In practice, Lincoln-Way West’s Chase Markowicz has been both friend and foe to his quarterback.

On offense, senior quarterback Grant Tustin loves how much Markowicz is his trusted receiver.

“If I throw the ball and it’s within three yards of him, he catches the ball,” Tustin said of Markowicz. “Sometimes I make mistakes — everyone makes mistakes — and I’ll throw the ball too high or a little bit too far and he adjusts and catches the ball really well.

“The other thing is that he is usually so wide open and he will shake a defender and all I have to do is put the ball out there where he can catch it.”

But when the coaches blow the whistle and it’s time for Markowicz, an Illinois State recruit, to go to the other side of the ball as a defensive back …

That’s another story.

“He’s n

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