After eight years away from football, Jonathan Jauregui was ready to get back in the game.

Already working at Solorio, he joined the Sun Warriors’ coaching staff as defensive coordinator last year. This season, he’s the head coach and Solorio is off to a 4-2 start after getting past host Back of the Yards 18-13 in Week 6.

Jauregui played at Hope Academy on the West Side and joined the Army out of high school, serving for eight years and reaching the rank of sergeant.

When he left the military, he went back to school to work toward a biology degree. 

“Football was really big for me in high school,” Jauregui said. “I had the itch to get back to the sport. Finally, this opened up to me.”

Solorio isn’t an old school — it opened in 2010 — but it does have some football history. Quincy Patterson was an elite quarterback who went on to play at Virginia Tech and Temple. The Sun Warriors qualified for the IHSA playoffs every year from 2014-17 and won first-round games in 2015 and 2017.

“We’re always aware of that history,” Jauregui said. “My biggest goal is to make this team as competitive as possible.”

Solorio fell on hard times last season, going 0-9 as a member of the Public League White Southwest.

Jauregui aims to turn things around.

“My goal was to have a winning record, get above .500 and get the team back in a higher conference.”

The Sun Warriors are alone atop the Blue Central at 2-0 with league games remaining against Kelly, Gage Park and DuSable

Twins Damian and Isaac Corral have been mainstays for Solorio on both offense and defense. They’re among eight seniors on a roster of about 40, and freshman quarterback Valentin Hernandez also has been a productive player.

Curie falls to North Lawndale

The scores don’t tell the whole story for Curie, which lost 24-6 to North Lawndale in Week 6.

“I see us getting better each week, even with this loss we just had,” Condors coach Jarve Lewis-Bey said. “We’re playing better competition.”

Curie is 2-4 overall and 2-2 in the Public League White North with wins against Crane and Senn, along with narrow defeats against Dyett and Sullivan.

Markeith Taylor caught a touchdown pass against North Lawndale, which Lewis-Bey said was “a better, more athletic team than we had.”