Where Local HS Athletes are Making Their Mark

The following football teams are stocked with players who either played high school football at central DuPage County public and private high schools and/or are residents of various communities in this area:

State Universities

Eastern Illinois—Veteran head coach Bob Spoo’s Panthers landed three members of Wheaton Warrenville South’s back-to-back state title teams on their 2011 recruiting class: offensive lineman Eric Luhrsen, center Joe Hall and tight end Jason Schuman, who was a three-sport athlete for the Tigers.

Illinois—How is Reilly O’Toole fitting into head coach Ron Zook’s plans? The freshman quarterback—arguably the state’s best prep QB two previous years running at Wheaton Warrenville South—is backing up starter Nathan Scheelhaase. O’Toole saw action in the Illini’s 33-15 season-opening victory over Arkansas State on Saturday, thus officially ending the “Will Reilly be red-shirted? Won’t Reilly be red-shirted?” debate. ... Nick Immekus, also a WWS product, is a redshirt freshman kicker with the Illini, while Austin Teitsma (Glen Ellyn/Glenbard South) is a redshirt freshman defensive lineman. … Pat Flavin (Benet/Lisle resident) and Scott McDowell (Hinsdale Central), two heavily recruited offensive linemen out of high school, are both freshman linemen at Illinois.

Illinois State—Will Davis and Jack Eshleman, two defensive stars who helped lift Wheaton Warrenville South to two Class 7A state championship teams, made this fall’s Redbird team as linebackers. … Zack Marshall, the Glenbard West standout who helped the Hilltoppers reach the Class 7A quarterfinals last season, is a freshman and listed as a defensive lineman on the Redbirds’ 2011 roster. …Hinsdale resident Jim Battaglia, who prepped at Nazareth Academy, transferred to ISU from Joliet Junior College where he was an all-NJCAA region selection in 2010 as an offensive lineman.

Northern Illinois—Mack Tracey, a Lisle resident and an all-purpose performer for 2009 state champion Wheaton Warrenville South, is a redshirt freshman wideout at NIU. The Huskies’ head coach, Dave Doeren, is starting his first season.

Northwestern—NU has the greatest concentration of players with DuPage County roots than any in-state university—10, altogether. The Wildcats opened their season with a 27-14 win at Boston College, and Wheaton North’s Mike Trumpy, a sophomore who was the team’s leading rusher in 2010, got the nod as NU’s starting tailback. Trumpy had 85 yards on 15 carries and one touchdown. … Jack DiNardo, a senior who prepped at Hinsdale Central, started 12 of 13 games at defensive tackle last season and is considered to be one of the Wildcats’ defensive leaders. … Meanwhile, junior (York/Elmhurst) and senior Colin Armstrong (Benet/Wheaton) are slated as backups as right guard and center, respectively. Fifth-year senior Kevin Watt (Glenbard West/Glen Ellyn) is No. 2 on the depth chart at defensive end.

Western Illinois—The Leathernecks, who advanced last year to the NCAA FCS playoffs after sporting an 8-5 record under first-year coach Mark Hendrickson, have two players with DuPage County roots on their roster. Anthony Ventrella, a defensive back, was an all-Interstate Eight running back/safety for Lisle High School in 2010. … Montrell Williams, a Defensive Lineman of the Year selection for Wheaton North who helped lead the Falcons to consecutive playoff appearances in 2009 and 2010, is a defensive end with WIU.

Big Ten Schools Outside of the State

Indiana—A starter since his freshman year, Will Matte, the Hoosiers’ center, is the only Indiana lineman who’s started every game the past two seasons. The Wheaton native played at Wheaton Warrenville South and is part of a line at Indiana that gave up only one sack per game in 2010, ranking it 15th nationally.

Michigan State—Senior Dan Conroy (Wheaton/WWS) earned first-team all-Big Ten honors as a kicker after leading the Spartans in scoring last year (87 points). Conroy also led the conference in field-goal accuracy (.933) and was among the top five kickers in the country. He kicked four extra points on Saturday in the Spartans’ 28-6 triumph over Youngstown State. … Jack Allen, rated among the top 25 senior recruits last year while at Hinsdale Central by Rivals.com, is on the Spartans’ roster as a center. However, he isn’t listed on their depth chart, and it’s not known whether MSU will end up red-shirting Allen, last winter’s Class 3A state champion wrestler (285 pounds).

Ohio State—Even though the controversy surrounding Ohio State’s football program eventually led to quarterback Terrelle Prior foregoing his senior year, it appears as if Prior’s departure hasn’t translated into more playing time for Taylor Graham just yet. Graham, a redshirt freshman and a Wheaton North product, is listed at the Buckeyes’ No. 3 quarterback behind fifth-year senior Joe Bauserman and true freshman Braxton Miller.

Purdue—Dan Dierking’s departure didn’t leave the Boilermakers void of a WWS product on its 2011 roster. Kurt Lichtenberg, a fifth-year senior, is listed as a wideout, but he holds a vital position on Purdue’s special teams—that of holder on field goal and extra-point attempts.

Wisconsin—No DuPage County residents are taking the field Saturday afternoons at Camp Randall Stadium, but there is a name that Wheaton Warrenville South football fans may recognize. Ethan Armstrong, a redshirt sophomore from Ottawa High School, is a reserve outside linebacker for the Badgers. Armstrong, who had one tackle as the Badgers clobbered UNLV 51-17 Thursday night, is the older brother of WWS senior quarterback, Thaddeus Armstrong.

Notre Dame

Chris Watt, one of the nation’s top recruited linemen at Glenbard West and the 2008-09 Illinois Gatorade Player of the Year, got his first career start at left guard for the nationally ranked Irish in Saturday’s season-opening loss to South Florida. Watt saw action in all of the Irish’s games last season. His brother, Kevin, plays for Northwestern, and his sister, Katie, is a freshman soccer player at the University of Toledo.