Look at him now.
Making his varsity debut last season playing only on defense, Oswego cornerback Mariano Velasco often was a target in the game plans of many opponents.
This season, the 5-foot-11, 180-pound senior became a scourge for those same tacticians who tried to avoid the hard-hitting Velasco. He also expanded his role to include receiver on offense.
“I’m definitely always trying to play the ball, make a play on it,” said Velasco, who had an area-best six interceptions and returned four for touchdowns. “I was really proud of my pick-sixes.
“I know I can do something with the ball in that situation. The receiver and running back in me comes out. I flip to offense, which I played when I was younger, and just try to score every time I get the ball in open space.”
Big plays on both sides of the ball by Velasco — the 2025 Beacon-News/Courier-News Player of the Year — sparked the Panthers time and time again on their drive to taking second in Class 8A.
Oswego’s Mariano Velasco (10) gets taken down in the backfield by Mount Carmel’s Roman Igwebuike (32) during the Class 8A state championship game in DeKalb on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (Vincent D. Johnson / Daily Southtown)
Velasco, a two-way threat, had 51 1/2 tackles, 11 for loss, and broke up nine more passes this season for Oswego (11-3). He also caught 30 passes for 753 yards and 10 TDs.
“It’s not that he didn’t have an impact last year,” Oswego coach Brian Cooney said of Velasco. “He showed he could be physical and stick his nose in there. We knew he would progress, but to think he would have a year like this would have been overreaching.
“I would be hard-pressed to remember any player I’ve coached have a year like this.”
A TD reception in a 31-15 opening win at Naperville Central and pick-six on the second play of a 35-6 win over Geneva got the ball rolling. He ended up averaging 25.1 yards a catch this fall.
Oswego’s Mariano Velasco (10) runs after the catch for a TD against Oswego East during a Southwest Prairie Conference game in Oswego on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025. (Sean King / The Beacon-News)
“His football IQ stands out,” Oswego East coach Tyson LeBlanc said of Velasco. “You can tell by the way he’s reading and in the right place. The game seems slow for him. He’s where he needs to be before you expect him to be there.
“For two years, it was impossible to run a bubble screen at him. I know because we’ve tried and he blows it up. Last year, he was the guy we were trying to attack because they had Jeremiah Cain on the other side.”
While Cain was a freshman receiver this year at Northern Iowa, Velasco provided his team’s only points with a TD catch in a 16-6 loss to Yorkville.
“You design a beautiful play and one little thing wrong can turn it into six the other way because of his ability to make those plays,” Yorkville coach Dan McGuire said. “Those are backbreakers when you score those unconventional TDs. They can turn a game around.”
Oswego’s Mariano Velasco (10) celebrates a TD with Luke Hernandez (20) against Geneva during a nonconference game in Oswego on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025. (Sean King / The Beacon-News)
Velasco’s personal highlight was a 24-21 quarterfinal playoff upset of Maine South after the Panthers trailed 14-0. He caught two TD passes and had his fourth pick-six of the season.
“I’ve seen running backs score three TDs in a game,” Cooney said. “But to have the same kid score two on one side, then one on the other, all being impactful in a quarterfinal. That’s big time.”
That also summed up his season.
Velasco had a NCAA Division II offer last summer from Northern Michigan but has seen an uptick in recruiting, with recent offers from Air Force and Butler. Other schools are calling as well.
Oswego’s Mariano Velasco (10) hauls in a long TD pass against Yorkville in the fourth quarter of a Southwest Prairie Conference game in Oswego on Friday, Sep. 26, 2025. (Jeremy Toney / The Beacon-News)
According to Velasco, making the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association all-state team and playing for the Class 8A state title helped. He projects to be a safety at the next level.
“It got me a lot more traction,” Velasco said of recruiting. “And I got the call from Air Force on the bus to DeKalb.”
The 20-3 loss to powerhouse Mount Carmel stung, but it was the fewest points the high-powered Caravan scored this season.
“Just like Maine South, we had nothing to lose and were able to hang with them,” Velasco said. “Things just didn’t go our way.”
