Friday wasn’t just another day for Mundelein’s Logan Young. His mental alarm clock knew it.
The junior quarterback sprang from bed on his own with a school day to plow through before making his first varsity start before dusk.
“I woke up at like 6 in the morning, an hour earlier than normal,” Young said. “The minute I woke up, I knew it was a special day, but I didn’t let it really affect me. I was focused on the prize.”
Young then orchestrated a prize performance, for both him and the Mustangs. He completed 10 of 13 passes for 155 yards and two touchdowns and ran for two touchdowns during Mundelein’s 42-27 win against visiting Grant in the season opener.
Among many standouts against a 2023 Class 6A playoff qualifier, the 6-2, 180-pound Young really stood out. He was steady in the passing game and also gave a huge boost rushing the ball, totaling 73 yards on 12 carries.
Young’s two scoring runs came on Mundelein’s first two drives out of halftime, and his touchdown passes — a 41-yarder and a 10-yarder, both to classmate Trevor Carman — were within 65 seconds of one another early in the fourth quarter and blew open the game.
Grant junior running back Tyler Zdon did what he could to keep the Bulldogs in it with more than 200 total yards, including touchdown catches of 57 yards and 80 yards, but there was no stopping Young and the Mustangs.
“I knew I trusted my arm,” Young said. “It just took me one completion to get into the groove. The first pass, I had a little nerves. After that first completion, I had confidence, and I was rolling.”
So was Mundelein’s offense as a whole. Senior running back Brody Paluch rushed for 61 yards and two touchdowns, and six players caught passes.
The Mustangs also forced four turnovers. Senior linebacker Jake Junia made two interceptions, and senior safety Maddux Hermestroff had one and also blocked an extra-point attempt.
Young impressed Hermestroff.
“I wasn’t expecting him to be the type of leader he is,” Hermestroff said. “The ability he has to lead the team, the way he can talk to us, hype us up and stay on his feet at the same time, that’s impressive. I would hate to have to play against Logan Young.”
That may become the case for opposing defenses as Young inevitably makes additional strides in his development. That arc has already been dramatic. He backed into playing quarterback two years ago and was the junior varsity team’s signal caller last season.
“I was a running back and got moved to quarterback because two kids weren’t at practice one day,” Young said. “It was pretty ugly freshman year. There was a big jump from freshman year to sophomore.”
Witnessing that jump up close was John Cowhey, who was the JV coach until his promotion in March to head coach.
“It’s been great to have conversations with him and to see that he was ready,” Cowhey said. “Last year was a great experience for him, and he was ready to take this next step. He’s one of the most mature kids I’ve ever met, and the whole team has really been rallying around him since March.”
The fact that Young, who entered Friday as one of two permanent captains alongside Junia, had the time and ability to assume such a leadership position within the program is impressive. He has to share football with his other two athletic endeavors. As a sophomore, Young was the center on the JV boys basketball team and the catcher on the JV baseball team.
A lot of extra reps with receivers this summer and intense work in the weight room, where Young can squat 450 pounds, cemented his role.
“I have my legs when I need them,” he said. “I’m a hard runner. I’ve always been a hard runner. I’m very blessed to be able to pass and run. It’s a good skill set to have. I knew I trusted my legs.”
Now Young also has a game in the books that he won’t forget.
“Before the game, I was in the locker room going back to the times when I was little, dreaming about this moment throwing the ball in the backyard,” he said. “I never thought it would really happen. To come out here and do something like that in front of all these fans is really special. It’s surreal to me right now.”
Steve Reaven is a freelance reporter.
