When Bob Stone showed up at West Chicago five years ago as the new football coach and athletic director, 34 players were dressed in varsity uniforms.
It was quite a change for Stone, who had coached at Joliet Catholic, where he normally worked with twice that number.
At one time, West Chicago’s program could stand alongside a Joliet Catholic or a Mt. Carmel. In the early 1970s, the Wildcats, behind a running back named Scott Dierking, who went on to star at Purdue and play in the NFL, were the scourge of the old Little Seven Conference. They won the first Class 3A state title in 1974 and qualified for the 4A playoffs in 1978.
West Chicago hasn’t been back to the postseason since.
With the smallest enrollment in the powerful DuPage Valley Conference, West Chicago has had little success against perennial state contenders Naperville Central, Naperville North and Wheaton Warrenville South. Several years ago the school board rejected a proposal to leave the league.
In his first four years, Stone went 5-31. But this could be the beginning of a dramatic turnaround: West Chicago has opened this new season with victories over 2000 playoff qualifiers Plainfield and Batavia.
“I feel the happiest for the kids,” said Stone, who was 80-17 in eight years at Joliet Catholic with one state title and seven conference championships. “They were tired of people saying that West Chicago gets beat all the time. They are starting to feel pretty good about themselves.”
That same feeling is being shared this week at schools such as Niles West, Highland Park, Rich Central and Oak Park, which also haven’t been accustomed to starting 2-0.
West Chicago’s reversal of fortune has been sparked by a talented junior class led by quarterback Jared Hall, wide receiver Tony Zumpano and 6-foot, 270-pound center Paul Edson.
On defense seniors such as linebackers Peter Milauskas (6-3, 240) and Mark Hopkins (5-11, 240) and linemen Derek Borsma and Ric Miner have shut down a pair of talented offenses. Milauskas had 16 tackles against Batavia, while Borsma had three sacks in that game.
Stone began to sense a change during the off-season when more of his players participated in a weight-training program and attended the Wildcats’ summer camp. Sure enough, Stone had to order 71 sets of uniforms for his varsity this season.
“It’s probably a little too early to say we’ve got this turned around completely,” Stone said. “But this is the first time in 11 years that West Chicago has won its first two games. And these are the best back-to-back classes West Chicago has had in a long time.”
