Warren’s first 0-2 start since 2016 didn’t sit well with defensive lineman Aidan Porreca.
The eight days since the Blue Devils’ loss to Maine South left a particularly sour taste in his mouth.
Rather than stew, though, the 6-foot-3, 240-pound senior promised a complete turnaround for both himself and the team.
“I was petrified with my performance last week,” Porreca said of Warren’s 28-7 loss. “Bad is an understatement. That haunted me this whole week but was a big part of what motivated me. I had a lot of dumb schematic mistakes, and I think I was playing confused. I prepared right this week.”
Porreca certainly did, and his dominant play came through loud and clear Friday night during the Blue Devils’ 28-8 home win against Libertyville in the North Suburban Conference opener in Gurnee.
When Porreca said he was prepared for the Wildcats, who entered the game with a 2-0 record, he wasn’t kidding. His 9-yard sack of Wildcats quarterback Quinn Schambow on the game’s first play from scrimmage set quite a tone.
“You go into every game with a bunch of butterflies in your stomach, and if someone says they don’t, they either don’t care or they’re lying,” Porreca said. “That first play was a big exhale. It was a textbook sack. That’s how we coach it in practice. I got off the ball really fast, came around the edge and got him.”
Porreca, who finished fourth in the discus at the Class 3A state meet in May, got Schambow three additional times and was within breathing distance on a couple of other occasions. The Wildcats also gained just 5 yards on the ground.
“From the start, I could tell they wanted to throw,” Porreca said. “They were hoping to get a big play on us the first play, and it didn’t work out.”
Porreca’s early splash led to a quick three-and-out, and Warren marched right down the field and scored on a run by Donovan McNeal on the subsequent drive. That sequence of events went a long way toward putting everyone on the Warren sideline in a much better head space.
“It’s great knowing that our defensive line is physical and they’re mean and they’re going to pressure the other team all the time,” Warren quarterback Nathan Foster said. “It definitely gets us a lot of momentum when they make big plays and gets our guys going. It motivates us to score for them.”
Despite the tough start to the season, Warren coach Brian McNulty had faith in his team, especially along the veteran-laden defensive front. Schambow’s big arm provides a challenge for any defense, but McNulty thought Porreca and Co. would help slow down the Wildcats’ passing game.
“He’s a warrior,” McNulty said. “You saw what he did with the sacks and getting to the quarterback, but he also played pretty much every snap on offense. He takes it so personally. He came out today and told his teammates before the game he had something to prove, and he did.”
Porreca’s play at tight end echoes his work in the trenches on the defensive side. He rarely flares out into pass patterns.
Indeed, the physical approach he takes to offense suits his football persona perfectly.
“I wasn’t worried about how many plays I was in. I was worried about the next play,” Porreca said of his double duty. “That’s what I signed up for. I didn’t sign up to catch passes and get touchdowns. I signed up to physically dominate people, and honestly I think I did that tonight.”
No one would dispute that. But as Porreca slowly walked off the field toward the locker room and the adrenaline of the game was wearing off, the inevitable aches and pains began to surface.
“I’ll be ready to go by Wednesday,” he said.
Steve Reaven is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.
