Kentucky recruit Jake Nawrot, one of the best quarterbacks in the country, leads No. 10 Hersey

The high school football season begins on Aug. 20. The Sun-Times is counting down to kick off with previews of the top ten teams in the preseason Super 25. The series begins today with a look at No. 10 Hersey.

Jake Nawrot’s ascension from a normal high school football player at Hersey into one of the best quarterbacks in the country took most of the Illinois high school football community by surprise.

Josh Riggs, Nawrot’s teammate and friend, had a front row seat as Nawrot blossomed into a consensus top five national talent.

“Honestly, it has just been crazy,” Riggs said. “It was out of the blue but then it kind of wasn’t. He put that work in. He deserves every offer he got. All the attention he is getting now is a testament to the work he put in. Countless hours all when no one was looking. It showed up on Friday nights.”

Nawrot threw for a school record of 3,078 yards and 41 TDs as a junior last season. The 6-4, 200-pound Kentucky recruit is the No. 5 quarterback in the country, according to Rivals and 247sports.

“I’ve been playing quarterback since I was eight years old, but I didn’t know it was going to get this serious until sophomore offseason when I started getting recruited,” Nawrot said.

Montini’s Israel Abrams is the state’s highest-regarded quarterback. The Miami recruit is the No. 3 ranked quarterback in the country. Trae Taylor, who played for the past three years at Carmel and recently transferred to Nebraska, is the top-ranked QB in the nation.

“I know Izzy and Trae from the big QB events,” Nawrot said. “We all just blew up over time. It’s crazy how many good quarterbacks Illinois produces now. There is a lot of talent in Illinois. It is starting to become a football state.”

Nawrot has Riggs, a wide receiver/defensive back and senior center Ben Zebron (6-3, 230 pounds) to lean on offensively as well as talented junior wide receiver Jaxon Saint Paul.

Hersey’s defense should be a strength, with nine experienced players returning including linebacker Nick Jelaca and linemen Ryne Sather, Tillman Mulder and Spiro Zarafontis.

“We switched up some things from last year, and I actually like this a lot better,” Riggs said. “We’ve all been playing together since we were little kids, and it is a tight knit group. I think that is important as a defense.”

Hersey was 9-3 last season and lost to St. Rita in the Class 7A quarterfinals. The Huskies have the potential to reach that level and more this season.

“We have a younger team this year, and we are trying to get the troops going and rally,” Nawrot said. “We have a talented group of skill guys and have a good chance to make a run. On paper, we are really solid. We have to keep our heads down and keep working.”

Nawrot was a standout player for Hersey’s ranked basketball team last winter. Hersey coach Tom Nelson, a multi-sport athlete in high school, believes basketball has been a key factor in Nawrot’s development.

“[Nawrot] is a distributor of the football and needs to understand the spacing and timing, where people are moving into and out of,” Nelson said. “Basketball condenses that well. If you watch Jake, he is a really good slasher and has a really good feel for where people are. It helps him tremendously. Jake is the quarterback he is partly because of basketball for sure.”

Traditionally, a top five national talent would be the area’s star attraction. But Nawrot hasn’t hit the spotlight yet. The area has been loaded with talented quarterbacks the past few seasons and most attention is focused on the Catholic League.

“I’ve always flown under the radar and so has our team,” Nawrot said. “I love it. It lights a fire under me for sure. I’ve always been doubted. It is just more motivation.”

Nawrot is under-appreciated state-wide but is treasured in Arlington Heights.

“His teammates love and adore him,” Nelson said. “He’s a Prospect Heights kid that worked for everything he has. He wasn’t a special prodigy or anything like that. He’s a homegrown kid and people are attracted to that for sure. We see the work he does and the interactions he has with his teammates.”