The young man can play.

We already knew that about Luke Zook, who was promoted by Yorkville coach Dan McGuire to play in the secondary last season as a sophomore for a veteran-dominated varsity.

It’s been a different season this fall for the Foxes, who won just two of their first five games. But Zook, a 6-foot-1, 190-pound junior strong safety, is up to his usual heroics.

“(It’s) the best game he’s played by far against a really good team,” McGuire said, crossing the soggy grass, drenched by an earlier shower at Oswego’s Ken Pickerill Stadium.

“He did it all for us — ran well, played physical. He has great speed. He’s making tackles on the perimeter with some really good athletes, and that’s tough to do.”

It would have been tough to top Zook’s performance Friday night in a 17-0 Southwest Prairie West victory over the host Panthers. He had a direct impact on all three scores.

Zook intercepted two passes to thwart back-to-back possessions in the second quarter for Oswego (5-2, 1-2).

The first set up a 32-yard TD pass from senior quarterback Michael Dopart to senior receiver Dominick Coronado. The second led to a 23-yard field goal by senior kicker Dominic Recchia.

“I can roll down in the box if we need an extra linebacker,” Zook said. “If it’s a pass formation, I’ll be back at safety. We watch a lot of film, and based on what they show, change formations to make plays.”

Midway through the third quarter, Zook threw a halfback option pass to sophomore wideout Colton Spychalski for a 12-yard TD to seal the win for Yorkville (4-3, 2-1).

Senior running back Josh Gettamy, whose 22 carries for 115 yards helped give the Foxes a 244-134 edge in total yards, said he thought Zook may have played quarterback “a long time ago in youth football.”

Chuckling, Zook said no.

“Now backyard football?” Zook said. “Then we’re talking.”

Dopart, apparently, has nothing to worry about.

“We repped it two or three times this week and it never worked in practice,” McGuire said of the play. “But Oswego is so physical, we knew we had to change things up in the red zone to get some points.

“I actually told Luke he shouldn’t have thrown the ball because (Spychalski) was so well covered. If that was the case, he was supposed to throw it to the scoreboard. I have no clue how it worked, to be honest. It was a great catch.”

Zook was a big catch last season, showing his mettle and a penchant for big plays for a team that took state finalist Batavia to overtime in a Class 7A quarterfinal playoff loss.

How good was Zook?

Seven of his 46 tackles were for loss. He intercepted three passes, returning one for the only TD in a 10-0 win over West Aurora. He returned two punts for TDs, forced a fumble, recovered a fumble and blocked a punt.

That was then. Friday night? Yorkville, which has new field turf at home, was playing on natural grass for the first time this season.

“We were worried how our kids would respond,” McGuire said. “You can’t prepare for it, but I liked how they bounced back and played well.”

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The previous week, the Foxes entered their game at home against Minooka, knowing their bid for a fifth straight playoff appearance could be in trouble.

Yorkville held on for a 17-14 win thanks to a game-saving play by Zook, according to McGuire. A receiver, the ball and Zook all met in the end zone on the final play of the game.

“Luke saw the kid come from the other side of the field, made a huge hit and dislodged the ball,” McGuire said. “I think he had that ‘there’s no tomorrow moment’ before the Minooka game. That won us a game.”

The Foxes have remaining games at Oswego East (3-4) and home against Plainfield North (3-4).

“Our season definitely started last week,” Zook said. “The first half of this season, we weren’t it. We have a young team, and we weren’t playing together.

“Last week, both offense and defense played well, and this week, we played two really good halves. Do that, you win.”

The young man knows his stuff.