Oswego East’s Lincoln Ijams, Niko Villacci share a bond that goes way back

If Niko Villacci is throwing a football, chances are Lincoln Ijams is catching it.

That checks.

Villacci, Oswego East’s senior quarterback, and Ijams, a senior receiver, are going on their third varsity season together.

The connection, apparently, goes back way longer than that.

“I think we’ve been playing together since darn near kindergarten,” Ijams said. “He knows where I am going to be at all times.”

That reliability is something that Villacci and Oswego East can count on. Ijams, Villacci and the Wolves put in work this week, a joint practice with Sterling and Glenbard South at Oswego East.

“It’s a great opportunity for us to compete against good programs and start to measure up, try to look at depth-chart things,” Oswego East coach Tyson LeBlanc said. “We have some good position battles going on and it gives you a little indication of which direction that is leaning. More than anything it’s just good to compete.”

Oswego East is coming off a 4-5 season, its second straight season missing the playoffs after seven consecutive playoff appearances. The Wolves open their 2025 season Aug. 29 at Joliet West.

Numbers-wise, LeBlanc said the Wolves are down a little bit on the varsity level. Four starters were set to return on the offensive line, but two opted not to play.

There is a lot of experience back, particularly at the skill positions with Villacci, Ijams and senior running back Jasiah Watson, another third-year varsity player, cornerback Jamari McKay and lineman Connor Griffin.

Ijams is at the forefront of those back, both for his production between the lines and his leadership off the field.

He caught 33 passes for 335 yards and three touchdowns as a junior. He is very polished as a receiver in terms of route running and overall understanding of the position.

And he’s the “effort,” “tough,” “team” guy that does all the little things that a coach like LeBlanc notices.

“From a leadership perspective he’s been phenomenal,” LeBlanc said. “He’s part of our leadership council, he’s been phenomenal with the younger guys making sure some of them in his neighborhood can get to practice. He’s been the guy that has really stepped up to the forefront.”

Villacci, who threw for 1,276 yards and seven TDs last season, has a good feel for how Ijams runs his routes and where he likes to catch the ball from years and years of reps.

He noted the growth, literally, of his favorite target from when they first stepped on the varsity field together.

“He’s a big guy, got a lot bigger. First year on varsity he was 5-foot-10, 150 pounds and now he’s like 6-1 and 180,” Villacci said. “He’s got way faster, hands have got bigger and stronger. He’s improved a lot over the years.”

Ijams, who has one NCAA Division-I offer from Butler and has also talked to Western Illinois and Cornell, does 5-6 days of speed training a week with Hector Mendoza in Oswego. He’s improved his 40-yard dash time to 4.6 seconds and can broad jump 10 feet.

Villacci, for his part, also does speed training with Mendoza, and does quarterback training at Next Level Athletix in Carol Stream.

But he’s spent much of his summer traveling the country for baseball, the sport Villacci plans to play in college.

“Really, with the summer schedule he has, it’s hard to tell where is at exactly from a football perspective, but he’s getting a better understanding of what we’re trying to do,” LeBlanc said. “He’s just such a natural athlete that sometimes we have to scale back the natural part of it and let him know we have to make football reads and do something like that. Can’t always rely on the athleticism.”

Villacci also can’t rely exclusively on Ijams, although the connection is obvious to players and coaches alike.

“There are times I’ll tell Niko you can’t throw to Lincoln, you need to get confidence in other guys,” LeBlanc said. “It’s partly because they have played together since they were little and partly because Lincoln is a guy you can count on to be open and make a play.”