The basketball hoop standing prominently in a driveway on East Elm Street in Wheaton is a testament to overcoming failure.
The backboard faces toward Elm, where a lone streetlight reflecting off the white paint provides enough illumination to move about in the darkness.
It was here two years ago that a 6-foot, 135-pound Wheaton Warrenville South sophomore missed 300 or so attempts at dunking a basketball.
Well into the night, tears of frustration streaming down his face, he finally jammed one home.
Things haven’t always come easily for Jon Beutjer.
He remembers the hurt when the kids in 1st grade labeled him the worst reader in class. A subsequent evaluation uncovered a reading disability that even today has Beutjer working twice as hard as his peers to maintain a 4.7 grade-point average on a 5.0 scale.
All four years at Wheaton Warrenville South, he asked to be driven to school at 6:30 a.m. for an extra hour of tutoring before his first class.
He and his mother, Nancy, spent countless hours reading to each other until Jon was a freshman. There were special reading programs in grade school and tutoring in the summers.
But life did have its moments, and two things seemed to come naturally–throwing a football and shooting a basketball.
His 4th-grade teacher, Lloyd Thomas, used to bring other faculty members outside during recess to marvel at a 10-year-old’s long spirals. Beutjer would throw to this kid named Jon Schweighardt, and no matter how hard he tried, the quarterback could never overthrow his receiver. Schweighardt would catch everything.
Beutjer has grown to nearly 6-5, weighs 180 pounds and has emerged as the best quarterback in the Chicago area. He has completed 62 percent of his passes in Wheaton’s first seven games for 1,794 yards and 32 touchdowns with just three interceptions.
Should the undefeated, second-ranked Tigers advance deep into the playoffs, Beutjer could break the state record of 48 touchdown passes in a season set last year by Dusty Burk of Tuscola.
In his best outing so far, Beutjer threw for 312 yards and a school-record seven touchdowns in a wild 56-42 victory over No. 14 Naperville Central.
“There was no way to stop him,” said Naperville Central defensive back Erik Axelson. “What hurts you the most is his accuracy. He can put the ball anywhere he wants. It’s demoralizing. You try your hardest, but no matter what, he beats you. He is one of the best quarterbacks I’ve ever seen.”
Wheaton Warrenville South coach John Thorne will never forget an early demonstration of Beutjer’s splendid hand-eye coordination.
“He was an 8th-grader who would shoot around after our varsity basketball games,” Thorne said. “My wife, Kathy, and I were sitting in the stands watching one night when Jon made nine three-pointers in a row. I turned to her and said: `This guy is going to be really special in high school.’ “
The summer before he became a Tiger, Beutjer was attending ex-Bull B.J. Armstrong’s basketball camp when the baby-faced guard challenged the kids to a three-point shootout.
There was a dead silence until Jimmy Stewart Beutjer volunteered his kid brother.
“I was scared to death,” Jon remembered.
It started out with B.J. and “J.B.” each hitting 4 of 5 shots. The first tiebreaking session saw each hit two. Finally, Beutjer swished all five and Armstrong could only make four.
Beutjer is grateful for his God-given athletic ability and realizes how much genetics have helped.
His father, Jim, was a two-way player recruited out of Wheaton Central by Wisconsin and Northern Illinois in 1970 to play defensive back, but he wound up at Augustana, where he was supposed to succeed a quarterback named Kenny Anderson. Instead Jim played basketball for one of the top small-college teams in the country.
Grandpa Harold Beutjer was a two-year starter at end for Wheaton in 1943-44 and was a talented baseball player whom the Cubs invited for a tryout. But his athletic career was cut short when he was drafted into the Army.
Taking advantage of Beutjer and a quintet of sure-handed receivers, led by Tribune All-Stater Schweighardt, Thorne devised a four-receiver, one-back, quick-passing offense similar to the run-and-shoot.
Beutjer’s three-step drop, quick release and ample protection from linemen Jeff Simpson (6-2, 325), Nick Schull (6-0, 267) and Bill Englehart have prevented defenses from unloading on the quarterback.
Last year, after suffering concussions in back-to-back games against Naperville Central and Glenbard East, Beutjer sat out the following three weeks.
Beutjer underwent a comprehensive examination that included a brain scan. Doctors concluded he was at no greater risk than anyone else on the field. Just the same, he began wearing a helmet with an extra shell of protection.
His first game back, he passed for a playoff-record 420 yards in an opening-round loss to Lockport.
Beutjer’s fast start has elicited scholarship offers from Iowa State and Northern Illinois. Iowa, Illinois, Michigan State, Arizona State, Kansas and Boston College have shown serious interest.
He and best friend Schweighardt are hoping to play together in college. The 5-10, 175-pound Schweighardt, who is getting looks from Illinois and Northwestern, leads the Chicago area with 36 catches for 713 yards and 15 touchdowns. He could eclipse ex-Richards star Kenny Carrington’s single-season state record of 23 TD catches.
“There’s always a mismatch in our offense,” wideout Eric McGoey said. “If Jon Schweighardt or I have single coverage, we know Jon Beutjer is throwing to us. Sometimes defenses have to cover Jerome Collins or Brian Whitkanack with a linebacker.”
Beutjer is the straw that stirs Wheaton’s potent concoction, and he leads with compassion. During times when the 325-pound Simpson is having difficulty finishing wind sprints, a tired Beutjer, who is already done, will run alongside him offering encouragement.
“He is so kind to all the players on the team,” Thorne said. “Jon makes the last backup seem just as important as our best player.”
A psychological evaluation Beutjer underwent during the search for his reading disability uncovered a high degree of sensitivity.
“The psychologist told me Jon is the kind of person who will feel great joy and great hurt,” Nancy Beutjer said.
Two years ago Jon was invited to a turnabout dance by a Wheaton Warrenville South student who has cerebral palsy.
He had made a previous commitment. So Beutjer brought the young lady a rose and said they would get together another time.
“That’s better than any pass he has ever thrown,” Jim Beutjer said.
