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Fontana brothers keep Libertyville cruising
Posted Friday, November 05, 2004
By Patricia Babcock McGraw
Like many teenage brothers, Jeff and Kevin Fontana frequently fought over the car they used to share.
Unlike many teenage brothers, that's about the only thing they fought about.
For all practical purposes, Jeff and Kevin are each other's biggest fans. And over the last few years, they've each had a lot to cheer about.
Kevin, who is now a red-shirt freshman walk-on for the Illinois State football team, was Libertyville's big man on campus last year. As the school's all-time leading rusher, he was the driving force behind the football team's spectacular march to its first appearance in a state title game.
Now, brother Jeff, who is younger by just one year, finds himself in a similar position. He, too, has been one of the focal points of Libertyville's offense - as well as its defense. And he's also in the process of trying to lead the undefeated Wildcats (10-0) back to the Promised Land.
"I've always been really supportive of Kevin and what he's been able to do," said Jeff Fontana, who starts at running back and safety for Libertyville, which will face North Suburban Conference foe Antioch in tonight's Class 7A second-round game. "I've always been really proud of him.
"But he's told me that now it's his turn to be supportive of me and he really is. He's been to a couple of games this year and he watches the rest on the internet (via the Libertyville football Web site). He usually calls me after the game to offer me some advice or to talk about the way things went."
So far, things have been going pretty well for the younger Fontana.
Known for his power, breakaway speed and elusiveness, he ranks as one of the best rushers in the North Suburban Conference with more than 700 yards in 10 games. Yet he actually seems to be even more valuable on defense. He's received quite a bit of attention from college scouts for being one of the top players on a Libertyville defense that ranks first overall in the Herald's Lake and Cook County circulation range.
The Wildcats have a plus-12 turnover ratio, having forced 21 turnovers on the season. They've also limited opponents to less than 190 total yards of offense each game.
"Our defense has been playing great," Jeff Fontana said. "I love playing defense. I love getting the big tackle."
While the older Fontana was grabbing all the headlines last year because of his rushing ability, the younger sparked the defense with his spirited play - even though he wasn't quite feeling like himself.
Fontana missed the first six games of last season with a fractured leg and returned in time for the Wildcats' playoff run. He played the rest of the way at defensive end with a cast on his leg.
"Jeff energized us last year on defense when he came back," Libertyville coach Randy Kuceyeski said. "I think it was probably good that he was on the opposite side of the field as Kevin because he was able to create his own identity.
"He did a great job for us and now, it looks like he'll play defense in college."
Fontana says that he has gotten two offers from Division I schools, Northern Illinois and Eastern Illinois. He hasn't made any decisions yet but admits that he's leaning toward Northern.
"It's great to be in this position," Fontana said. "It's just a lot of pressure off my back."
The Fontanas know all about college pressure.
Last year, the entire family sat on pins and needles waiting to learn what would ultimately happen with Kevin and the college recruiting process. He had heard from plenty of scouts, but never really got any firm offers that he was interested in.
For a while, he gave serious consideration to giving up football altogether and taking up lacrosse - another sport in which he was an all-stater - in college. But ultimately, he chose to go the walk-on route with Illinois State.
"I'm really happy for Jeff and I'm glad that the whole college thing worked out for at least one of us," Kevin Fontana said from Normal. "I'm pretty happy with where I'm at right now because I know I'm working really hard at trying to move up the depth chart, or even get a scholarship next spring."
Fontana hasn't always been quite so optimistic about his future at Illinois State. After all, there's nothing glamorous about the life of a walk-on, who is often loosely referred to as a "practice dummy."
"Yeah, that's about it. It's pretty tough, just doing the freshman thing, the practice thing," Fontana said. "Things are a lot different from last year. You go from being at the top, or at least being pretty well known for your football abilities, to the bottom. It brings you down to earth. It's a big-time reality check and sometimes you wonder if you want to keep going.
"People ask me if I'm jealous that (Jeff) won't have to go through all this and I say (heck) no. He's made a name for himself and he's getting all this attention because he's a really hard worker and he deserves it. Sometimes in the summers, we'd work out together in the morning and then by late afternoon, he was ready to go work out again and he'd ask me if I wanted to come and I'd be like, 'No way.' But he always wanted to keep working to get ahead and that's really inspired me a lot."
Meanwhile, Jeff says that he's most inspired by Kevin's modesty and perseverance - not to mention his talent.
"I'm kind of following in (Kevin's) footsteps and sometimes it's hard to fill his shoes because he was so good," Jeff Fontana said. "But I'm doing OK because he was such a good role model and he taught me a lot."
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