Lake Zurich’s Cal Grabowski goes about his business without much flash.
But don’t let the senior linebacker’s unruffled disposition disguise the relentless way he tracks down ball carriers as the Bears’ defensive catalyst.
“I love creating chaos,” Grabowski said. “To get a big sack on third down or to make a big hit on a run, that’s demoralizing to an offense.”
Grabowski has been on the delivering end of plenty of those this season. Despite missing two-plus games with an injury, he is the leading tackler for the Bears (10-1), who have allowed a total of 64 points in their victories heading into their Class 7A state quarterfinal matchup at Pekin (11-0) at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.
Among Grabowski’s 65 tackles are 34 solo stops and nine tackles for loss. He also has two sacks in his second season as a middle linebacker in North Suburban Conference champion Lake Zurich’s 3-5 alignment.
It’s a level of production not surprising to another senior middle linebacker, third-year starter Tyler Burkley, who has played with Grabowski since they were 6 years old.
“Whenever something bad happens, he’s there to clean it up,” Burkley said. “In practice, guys on the scout team aren’t too happy when they get matched up with him because there always ends up being someone making grunting sounds.”
The 5-foot-10, 215-pound Grabowski also makes all of the calls and checks in the huddle and at the line of scrimmage, something he has become much more comfortable doing this season.
That was especially apparent in Lake Zurich’s 14-6 win on the road against defending state champion Wheaton North last week.
“It was a pretty intense game plan, and there was a lot of pressure on him to recognize formations,” Burkley said. “But he thrived at it, and we played great.”
Getting to that milepost took time, though. Grabowski said the Bears’ 21-10 loss against St. Charles North (10-1) in Week 2 was the turning point.
“It was a tough battle, but I remember it giving me the confidence needed to coordinate the defense,” he said. “It made me think that we were more than capable of dominating.”
As a veteran, Grabowski also knows his words, in addition to his tackles, carry weight. He recalls an exchange he had with a teammate who had just given up a touchdown pass during Lake Zurich’s 13-10 win against Stevenson in Week 3. Grabowski’s message centered on perseverance, not panic.
“He got burned over the top, and I went over and talked to him,” Grabowski said. “I just told him that he’ll make up for it later.
“I’ve missed a ton of tackles in my career, and you just take ownership of it and move on.”
That mature approach serves Grabowski well on defense, but his contributions don’t end there. He also is one of the offense’s most reliable short-yardage options.
Grabowski was a running back when he was younger, so it’s a role he’s more than comfortable fulfilling. He goes about it the same way he plays defense.
“He’s all downhill, physical and a mauler when he runs,” Lake Zurich coach Ron Planz said. “He’s a pretty thick kid, and he runs like a freight train, sort of a throwback-type of player.”
Grabowski has averaged 5.7 yards per carry on 53 attempts and has found the end zone five times.
“Running with the ball is a good time because I get to play physical football,” he said. “There aren’t a lot of cuts when I run. I like to run over people.”
Steve Reaven is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.