Sandburg’s Lucas Matykiewicz has only been playing football for three years, but he’s set to play quite a few more.
The rising senior tight end committed to Northern Illinois on June 20, picking the Huskies over a dozen other offers that included the Ivy League’s Cornell, Penn and Yale.
“I really liked (the Huskies),” Matykiewicz said at a 7-on-7 hosted by Sandburg on June 24. “They stay on you a lot, starting to build relationships. (I was) getting at least two to three phone calls a week.”
Soon after picking up the NIU offer, Matykiewicz took an unofficial visit to the DeKalb campus and came away impressed.
“I really liked … all the culture, their competitive edge that they have on each and every practice,” he said.
With his college decision made, Matykiewicz can focus on his final season with the Eagles — which is also just his fourth year on the gridiron.
A basketball and baseball player in his younger years, Matykiewicz wasn’t allowed to play youth football.
“My mom was worried about me getting hurt,” he said. “She’s like, since now you’re a freshman, you’re getting older, you can make your own decisions.”
So he joined the football program. Last season, he played mostly wide receiver, catching 21 passes for 246 yards and three touchdowns.
“Lucas is still (just) scratching the surface,” Sandburg coach Sheamus Murphy said. “He’s got his best football ahead of him. This is only year four for him. …
“Each year you’ve seen the growth, you’ve seen the development. And you know the athleticism is obviously there. He’s 6-5, 215 and runs a 4.5 (for the 40-yard dash). … You don’t see too many athletes like that every day.”
Matykiewicz was recruited as a tight end and wants to make sure he’s prepared to play there, both this season and beyond.
“I quit basketball … (and) I hit the weight room hard, gained 10 to 15 pounds of muscle,” he said.
Matykiewicz will again be catching passes from fellow rising senior Sean Ruisz, who threw for 1,158 yards and 14 TDs last fall.
“Since freshman year, we both have a lot of trust in each other of getting the ball in the right spot and getting open,” Matykiewicz said.
There’s another talented skill player back in rising senior running back Quinn Durkin, who recently committed to Army. He had 799 yards of total offense and 12 touchdowns last season.
Ruisz, Durkin and Matykiewicz helped the Eagles go 7-3, win a share of their first conference title in 31 years and earn a Class 8A playoff berth.
The goal? “Definitely to try to do better than last year,” Matykiewicz said.
As Sandburg moves into Murphy’s second season in charge, Matykiewicz has seen more buzz around the program.
“It definitely feels great,” Matykiewicz said. “We’re getting more of the community out in Orland Park and these games are going to be pretty fun this fall.”