2024 All-Area Football Player of the Year: Ike Young makes seamless switch to QB

MONTICELLO After back-to-back 5-5 seasons, the Monticello football team made an unlikely run to the Class 3A state championship game.

It wasnt the ending the Sages wanted, ultimately falling to Montini 49-8, but there were still smiles all around as they accepted their runner-up trophy.

They knew what they did was still special.

The Sages made it to the final game of the season for just the second time in school history and the first since winning it all in 2018.

That was something to celebrate.

After the game in the locker room, I looked around at all the people Ive played with for the past four years, senior quarterback Ike Young said.

I just realized what we accomplished.

No one had the belief in us to do what we did.

I knew this team had potential, and we just did what we had to do to get to the state championship.

Take Young out of the equation the 3,276 passing yards, 1,108 rushing yards and 49 total touchdowns and Monticello likely doesnt make it that far.

He led the area in passing and ranked near the top of the rushing leaderboard, too.

That level of dual-threat ability doesnt come around every year, which is why Young was an easy choice for The News-Gazettes Player of the Year for the 2024 season.

At this point last year, however, it wasnt even a sure thing that Young would play quarterback.

He had just wrapped up his junior season in which he reached 1,000 combined rushing and receiving yards as Monticellos starting running back.

With Luke Teschke graduating, the quarterback position was up for grabs.

Young had played quarterback on JV in years past, and he was undoubtedly going to be the Sages best athlete on the field, but coach Cully Welter likes to give his signal-callers multiple years to develop at that position.

Young was about to be a senior, and he would make it three straight one-year quarterbacks for Monticello.

Still, the job was Youngs if he wanted it.

One of the things we addressed with him was his desire to play the position.

We werent 100 percent sure it was something he wanted to do, Welter said.

We talked to him, and he was pretty unequivocal that he wanted to be the quarterback.

He knew it would be a lot of responsibility, but he didnt hesitate, and he was up for the challenge.

Youre always a little reluctant to go with a one-year quarterback, especially because it seems to be a trend for us right now, but its hard to argue with the production were getting out of them in that one year.

Youngs production this year earned him a spot on the IHSFCA 3A All-State Team.

Hes one of the more confident athletes in the area, and for good reason, but even he was surprised at just how much success he found this season.

Im never one to doubt myself, but I did not see me getting to the point I did, Young said.

Im proud of how the season went and what I did as a first-year quarterback.

Seeing the opportunities I had and how much success the team had was nice.

Meanwhile, his teammates saw this coming.

While he ultimately played running back as a junior, he got some quarterback reps during the previous summer, where he had moments of greatness.

We saw flashes of what he did for us basically all of this year, Monticello senior wide receiver Carter Foran said.

I knew we were probably looking at him to be our quarterback senior year.

He really found that consistency to do it every game.

This past summer was when Young cemented it, and the Sages knew they had something special on their hands.

Monticello beat Mahomet-Seymour in the Bulldogs 7-on-7 tournament final, and Young and Forans connection was seamless.

It looked like they had been doing it together for their entire high school careers, when it had really only been a couple months.

That duo continued to torch defenses in the fall, as Foran went on to set numerous Monticello receiving records.

He ended the year with 116 catches for 1,854 yards and 21 touchdowns, breaking school records for both single-season and career receptions and receiving yards.

He definitely made it a lot easier, Foran said of Young.

It definitely opened up the game for me, and hes a big reason I have all those records.

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When we would work on routes over the summer, our rule was we had to end on a touchdown.

Wed go to the 50-yard line, and hed just throw a deep ball.

When hes throwing that thing effortlessly and just flicking it 50-60 yards, thats when I was like, That baseball arm is transitioning right over to football.

Thats the interesting part about Youngs season.

Like any player who has that successful of a senior campaign, Youngs inbox started to fill with inquiries from college football coaches.

Unlike the others, however, he had to respectfully decline every time with the unexpected response of Im a baseball player.

Young committed to continue his baseball career at the University of Illinois last June after posting a 2.16 ERA and 60 strikeouts in 48 2/3 innings pitched to help the Sages win a program-record 31 games.

While he can throw the football 65-70 yards, hes topped out at 93 mph on the mound and made it clear that baseball is where his future will be.

A lot of people question me daily about why I still play football and basketball, Young said.

Its because I love the sports, and I love the team connection and brotherly bond we have.

Playing all three sports is just a fun way to hang out with friends and have a fun time.

To have the blessing to possibly play football as well is amazing, but baseball is definitely my home and what I can build a career on.

Welter started running into those same awkward conversations before the season even started.

We went to camp this summer at Illinois College, and the coach came up and asked, Whats the story with Ike? I said, Dont waste your time.

Hes going to Illinois to play baseball, Welter said.

It doesnt take long for opposing coaches to see on film that hes going to be an important cog they need to try to defend.

A lot of college coaches are interested in him, but we know where hes going, and were excited for him.

What has impressed Welter the most about Young is how committed he is to all three of his sports.

Young doesnt take a season off, both in the fact that hes always competing and that he puts forth total effort day in and day out.

The Sages boys basketball team got off to a slow start this season because some of the multi-sport athletes were preoccupied.

You know, going to state and all.

The football teams run created quite the buzz around Monticello, and it hasnt worn off just yet.

Young is hoping that momentum bleeds into a successful rest of the winter season and another historic spring.

Our community is really tight right now because of football and the run we had, and it ties into the other sports, as well, Young said.

Coming off a big season, its kind of hard to maintain that level of enthusiasm, but I have faith in this community, and I think we can..

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