Soldier mentality fuels Prairie Ridge quarterback Luke Vanderwiel

Compact. Rugged. Indispensable.

That describes Prairie Ridge senior quarterback/defensive back Luke Vanderwiel.

That describes Vanderwiel’s newest “teammate.”

“His name is Hermano,” Wolves coach Mike Frericks said.

“He weighs 80 pounds,” said Vanderwiel (5-foot-9, 175 pounds), who’s only about 100 pounds heavier.

Hermano (brother in Spanish), a blocking dummy with arms, leaned up against a soccer goal post during a recent 7-on-7 scrimmage at Grant High School in Fox Lake. He wore a white, 2XL, No. 67 Prairie Ridge game-day jersey and even sported a District 155 swimming floppy hat.

“We were trying to figure out how to get some energy and play for your brothers, no man left behind,“ Frericks said of the soldier mentality, crediting assistant coach Justen Lehr for coming up with Hermano.

Oh, brother. Hermano has a spot on this team, all right. A day before the Wolves participated at Grant, the seniors took No. 67 to their cookout.

Let the camaraderie begin.

“Basically, the seniors are in charge of him,” Vanderwiel said. “But anybody can carry him around. We bring him everywhere we go.”

One other brother the Wolves won’t leave behind this season: Vanderwiel.

“He’s just strong, runs really strong, and is extremely quick,” Frericks said after watching his two-way threat complete a deep pass downfield and intercept a pass against Grant. “Defensively, he’s giving us such problems this summer because it seems like, ‘We got him, got him, got him,’ and all of a sudden he cuts across.”

Playing quarterback for the first time last season, Vanderwiel, a wingback since he was 7, rushed for 1,005 yards and 15 touchdowns, despite missing four games. His left leg got hit hard against Cary-Grove in Week 5, and then the same leg absorbed another blow to the same spot in the first half against Dundee-Crown the following week.

Vanderwiel suffered a fractured fibula, which didn’t require surgery but kept him off the field for the rest of the regular season. He returned for the Wolves’ Class 6A second-round playoff game against Wheaton St. Francis and rushed 26 times for 135 yards in a 30-21 loss.

Vanderwiel followed up with strong seasons in basketball as an in-your-jersey defender and track as a versatile sprinter, further proving that his broken leg was healed.

“It was six weeks [during the football season] of just literally waiting for it to heal, basically,” Vanderwiel said.

Now, he’s ready for his final season, which starts Aug. 29, when the Wolves visit defending Fox Valley Conference champion Cary-Grove. Prairie Ridge won the FVC in 2023 with Joey Vanderwiel, Luke’s big brother, playing quarterback.

Joey Vanderwiel now is playing QB for McKendree University.

“My brother helps me out a lot with it,” Vanderwiel said. “I got to give a lot of credit to him.”

Luke Vanderwiel started at running back his freshman year when Prairie Ridge lost to East St. Louis in the 2022 Class 6A state championship game. He was one of the Wolves’ best blockers that season, Frericks said.

That was the season Wolves quarterback Tyler Vasey rushed for an IHSA-record 3,887 yards and 52 TDs. Comparisons to Vasey and fellow ex-Wolves QB Samson Evans (Class of 2018), a three-time Northwest Herald Football Player of the Year, might be ambitious, but Frericks thinks that highly of Vanderwiel.

“I would say he’s got the potential to be like a Vasey and Samson Evans type,” Frericks said. “He’s going to be that guy for us, where everybody is going to know about him, everybody is going to talk about him, everybody is going to try to stop him, and he’s still going to find ways to make some plays. That’s why we put him at quarterback, because he’s got the ball in his hand every play.”

Vanderwiel just wants to enjoy football with his teammates, including Hermano.

“I had a lot of self goals last year,” Vanderwiel said. “I just want to have fun with my boys my last year, and I want to go far in the playoffs. I want to win conference, for sure. But I just want to have a great offensive and defensive season for everyone.”