Things definitely feel different this preseason for Lockport tight end Hyatt Timosciek. He’s heading into his senior year without his older brother, Hayden, as his quarterback.
After leading the Porters to the Class 8A state championship in 2021, Hayden Timosciek has moved on to Purdue, where he landed a preferred walk-on spot.
There is a bright side to being the lone brother still wearing the Lockport maroon, however.
“I don’t have to wait for Hayden to wake up in the morning,” Hyatt said with a laugh. “I get here on my own time.
“It’s weird not having him here, but it’s really cool that he got the opportunity to play at Purdue. I’m really happy for him, and he’s really stoked.”
Hyatt Timosciek, a 6-foot-6, 230-pound tight end, figures to play a big part in whether or not the Porters — who come in at No. 5 in the Daily Southtown’s preseason rankings — can come close to duplicating their magical 2021 season.
“We expect a lot from Hyatt both as a big target in the passing game and as a blocker,” Lockport coach George Czart said. “Also, just leading the guys out there. He’s a vocal kid.
“He likes to talk, so he better back it up.”
There is one big reason for Timosciek to be motivated to lead the Porters back to the state championship this season. He didn’t get to play in last year’s game due to injury.
He watched from the sideline as Lockport beat Maine South 24-6 to win its first state title since 2003.
“I want to experience playing in it,” Timosciek said. “I do feel like I learned a lot from watching it and I’ll be ready to play in that atmosphere if we get the chance again.”
Hyatt also missed the semifinal win over Loyola, but he was giving encouragement to Hayden the whole time.
“It was cool seeing my brother live out his dream,” Hyatt said. “We talked a lot about it during those two weeks and it was nice to get to sit back and watch him.”
The Timoscieks grew up playing football together, but they were typically so big for their age levels, they weren’t allowed to handle the ball.
Until eighth grade, blocking was their forte rather than passing and catching.
“We were both O-linemen as kids,” Hyatt said. “Going into eighth grade year, Hayden wanted to play quarterback, so we were outside the house practicing all the time.
“He’d be chucking balls at me. I feel like that’s where I got my hands from. He always threw the ball hard. He was a baseball player, too.”
Now, Hyatt is trying to form connections with new quarterbacks. Lockport has a three-way competition for the starting spot between seniors Brady Pfeiffer and Caden Miller and junior Drew Gallagher.
“It’s been tough because we don’t have a for-sure starter yet, so you can’t have as many reps with one guy as you want to,” Timosciek said. “That makes it harder to get used to.
“But I think we have three really solid quarterbacks, so it’s going to be fun.”
Timosciek hopes to make things easier on whoever the new quarterback is, giving him a big target and helping keep defensive ends away from him.
Czart knows there will be adjustments for Hyatt to make without having Hayden as his quarterback. For one, Czart joked there will be less pressure coming from Hyatt.
“He can’t yell at his brother to throw him the ball anymore,” Czart said. “He has to be nice to these quarterbacks.”
Steve Millar is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
Team: Lockport
2021 record: 13-1
Offensive leaders: Christos Alexandros, junior, lineman; Mike Doneski, senior, fullback/receiver; Hyatt Timosciek, senior, tight end; Giovanni Zaragoza, senior, running back.
Defensive leaders: Niko Frcek, senior, lineman; Joey Manzo, senior, defensive back; Troy Mutz, senior, defensive back.
X-factor: Eli Beltran, junior, kick returner.