Woodmore's football team went backwards in the won-lost column during Jon Sandwisch's three full seasons as the Wildcats' starting quarterback.

The 'Cats finished 4-6 in 2009 under former coach Lou Bosh, who was replaced by Britton Devier prior to the 2010 season. Woodmore went 3-7 last year, and then struggled to a 2-8 finish this season.

Sandwisch said he knows that, while it would have been nice to win a couple of league titles, he wouldn't change anything about his prep football career.

Jon Sandwisch

“You always play to win the game,” he said. “I'm definitely not happy about my career winning percentage or wins, but I did learn so much from high school football and sports in general. You also play to be with other people, to learn to integrate with coaches. High school football builds your character and makes you a man. It makes you accountable for your actions.

“Looking back at my career, I have no regrets. I wish we would have won more, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. From my freshman year to now, I've learned so much. That's a credit to the coaches I've had, from coach Bosh to coach Devier. They are two great men who, although we haven't had success, they've turned these seniors into great men who are going to do well in society.”

It wasn't easy for Sandwisch to succeed in Woodmore's offense.

As a freshman, he started a few games and directed Bosh's split-back veer offense. Bosh went to more of a spread offense during Sandwisch's sophomore season, and Devier then came in last year and installed a pro-style offense that had Sandwisch taking snaps from under center. This year Woodmore went to what Devier called the Tony Franklin system, a form of the spread offense that features a no-huddle, up-tempo attack.

Sandwich averaged 38 pass attempts a game and completed 57 percent of his throws for 2,107 yards and 14 touchdowns, with 10 interceptions. He also rushed for 828 yards and nine touchdowns on 172 carries.

“He's big (6-foot-2, 200), strong-armed and he was a threat to run,” Devier said. “With all of his experience, he made good decisions. He throws the ball downfield relatively well. We really worked on getting the ball out quick. He turned into a nice leader for us. He's played a lot of football games. More than most kids. That helped a lot.”

Devier said he went to a no-huddle spread attack to match the size and skill set of his 2011 roster. Woodmore had just eight seniors this season.

“It's just a different way of utilizing the kids I've got,” Devier said. “We don't have 200-pound tailbacks like Genoa, so instead of running the sweep we throw the ball out to the side. We try to snap the ball every 15 seconds or so.”

Sandwisch admitted that learning four different offenses in four years was trying at times. He threw for 1,434 yards and 13 touchdowns as a sophomore to earn a spot on the All-Suburban Lakes League and all-district second team, then passed for 1,328 yards and eight touchdowns last season.

“At first it was difficult,” Sandwisch said. “I knew I wouldn't be good at everything I do, so I took a lot of time. I threw the ball with my receivers and watched a lot of film with coach Devier. I watched the Tony Franklin website. This is my favorite offense. It gives me more control. We threw the ball 75-80 percent of the time and I just read the defense and pretty much threw the ball to the receiver who was open.”

Sandwisch accounted for more than 6,500 yards of offense and 52 touchdowns during his four-year career. He passed for 5,027 yards while completing 50.2 percent of his passes, and he threw for 37 touchdowns with 35 interceptions. Sandwisch also ran for 1,589 yards and 15 touchdowns on 408 attempts.

“He's a super kid,” Devier said. “He wants to be a special-ed teacher. He's active in the community, active in his church. He voluntarily goes to the Pee Wee practices and he likes working with kids. He's one of those type of kids who will come back to coach with me some day. He wants to play football in college.”

Sandwisch, a shooting guard on Woodmore's basketball team and a shortstop/pitcher on the baseball team, will probably be the one cheering the loudest next year for his replacement at quarterback, Jake Matwiejczyk. Sandwisch said he's already given Matwiejczyk, who will be a junior next year, some advice.

“He just needs to study,” Sandwisch said. “If he studies, he'll be fine. I always try to tell him, when you think you're the best, you're already beat. That means when you don't work hard and you don't do the right things because you think you're the best, somebody is out there working harder than you and studying harder than you. Jake's going to be a good quarterback in high school.”

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