Luke Brady knows about all expectations.
As the understudy to Kevin Clifford in 2014, Brady learned all about the responsibilities that come with being a featured back.
Clifford’s 1,571 yards and 11 TDs garnered him DuPage Valley Conference Player of the Year honors a year ago, leaving Brady quite the example to hold up to.
Not that he’s shying away from it.
“I think there’s always pressure when you pick up for somebody else,” he said. “You know all the roles you have to fulfill for that team. You’ve seen what they can do and you know you got to do something similar and improve upon that. And so I’ve talked to Kevin a lot and I learned a lot from him in the last year and even now. So it was great to have him last year to push me this year.”
Brady’s 12-yard TD run on Friday with 51 seconds left to play against Neuqua Valley gave No. 4 Naperville Central an eventual 14-7 victory to get to 2-0 overall and in the DVC.
All told, Brady tallied 94 yards on 20 carries against a stingy Wildcats’ defense – including 28 yards on the Redhawks’ final drive that went 50 yards on six plays.
Naperville Central coach Mike Stine wasn’t going to put any added pressure on Brady coming into the year off the heels of what Clifford did last year.
But he had faith in what Brady would be able to bring to the offense.
“Luke is a little bit different kind of runner than Cliff,” Stine said. “Cliff was that jitterbug kind of guy. Luke is a one-cut guy and he’s more of a power kind of runner. He’s a downhill, one-cut guy and he’s worked really hard in the offseason.”
Just two games into the season, Brady’s offensive teammates know what they have in the 5-10, 189-pound senior.
Ask senior quarterback Conor Joyce about Brady and the same word keeps coming up in the conversation.
“Luke’s just a very tough runner, tough guy,” Joyce said of Brady following the victory against Neuqua Valley. “We love him. He’s the man.”
Compare that with what Joyce had to say about his running back six days earlier following the Redhawks’ 13-12, Week 1 victory at Glenbard North.
“He was running tough all night,” Joyce said of Brady – who scored the eventual game-winning TD against the Panthers with a five-yard TD in the fourth. “He had a lot of tough (runs). Converted on the fourth-and-two, which there was a guy in the backfield and Luke just ran tough.”
Making matters easier for Joyce, Brady and the entire offense is an offensive line that should be able to consistently give Joyce time to work and the running game seams to bust through.
For the unit’s other headliner on offense – Iowa-bound Emmanuel Rugamba – it’s more of the same thing when it comes to Brady and the guys paving the way for him.
“I’d say our offensive line is something that we really key on and late-game situations we’ve got to lean on them,” Rugamba said. “Luke Brady and Jeremiah Wiggins – the way those two backs play … just a two—way street for them. It’s like one of those legs get tired, you throw another one (at opponents).
“It’s just those guys can run for days and it’s a credit to Luke, the work he’s put in in the offseason, along with Jeremiah. I’m not surprised with the way he can run the ball.”
Ryan Culhane, Trevor Campbell, Cooper Ludovice, Alec Bugaj, Fabian Kratz and Jeff Graf are all names known by heart to any member of the Redhawk football program.
But as the Redhawks continue their march through the DVC in hopes of getting the program’s first outright conference title since 2001, the names of their offensive line will only get more familiar.
That’s the way Stine wants it.
“The team that can run the ball the best and the team that can defend the ball the best – all the other stuff is window dressing and it’s fancy,” he said. “But when push comes to shove, who can run the ball at the end? (Friday), we were able to do that and that’s what we feel we got to be able to do.
“We got to be able to have the M.O. to if they want to put eight or nine guys in there, we got to be able to hammer, hammer and eventually find a seam somewhere and be good enough out on the edges so teams can’t do that.”
