HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: Cyberspace puts Bulldogs on D-I radar

Instead of a letter in the mail, seniors-to-be Billy VandeMerkt and Matt Kenahan received notice via the internet that they’ve been entered into the modern-day recruiting game.

VandeMerkt, a quarterback at Riverside Brookfield, was added into the Rivals.com database while Kenahan, a kicker for the Bulldogs, was added into Rivals and Scout.com.

This inclusion often suggests NCAA Division I interest, which has been the case for the two players during the offseason.

“I think they’re both capable of playing at the D-I level,” said R-B athletic director and football head coach Otto Zeman. “It helps that they’re both three-sport athletes. They have been benefiting from each other’s exposure.”

Switch with a kick
During the 2008-09 school year, Kenahan was a four-sport athlete for the Bulldogs after competing in soccer, football, swimming and baseball and has decided to give up playing soccer for R-B this coming fall.

Since the 2008 football campaign ended, the Suburban Life All-Area selection has gained 15 pounds of muscle through swimming and weight training and can belt a field goal from an unofficial distance of 55-yards off the ground. Kenahan will also be a part of the Bulldogs’ offense as a wide receiver.

“He’ll be a key performer,” Zeman said.

For now, Kenahan’s chance to play college football will be dictated by studies and kicking. He carries a 4.4 grade-point average with a 31 ACT score and continues to build a name for himself on the field. He has been contacted by about 100 schools with Army, Holy Cross, Brown, Dartmouth, Harvard, Amherst, Drake and Stanford showing the most interest.

Kenahan was one of only six kickers invited to the University Camp at Northwestern, where he was among those coached by Paul Woodside, an all-American kicker at West Virginia. Kenahan was also invited to recruiting guru Tom Lemming’s Chicago area Class of 2010 top football prospects photo shoot and recruiting talk at Proviso West. Other camps and showcases will be on Kenahan’s agenda for the rest of the summer.

“I never saw this happening after stepping away from R-B soccer,” Kenahan said. “It’s the most exciting time in high school. I’ve been building relationships with the college coaches and I’m just waiting on a scholarship offer.”

A legacy
VandeMerkt took over as starting quarterback Week 4 of his sophomore year. As a junior, he passed for more than 3,000 yards, showing an ability to adapt to football’s spread offense.

This is what the Suburban Life All-Area selection believes will aid him during the recruiting process. He also says that playing basketball and baseball for the Bulldogs helps.

“Being a three-sport athlete has developed my mental and physical abilities,” VandeMerkt said.
College coaches have taken notice. The former-Galena transfer has received interest from Cornell, Dartmouth, Brown, Pennsylvania, Western Michigan, Army, Northern Illinois, Illinois State and Western Illinois. He was invited out to attend UCLA’s spring scrimmage at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.

“He is a great competitor,” said Zeman of VandeMerkt.

VandeMerkt, who carries a 3.7 GPA with a 27 ACT score, said he is interested in majoring in education and has not ruled out the idea of trying to follow in the footsteps of his father Scott and his grandfather Bill — both of whom played football at Western Illinois. Bill was also R-B’s head coach from 1962 to 1982, immediately preceding Zeman. VandeMerkt plans on visiting seven or eight schools by summer’s end.

“The coaches I’ve been in contact with talk about the academics and the campus,” VandeMerkt said. “They see me as a pocket passer and believe it’s my strongest point. I want to get faster and improve my footwork from under center.”