Last night was my second visit so far this summer to Naperville North, who host a weekly smaller 7on followed by a bigger one set towards the end of the month and will feature I believe 12 teams on Thursday June 26th starting at 1030AM. North has some major construction work going on it's track along with tearing up some additional practice fields (planning to turf some big additional areas for all sports) so the bigger events are restricted this year to the grass practice fields. I will be at NN on Thursday AM starting out covering the linemen portion of the came then I'll see some teams in the 7on7 side.
Last night featured
Naperville North
Neuqua Valley
DG South
Glenbard West
Oswego
Lincoln Way East
Downers Grove North
Waubonsie Valley
5 More Thoughts from Naperville North?
1. Lincoln Way East QB Jonas Williams is still good - Yeah I know this isn't exactly a reach on my part but......yes Jonas Williams still looks terrific this summer. Williams, coming off a big week that took him out to the West Coast for his official visit to USC then taking part in the Elite 11 QB camp which features the Top quarterbacks in the nation. Williams here much like his team basically got in, got some work and some reps in then stood aside and let the rest of the backups get work. Williams was accurate and no question seems to find WR Blaise LaVista quite a bit while new incoming transfer WR Jay Cawthon is also working his way into the starting receiver group while also getting extra work with the backups. The East defense? Again just a solid unit here... basically the starters also getting work in then yielding to the backups. Linebackers will be a strength this season and again East just has good talent and players all over the field as expected. I'm very interested to see the linemen group for LWE on Thursday AM and get another view of the Griffins this summer.
2. Downers Grove South has a quarterback this summer- DGS actually has a few kids playing quarterback who look decent this summer, but no doubt for me that DGS sophomore QB James Sobkowiak has a chance to develop into a really strong signal caller over the next few seasons for the Hit Hard gang. Sobkowiak has good size (6-foot-2/6-foot-3 170-180 pound range) and a frame that will allow him to add a bit more good weight and strength. Sobkowiak showed off a very strong and accurate arm and his deep ball was the equal of every top quarterback I've seen so far this summer. Again this is still football in underwear and a lot of things still need to happen....but Sobkowiak has definite arm talent and upside/potential for this coming fall. I keep seeing really, really good quarterbacks in the Class of 2027.....and add this latest name to the fire.
3. Oswego is still Oswego- What? Oswego is Oswego meaning they also don't get overly charged up for a 7on7...the Panthers and head coach Brian Cooney will run it's base offense which includes a lot of play action passing along with just getting in, getting work done then moving on. The Panthers looked pretty good here offensively and while I can't really tell you any specific names just yet....the offense/play action passing game should be a plus heading into the season. Defense? Oswego is always good and salty on defense and they also always have linemen and strong line play. The Panthers always play highly physical football and look ready for that style again in 2025. Oswego kids, even the skill kids know where ther weight room is in the off season. Also another Cooney linebacker is on his way in 2027 Caden Cooney who looks like a twin compared to his older brother Carson Cooney (Iowa). The younger Cooney stayed on the soph level in 2024 and is in the varsity linebacker rotation here and looks to have a bit more growth and development ahead of him. You've been warned.
4. Downers Grove North will still be a ton to handle in 2025 - The more I look at 7A this pre-season..and then seeing DGN here on Tuesday night the more I thin k it's a good time to be a 7A team for 2025. The Trojans will look forward to sixth year senior (kidding...it just feels this way) QB Owen Lansu back for one last lap. Lansu is also more than ready to go and it's been an amazing to watch Owen's growth and development as a terrific player and kid. North has plenty of skills and the defense also did some good things here. Like LWE, I also want to see the linemen group on Thursday for DGN and hopefully get a better feel for the linemen potential. and with standout such as TE/DE Will Vala (Illinois) and OL/DL Aiden Solecki (Purdue) look to have the ingredients to make another run in 7A....at least for now...in underwear....playing catch.
5. Waubonsie Valley also has a quarterback Waubonsie Valley will look towards first year HC Adam Pucylowski who takes over the Warriors program from longtime coach Tom Baumgartner who stepped down from the HC position after leading WV to the state playoffs in 2024. The Warriors looked pretty young and seem to be still working things out (again this was like Day 2 for the Warriors so) but the one thing I do know is that Waubonsie Valley 2026 QB Colin Ford can sling it. Ford truly looks the part of an elite level quarterback including having great size (6-foot-5, 220 pounds), athletic ability, speed and just a good overall arm talent. Ford has just been short on luck over the last few seasons dealing with a variety of health issues.....and I'm hoping that Colin can finally get on a good roll and put up some terrific numbers this fall. Ford to me could very well wind up as say a high D3 level player to start then could wind up playing at a much higher level before his college career winds up.
Last night featured
Naperville North
Neuqua Valley
DG South
Glenbard West
Oswego
Lincoln Way East
Downers Grove North
Waubonsie Valley
5 More Thoughts from Naperville North?
1. Lincoln Way East QB Jonas Williams is still good - Yeah I know this isn't exactly a reach on my part but......yes Jonas Williams still looks terrific this summer. Williams, coming off a big week that took him out to the West Coast for his official visit to USC then taking part in the Elite 11 QB camp which features the Top quarterbacks in the nation. Williams here much like his team basically got in, got some work and some reps in then stood aside and let the rest of the backups get work. Williams was accurate and no question seems to find WR Blaise LaVista quite a bit while new incoming transfer WR Jay Cawthon is also working his way into the starting receiver group while also getting extra work with the backups. The East defense? Again just a solid unit here... basically the starters also getting work in then yielding to the backups. Linebackers will be a strength this season and again East just has good talent and players all over the field as expected. I'm very interested to see the linemen group for LWE on Thursday AM and get another view of the Griffins this summer.
2. Downers Grove South has a quarterback this summer- DGS actually has a few kids playing quarterback who look decent this summer, but no doubt for me that DGS sophomore QB James Sobkowiak has a chance to develop into a really strong signal caller over the next few seasons for the Hit Hard gang. Sobkowiak has good size (6-foot-2/6-foot-3 170-180 pound range) and a frame that will allow him to add a bit more good weight and strength. Sobkowiak showed off a very strong and accurate arm and his deep ball was the equal of every top quarterback I've seen so far this summer. Again this is still football in underwear and a lot of things still need to happen....but Sobkowiak has definite arm talent and upside/potential for this coming fall. I keep seeing really, really good quarterbacks in the Class of 2027.....and add this latest name to the fire.
3. Oswego is still Oswego- What? Oswego is Oswego meaning they also don't get overly charged up for a 7on7...the Panthers and head coach Brian Cooney will run it's base offense which includes a lot of play action passing along with just getting in, getting work done then moving on. The Panthers looked pretty good here offensively and while I can't really tell you any specific names just yet....the offense/play action passing game should be a plus heading into the season. Defense? Oswego is always good and salty on defense and they also always have linemen and strong line play. The Panthers always play highly physical football and look ready for that style again in 2025. Oswego kids, even the skill kids know where ther weight room is in the off season. Also another Cooney linebacker is on his way in 2027 Caden Cooney who looks like a twin compared to his older brother Carson Cooney (Iowa). The younger Cooney stayed on the soph level in 2024 and is in the varsity linebacker rotation here and looks to have a bit more growth and development ahead of him. You've been warned.
4. Downers Grove North will still be a ton to handle in 2025 - The more I look at 7A this pre-season..and then seeing DGN here on Tuesday night the more I thin k it's a good time to be a 7A team for 2025. The Trojans will look forward to sixth year senior (kidding...it just feels this way) QB Owen Lansu back for one last lap. Lansu is also more than ready to go and it's been an amazing to watch Owen's growth and development as a terrific player and kid. North has plenty of skills and the defense also did some good things here. Like LWE, I also want to see the linemen group on Thursday for DGN and hopefully get a better feel for the linemen potential. and with standout such as TE/DE Will Vala (Illinois) and OL/DL Aiden Solecki (Purdue) look to have the ingredients to make another run in 7A....at least for now...in underwear....playing catch.
5. Waubonsie Valley also has a quarterback Waubonsie Valley will look towards first year HC Adam Pucylowski who takes over the Warriors program from longtime coach Tom Baumgartner who stepped down from the HC position after leading WV to the state playoffs in 2024. The Warriors looked pretty young and seem to be still working things out (again this was like Day 2 for the Warriors so) but the one thing I do know is that Waubonsie Valley 2026 QB Colin Ford can sling it. Ford truly looks the part of an elite level quarterback including having great size (6-foot-5, 220 pounds), athletic ability, speed and just a good overall arm talent. Ford has just been short on luck over the last few seasons dealing with a variety of health issues.....and I'm hoping that Colin can finally get on a good roll and put up some terrific numbers this fall. Ford to me could very well wind up as say a high D3 level player to start then could wind up playing at a much higher level before his college career winds up.
