As a sophomore final season, St. Charles North receiver Aedan Hayes performed on the junior varsity stage. That didn’t sit very effectively with him, so he determined to take a stand.
In the offseason, Hayes put a plan in place for himself that mapped out enjoying on the varsity in 2023. And he additionally wished to ship considerably of a breakout efficiency.
“I had to come into this season with a different approach and a different mentality toward practice,” Hayes mentioned. “I’ve all the time recognized this college is without doubt one of the larger titans within the space.
“I’d much rather play at a school and work for it and get respect through my work ethic than coming in and starting right away without having to challenge myself.”
He crammed his offseason working with teammates within the weight room, plus pace coaching and 5 a.m. one-on-one classes together with his classmate, junior quarterback Ethan Plumb.
The fruits of that labor arrived Friday evening in a 40-14 DuKane Conference win at crosstown rival St. Charles East. Hayes had his breakout sport with 4 catches for 187 yards and three touchdowns, together with explosive scoring performs of 39 and 87 yards.
Plumb has been impressed with Hayes’ climb. The duo has recognized one another since fourth grade, when surprisingly Hayes was the left deal with in entrance of Plumb.
Now, they’re offering large performs for the North Stars (4-2, 2-2).
“That game was a long time coming,” Plumb mentioned. “I knew it was going to happen eventually. It’s great to see he’s peaking right now because it’s almost the end of the regular season.”
Hayes has additionally taken recommendation from Andrew Kamienski, St. Charles North’s new receivers coach. The South Elgin graduate gained an NCAA Division III nationwide title at North Central College.
“He told me a lot about visualization, putting yourself into the situation before it comes,” Hayes mentioned. “I type of acquired into this hyper-focused frame of mind in the course of the sport.
“It was just kind of me, the ball and Ethan. I was in my zone.”
St. Charles North’s offense was certain to look totally different after the commencement of bruising working again Drew Surges. The North Stars, nevertheless, have by no means had a passing sport as prolific as this in program historical past.
Plumb has accomplished 142 of 208 passes for 1,757 yards and 23 TDs this season. Four totally different receivers — Jake Furtney, Hayes, Jake Mettetal and Anthony Taormina — have 100-yard receiving video games.
“We have all the skill we need at receiver,” Hayes mentioned. “I suppose we type of approached it like, ‘Yes, we’d nonetheless wish to have a dominant run sport, however we additionally need to have the ability to set up ourselves within the move sport as effectively.’
“I think we’ve done a really good job of showing teams that we are a threat vertically.”
With this system that St. Charles North coach Rob Pomazak has constructed, he’s seen success tales like Hayes earlier than.
Pomazak talked about former quarterback Mike Hohensee, who didn’t begin till his senior season however turned an all-state participant.
“It’s nice to see different guys step up, and Aedan has worked hard,” Pomazak mentioned. “The lesson to be discovered is we’re a four-year program. To begin at our college, you need to be actually good.
“We have a lot of kids that are role players that would probably start at other schools. When your number is called, you have to be ready.”
To that finish, Plumb has seen Hayes put these phrases into motion.
“He wanted to get better,” Plumb mentioned. “I believe after final season, not having the 12 months he wished, he actually took it to coronary heart and wished to have a greater 12 months this 12 months.
“He’s done everything in his power to be on the field. He’s started every game. He’s showing what it takes to bounce back from a season he didn’t love last year.”
Paul Johnson is a contract reporter for The Beacon-News.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com