River Forest: Quiet confidence

Updated: August 18, 2011 5:03PM

For four seasons now, Ramon Diaz has quietly and effectively gone about his business for River Forest.

“I’m not much of a loud speaker,” the senior said, and that’s true whether it comes to complaining about the asthma that bothered him earlier in his career or bragging about his accomplishments.

Ingots coach Jeff Bean wasn’t even aware of Diaz’s battle with the ailment until being told this preseason. And it’s mostly up to him to talk up his two-way standout, because it’s not in Diaz’s nature to do so himself.

“He’s really quite a soft-spoken guy, but just a hard-nosed player,” Bean said of Diaz, a 6-foot-3, 185-pounder who will start at tight end and defensive end.

“He’s one of those guys who doesn’t lead vocally but he leads by example.”

The Ingots need new leaders this year after graduating a senior class led by Tyler Hanson (now playing baseball at St. Joseph’s) and Rich Pennington (now wrestling at Calumet College).

As Diaz took his cue from them, now he knows that his younger teammates will follow his lead.

“We miss those guys like crazy,” Diaz said. “We looked up to them, they were a big part of this team. But we’ve got to pick it up, make up for them.”

Bean said Diaz already has done that.

“He’s always (taken) kids under his wing, the younger guys,” Bean said. “He shows them what to do.”

Diaz set an example in the offseason by working to get quicker so he can be a major contributor in what will be a different kind of offense for the Ingots this fall.

With 6-foot-3 JJ Pennington taking over for the 5-8 Chase Young at quarterback, Bean plans to open things up a bit and Diaz figures prominently in the revamp.

“He can run-block for us at tight end, but we can also put him out wide to catch the ball,” the coach said. “I like him on both sides of the ball. Probably when he was younger he was a better defensive end. He’s really worked on his offensive game. Now he’s probably better at tight end.”

“We’ll be passing a lot more,” Diaz said. “We’ll pass and run this year (where) last year we were majority running.”

However it plays out, Diaz is more focused on collective than individual goals.

“I’d love to catch passes, like everybody (would),” he said. “But I don’t mind if somebody else is getting them, as long as somebody is. ... I want to do everything I can for the team. I just like to play.”

Bean believes Diaz has a chance to do that at the next level.

“I’m really hoping to get him a Division II scholarship,” the coach said. “If he had a great senior year, he could get one (or) at least (play in) Division III.”

Coach

Jeff Bean

Record

At school: 7-33 (fifth year)

Overall: 10-41 (sixth year)

Last season

Lost 73-14 to Seeger in sectional opener

Key returnees

TE/DE Ramon Diaz

WR/DB Jaime Cervantes

QB/DB JJ Pennington

RB/LB John Flores

Key losses

WR/DB Tyler Hanson

RB/LB Rich Pennington

College prospects

TE/DE Ramon Diaz

WR/DB Jaime Cervantes

Season outlook

Last season started in promising fashion for the senior-dominated Ingots, who won their first three games. But they were never the same after a midseason wave of injuries, finishing with a seven-game losing streak. The goal remains to finish over .500 for the first time since a 6-4 season in 2003. Though this year’s team is younger than last year’s, a number of current players gained experience when they were thrown into action after front-liners went down in 2010. One strength is depth up front, so much so that coach Jeff Bean foresees being able to platoon his offensive and defensive lines. Expect a more diverse offense after last year’s run-dominated attack, with junior quarterback JJ Pennington at the helm. Tight end Ramon Diaz will be one of Pennington’s main targets and also will lead the defense from his end spot. End Mike Rosario and linebacker Willie Perez are other players to watch on that side of the ball.

Postseason

Class 2A Sectional 25 (Andrean, Boone Grove, Bowman, Lake Station, North Newton, Rensselaer Central, River Forest. Wheeler)

Schedule

Aug. 19 Elwood

Aug. 26 at Eau Claire (Mich)

Sept. 2 at Lake Station

Sept. 9 Calumet

Sept. 16 at North Newton

Sept. 23 at Wheeler

Sept. 30 Bishop Noll

Oct. 7 Whiting

Oct. 14 at South Central

HISTORY LESSON

Season Record

2001 6-4

2002 3-7

2003 6-4

2004 2-8

2005 1-9

2006 0-10

2007 1-9, 1-6

2008 1-9, 1-6

2009 2-8, 2-5

2010 3-7, 1-6

Sectional titles: 1988, 1990

Regional titles: 1990

Semistate titles: 1990

Roster

No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. Pos.

1 Jaime Cervantes 5-8 145 12 WR/DB

2 Brandon Laas 5-11 140 10 QB/DB

4 Justin Warren 5-11 150 11 WR/DB

5 Joel Rodriguez 5-2 120 11 WR/DB

6 John Verduzco 5-8 135 10 QB/DB

7 Victor Macias 6-0 180 10 TE/LB

8 Ryan Brown 5-6 130 11 WR/DB

9 Ramon Diaz 6-3 185 12 TE/DE

11 John Flores 5-8 173 11 RB/LB

12 JJ Pennington 6-3 170 11 QB/DB

21 Malachi Sala 5-2 105 9 RB/DB

23 BJ Montez 5-8 135 10 RB/DB

25 Anthony Laas 5-2 120 9 RB/DB

30 Austyn Ayers 5-10 170 10 RB/LB

32 Alex Ballestas 5-10 202 10 RB/LB

40 Tim Mendez 5-8 140 12 RB/LB

42 Jaime Layton 5-7 140 11 RB/LB

44 Brandon Amour 5-11 180 12 RB/DE

50 Willie Perez 5-11 200 11 OL/LB

51 Terrance Raynor 6-0 195 12 OL/DE

53 Mike Rosario 5-9 205 11 OL/DL

54 Mike Karageorge 5-8 145 9 OL/DL

55 Tyler Bernard 6-0 190 11 TE/DL

60 Mark Espinoza 6-2 245 10 OL/DL

65 Austin Smith 5-11 210 12 OL/DL

71 Ryan Ramirez 5-11 245 12 OL/DL

72 Robert Yanez 5-10 235 10 OL/DL

73 Fernando Cardenas 6-3 285 11 OL/DL

74 Zach Hurley 6-1 285 10 OL/DL

75 Zack Bianco 5-11 215 10 OL/DL

76 Vinnie Sosa 5-7 156 9 OL/DL

79 Robert Norman 5-7 140 11 WR/DB

80 Dominic Smith 5-11 150 11 RB/LB

88 Chance Young 5-10 165 10 TE/LB

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