Football: WW South’s success rests on Dan Vitale

Updated: November 23, 2011 6:07PM

Wheaton Warrenville South football coach Ron Muhitch was heading out to a summer passing league event a few months ago when he got a call from Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald.

Impressed by WW South senior Dan Vitale at the Wildcats’ summer camp, Fitzgerald wanted to know if the 6-2, 210-pounder was tough enough to play in the Big Ten.

Now that he’s seen Vitale take a team that started 1-3 on his broad shoulders for a nine-game winning streak and a third consecutive trip to state, Muhitch knows his response. “I would tell Pat Fitzgerald and the rest of the world, the answer is: absolutely,” Muhitch said.

With a series of injuries plaguing WW South quarterbacks Thaddeus Armstrong and Ryan Graham, Vitale’s already-large role in the Tigers’ offense has grown even bigger. He ran for three touchdowns in last week’s win over St. Rita that sent WW South (10-3) to Saturday’s 4 p.m. Class 7A final against Boylan (13-0).

Vitale, who did commit to Northwestern during the summer, is the Tigers’ leading rusher (253 carries, 1,219 yards, 16 touchdowns) and receiver (27 catches, 176 yards). But what he’s done off the field is just as key, rallying the two-time defending state champs to another big playoff run after a rough start.

“The seniors, we always knew we had it in us,” Vitale said. “We had some doubts, but we didn’t let that overcome what we could become.”

And if Vitale has anything to say about it, the Tigers aren’t done yet.

“It’s always a big goal to get to the big game,” he said after the semifinal win. “But there’s still one week of football left.”

And one more chance to prove he’s got what it takes to play major-college football.

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