Barrington quarterback Dan Kubiuk spent his junior season adjusting to the Broncos’ new spread offense.
This year, he’s right at home under center — or make that five yards behind the center in shotgun formation.
“The game has slowed down a lot for me, especially (with the) shotgun,” Kubiuk said. “It gives me the chance to look out at the field and be able to do a lot of things.”
The Broncos finished last season with an uncharacteristic 3-6 record. Already this season, Barrington (4-1, 0-1 MSL West) has won more games than all of last year. In fact, the Broncos’ first loss did not come until Friday, a 33-21 setback at Schaumburg.
“We have a lot of returners from last year and our record alone should motivate us to play our hearts out and (achieve) more,” Kubiuk said.
Kubiuk did his part by preparing rigorously for his season. He added about 20 pounds to his now 6-foot-1, 195-pound frame through extensive workouts in the weight room.
“He put in an extraordinary amount of time to get himself ready to play in the MSL West,” quarterbacks coach Todd Kuklinski said. “He’s improved his overall strength and that’s really paid off for him. You can see that he’s stronger out there.”
Kubiuk said the extra strength has increased his durability.
“I’m able to take more hits and it just gave me a lot more confidence back there,” Kubiuk said.
Despite his work in the weight room, his senior season was almost derailed well before it even started. During the first part of the baseball season, Kubiuk, a shortstop/pitcher, dislocated his right fibula while sliding into home. He had ankle surgery a week later and missed the rest of the year. Following six weeks of rehab, he was finally able to start running again in early July.
“I had never been through an injury of this magnitude but (at least) for football the timing of it worked out well,” Kubiuk said.
Although Kubiuk was somewhat limited during the summer, he’s been 100 percent the entire football season.
“We’ve grown a lot as a team this year and he’s progressed right along with us,” offensive lineman Vito Anzalone said. “He’s gotten better at reading defenses and is making lots of good decisions. He always gives his best effort and the rest of the team followed his (lead).”
Accordingly, Kubiuk said he’s no longer thinking about the loss to Schaumburg. His focus is on getting back on track at 2 p.m. Saturday at home against Fremd.
“We have a 24-hour rule to think about the last game,” he said. “It keeps everyone focused on what’s (next).”
