This is what last season was supposed to look like for Grayslake North offensive lineman Kyle Case.
A bicycle crash ended Case’s sophomore season before it started, and it wasn’t until last month that he finally played left tackle for the Knights.
“I was a little nervous in the beginning after missing the whole year,” Case said. “When I came back, everyone was so welcoming and treated me like I didn’t miss a single day. It feels good to be out there with a team that wants to win.”
Case’s presence on the field has made that endeavor easier for Grayslake North (3-1, 1-1), which plays crosstown rival Grayslake Central (3-1, 2-0) in a Northern Lake County Conference game on Friday. Despite Case’s long absence and the fact that his only previous season of organized football came on the freshman team in 2022, the 6-foot-3, 250-pound junior has made himself right at home in the offensive line’s most high-stakes position.
It’s often deemed as such because the left tackle’s responsibility in the passing game is protecting a right-handed quarterback’s blind side, and Case has rolled through his first four varsity games without allowing a sack of senior Mitchell Hughes.
“I love run blocking because it’s fun to just be able to hit the other guy,” Case said. “But I think I’m better at pass pro. I probably practice it more, and I’ve spent a lot of time working on footwork.”
The fact that Case can handle both types of blocking shows his impressive progress since the injury, which occurred in July 2023 on a bike ride with a couple of friends. To this day, Case said he still has no idea what he ran over to make him fly over the top of his bike and land squarely onto his right elbow. He recalled that he wasn’t bleeding but knew there was something wrong because his elbow was numb.
“It obviously could have been much worse,” Case said. “But it was really demoralizing because I had been working really hard, looking forward to being at my best when the season started.”
Instead, Case had surgery the day after the crash to repair his right triceps muscle, and his recovery lasted about six months. He said he lost a significant amount of weight, and his conditioning suffered.
“I started off easy and worked my way back up, but I couldn’t do a lot with my arm,” Case said. “I knew I was behind, so I had to work twice as hard as everyone else and then some.”
Case was able to play baseball on Grayslake North’s junior varsity team in the spring. He didn’t play in the field very often, however, because his mobility was limited and his elbow still hurt. But he eventually turned a corner and was a full participant for football workouts this summer.
“No doubt, there were still a lot of unknowns even into this summer about him getting re-assimilated,” Grayslake North coach Brian Johnson said. “But he’s holding his own really well, to the point where he’s usually on his own when we throw the ball.”
That means players who may otherwise be asked to chip an oncoming rusher are free to flow into pass routes. It also means Case has earned teammates’ and coaches’ trust in short order. Among the most prominent in that group are his fellow line mates, all four of whom are seniors and returning starters. In particular, Case has developed a bond with his neighbor to the right, left guard Caiden O’Brien.
“Us seniors didn’t know what to expect from him, but he’s adapted pretty quickly,” O’Brien said. “We’ve developed a good connection — like in run blocking, knowing when one of us should get off the linebacker and stay on the defensive end. We have faith in him all the way to the whistle.”
Case’s belief in himself is growing as well. The long scar stretching from the bottom of his elbow to the top of his triceps reminds him how far he has come.
“I look at it a lot, and it reminds me of how bad the injury was,” Case said. “I’m not playing perfectly, but for missing a whole year, I think I’ve been solid. I’m actually really proud of myself.”
Steve Reaven is a freelance reporter.
