Four years earlier, Mark LaBelle had been a spectator at his brother’s Red Grange Award ceremony. Last Friday, in the DuPage County Courthouse complex, the Wheaton Warrenville South grad was the recipient.

“It was really cool that, after being up there with my brother, I was able to carry on that family tradition,” Mark said.

In the 34 years that the DuPage Heritage Gallery has presented the award to the top high school football player in Wheaton, 2003 winner Mike LaBelle and Mark LaBelle are the first pair of brothers to be chosen as winners.

The award is issued annually on, or near, Grange’s birthday by the DuPage Heritage Gallery to honor not only the best football player in Wheaton during the previous season, but the one that best embodies the traits that Grange personified.

“They’re both better people than football players; they’re great kids,” Wheaton Warrenville South coach Ron Muhitch said. “It’s kind of surprising they’re the first brothers to win this. From the Burlingames to the Moeakis to the Schweighardts there have been some great sets of brothers in Wheaton. There’s great talent, year in and year out.

“It’s really tremendous. You can’t go wrong with the two LaBelle boys.”

Mark was a 6-foot-1, 197-pound middle linebacker on the Tigers’ Class 7A runners-up. He was awarded all-conference, all-area and second team all-state.

“I never felt pressured,” Mark said. “I never felt it was expected of me, but Mike set a great example. I couldn’t have had a better person to follow as a role model. I think that was most satisfying — to carry on in the example he set.”

Mike, who recently graduated from the University of Illinois, is embarking on his career at William Blair & Company, a Chicago investment bank.

“Obviously, I’m very proud of my brother,” Mike said. “I think he’s definitely very worthy. Just to be part of this group is a great honor.”

Mark accumulated 77 solo and 48 assisted tackles. Mike ranks No. 2 on WWS’ career tackles list. They are sons of Wheaton Warrenville South team physician Dr. Lenard LaBelle.

“Statistically, Mark is right up there with his brother,” Muhitch said. “We marveled as a coaching staff that two brothers can play the game identically. They, maybe, didn’t have the speed you look for, but they made the plays at linebacker and were always in the right spot.”

Mike is the fifth consecutive recipient from Wheaton Warrenville South. He also has the distinction of being possibly the first class valedictorian to receive the award.

“He’s probably the only one,” said Glenn Heck, DuPage Heritage Gallery chairman of the board. “I don’t know that for sure, but it’s certainly very rare.”

Mark wants to be a surgeon. He is enrolled in a seven-year honors program in medical education at Northwestern and has already been accepted into medical school.

“It’s an unbelievable opportunity,” Mark said.

Mike veered away from medicine and toward finance, while Mark decided to follow his father’s career path.

“During sophomore and junior year, when I was figuring out what I wanted to do,” Mark said, “unlike Mike, I had more of a science and math background. I started taking two science classes every year. I had a human anatomy lab and an (advanced placement) biology class — and I said, ‘This is awesome.’ ”

Mark ranked No. 1 academically in Wheaton Warrenville South’s senior class. He also served as Student Council president and played basketball for three years.

He was first player in Muhitch’s six years as Tigers coach to make all of the team’s defensive calls. Normally one player makes the defensive line calls and another is responsible for the secondary.

Muhitch said his co-captain singlehandedly kept Glenbard North out of the end zone four times in the second half.

“I thought, emotionally, he led our team,” Muhitch said. “He allowed our kids to believe. They had the ball on their half (of the field) four times in a row. We put our defense in sort of a precarious position. Mark was such a (dynamic) leader. That was his biggest improvement over a very good junior year.”

Mark said that, in consultation with Muhitch, he realized during the season that he needed to set an example for a team that wasn’t playing to its capabilities. The two recognized that the intensity in practice wasn’t sufficient.

“A lot of that came out of me as the season progressed,” said Mark, one of three returning starters from the 2006 Class 8A champs. “Growing up, I’d always been one of the leaders of this class. But, talking with Coach, we weren’t playing as we could. We weren’t maximizing our potential. I tried to help the players to take practice more seriously.”

He produced two key interceptions in a 24-0 quarterfinal victory over Morgan Park. Neither Mark nor Muhitch felt that was his best game of his senior season.

In the first-round playoff game against St. Rita, Muhitch said he came back to the wrestling room where the Tigers assemble at halftime following a TV interview and could hear Mark holding court inside, laying the groundwork for WWS’ 26-22 comeback victory.

“I really have no regrets,” Mark said. “I’m happy with every part of my career. I wish we would have won a second state championship, but to play in two championship games is an experience any kid would dream of. I’m very satisfied with what I’ve done.”

To the eldest of his seven brothers and sisters, Mark’s career with the Tigers was fairly remarkable.

“It was crazy,” Mike said. “When he was young, I tried to get him to like football. He took to it a little bit slowly. I don’t think this is something anybody thought would happen, but I believed in him. Once he got serious about football, he took it and ran with it, for sure.”