can do a lot of things with that.”
Slovick, meanwhile, is just happy to be in the mix and ready to keep contributing.
“We know we have an unlucky past recently,” Slovick said. “We did expect to come out strong. We spent the whole summer thinking about it. Everyone is hungry on this team.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.