For St. Francis' Bobowski, name of the game was winning
Speaking with St. Francis senior quarterback Clint Bobowski, a question arises in the back of the mind.
Why not Justin or Jason or Patrick? Why Clint?
"The honest truth is my dad thought it was a good quarterback name. I am not joking with you at all," he said.
It is a good quarterback name. Crisp. Strong. Decisive. His father, Stan, thought it also translated to baseball, a name he imagined might cause an outfielder to play a couple steps deeper.
With Clint Bobowski at quarterback, St. Francis' football team went several steps deeper. First-year coach Mike Fitzgerald's spread offense departed from the Wing-T the Spartans had successfully run the past seven years. Its execution required a quick study, a skilled passer and, when top back Steven Fassnacht broke an ankle in Week 3, another option in the ground game.
Enter Bobowski. He passed for 2,635 yards, ran for a team-high 693 yards and accounted for 35 total touchdowns. Add a swarming, opportunistic defense and St. Francis' accomplishments outpaced expectations. Even theirs.
"We were expecting a good season, but there were a lot of unknowns going into a new conference and also with a new coach," Bobowski said. "We expected to compete, we expected we'd have a good year, but I don't know if we expected to make the semifinals."
With Bobowski at the helm, 10-3 St. Francis shared the Chicago Catholic League Green Division title and reached the Class 6A semifinals in the program's best run since its 2008 Class 5A championship season.
"I fell in love with the kid when we played them," Montini coach Chris Andriano said of Bobowski, who ran for 137 yards and 2 touchdowns and completed 17 of 25 passes for 276 yards and 2 touchdowns in St. Francis' 31-7 Week 7 victory over the Broncos, which earned the CCL Green share.
"He was the (CCL Green) player of the year for a reason," said Andriano, who nominated Bobowski before Fitzgerald could open his mouth.
"He was definitely the engine for that offense. He was excellent in their run offense as a running quarterback, and he was very accurate and came up with play after play - and big plays - throwing the ball. I was really impressed with this kid. He's a terrific athlete and he gave them everything. In my opinion he's an all-stater," Andriano said.
In our opinion Bobowski is honorary captain of the 2014 Daily Herald DuPage County All-Area Football Team.
"He symbolized everything you want in one of your football players," Fitzgerald said. "He's a guy that's accountable, who's mentally tough, who's physically tough. He prepares the right way. He doesn't get fazed in adversity situations, he stays positive, and he's a great teammate."
Bobowski emerged mainly unaware to all but the St. Francis community, who may recall Bobowski, Fassnacht and Spartans linebacker John Vargyas as water boys when their older brothers won the 2008 title.
Bobowski's teammates knew what he offered. Together they won a Bill George League title withthe Wheaton Rams, runner-up another year. Playing for St. Michael's in Wheaton as eighth-graders, they won a 2010 Suburban Parochial Football League title.
"I've seen Clint for many years and I know his competitive nature and his ability. I always believed that Clint would do a terrific job and his success is not surprising to me," said Stan Bobowski, speaking not as a father but as an assistant coach for St. Francis over the past eight years. He directed the 2008 quarterbacks; this fall he coached what he called St. Francis' best group of receivers he's seen.
Retired Spartans coach Greg Purnell gave Clint a shot. As a junior he backed up quarterback Zach Prociuk, who passed for about 970 yards. Bobowski completed 4 of 8 passes for 47 yards and ran 19 times for 170 yards and 6 touchdowns.
"Last year Zach beat me out, and he was really a good teammate and a good leader," Bobowski said. "I learned a lot from him. They used me a little bit in the Wildcat."
This season he went wild.
Leading St. Francis to the Class 6A semifinals where it lost to eventual champion Nazareth, the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association honorable-mention all-state quarterback completed 215 of 387 passes, 56 percent, for 2,635 yards, 24 touchdowns. He ran the ball 151 times for 693 yards, 4.6 yards a carry, with 11 touchdowns.
Bobowski compares favorably with several former All-Area quarterbacks. His 3,328 combined passing and rushing yards exceeds that of past captains Jordan Tassio (2,084 yards), Tom Edwards (2,600), Brett Morse (2,700) and John Whitelaw (3,139). Current Illinois quarterback Reilly O'Toole compiled about 3,600 yards as a senior at Wheaton Warrenville South.
Unleashed by the spread offense Fitzgerald imported from his six-year stay as Marist's offensive coordinator, Bobowski connected with 14 different receivers headed by All-Area wideout Michael Shaw's 64 catches for 905 yards.
An egoless 6-footer with a 4.1 grade-point average, Bobowski accounted for 3 touchdowns in each of St. Francis' first two games. After Fassnacht got hurt against Marmion, he completed 34 of 56 passes for 320 yards, 3 touchdowns, in a 35-29 loss to Brother Rice.
Bobowski completed 67 percent of his passes for 3 touchdowns and ran for a fourth to beat St. Laurence, ran for all 3 touchdowns in a win over Fenwick and Iowa-bound quarterback Jack Beneventi, and he completed 69 percent of his throws with 2 touchdowns in the playoff opener against Grayslake North.
"I think we all kind of knew if we were put in the right offense we could all really thrive and that's what happened," Clint Bobowski said. "When we were put in this new offense we were able to shine and show what we could do."
Bobowski passed for 248 yards against Lakes and 267 against Hinsdale South, throwing 4 touchdown passes in each. His performance and guts in the 39-36 second-round playoff win against Lakes should be entered in St. Francis lore.
Twice in the third quarter Bobowski left the field with a partially dislocated left, non-throwing shoulder. He returned to engineer two fourth-quarter touchdown drives that overcame a 36-26 deficit with 6:03 left to play.
"It really wasn't much of a decision for me," Bobowski said. "I knew that's what my teammates expect out of me, and they've all played with injuries, just like me."
That's a captain talking. A team captain with Vargyas, Fassnacht and lineman Michael Riley. An All-Area captain who led his team to the brink of a championship appearance seemingly from out of nowhere.
"We always believed we'd have a great year and we put in the time, put in the work to be ready to have a great season like we did," Bobowski said. "But looking back and reflecting on it all, I think we're all pretty proud of the season we were able to put together."