JOLIET — Growing up on his family’s ranch just outside Joliet, Tucker Lind learned the value of hard work at a young age.
That blue-collar approach to life is what has made him special on the football field.
“We’ve kind of been raised on a ranch our whole lives. We’ve just been working to help my dad ever since we were really little," Lind said. "It showed you how to work and put in the time and stuff.”
“He has really only one speed. I don’t care if he’s doing something in my PE class or out on this football field, it’s 100 percent. That’s a huge advantage for us," Joliet head coach George Warburton told MTN Sports. "He’s really becoming a gifted runner. He’s starting to see the field better. But it’s his motor that’s been saving him. And that’s something you just can’t teach.”
Lind is the second brother to play underneath Warburton, as oldest Kelly shined for the J-Hawks before graduating in 2021. They’ve got a similar mindset on the gridiron, something Tucker picked up on from the sidelines.
“They are blue-collar, hard-working cowboys. And that shows on the field. They are a no quit, tough mentality football player," Warburton said.
“He definitely made us better. Me and my younger brother, he kind of set the line for us, set the tone," Lind said.
Early playoff exits the past two years have motivated this Joliet crew, which has gained quite the experience in big-game atmospheres.
“Not only playing varsity games, but a quarterfinal playoff game with sophomores and freshmen, it gave us a lot of hope for the future," said senior Paxton McQuillan. "We knew what we had and what we were aiming for.”
“Being that we’ve been there and we were so close to making that opportunity to go to the next level and really got blown out, we got hungry because of it," said Warburton.
Joliet has just one game remaining on its schedule — an Oct. 14 showdown with Park City.
