Reliable Austin Romanchak readies for big senior season at Freeport

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, August 15, 2018 | 9:57 PM

On a warm August evening at JC Stone Field in North Park two years ago, Austin Romanchak, along with many of his teammates, took the field for the first time in what started as a night of unknowns for Freeport.

The Yellowjackets played Vincentian Academy and were basically starting fresh with a lineup consisting of mainly sophomores, including Romanchak, after graduating a large senior group.

It didn’t take long for Romanchak to show the athleticism that has helped him excel as a dual-threat quarterback the last two years.

On Freeport’s first possession, Romanchak scrambled with the pocket breaking down and zig-zagged around Vincentian defenders with jukes and spin moves, eventually scoring on a 64-yard run.

Freeport went on to win 49-14 and left with a good sense the future was pretty bright.

Since then Romanchak, who has a preferred walk-on offer from Penn State, has added plenty more to his highlight reel.

After a breakout campaign a season ago that helped lead Freeport to a playoff berth for the first time since 2015, he’s ready for more as he enters his final season.

“After my freshman year, we graduated 16-plus seniors, so all of us pretty much got on the field at the same time and have got to play together all through high school,” Romanchak said. “It’s a close bond that we’ll have forever. It’s hard to believe how fast it’s gone by, but we’re ready to give everything we have in this last season.”

Five years ago, Romanchak was a ballboy roaming the Freeport sidelines and exchanging footballs with referees while his brother, Andrew, was quarterbacking the Yellowjackets. Ryan Wiegold quarterbacked the team during Romanchak’s freshman year, and then he took over.

Along with backfield mate and fellow senior Conor Selinger, Romanchak has been a captain since his sophomore season.

Selinger rushed for 653 yards and 13 touchdowns last season, and Romanchak had 680 yards on the ground and seven scores. He also threw for 494 yards and six touchdowns.

The pair has played together in the backfield since their midget football days, and sometimes they still leave their teammates in awe.

“Those guys are incredible,” senior wide receiver Evan McCrea said. “Austin has been my best friend for a long time. He has some crazy jukes. I don’t even know how he does it sometimes. I’ll be out there blocking, and the next thing I know, he’s running past me. Conor is more of a one cut and power guy. It’s cool to watch both of them run.”

Freeport graduated Romanchak’s top target in Jake Sarver, who led the team with 16 receptions. Sarver accounted for nearly half of the team’s catches a season ago and was the team’s leading receiver the last two years.

It will be an adjustment for Romanchak not having Sarver to target, but he’s been working with the other receivers his entire varsity career, so there’s familiarity. McCrea, along with junior Isiah Bauman are two candidates to bridge Sarver’s reception gap.

They’ve worked on building a stronger rapport during summer seven-on-seven pass scrimmages.

“He works with us a lot in practice,” Bauman said. “If we’re off by a couple feet, he’ll tell us and we’ll make minor adjustments so that doesn’t happen on Friday nights. He does a good job communicating with us. If we’re not sure on our routes, he’ll get us in the right direction.

“We’ve been talking and making sure all of my routes are crisp. It’s a bond we have to form over a summer. It doesn’t happen overnight.”

Freeport will see a lot of new opponents this fall because of reclassification reshuffling the conferences. The Yellowjackets kept Burrell and Deer Lakes, but outside of that they will see a new group. They’ll get a tough test early on with Derry and Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic, a pair of playoff teams last year, as their first two opponents.

Romanchak is excited for the challenge that comes with learning new opponents and believes they can build upon last year’s success.

“We have a couple tough ones at the beginning and really a tough schedule all around, but we want to improve week to week, get wins and get back to the playoffs,” Romanchak said.

Jerin Steele is a freelance writer.

Tags: Freeport