Dontrell Young does admit that the thought did briefly cross his mind.

Should he give up football?

[ Photos: Oswego football's first fall practice ]

The Oswego junior, after all, is a rising track star, a three-time sprint state medalist last spring. That season got a delayed start from a torn meniscus, a knee injury suffered in football.

“At one point I did think about it,” Young said. “But after state I had so much momentum. I thought, might as well do football and keep the momentum going.”

Oswego football wants to keep its momentum going, too.

Young is one reason why the Panthers could keep it rolling this fall, despite graduating all but a handful of starters from a 10-1 Southwest Prairie West division champion.

Oswego joined programs around the state Monday for the first day of fall football practice.

Like Young’s burst off the blocks on the track, Oswego coach Brian Cooney didn’t blink when asked what stands out most about his junior free safety on the football field.

“Fast,” Cooney said. “He had a phenomenal freshman year. Last year we invited him up with varsity all summer. His speed stuck out from the get-go. He can close so much ground; he’s so fast. It is intriguing. I don’t think we have seen all that he can do because the speed is so prevalent.”

Indeed, Young’s varsity debut was a brief one.

He said he first hurt the meniscus in the knee summer of 2024, but played through it.

Two games in, he was done.

Young missed all of indoor track season, but returned to medal in the 100, 200 and 400 at state, shattering school records along the way.

He continued with his track work throughout June, but has been strictly football since July. And he’s put any thoughts of his injury out of mind.

“You can’t play with fear, can’t have fear, can’t worry about getting hurt,” Young said. “You have to go out there and just play football.”

Young has been in and out of the sport growing up.

He did football as a youngster, but gave it up during middle school to concentrate on track. He took third in the 800 at the AAU Junior Olympics as a sixth-grader.

By the time freshman year rolled around, though, Young was feeling the football itch to scratch.

“I wanted to do something during the fall,” he said. “I didn’t just want to do track, I wanted to do something year-round. I wanted to balance it out, try something new. Football is more of a team sport and you have to communicate with teammates. I get a real bond with my teammates.”

Cooney calls Young extremely coachable, laid back and intelligent, a respectful kid, one of the easiest types to coach.

His natural ability, a coach can’t teach.

“He covers so much ground, sideline to sideline,” Cooney said. “Even if he gets himself in trouble with a wrong read he can make up for it with his legs and make a play on the ball. You can see how it equates defensively.”

Young, with his speed, also could be a player the Oswego coaching staff considers giving cameos on the offensive side.

The Panthers return all-conference slot receiver Teddy Manikas, but graduated a game-breaking receiver in Jeremiah Cain, now at Northern Iowa.

“Any coach who has Dontrell on their roster, you will look for any way to optimize his ability and talent,” Cooney said. “His overall speed is his greatest asset. We have seen it on game film and practice. It remains to be seen on the offensive side. He got in a couple reps today. Interesting to see where it goes with him.”

Young said he’s worked on his ball tracking during the offseason. He trains every day to get sharper and cleaner cuts on the ball, and does a lot of high-pointing work with balls in the air.

“My role as the free safety is to know all the formations, to know what everybody is doing, to be the quarterback of the defense,” Young said. “I am trying to bait the quarterback to throw something they shouldn’t.”

Despite abbreviated varsity experience, Young looks the part of a returning starter. Young’s future may well be in track, but Cooney has received calls from college coaches interested in him for football.

“The speed himself makes him look and appear like a varsity player even if he didn’t know what he was doing,” Cooney said. “When he was able to join us it did not look like his first time on the varsity field. We were impressed as a staff last year with his willingness and ability to pick up the playbook. He looks like a returning starter.”