/images/devices.png)
/images/newspaper.png)
/images/textalerts.png)
/images/newsletters.png)
Batavia's Quinn Urwiler is the Kane County Player of the Year
On the field, in the film room, Bulldogs' two-way star burns bright
BATAVIA – Matt Holm doesn't remember the name of the coach who told him the phrase, but it's stuck with him ever since.
"He goes, 'Hey, when you have that guy, you just know you have that guy' – [he] just stands out," said Holm, Batavia's defensive coordinator.
Quinn Urwiler, Batavia's three-year varsity outside linebacker and running back, "is like that, in all aspects."
![Urwiler's play and pursuit on the field easily could speak for itself. In his senior season alone, the 5-foot-11, 190-pounder compiled 676 all-purpose yards on offense. Defensively, he racked up 77 tackles, a team-high 15 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, 32 quarterback hurries and three interceptions in 10 games.
But go behind the scenes in the Batavia film room and Urwiler's star burns even brighter. He'll yell out exactly what other teams are doing.
"It's kind of uncanny," Holm said. "Because it's obvious to everybody that's in the room that this is a different guy. This is a different [character] than what the rest of us are. He's just at a completely different level.
"It's hard to describe, but you just know when it's there," Holm said.](3dd96952-2556-4525-958c-f7326c27c331/image-pv_web.jpg)
Urwiler's play and pursuit on the field easily could speak for itself. In his senior season alone, the 5-foot-11, 190-pounder compiled 676 all-purpose yards on offense. Defensively, he racked up 77 tackles, a team-high 15 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, 32 quarterback hurries and three interceptions in 10 games.
But go behind the scenes in the Batavia film room and Urwiler's star burns even brighter. He'll yell out exactly what other teams are doing.
"It's kind of uncanny," Holm said. "Because it's obvious to everybody that's in the room that this is a different guy. This is a different [character] than what the rest of us are. He's just at a completely different level.
"It's hard to describe, but you just know when it's there," Holm said.
Urwiler, a North Dakota recruit, helped lead the Bulldogs to a second straight DuKane Conference title and a Class 7A state quarterfinal.
During Week 7 of the regular season against St. Charles East, he suffered a sprained left MCL and ACL and had a "slight fracture" in his tibia.
He missed only two games and returned for the entire postseason.
"We had to hold him back pretty much to stay out. It was the right timing," said Trey Urwiler, Quinn's younger brother by a year, after the first-round playoff win over Thornwood. "Great game to kind of get back in the [swing] of things. He's just insane."
Considering his collective achievements for his final varsity season, Quinn Urwiler is the 2019 Kane County Chronicle Football Player of the Year.
Growing up, Urwiler always played an age group up in youth sports. Even his fifth-grade baseball coach told him, "You're going to be a big-time player some day," as Urwiler recalled.
"He said, 'We're going to see you on TV someday," Urwiler said. "I just took that [to heart] going into freshman year."
Batavia found out early just the type of player Urwiler was – and would eventually become. As a freshman, Urwiler played on the freshman team for about a month, and then played on the sophomore team the rest of the season at exclusively running back.
The summer before Urwiler's sophomore season, Holm needed another outside linebacker. Urwiler was expecting to be a running back on varsity.
Holm was on coach Dennis Piron's case all summer long, pushing to convince him to see what Urwiler could do.
Urwiler eventually was brought up for a varsity 7-on-7 event. Holm started him.
"He had three pick-sixes that evening," Holm said. "At the end of the night, Dennis was like, 'OK, all right, he's with us when we come back in August.'"
Urwiler compiled 79 tackles, eight for loss, and four sacks that year as Batavia went on to win the Class 7A state championship. Offensively, he ran for 171 yards and two touchdowns.
Urwiler followed that up his junior season with 947 rushing yards, 19 rushing touchdowns, 79 tackles, 19.5 of them for loss, and 7.5 sacks.
"[Urwiler] never looked back," Holm said. "He was just that much of an impact player, even as a sophomore."