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Sports

Back-to-back State Champ Tigers Show Resiliency

Undefeated Wheaton South had to rebuild its offensive line and overcome injuries to key players throughout the season.

"Better than yesterday" became the credo for the newly crowned Class 7A state champion Wheaton Warrenville South football team well before head coach Ron Muhitch's squad stepped onto the field for preseason practice this past summer.

Tailback Matt Rogers and his senior classmates took their motto literally.

Since the 2009 team won a state title and suffered just one loss along the way, this season's Tigers believed not only must they repeat as champions in 2010, but do so without losing a game.

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Keep in mind: "Better than yesterday."

"We had to be undefeated state champs," Rogers said. "And to be back-to-back state champions with this group of guys, it's a feeling like no other. These guys are my best friends that I've been playing with, and we never go down without a fight. Going back-to-back state championships is an amazing experience to have in high school."

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Despite winning each of their five postseason contests by an average margin of victory of 30 points—and their regular season games by an average margin of 35—the Tigers had to overcome obstacles throughout the season.

Job One for Muhitch and the Tigers was to rebuild an offensive line that had only one returning starter: University of Kansas recruit Luke Luhrsen. And they did just that, as Eric Luhrsen, Joe Hall, Dom DeAngelis and John Mulvey jelled faster than expected.

"The offensive line grew week in and week out," Muhitch said. "From the state championship team we had last year, we had to rebuild that line with four new guys. It took us a couple of weeks to do it, but look what they did."

The Tigers also had to replace starters on both sides of the ball due to injuries throughout the season. Wheaton South's defense took a major hit when senior linebacker broke his arm in Week 6 vs. crosstown rival Wheaton North and missed the remainder of the season.

Additionally, the Tigers went into the state title game without their No. 2 and No. 3 receivers, and Dan Vitale. Vitale hurt his collarbone in the Tigers' quarterfinal victory over Glenbard West, and Kern injured his in the semifinals at Belleville East.

"The Tigers, believe it or not, were playing without two very important kids down on offense," Muhitch noted. "And our defense had the same feeling halfway through the season. But a credit to these kids. The next kid in (to replace an injured player) did the job."

Wheaton South's resiliency certainly was evident on Saturday. With Lake Zurich and tailback Jacob Brinlee—who set a 7A title game record with 232 rushing yards—pounding away, and the Bears leading 17-14 early in the fourth quarter, the Tigers made their move.

Quarterback Reilly O'Toole, as he's done so many times throughout his career, led the charge. O'Toole rushed twice for gains of 8 and 9 yards, and then completed passes to Jason Schuman, Ryan Crowe and (twice) for a combined 53 yards.

By then, the Tigers were sitting at Lake Zurich's 1-yard line. And Rogers, who scored the game-winning TD in last season's championship game, ran it in for the go-ahead—and eventual game-winning—score.

"We haven't been down that much this year, so it was something new," O'Toole said. "It's the state championship game, the last time us seniors ever play together, so we talked about seizing the moment. We did that, and just the excitement and the enthusiasm we had really helped us out."

O'Toole, who'll continue his career next fall at the University of Illinois, gave Illini fans a preview of his skills on what will be his new home field, Memorial Stadium.

"I'm excited about it (going to Illinois)," he said. "I really like the coaches, and I feel like it's a great fit and just a great school all-around and academically. And it's pretty close to home so my family will be pretty close."

But the future never entered into O'Toole's mind during the course of the game.

"I was focused on winning a state championship, knowing it would be the last game I'd ever play in high school with a great group of guys," he said. "The seniors give a speech the night before a game, and the speeches that were given last night (Friday) were pretty emotional. Just coming into this game, knowing it was the last game you'd play with your best friends, it was pretty tough. I just focused on winning, going out on a high note. We did that."

Muhitch and Tigers fans won't soon forget all of the contributions O'Toole made to Wheaton South's success since taking over as the team's starting quarterback during his sophomore year. O'Toole has thrown for over 5,000 yards and 65 touchdowns during Wheaton South's back-to-back championship seasons.

"Reilly is the best athlete I've ever coached at Wheaton Warrenville South in terms of an offensive player," Muhitch said. "He's the complete package. He's dispersed the ball to all of his teammates; he's shared the experience with all of his teammates. As a coach, when your superstar plays the game that way, it's a phenomenal thing to see how it affects others. And his teammates love him for who he is and how he plays the game."

Rogers also caps a stellar two years in which he rushed for over 2,000 yards and 38 touchdowns. Davis played sparingly last season, but became O'Toole's big-play receiver this fall, leading the team in catches, yards-per-catch (nearly 22 per reception) and total yards to go along with 18 touchdowns.

"The combination of O'Toole to Titus has been a great combination that has grown week in and week out in our program," Muhitch said. "From the summer, I could see Titus coming on."

Among the other seniors who played prominent roles in the Tigers' back-to-back title runs are free safety and kick return specialist Caleb Bednarz; Sparty Chino, a two-time state qualifying wrestler who played nose guard despite weighing 155 pounds; cornerbacks Casey Armbrust and Austin Pannell; defensive linemen William Davis and Zach Schneider; and linebackers Eshleman, Mike Monterrubio and R.J. Hoshell.

"I'm very happy for this team as people because of how we played from behind (on Saturday)," Muhitch said. "We haven't been behind, but the character of a champion is what you do in adversity situations and we stood tall tonight."

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