Even Comer sophomore Jaydin Edmondson is a little surprised when he checks his stats online.
At the top of the list for interceptions by Illinois players are Edmondson and Wauconda senior Luke Sickmeir, both with eight in nine games. Even if all schools around the state don’t report stats, it’s an impressive achievement.
‘‘At first I was kind of like, ‘OK, I’m doing high numbers,’ ’’ Edmondson told the Sun-Times. ‘‘But then when I start looking at MaxPreps and seeing the rankings . . . I was like, ‘Oh, this is real. I really have eight interceptions. That’s a lot.’ ’’
It hasn’t come as a surprise to Catamounts coach DeMarien Hampton, though.
‘‘He’s lined up at corner, he’s lined up at free safety, nickel,’’ Hampton told the Sun-Times. ‘‘He’s just lined up all over the field, and he just has a good sense for the football.’’
Comer, a charter school in the Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood, has an affiliated middle school. That’s where Edmondson first crossed Hampton’s radar.
By then, Edmondson was already an experienced player, having started as an 8-year-old with the Chicago Bengals. He always has been a two-way player at defensive back and wide receiver. This season, he’s also the top pass-catcher for Comer (5-4) with 30 receptions for 478 yards and nine touchdowns.
‘‘I love playing both ways,’’ Edmondson said. ‘‘I’ve been playing both ways since youth football.’’
He’s a big reason the Catamounts are in the state playoffs for the first time since 2022. They host Prairie Ridge (2-7) in the Class 5A opening round at 11:30 a.m. Saturday at Eckersall.
Comer enters the postseason on a five-game winning streak after an 0-4 start. This is the second program Hampton has taken to the playoffs after guiding Bowen to its only IHSA berth in 2015. He also served as an assistant at city power Morgan Park for five seasons before taking over two years ago at Comer, where he works as a dean.
One philosophy that has carried over from his Morgan Park days is playing a strong nonconference schedule. The Catamounts opened with losses to Goode, Curie, Ag. Science and Corliss. All have qualified for the playoffs with winning records, with Corliss (Red South) and Ag. Science (Red Southwest) winning conference titles.
‘‘They’re young, and that youth showed up in Week 1 [a 73-48 loss to Goode],’’ Hampton said of his players.
But the Catamounts started playing cleaner football around midseason, which Hampton expected would happen.
‘‘The football IQ is there,’’ he said.
It also helps that many of the players came up through the middle school flag program, which runs the same offense and defense as the high school.
‘‘The first thing I wanted to do when I got here was keep our good, quality guys in-house,’’ Hampton said.
Edmondson is among that group, and he’s glad he stuck around.
‘‘This is a big moment,’’ he said. ‘‘We [are] all taking it in, but we all know we have to win this game. We have to treat it like a championship game.’’
