Lincoln Ijams, with offer from Butler, drives Oswego East’s offense as wide receiver. ‘My goal my whole life.’

September 3, 2025

The time looks right.

Senior wide receiver Lincoln Ijams, who wants to take his game to the next level, hopes to get a big boost from his third varsity season for Oswego East.

It makes sense, especially since the 6-foot-1, 180-pound Ijams will be paired with fellow senior Niko Villacci, his good friend who’s also in his third year as the Wolves’ starting quarterback.

“My goal my whole life has always been to play D-I ball at the highest level I can,” said Ijams, who holds one offer from Butler and has received considerable interest from Valparaiso.

Both are Football Championship Subdivision schools that play in the Pioneer League but don’t give out football scholarships.

“I think I’m going to have a really good season this year,” Ijams said. “That should open up more Mid-American Conference schools and full-ride opportunities.”

Oswego East coach Tyson LeBlanc is in Ijams’ corner.

“Lincoln is definitely a kid who’s capable of playing in the MAC and I hope that opportunity comes for him,” LeBlanc said. “He will continue to improve because of his great work ethic. With the way recruiting has changed, you just don’t know.

“Sometimes, these kids who weren’t on the radar as D-I kids a year and a half ago have a hard time jumping on the radar. MAC schools are looking for guys coming back from Power Four schools in the transfer portal or FCS guys that were All-Americans wanting to move up.”

Oswego East’s Lincoln Ijams, a senior receiver, reaches for a pass during practice on Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025. (Rick Armstrong / The Beacon-News)

Ijams is off to a great start, however, catching five passes for 110 yards and one touchdown Friday night — all in the first half last week — during Oswego East’s 41-0 rout of Joliet West.

Villaci wasn’t surprised, either.

“It’s always been strong,” he said of his connection with Ijams. “But this year, it’s definitely at the next level. We finally found it and it feels really good.”

Ijams, who caught 33 passes for 355 yards and three TDs last season, praised his quarterback.

“Niko is understanding the game more, reading defenses a lot better and anticipating his throws,” Ijams said. “His confidence is there. He’s such a good athlete and has a cannon for an arm.

“We’ve been together since kindergarten. Our chemistry is through the roof. Niko knows where I’m gonna be at all times and that helps a lot.”

Lincoln Ijams, a senior receiver for Oswego East, throws a pass during warm-ups at practice on Tueday, Sept. 2, 2025. (Rick Armstrong / The Beacon-News)

Ijams dad, Bob, who played wide receiver at Ball State, has joined LeBlanc’s staff this season coaching the wide receivers. His mom, Jaime, was a Ball State gymnast.

Villaci remembers playing flag football in second grade, which brought a laugh from Lincoln.

“It might have been that year or the year before, Niko told me I had to score four touchdowns in recess to be his friend,” Ijams said. “We were both QBs back then and we’d switch off and throw it to each other.”

The Wolves (1-0) are looking this fall to end a two-year playoff drought that featured records of 3-6 and 4-5, ending a streak of seven straight playoff appearances.

Improving the program’s culture in the offseason was a point of emphasis led by coach LeBlanc and the team captains, according to Ijams.

“We had everybody in there in the weight room, Monday through Thursday at 5:30 a.m.,” he said.

Senior receiver Lincoln Ijams snares a pass at Oswego East’s practice on Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025. (Rick Armstrong / The Beacon-News)

Ijams said seeing Oswego East picked to finish last this season in the Southwest Prairie West on two websites provides further motivation.

“I don’t think anybody’s worked harder than we have,” he said.

In his 14th season, LeBlanc likes what he sees so far as the Wolves prepare for a 7:30 p.m. Friday nonconference game at Willowbrook (0-1), which has made eight straight playoff appearances.

“There’s an old saying, ‘If it’s not broke, don’t fix it,’” LeBlanc said. “Well, we felt like it was broke, so there were things we had to fix. A product of that was what you saw from us Friday night.

“We were fairly disciplined, didn’t have a lot of penalties and didn’t make a lot of mental mistakes. We played a pretty clean game, and I think a lot of that is from the focus on the culture showing itself on the field when you start paying attention to the details.”

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/09/03/lincoln-ijams-oswego-east-ihsa-football-butler-offer/

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