Zion-Benton’s football coaches don’t expect to hear much from Rashad Love.
But Love’s name is heard in bunches during games.
“He’s like a silent assassin,” Zion-Benton coach MacArthur White said. “You’ve got to get him to speak to you. He’ll talk when we ask him something. But he’s all about his business.”
Love, a 6-foot-3, 165-pound junior receiver/safety, certainly keeps busy during games. He plays almost every snap for the Zee-Bees (3-2, 1-2), who have already matched their win total from the past three seasons and will host Lake Zurich (4-1, 3-0) in a North Suburban Conference game on Friday.
“He’s a championship football player,” White said. “He lets his game talk for him.”
During Zion-Benton’s 19-14 conference win against Mundelein on Sept. 12, Love had 48 receiving yards, made six solo tackles and returned an interception 95 yards for a touchdown.
“The week before, I got another interception, but I got caught from behind,” he said. “But that time, I just saw green grass, so I ran it into the end zone. I loved it.”
Love gives the Zee-Bees a lot to love, including his attitude.
“Most kids that have this kind of talent talk a lot,” White said. “They think they’re the big guys. They say, ‘I’m doing this. I’m doing that.’ Their mouth is big. Not him.
“With all the talent he has, with all the good attributes, with all the great skills and ability he has, he’s still a silent guy. That’s real big.”
Love said his father, grandfather and older cousin all grew up playing football. Love said he remembers “falling in love” with the sport when he was introduced to it as a kid.
“It’s just been a part of me,” he said.
Love also plays varsity basketball at Zion-Benton.
“Football is a more physical sport,” he said. “Basketball is all foul calling. I’d rather go hit somebody.”
Love played quarterback for Zion-Benton’s freshman team. Coaches saw glimpses of talent and considered moving him to the varsity team early.
“We knew his freshman year,” White said. “But we knew that if we kept that group together, we’d get more out of them. And as a young kid, we still wanted him to have some fun, so we made the decision to leave him down there.
“As you can see, I think it was a good decision for us. He’s always been a special talent, but it’s nice to see it finally evolving into a young man’s talent instead of a kid’s talent.”
Two years later, Love is helping to engineer a turnaround. The Zee-Bees won only one game in each of the past three seasons.
“I want to go to the playoffs, and I want to break some records here,” Love said.
The Zee-Bees haven’t qualified for the playoffs since 2018 but hope to change that soon.
“Here in Zion, it’s a small town,” White said. “We don’t get a lot of publicity or a lot of media play, but I think the world needs to know that we have a lot of talent here.
“We have kids with the ability to play football at the next level. We have kids dedicated to their craft. We have kids who love the game of football.”
Count Love among them.
Sam Brief is a freelance reporter.