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PLAINFIELD – The Plainfield North football team finished second in Class 7A this fall thanks in no small part to a defense that ranked with Illinois’ best, regardless of class.
The Tigers allowed a meager 146 points in 14 games, an average of 10.4 per game. In the state championship game against unbeaten East St. Louis, Flyers all-everything Jeff Thomas caught 43- and 61-yard touchdown passes from Division I quarterback Rey Estes in a 26-13 victory. Otherwise, powerful East St. Louis totaled 137 yards in 45 offensive plays, a 3.0 per average.
That’s the kind of production coach Tim Kane’s team got all season from a defensive unit that returned nine starters from the 2015 season. It was fitting The Herald-News Defensive Player of the Year on our all-area team should come from North.
That raised another question, however. Which individual most deserves the honor from such a balanced defense?
After considering the Tigers’ unit as a whole, analyzing the elements that made it the force that it was, we decided on senior cornerback Kevin Block as our Defensive Player of the Year.
As with most North defenders, Block’s statistics are not overwhelming. One reason is opponents understandably shied away from throwing the ball in his direction. In addition, the Tigers tended to get the opposing offense off the field quickly, so there were fewer stats to be had for all their defensive regulars.
Block, who covered opponents’ No. 1 receiver all season, intercepted five passes, broke up more than one per game and averaged two tackles per game. Until deep into the playoffs, he was giving up less than one completion per game.
“Kevin had to cover a lot of pretty good receivers,” Kane said. “He could cover the deep ball or come up and make a tackle. He could go up and get it in traffic. So many times we gave him no help at all because he was so good at one-on-one coverage. That allowed us to do other things defensively.”
“I always lined up against the best receiver,” Block said. “My job was to shut him down. Most of the time it worked.”
Working as a unit
Like all the Tigers on the defensive side of the ball insist on doing, Block credited his teammates for his success.
“Our defensive line did a great job pressuring the quarterback,” he said. “Our linebackers did a great job stuffing the run and [fellow defensive backs Dillon McCarthy and Anthony Fumagalli] were a big part of our coverage.
“The way our line got in on the quarterback, he wouldn’t have a lot of time to throw, He’d panic and not throw a good ball. That made my job easier.”
Block not only was the Tigers’ shutdown corner, he and McCarthy were dynamic returning punts and kickoffs, he was the holder for Connor Peplow’s extra points and field goals and he played some quarterback and wide receiver when needed. He threw 19 passes this season, completing seven, and rushed 11 times for 74 yards.
“Kevin has been a playmaker on both sides of the ball and has outstanding ball skills,” Kane said. “His stats are good but probably don’t show how his coverage skills allowed us to do so many things defensively. He has been a three-year starter and a great leader of the defense.”
Block has been best friends with Kane’s son, North wide receiver TJ Kane, since first grade. That friendship may be responsible for Block being involved in the sport to this day, and why he is planning to play football in college.
“I’ve been talking with Butler and visited Minnesota State,” he said. “It’s I-AA and bigger DIIs mostly that I am looking at.”
Football and beyond
Block grew up in Plainfield and played with the Plainfield Junior Cats from first through sixth grade.
“I tore my ACL in sixth grade and took seventh and eight grade off,” he said. “I thought I was done with football. But my dad is a friend of coach Kane, and he said I should come back out for it. I did, and I love it.
“I was a quarterback in the Junior Cat days. Freshman year I played running back. Sophomore year I played tailback, wide receiver and then weak corner.”
Block was summoned to the varsity during his sophomore season and found a home.
“Sophomore year I started for the first time on varsity against Romeoville,” he said. “They had a lot of speed. I was going one-on-one against seniors and had four breakups and no completions against me. That’s where my confidence started to go up.
“Last year, [Minooka all-area receiver] Isaiah Hill caught a touchdown against me but I picked one off in the end zone. [Joliet West’s] Johnny Holman and [Plainfield South’s] Tom Macari were pretty good guys I went up against, and [Oswego’s] Elliott Pipkin had no catches on me.”
Block also played baseball freshman and sophomore years and was in track last spring before leaving it when he joined a 7-on-7 passing league. Next spring, he plans to play on coach John Darlington’s baseball team.
“I play center field and pitch a little,” he said. “With Brady Corrigan, Connor Peplow and Brady Miller on the mound, we should be pretty good.”
After graduating, Block will be moving on to college to play football and get a degree in business management, after which he plans to work for his dad.
“My dad owns a construction business, a concrete business,” he said. “I plan to work with him for about five years after I graduate from college and then take it over. We’ve been talking about it for a while.”
Wherever life takes him, being a huge contributor on the first Plainfield team to play for a state football championship, the first to advance beyond the quarterfinals, is a memory that will last a lifetime.