Positive vibes spark Plainfield Central turnaround

Two weeks ago, Plainfield Central found itself trailing by 22 points against a team that had given it fits for years.

Last week, the Wildcats’ offense was sputtering and didn’t deliver a touchdown until midway through the second half.

These are things that would have sent the Wildcats into a spiral of self-doubt – and most likely losses – in past years.

But these are a different bunch of Wildcats.

That Week 4 matchup with Minooka? The Wildcats rallied to wipe out the deficit, and then after they lost that hard-fought lead in the last minute of the game to a Minooka score, they responded with one more touchdown in the final seconds to secure a 37-36 victory.

Those offensive woes against Joliet West in Week 5? Those were fairly easy to offset when the Wildcats got a resplendent effort out of their defense and didn’t even really need that offensive touchdown when it finally came in a shutout victory.

“If you continue to bring forth your best effort every day, and you believe in yourself, and don’t doubt yourself; if you commit to the process, the results will come,” first-year Plainfield Central coach Robert Keane said.

Even though the spring season planted seeds that the program was on the verge of a turnaround, Plainfield Central had won only seven games over the previous seven full fall seasons. The Wildcats haven’t made the playoffs since 2012.

The program’s struggles weren’t a secret.

“For us it was about building the culture,” linebacker Ethan Obeng said. “It was definitely difficult, but we knew it was going to pay off. We just have to do the hard work that nobody would see, and we knew we would shine one day.”

“It has been great to experience. When I was coming in as a freshman, you’d hear a lot of things about Plainfield Central football. It’s not good, we don’t win a lot. It has changed so much, and it’s evolved and become a completely different program.”

For senior center Reese Theobald, it was about making sure the right people with the right energy are in the Plainfield Central locker room.

“Starting from freshman year, we’ve had a lot of kids that were doing what they wanted to do,” Theobald said. “But ever since then, we eliminated those kids and have basically come together as a family. We’ve basically just glued together, and that’s how we got here.”

It was a revolution that required faith and a lot of buy-in. Standout running back Aaron Larkins said Keane and the coaching staff deserve credit for creating an environment of accountability and responsibility.

“It feel like coach Keane and the other coaches have a lot to do with what we have been able to do,” Larkins said. “He’s really put a lot of stuff on us, so the only ones we can really blame is ourselves. All of us have been putting in the work in the offseason, from the spring, up until now. All of that is really paying off right now.”

“I definitely feel the momentum. It is definitely there, and only time will time tell what we can do.”

The Wildcats are quickly moving in on getting a payoff for their effort.

Ending that string of seven full fall seasons without a playoff appearances seems imminent. The remaining four games on Plainfield Central’s schedule, including Saturday’s afternoon matinee with visiting Plainfield East, includes opponents that have a combined 4-16 record on the season. Central only needs one win in those games to become playoff eligible and two wins to clinch a postseason berth.

Keane is quick to deflect all credit right back to his players.

“The biggest thing is the kids – the work ethic and the positive energy that they continue to bring,” Keane said. “There’s a general belief now that they can. That for us is a really powerful thing, and that’s a really empowering thing. When you believe that you are capable of more than what people outside of the room do, special things can happen.”