Warren most definitely has carved out a niche in the past 16 seasons of high school football.
In some ways, that has been a good thing, and in other ways, it’s been not so good.
The good is that the Blue Devils have qualified for the postseason 14 times in those 16 years, and are talked about in August in terms of definitely being a playoff team rather than being a playoff wannabe.
The flip side is that almost never is there talk about Warren football in mid-November. Only once (2001) in those 14 playoff appearances have the Blue Devils reached the third round of the postseason. As a result, the focus of prep sports fans in Gurnee instinctively turns to basketball when the calendar flips to November.
Perhaps this year will be different.
It’s Year 2 for Bryan McNulty as head coach. His team went 7-3 last year, with the losses to Class 8A playoff team New Trier, to Loyola in the first round of the 8A playoffs, and 33-20 to Stevenson, which went on to finish 14-0 and win the 8A state title.
With those losses still fresh in the returning players’ minds, the offseason for Warren was all about getting bigger, stronger and faster.
And better.
“Ninety percent of our development started in the weight room,” senior defensive tackle Jeremiah Harris said. “If you look at guys who didn’t start last year that will be starting for us this year, they put in a lot of work in the weight room. It totally transfers to the field.”
Harris also pointed out that this year’s defensive unit has stars or future stars at every level.
“We have dominant players all over the defense,” he said. “We have a great group of linebackers led by Max Kravitz and Vashaun Wright. We have Jalen Powe at safety, and two good corners in Mitch Raasch and Keylan Stocker.”
The watch word for Warren this season is “fast.”
Fast to the end zone on offense. Fast to the ball on defense. Fast to the returner on special teams.
“One thing you can say about us is that we’re fast,” Harris said.
“The emphasis this year is on playing hard and playing fast,” senior outside linebacker Max Kravitz said.
Even senior running back Darrius Crump — who is fast — is excited about what the offense can do.
“On offense, we have guys who are going to play hard. We might not be as big as last year, but our line is still big, and they play with a lot of heart,” he said. “A lot of guys have worked out at EFT (Executive Fitness Training) during the offseason, and we have guys like myself and Micah who we’re going to expect big things from.”
Micah is Micah Jones, a 6-foot-4, 182-pound sophomore wideout who already has scholarship offers from Northwestern, Iowa and Vanderbilt.
Crump rushed for 1,600 yards and scored 13 touchdowns as a junior after transferring from Carmel.
Also excited is McNulty, who knows his team could develop into something really special.
“The focus right now is developing our identity. We talk to these guys about making a mark on the program,” he said. “We’re really big with what we do with these kids off the field academically, and on the field we want to control our destiny. We want to work as hard as we need to work and worry about us, not our opponents. That’s been the focus all summer.”
Who’s in charge of running the offense is still not totally clear. But with three solid quarterbacks, Warren is injury-proof at the position.
“It was a long offseason, but the kids have worked hard and put the time in,” McNulty said. Now it’s time to roll the dice and take our chances.”
Bryan Bonato is a freelance writer for the News-Sun.
WARREN
Last season: 7-3 (5-1 North Suburban Lake).
Playoffs: Lost 37-20 to Loyola in Class 4A first round.
Coach: Bryan McNulty, 7-3, second year.
Players to watch: Darrius Crump, senior, running back; Micah Jones, sophomore, wide receiver; Max Kravitz, senior, linebacker; Jeremiah Harris, senior, defensive lineman; Jalen Powe, senior, defensive back.
Schedule: (x-denotes North Suburban Lake games); Aug. 28, at Lyons, 7:30 p.m.; Sept. 4, New Trier, 7:30; Sept. 11, x-at Lake Forest, 7:30; Sept. 18, x-Mundelein, 7:30; Sept. 25, x-Zion-Benton, 7:30; Oct. 2, x-Stevenson, 7:30; Oct. 9, x-at Libertyville, 7:30; Oct. 16, Vernon Hills, 7:30; Oct. 23, x-at Lake Zurich, 7:30.
