‘He wants to dominate’: Prairie Ridge’s Tyler Vasey turns heads during record-setting season

Prairie Ridge offensive coordinator Joe Terhaar sat at the dentist’s office Tuesday and was asked about the remarkable season of Wolves quarterback Tyler Vasey.

“[My dentist] asked me how many yards Tyler had because he heard about it, and I told him 3,000,” Terhaar said. “He said, ‘In his career?’ I said, ‘No, no. This season.’ And he didn’t believe it.

“Those types of numbers are staggering, and he piles them up so quick. They’re like video-game numbers. It’s amazing. It really is.”

Vasey, a 6-foot, 170-pound senior, has turned heads all season.

After running wild for 278 yards and seven scores in a 57-22 win over Kaneland last week, the Wolves star enters the Class 6A quarterfinals third all-time on the state’s single-season rushing list, according to IHSA records.

The second-seeded Wolves (10-1) face No. 11 Harlem (8-3) at 5 p.m. Saturday in Machesney Park. Prairie Ridge is trying to reach the semifinals for the fifth time in seven seasons.

Vasey trails Glenbard North’s Justin Jackson, currently a backup running back on the Detroit Lions, by 43 yards for No. 2 on the list, while Lexington’s T.J. Stinde is the record holder and 197 yards ahead of Vasey.

Vasey, the leader of the Wolves’ triple option attack, has piled up 3,128 yards on 251 carries (12.5 yards per carry) in only 11 games.

Stinde ended the 2009 season with 3,325 rushing yards, although he had 14 games to get there with his team reaching the Class 1A state championship game against Tuscola.

Prairie Ridge is the favorite in the northern bracket of 6A to reach the state final, which would give Vasey three more games and put him on pace to shatter Stinde’s record and possibly become the first player in state history with 4,000 rushing yards in a season.

Vasey also is not far from the record for most rushing touchdowns in a season, set by Morris’ John Dergo with 51 in 2005. Vasey has 42 going into Saturday’s quarterfinal, as well as five passing TDs and three on kick returns.

Vasey has had only one game this season with fewer than 200 rushing yards, when he finished with 198 in a 42-35 loss to Jacobs in Week 4. His high mark was 425 yards – the 17th-most rushing yards in a game in state history – in a 56-49 win over Crystal Lake Central in Week 9.

For the season, Vasey has averaged 284.4 rushing yards and 3.8 rushing scores a game. The only game in which he did not have multiple rushing TDs was in a 27-16 win against Cary-Grove in Week 5. In that game, he ran for 219 yards and a score.

Vasey’s best stretch of games has come over the past four weeks, in which he has 1,433 rushing yards and 22 TDs.

He tied his season high with six rushing touchdowns in a 63-55 first-round playoff win against Crystal Lake South and topped that with seven TDs – tying the Wolves’ playoff record set by quarterback Samson Evans in 2016 – last week against Kaneland.

Vasey also tied the 6A playoff record with 392 rushing yards in the Wolves’ first-round win over the Gators. Thornton’s David Wright ran for 392 yards in a second-round game 32 years ago.

Against Kaneland, Vasey had touchdowns runs of 45, 6, 18, 25, 9, 39 and 80 yards, just missing the 6A playoff record for touchdowns in a game, set by Lockport’s Craig Duppong with eight in 1998. All seven of his TDs against the Knights were in the first three quarters, with his last three touches all going for scores.

If that wasn’t enough, Vasey also is a standout baseball player, hitting .413 with 30 stolen bases last spring for the Wolves. He had a 2.86 ERA as a pitcher, going 2-0, and earned Northwest Herald All-Area first-team honors.

Although the big-play ability of his QB has been evident for some time, Wolves head coach Chris Schremp has noticed a huge difference in the way Vasey – whose past two seasons ended short because of injuries – attacks his opponents.

“He wants to go out and not just make the big play, he wants to go out there, he wants to dominate and he wants to win,” Schremp said. “It’s amazing what he does. ... He’s getting us in the right plays, but he’s also taking the ball, he’s lowering his shoulder, and he’s running people over.

“Last year, he just ran away from everybody. This year, he’s added a physical nature to his game.”

Terhaar remembers Vasey as a somewhat timid, 95-pound freshman. The Wolves’ game-breaker now puts fear into opposing defenses every time he touches the ball.

“His last three steps into contact is when you really see that power, and you see that with the special ones,” Terhaar said. “You try and tackle him and you better bring it because the last three steps, he’s only getting faster.”

Schremp likens Vasey’s ability to slash his way up and down a field to Gale Sayers, while Terhaar compares him to another Chicago Bears legend.

“There was a play [in Week 9] against [Crystal Lake] Central, and it reminded me a lot of a Walter Payton highlight where he could have just ran to the pylon and completely avoided the defender,” Terhaar said. “Instead, Tyler zeroes in on the kid and just runs him over and scores. He loves the physical part of the game.”

“He’s just so fast, he’s elusive, and he can run with power. He’ll run over people that are 200, 300 pounds.”

Vasey’s teammates appreciate their quarterback’s effort.

“He’s very shifty, it’s hard to tackle him, and if you do get a good look at him, he’s going to plow you down,” junior offensive tackle John Fallaw said. “He plays hard every down. It motivates the whole team, honestly.”

As much as Vasey turns into a monster on the field, his coaches paint a much sweeter picture of him off it.

Vasey recently showed up to a Junior Wolves game because a younger kid sent him a message on Twitter and told him Vasey was his favorite player.

“Tyler is one of the nicest kids I’ve coached,” Schremp said. “You talk about Tyler with any person, from a custodian to a secretary to a teacher to a principal, and it’s, ‘Oh my gosh, he’s such a nice kid.’

“It’s amazing what a great kid he is off the field, and he’s like that with his teammates. We’re at practice, he’s coaching up the younger guys, and he’s talking to our linemen and cheering them on. He’s got a great personality. I think down the line he’d make a phenomenal coach.”

Terhaar said one of Vasey’s best qualities, along with his humble personality, is his ability to bring out the best in his teammates.

“He’s supportive,” Terhaar said. “He’ll be the first one to pick you up, he’ll try to coach you and help you. If he feels you’re not giving 100%, he’s going to call you out on it. He’s going to ask you do to more, he’s that kind of a kid.

“When you become a senior, it’s your last year, it’s your last ride. He really gives 100% on a day-to-day basis.”