Rising above it all

COMMENTARY

Over the summer, the Wheaton Warrenville South football team got into the habit of asking: Now what?

Defensive coordinator Joe Wardynski left the Tigers last spring to become head coach at Wheaton North.

Then offensive line coach Mike O'Brien moved to Iowa.

Two of the Tigers' most important coaches had left.

Now what?

WW South coach Ron Muhitch answered by bringing in former Tigers defensive tackle Devon Finn, who was fresh off an NFL career with the Miami Dolphins and Denver Broncos.

Muhitch also hired Jon Schweighardt, the former Tigers receiver and Northwestern star who still holds school receiving records and was a two-time state hurdles champion in track.

But there was another ''Now what?'' moment.

Five players were suspended for the first game at Hinsdale Central, a 28-27 overtime win, for violating either Muhitch's rules or those of the athletic department. And two players didn't even come out for the team. One was a senior who was upfront with Muhitch and said the desire just wasn't there. But the other was working out with the team all summer and just didn't come back.

There was no clear-cut quarterback, either. Muhitch was going to switch between senior Joe Furco and junior Mack Tracey.

The outlook for WW South at the outset of this season had a familiar ring. The Tigers weren't necessarily underrated, but they weren't taken as seriously as other teams because they had graduated too many starters, the starters they did have returning weren't as good as the ones from a year ago, and the suspensions would be costly. Two major assistant coaches leaving to take other jobs would make WW South the underdog in the DuPage Valley. WW South would have no chance against Joliet Catholic. And they were too young.

So now what?

WW South is proving everybody wrong. The Tigers are 5-0 and are one of the best teams in the state.

Against a tough schedule

Maybe the 45-7 pasting of Naperville Central on Friday, when they scored on every possession in the first quarter, was the Tigers' 2008 coming-out party, Maybe it was the 31-6 rout of Joliet Catholic in Joliet on Week 2. Or the 16-14 nail-biter against Glenbard North in Week 4, when Nick Immekus kicked a 45-yard game-winning field goal.

Or maybe it was all of them.

In the first five weeks, WW South has played four ranked opponents in Hinsdale Central, Joliet Catholic, Glenbard North and Naperville Central. Coming up Oct. 10, the Tigers have Wheaton North, a typically emotional game but one that will be even more intense this year when they face Wardynski.

And then there's the showdown for what could be the DuPage Valley championship on Oct. 24 at Naperville North, which is tied with WW South for the league lead.

Escape artists

Furco is the Tigers' starting quarterback, and Tracey has turned into a solid and threatening wide receiver.

''Our passing game was Houdini-like,'' Muhitch said of the Tigers' first couple of games. ''Joe was making plays off of broken plays, and that never wins big games. It was fun to see Mack and Joe compete all summer, and now they're the go-to guys.''

The younger players who came up from undefeated 2007 lower-level teams have filled in well and even inspire the veterans.

Muhitch said he has four juniors on the offensive line: two tackles, a tight end and the starting center -- Immekus -- who had never played center before this season.

''The lower-level coaches prepare the players incredibly well for us [on varsity],'' said senior running back Peter Jarrett, who has gone from the guy who Furco relied on heavily to a cog in the Tigers' machine. ''When they get up here they know what's coming.

''I think over the summer there were a lot of players who had a lot of ability. I knew they would take some time and get used to playing in big games on Friday nights. It has taken the right amount of time for them to start shining.''

The Tigers have rebounded from the suspensions and resignations. The last suspended player will return this week for the West Aurora game. Another storm and another ''Now what?'' moment has been weathered.

Piecing it all together

''Starting this week, everyone is back,'' Jarrett said. ''It was hard at first psychologically, but now that we've played a while, we've seen how we can cope without them. It was a rough summer.''

Muhitch tries to come up with a team slogan every year, something catchy and original that the players will heed, and it's something he ponders for a while. But this summer it didn't take him long.

''With the coaching changes and suspensions, you have to give the kids credit, because the weight of the world was on our shoulders,'' Muhitch said. ''They were in despair a little bit. I said, 'You know what, Tiger football rises above it all.' It just came out of my mouth. And it was something that we stuck with, and they've been living it.''