Kane County Chronicle football notes: Batavia linebacker Jack Sadowsky making the most of his opportunities

Jack Sadowsky, perhaps rather quietly, has matched opportunity with results.

To Batavia’s gain.

Through seven games, the 6-foot-2, 220-pound junior linebacker is second on the Bulldogs’ defense in tackles with 54, which is only two away from middle linebacker Tyler Jansey’s 56. Sadowsky also leads in tackles for-loss with 13.5 and is fourth in sacks with four.

“Jack is in a position in our defense where he gets a lot of the opportunities for pass-rush and things like that because he’s on that weakside position that frees him up a lot,” Batavia defensive coordinator Matt Holm said. “Jansey gets a lot of the down blocks and attention. With only a three-man front, the advantage for us is then we can bring the fourth or fifth guy from a lot of different places.”

“Because he’s the weak-side, he tends to get the nod more often and he’s been very effective in that,” Holm continued. “Against Geneva, we shot him in the A-gap [between the center and guards] quite a bit; he had some nice big plays [and] tackles for losses. He just gets those opportunities and he’s made the most of them.”

Sadowsky feels his strengths as a player are being used well.

“They blitz me a lot; they allow me to get pressure on the quarterback,” Sadowsky said. “If you put me on a blitz, I’m kind of like a bull. I just run somebody over to get to the quarterback. I love being versatile and being able to be used on the line and off the line.”

“The teams we go against, they see [Jansey] is a three-star recruit and they try and run away from him,” Sadowsky said. “By doing that, they run right into me. Especially having Tyler [Sapit] on the line, too, he’s a playmaker. Teams will try and run away from them, and because of that, I’ll make so many different plays because stuff would come right to me.”

Geneva’s Stempowski seeing growth

Geneva senior linebacker Blake Stempowski “feels a bit different” in comparison to last season.

“From the new coaches, [they’ve] been going at it and working different drills compared to what I did last year and over the season, we’ve [worked] repetition and keep going at our drills...just doing what we do.”

Stempowski has six sacks on the season, including one last week against Batavia.

“A couple other games, I’ve been getting to the quarterback quite frequently,” Stempowski said. “Just because from [coaches] calling different blitzes and a lot of different plays [we] run. Other games, I’ve been getting a couple sacks. Last game, I had one. The week before that, I had two. I think when we played Kaneland, I had three sacks. I think it’s just the blitzes that have been working really well.”

Who is in?

The postseason is just two weeks away and the fate of several Kane County Chronicle coverage area teams is still unresolved.

Teams that secure five wins are playoff eligible, while six secures their spot. It is possible for a four or five-win team to qualify for the playoffs, but that depends on the accumulation of playoff points – the total number of victories by a team’s opponent.

Here is where they stand after week 7:

Batavia: 7-0, qualified

Burlington Central: 2-5, missed postseason

Geneva: 4-3. Up next: Wheaton North (6-1) and Lake Park (1-6)

Kaneland: 3-4. Up next: Ottawa (2-5) and LaSalle Peru (5-2)

Marmion: 4-3. Up next: Leo (2-5) and De La Salle (2-5)

St. Charles East: 2-5, missed postseason

St. Francis 5-2. Up next: Riverside-Brookfield (5-2) and IC Catholic (7-0)

St. Charles North: 4-3. Up next: Glenbard North (5-2) and Batavia (7-0)