DuPage/Cook County notebook: Sophomore TJ McMillen grows into imposing force on St. Francis line

St. Francis two-way lineman TJ McMillen counted the days until his first football game of his sophomore season.

It marked the end of a long journey for McMillen, which led to a complete body transformation.

McMillen, a starter on both sides of the ball as a freshman, gained 50 pounds and increased his strength during the extended offseason. He also grew almost two inches.

At 6-foot-3.5 inches and 273 pounds, McMillen is an imposing force on the lines for the Spartans. His new physique showed in St. Francis’ 28-0 win over IC Catholic Prep on Friday in Elmhurst.

McMillen, a left tackle and defensive tackle, collected seven tackles, a sack and a pass breakup to go with three pancake blocks.

Not a bad sophomore debut.

“I was definitely a little nervous going into the game since it has been 489 days, but I knew I was prepared,” McMillen said. “You could tell the atmosphere of the team. I’ve been here two years, and never seen my teammates and brothers that excited and energized.”

McMillen credited his weight increase to gulping down protein shakes and using the extra time during the coronavirus pandemic to work with trainers and spending countless hours in the gym.

“Last year I really didn’t use protein powder or creatine,” he said. “I started eating the right foods and also lifted. In the offseason after basketball season, that’s when I started noticing I had to get bigger and stronger to show colleges I can put on good weight. I was eating meals with a lot of protein and calories, and working out five times a week. Those 489 days were a blessing in disguise for me.

“But I was little gassed starting off in the first game. Body-wise, this is the best ever felt. The weight helped on offense to be able push around the big boys. Defensively, I had more power moves, too.”

McMillen, who played center and defensive end last season, said he’s hoping the added weight and production on the field leads to more offers. He has offers from Syracuse, Arizona State, Central Michigan, Eastern Kentucky and Miami of Ohio.

He’s been in contact with schools from the Big Ten, SEC and ACC.

“My recruiting has slowed down because we’re the last state to play football, but I’m talk to a lot of schools,” he said. “All of them said they like me and my film, and a lot are close to offering, but need to see improvement from my freshman year.”

His father, St. Francis coach Bob McMillen, said TJ worked hard in the offseason to become a leader and improved his conditioning and physique, notably working with FIST Football Academy, which specializes in offensive and defensive lineman training.

“As a staff, we’re looking forward to see what he can do this season,” coach McMillen said. “Not only has he worked on getting stronger, he has worked on his game mentally. He watched every game from last season to see how he can improve and get better.”

West Suburban Week 2 shakeup

The West Suburban Conference’s schedules continues to be in flux due to COVID-19 quarantines.

The league had four teams miss Week 1, forcing a reshuffling of the schedule.

That continues to be the case.

Downers Grove North will miss Week 2 and Week 3, and hopes to return April 9 against Oak Park-River Forest. Morton is out until Week 3, and Proviso East and Proviso West apparently are a no go this weekend.

Lyons Township, which missed Week 1, is now scheduled to play at Oak Park-River Forest at 12:30 p.m. Saturday. Hinsdale Central, originally slated to play Downers Grove North this week, is now playing at Leyden at 6 p.m. Saturday.

Complicating things a bit for teams that lose opponents to quarantines is the league is limiting schools to playing in-conference opponents. That could make things tricky for Glenbard West, for example, who was scheduled to host Downers Grove North in Week 3 on April 1.

Nazareth faces longer delay

By now, Nazareth’s football program won’t have any excuses for not being prepared for its first game of the season. The Roadrunners, who finished runner-up in Class 7A in 2019, had their season opener against Fenwick canceled within the 48-hour window of kickoff, coach Tim Racki said.

“To find out you will not be playing, it causes an extreme deflating type of emotion,” Racki said. “You go from being stunned, to having to remember that we are playing in the midst of a pandemic.....so back to reality.

“Informing them and seeing the expressions in their eyes was heartbreaking for me. For a group that loves football so much, I’m guessing it can be compared to a little kid waking up Christmas morning with no toys under the tree.”

Racki said the “emotional roller coaster” period will end when the Roadrunners play two games in a seven-day span. Nazareth, which plans to use three quarterbacks this season, will open at home against St. Laurence on Saturday and travels to De La Salle on April 1.

R-B stumbles in opener

Riverside-Brookfield was one of the many teams scrambling to find an opponent following late cancellation of its opener. The Bulldogs suffered a 42-7 loss to Hillcrest in their opener.

“We were scheduled to play Elmwood Park in Week 1, but they reached out to us and were not be able to compete,” R-B coach Brendan Curtin said. “We were scrambling to find an opponent. I sent out an email to a couple of conferences. Hillcrest was the first school to reach out to us. We wanted to get a game on the books. Hillcrest is an incredibly established program. It was a bit of an eye-opener, and showed us what it means to be ready to step onto the field.”

The Bulldogs travel to Bishop McNamara for their second game. Curtain said the Bulldogs returned just one starter combined on the offensive and defensive lines.

“I think our kids are aware of what needs to happen in our next game, and what we need to do in style of play and identity we need to be known as,” he said. “We have to play from a tough physical standpoint.”