Recruiting Wrap

Michael Heitz perfecting game

Posted by: Jeremy Werner

Friday, October 2, 2009 9:04 AM

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Michael Heitz made a name for himself at the Football University Top Gun camp in Orland, Fla., during the summer, earning a scholarship offer from Illinois - and accepting it - a week after an impressive performance at the camp

But the 6-foot-6, 260-pound Vermont (Ill.) offensive tackle also learned a about playing football at the summer camp under the tutelage of former NFL offensive line coach Jim McNally. The future Illini lineman has been using those lessons on the field for the South Fulton football team this year.

"I'm really using my technique and stuff," Heitz said. "But when you go from playing kids down (at the Florida camp) to kids up here, it's completely different. But still, technique is the same, and (the experience) has really helped me out this year."

South Fulton, a Class 1A program, is 2-3 headed into tonight's game at Havana. The team lost its first two games by a combined score of 93-41. The Rebels quickly rose to a .500 record with two straight blowout wins. But hampered by injuries, the short-rostered team lost 42-6 to Bushnell-Prairie City-Avon last Friday.

"I think we're playing good, it's just right now, we're getting hit with injuries pretty bad," Heitz said. "Last week, our quarterback went out in the first quarter. Our middle linebacker's been out since the second game of the season. ...At times, last Friday, there was only two varsity linemen in there."

Since committing to the Illini, Heitz has become better known in rural western Illinois.

"People know me from different places, but that's it," Heitz said. "The coaches after the games, the opposing coaches, always tell me, ‘Good luck next year.'"

Heitz starts at left tackle - his likely position with the Illini - and at defensive end. He led South Fulton in tackles during its first three games and is cherishing his time as a defender.

"One of my coaches told me, ‘This is the last year you can play defense.' So that's really been hitting me," Heitz said. "Just getting to hit someone at full boar is great. You get to do that on offense too, sometimes but it's just different."

Heitz calls his future college coaches "once a week at least" to talk about his football season. He traveled to St. Louis to see the Illini lose to Missouri in the season opener.

He will also visit Champaign, along with his two brothers, on Saturday to watch his future team take on Penn State. It will be his first Illini game since Illinois defeated Western Illinois in 2007.

The visit will give Heitz a sneak peak of his life in a year. He wants to make sure that four- or five-year experience is as positive as possible, so he's focused on improving his game before he arrives on campus.

"I'm just trying to maintain weight and get bigger and stronger, so it will help out next year and just work on my technique," he said.

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