When we moved to Wheaton, we did not realize that we had moved the hotbed in Illinois for football. The local high schools always compete in the state championships and consistently win. Part of the success is due to the feeder programs in the areas that train kids well from an early age. We were lucky to have Austin on a team this year that was very successful. Good coaches, talented kids and lots and lots of practice.
Austin played defensive end, tight end, wide out and even a little bit of fullback. This was the first year that he did not "stripe" meaning he did not have to play the line and could touch the football. His coaches were good to let him try different positions and they tried to use his height and size in multiple areas.
He's also a very fast runner, so they use him for kick coverage too. In prior years, he would have an orange stripe on his helmet, signifying that if he touched the ball, the play was over immediately. So, if there was a fumble and he recovered, the ref would blow the play dead.
One of the squads he was on was called the Thunder Bunch, where they took the big uglies and moved them to the backfield to try and get short yardage games. He and one of the other tight ends would play full and tail back and blow the line out. It was fun to watch those big boys running down the field.
A good shot of one of our Super Spectators taking in the game!
Austin has a good shape and size for playing d-end and/or tight end. If he sticks too it, he'll be a good asset to his team. We have fun being football parents and Austin seems to enjoy playing, especially when he is on a winning team!
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