Two years ago, when St. Viator football coach Kevin Kelly gave Brett Basanez a look at quarterback, he knew he had something special.
“We had Jarrett [Payton] at quarterback,” Kelly said. “Brett was the sophomore quarterback then. With Jarrett–and we had Brandon Latta at fullback–we ran the ball like crazy and hung our hat on that. We didn’t throw the ball much. We’d throw five or six times a game.”
But heading into a 1998 Prep Bowl playoff game, knowing that Payton and Latta would be leaving soon for college–Miami (Fla.) and Miami (Ohio), respectively–Kelly decided to take a look at the Lions’ future.
“Just to change things up, we decided to put Jarrett in at wide receiver and let Brett quarterback,” Kelly said. “Halfway through that first practice, watching Brett throw, I saw how comfortable he was in the huddle.
“It was clear that Brett had a special gift to throw the football. It was then that I knew we needed to re-evaluate the offense once Brandon and Jarrett graduated.”
After some off-season research, Kelly chose the spread offense of the Purdue Boilermakers.
“When he brought me up [as a sophomore] and I was practicing all week for the Prep Bowl game, it was fun,” said the 17-year-old Basanez. “I was like, `Wow, this is big-time now.'”
St. Viator lost that Prep Bowl playoff to Marist, but the Lions’ offense has flourished under Basanez (pronounced Baz-en-ay) since. In eight games last year, Basanez threw for 30 touchdowns and 2,328 yards.
“Last year, beating Hersey [27-23 in the opener] was definitely one of the greatest moments in my career,” Basanez said. “That was the first time Coach had ever beaten them. It was just so much fun last year. Winging it … getting used to the offense. Last year was really a fun year.”
And Basanez is attempting to top those numbers this season.
So far, the 6-foot-2-inch, 190-pound right-hander has completed 94-of-145 attempts for 22 touchdowns and 1,530 yards as the Lions sport a 5-1 record and a 3-0 mark in the Catholic Metro Red. Basanez also has six rushing TDs.
“When Coach told me how we were going to change our offense two years ago, there was no question I was excited,” said Basanez, who carries a 5.2 grade-point average on a 5.0 scale and plans to study medicine at Northwestern, to which he has verbally committed. “I came in and watched tons of film on Purdue.
“The whole idea of playing high school football with the spread offense–it’s a high school dream come true.”
And it has been a nightmare for opponents.
St. Viator lost its opener to Loyola 36-25, but Basanez has since led the Lions on a five-game winning streak: 22-12 over Notre Dame, a six-touchdown performance in a 48-16 romp at Leo, a 26-16 victory over Gordon Tech, a 50-6 rout of St. Joseph and a 42-7 win at Nazareth.
“I truly don’t believe he has a weakness,” said Kelly, in his fifth year at the Lions’ helm. “Probably some college people think because he’s 6-2 he has a weakness. They look at him and say, `He’s not 6-5.’
“But some of the best quarterbacks to ever play were 6-1. [Joe] Montana was 6-1. The best college quarterback is 6 feet, [Drew] Brees at Purdue. Brett Favre is 6-2. That’s just a silly myth that quarterbacks have to be 6-5.”
TITLE TALK
Kaneland (6-0) is no stranger to state football championships, having won the Class 3A title in 1997 and in ’98, fashioning a 31-game winning streak in the process. The Maple Park power could be spending Thanksgiving weekend in Champaign, site of the final six-class title games.
Coach Joe Thorgesen’s ballclub is led by a quarterback with an illustrious last name among sports fans in this athletic community. David Issel, whose father Tim is a cousin to ex-Batavia and former Denver Nuggets basketball star Dan Issel, has passed for nearly 900 yards and 11 touchdowns while rushing for 360 yards and five TDs.
Equally prominent has been what Thorgesen calls “the best defensive line, across the board, we’ve ever had.” The speed-rushing foursome of end Shawn Fuller and Joe Heyob along with tackles Rudy Milo and Adam Schultz has sparked a first-team defense that has only allowed three touchdowns this season. “This team is capable of competing with anyone in the state,” Thorgesen said.
BIG LEAGUE
Don’t be surprised if Maine South junior Mark Ori is playing college football and minor-league baseball in two years. The 6-4, 195-pound Ori is a game-breaking receiver and defensive back for the Hawks. He has touchdown catches of 50 and 55 yards and had three interceptions in one game earlier in the season. In baseball, scouts from the New York Yankees and Cleveland Indians have begun charting his progress. Last spring, as a sophomore, Ori fired one no-hitter and three one-hitters as a key member of the varsity pitching rotation.
“Everybody knows about him in baseball,” said Maine South football coach Phil Hopkins. “I couldn’t say which would be his best sport in college. In football, he reminds me of (ex-Maine South star) Jason Loerzel, who is now a linebacker at Purdue. Mark could play college football in the fall and professional baseball in the spring and summer. He is a wonderfully talented and bright young man.”
MILESTONE
When top-ranked Naperville Central won its sixth straight game last Friday night, it also marked the 500th varsity football victory in the school’s history. Naperville began playing football in 1910, when it went 2-2. Before the undefeated state championship season of 1999, the school had 8-0 seasons in 1942 and 1962 and five 7-1 seasons. Since the end of the 1992 season, Naperville Central has gone 88-18.
