LEROY — The stars seemed to be aligning for the LeRoy football team.
An undefeated regular season with three generations of Zelezniks contributing to the team in the 125th year of the program? Yeah, something special was bound to happen.
“I couldn’t ask for anything greater,” senior wide receiver/linebacker Landon Welte said. “Everyone was committed, and everyone loved each other. There was no selfishness. No one was too big for the moment. It was one family, and that’s all you can wish for. I’m beyond proud of everybody.”
The Panthers rode that wave, backed by endless community support, all the way to Saturday’s Class 1A state semifinals, where they ultimately fell 42-13 to Lena-Winslow.
“It hurts less than you think when you know you played the absolute hardest you could have,” senior quarterback/linebacker Bo Zeleznik said. “It’s an indescribable feeling because you’re one of the lucky few who get to experience it, but you also have it taken away from you. The duality of that is hard to comprehend at times, but I’m extremely thankful for everything I’ve gotten to do here. It’s been the best time of my life.”
It was a battle of the Panthers and a battle of two extremely run-heavy teams. The big difference: Lena-Winslow had all the recent success. LeRoy (12-1) was looking for its first state championship appearance since 2003, which would have potentially led to its first title since 1996. Meanwhile, Lena-Winslow (13-0) had won six titles since 2010 and was the 1A runner-up just last year.
LeRoy stayed within striking distance through the first half, going into the halftime break down 16-7 after catching Lena-Winslow’s defense off guard with a 46-yard touchdown pass from Bo Zeleznik to Braeden Fox. It was only the team’s ninth pass attempt of the season, and it was the fifth to reach the end zone.
In the second half, however, Lena-Winslow was simply too much to handle, scoring every time it got the ball and holding LeRoy’s offense in check. The backfield duo of Aiden Wild and Alec Schlichting were all but unstoppable. Wild rushed for three touchdowns, two from more than 40 yards out, and Schlichting’s day was highlighted by a 76-yard sprint away from the defense. Koby Kearns also ran for a score, and Jayken Rakowska returned an interception 54 yards to the house.
Sam Wagner was able to break loose for a 78-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter to give LeRoy one last score, but Lena-Winslow effectively beat LeRoy at its own game.
“I thought we were incredibly physical, but it takes more than that. They were incredibly physical, and their level of execution was incredible,” LeRoy coach BJ Zeleznik said. “There were only a few times we missed assignments, but when we missed them, it was critical, and they capitalized. … Mentality is a big part of that, too. You couple a tremendous speed and strength program with a belief in what you’re doing and excellent technical ability, you get quite a program.”
Still, with just a few minutes left on the clock and the outcome already determined, the LeRoy players were enjoying the little time they had left at L.A. McKean Field. With every defensive stop, they’d be at the bottom of the pile, hooting and hollering louder than they had all day. Bo led the defensive effort with 14 tackles, followed by Tate Sigler with 11 and Kobe Brent with 10.
“You have got to love this game if you want to be good at it. You can’t fake it,” BJ said. “The courage, the hard work and the physical and emotional pain you have to deal with to play this game — there are so many things about this game where you can’t be a pretender. Teams that get to this level understand those sacrifices. At the end, that was an example of ‘We’ve got six minutes left to play football. Ever.’ Super proud of them. No quit.”
This class of 18 seniors didn’t have the best start to their high school careers. Or their youth athletic careers, for that matter. There wasn’t a lot of success, and BJ didn’t know what to expect when they joined his team. The Panthers went 3-6 in 2021 and 2022, but the players bought in to a new offensive system and turned the program around. That’s the legacy they’ll leave behind at LeRoy.
“I am extremely, extremely proud of my classmates for making a decision to change things,” Bo said. “It’s apparent now that the system works, the coaching works and what you’re being told to do works. It’s if the kids are going to make the decision to do something hard and step out of their comfort zone. That’s what we did, and that’s why we got to experience success.”
At the end of the day, no, LeRoy didn’t reach the pinnacle of Illinois high school football, but it did have the most successful and most promising season in over two decades.
“It’s still a great feeling knowing how far we made it,” Welte said. “Obviously, we all wish we could have gotten that trophy into the glass, but it’s something that ten years from now, whatever we’re doing, we can look back and say ‘If we work hard, we can do what we want to do.’ The hard work really showed that success can come.”
After BJ addressed his team one last time, he broke down the huddle with a “We are,” answered by the players with “LeRoy.” He then stepped away to do a few TV interviews while the players hugged it out for 30 minutes.
When he came back, BJ embraced Bo for a lengthy, emotional hug. He said his heart ached for his son to not have the opportunity to play for a championship, having experienced that with his own father, Jim.
And Bo, he was holding back tears the whole time, but he went about the moment with the same positive maturity he has all season.
“I know he’s proud of me,” Bo said. “I’m extremely thankful for everything he’s done for me and everyone else he’s helped. It sucks that that’s the last time he’s going to coach me on the field, but that’s not the last time he’s going to coach me in life. We’re going to be going through all the next chapters together, too.”
