If you told South Elgin’s Jordan Green that he would be the leading rusher on an undefeated team heading into the playoffs, it would have been pretty hard for him to believe.
Green, a 5-foot-9, 200-pound running back, hadn’t even played football since his freshman year with the Storm until he ultimately decided to come back out for his senior season.
“I couldn’t even imagine,” Green said. “It’s surreal.”
The regular-season results couldn’t have been much better. Green has been the real deal for South Elgin (9-0), rushing for 685 yards and 10 touchdowns on only 62 carries.
The host Storm begin the Class 8A playoffs at 6 p.m. Friday against Belleville East (5-4).
“It’s pretty satisfying,” Green said. “I didn’t plan on playing football past freshman year, so I focused on baseball. I figured I would give it a shot. It’s been the time of my life.”
Several factors played into his decision not to play his past freshman year. Green, an outfielder by trade, suffered a severe wrist injury his sophomore year.
“I blew everything in my wrist, dislocated it, tore ligaments, fractured it,” Green said. “I still have limits on it.”
As he recovered, the fall 2020 season was wiped out due to the pandemic. Then the Storm played 2021 seasons in the spring and fall, a time frame that wasn’t conductive to coming back out for football even if he wanted to.
In the offseason, however, Green decided to give it another shot.
“No one really talked me into it, but it was my last year and I like playing with my friends,” Green said. “I ended up coming out and doing the lifting and now we’re in the season.
“It was something I wanted to do — have fun. The game is a lot faster from freshman to varsity. It was a big jump, but I grasped it pretty well. I’m still learning as I go.”
South Elgin coach Dragan Teonic wouldn’t just let a player come out if they didn’t put in the work, though. It wouldn’t be fair to the other players who paid their dues for four years.
That was never a concern with Green.
“He came back this offseason, didn’t miss a day, handled his business like a pro,” Teonic said. “That’s why we don’t turn our back on kids. They change and they grow and they blossom. So much changes from 14 to 18, it’s unbelievable. You wait and sometimes you get lucky.
“It was a perfect fit. He played exceptionally well.”
Green has been a home-run hitter for South Elgin’s offense.
His big breakout came against rival Bartlett in Week 8. Green ran for 168 yards and three TDs in a 53-7 win. The amazing part of the performance was he needed just four carries.
“The line did a fantastic job and I got to the second level,” Green said. “The safety would overrun me and I would cut him off. That’s what happened on every run. My thought process was to hit the boosters.”
That’s exactly what he did, which was no surprise to Teonic.
“Jordan is explosive,” Teonic said. “I knew he was fast, but when you see him outrun other teams, it’s impressive. The difference is he has that one more gear.
“He can bust a 20, 30-yard run and make it 60.”
Green couldn’t have predicted that before the season, but now he’s in the middle of a team hoping to make the deepest run in program history, a journey that starts Friday.
“It’s fun being in this environment,” Green said. “We know we should win. We still have to play to a level. That’s the challenge we put on ourselves — to play our best.
“I believe we can make it as far as we want to make it.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.