Aaron Stewart is Lake County football player of the year

There was little Warren could do to hide the fact that Aaron Stewart was going to run the ball.

After all, the Illinois recruit led the state in carries this season.

“Especially during a game, I don’t think about my stats,” Stewart said. “I just think about winning the game. People tell me all the time how well I run. But even after a game, I don’t remember what happened. It’s just what I do, and it’s become second nature.”

The 5-foot-7, 185-pound Stewart made it seem like second nature as he rose to the occasion for the Blue Devils game after game. By the end of the season, he had displayed a level of dominance arguably never seen before in Lake County.

Stewart, the 2025 News-Sun Football Player of the Year, finished his senior season with 338 carries for 2,872 yards and 46 touchdowns for North Suburban Conference champion Warren (9-2). He led the state in all three categories.

Stewart’s total yards were 635 more than the runner-up, even though he played one fewer game, and ranks 11th in state history. His 46 touchdowns are tied for fifth in a season, and his 438 yards in the Blue Devils’ season-opening win over Hersey ranks 16th in rushing yards in a game.

“I had a great season and that feels good, but that kind of stuff is never really important to me,” Stewart said. “I always look beyond that to try to win games and achieve my goals.”

The fact that those goals – 3,000 rushing yards and 45 touchdowns – were set before the season at levels no other player could achieve is a measure of Stewart’s confidence in his abilities.

“I’m halfway there, but I was expecting 12 games,” he said.

Despite all the attention paid to him, Stewart knows he didn’t succeed alone.

“I always make sure I’m prepared for games, but it’s not just me,” he said. “For us to succeed, everyone must do their part. »

But planning for a player like Stewart, a two-time Class 8A all-state selection, has certainly given opposing coaches an interesting perspective.

“He had an incredibly positive impact on his team,” Stevenson coach Brent Becker said. “He’s the kind of player you know will be carried, and he’s always capable of succeeding.”

Stewart’s skills made him difficult to stop.

“I think what makes him special is he’s able to find really small openings in the line and then explode into them,” Lake Zurich coach Ron Planz said. “He has very good vision and is very strong, so he is really difficult to defeat.”

Stewart’s dedication reflects his intention to become a rare two-sport college athlete. He was involved in both Illinois football and Illinois wrestling.

“It’s 365 days a year of me trying to improve in both areas,” he said. “It might be less of a problem for football now, but recently I’ve been working on my leg workouts and also catching passes with a JUGS machine at school. During football, I would leave practice and go to the other campus to wrestle.”

Stewart, a two-time Class 3A wrestling state champion, is used to the workload.

“After all the daily football and wrestling practices, football games are the fun part,” he said. “With all this work, the games are really easy, to be honest.”

Wrestling became a part of Stewart’s life after meeting Waukegan basketball star Carter Newsome. Their fathers had already known each other for years when Stewart visited an in-home daycare run by Newsome’s mother when he was a child.

Newsome’s father signed him up for wrestling and Stewart was added to the mix. Although Newsome stopped wrestling after the coronavirus pandemic, he still has bragging rights on the mat.

“One time, when we were very young, we were placed in the same bracket at a tournament,” Newsome said. “We were both crying because we didn’t want to fight. But I won. We never had that rematch.”

A rematch probably wouldn’t end well for Newsome, who saw many of the reasons for Stewart’s dominance in two sports.

“Earlier this year during the preseason, I was at his house and he was planning to go to their indoor facility,” Newsome said. “It was him, his father, and he was working on his readings.

“There were times when I slept in and he got up at 5 a.m. to go train. His dedication is next level.”

Steve Reaven is a freelance journalist.