All summer long, Aidan Bench was happily catching footballs for Evergreen Park. That comfortable role in the offense lasted for most of the first half of this season.

Then, starting quarterback Deijon Feliciano was sidelined with a torn ACL and meniscus. Others might have flinched at shifting from wide receiver to quarterback in short order.

But Bench is a senior. He kept his cool.

“I was the backup last year, so I still have the IQ for the offense,” Bench said. “It sounds crazy, but now that I know what a receiver feels like, it’s way easier being a quarterback.”

Bench’s cool demeanor Friday night was a key reason the Mustangs were able to escape Blue Island with a hard-fought 24-22 South Suburban Red win over host Eisenhower.

Despite the weather, Bench led Evergreen Park (5-2, 3-1) by completing 7 of 8 passes for 82 yards, including a 24-yard touchdown to fellow senior Jedidiah Adjayi. More importantly, he flawlessly commanded the running game.

The Mustangs were paced there by senior Antonio Clay-Jones with 107 yards and a TD on 24 carries. Adjayi chipped in 53 yards on 11 carries, while junior David Johnson added 51 yards and a TD on 11 carries.

Jim Ramazinski, who’s in his first year as Evergreen Park’s head coach, said Bench stood out to him right away.

“I’ll tell you this, when I came in the spring to start working out with the guys, he was one of the guys who was there every single day,” Ramazinski said. “That shows me right away how much he wanted it and how much he wanted it for his teammates.”

Bench needed those teammates as Eisenhower (4-3, 2-2) rallied from a 24-8 deficit at the start of the fourth quarter with a 24-yard TD pass form senior quarterback Nick Mayfield to senior receiver Antonio Russell.

As the clock wound down, Russell scampered 55 yards to set up a 1-yard TD blast by junior running back Taquarious Rochon. But it wasn’t quite enough.

Bench, meanwhile, said Ramazinski and his assistant coaches have given him the leeway to take the reins of a high-powered offense and make it his own.

“My coaches have always given me a lot of confidence to always bounce back,” he said. “I mean, we’ve had rough games against Bremen, against Richards, but we still find a way to bounce back. We can’t lose our composure.

“In high school football, everybody has a chance to win. You just saw, they almost came back on us. Anything can happen, so you have to keep a cool demeanor.”

Bench started playing football in fifth grade, but due to a variety of reasons, he didn’t play as an eighth grader, electing to work on his body instead to prepare for high school.

He jumped back into football as a freshman and ended up being the backup quarterback as a junior before shifting to receiver in the offseason.

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But then Feliciano — who was in a wheelchair Friday — got hurt, which propelled Bench into the starting role behind center.

His running backs recognize the confidence Bench displays, especially during Friday’s tight game.

“I think his leadership is amazing, especially coming straight into a role he’s not used to on varsity,” Clay-Jones said, “I really appreciate before a hard run he says, ‘Let’s get this.’”

“I think he’s a very selfless person,” Adjayi said. “He was just playing receiver all season, and out of nowhere, he has to play quarterback, a position he’s unprepared for. He owned it.”

Bench has dreams of being a lawyer someday, a profession that requires a similar approach. But before those adult days begin, he’s thinking about playing football in college.

“Hopefully,” he said. “That would be phenomenal.”

Gregg Voss is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.