If Providence center Jake Renfro ever needs some brushing up on his blocking technique, he doesn’t have to venture very far.

Maybe to the living room of his house in Homer Glen.

Renfro’s father, Rick, was an offensive lineman at Illinois, where he played in the Liberty and Rose bowls in the early 1980s.

“I’ve learned the whole game of football from my dad,” Jake said. “He’s been my coach pretty much since third grade.”

A couple of years ago, Jake was able to watch his father in action at Illinois via YouTube.

He was impressed.

“He always told me stories of when he played,” Jake said of his dad. “But to sit down with him and watch him, yeah, he was the real deal.”

The same can be said of Jake.

“He could play anywhere on the offensive line,” Providence coach Mark Coglianese said. “But he’s so vital to us at center. He makes checks and calls on the line and he’s so accurate with his snaps. He’s an impressive young man.”

Renfro also serves as the long snapper on special teams. Coglianese recalled a time earlier this season when Renfro sped down field and tackled the return man.

“Even though Jake is almost 300 pounds, he runs real well,” Coglianese said. “He was one-on-one with the return man and he just engulfed him with the tackle. Jake takes pride in everything he does.”

That includes in the classroom, where he has a 3.92 GPA on a 4.0 scale. He was also voted captain by his teammates as a junior — a rare achievement, according to Coglianese.

Jake’s dream is to follow in his father’s footsteps to Illinois. So far Michigan State, Western Michigan, Miami of Ohio and Cincinnati have been in contact.

“To go play where my dad played and build my own legacy off of his legacy, that would be amazing,” Jake said. “I’m going to wait it out before I make a decision.”

Renfro is confident the Celtics, with quarterback Ryan Manikowski and running backs Aaron Vaughn and Brenden Martus leading the charge, can do some damage in the Class 6A playoffs.

“If we play to the best of our abilities, we can make some noise,” Renfro said.

Old-school approach: Argo coach Tim Connelly is aware spread formations on offense are all the rage at the high school level.

But Connelly, in his first season with the Argonauts, is more concerned about what fits his personnel.

And for Argo, that means running a flexbone offense, which relies heavily on the run and the quarterback making sound decisions.

“Looking at all the tape from previous years, we were giving opponents four or five extra possessions,” Connelly said. “We had to change things up. Not every team is a spread team. The flexbone has worked for us.”

It certainly helps to have a fleet-footed quarterback such as junior Alex Harris and a powerful fullback in 6-foot, 260-pound senior Quajae Jones.

“Alex is so quick,” Connelly said. “If he catches the corner, he’s gone.”

Connelly was very familiar with the flexbone, having run it during his playing days at Augustana.

He hopes the flexbone helps the host Argonauts pull off the upset Friday against Shepard. A win would make Argo eligible for the playoffs at 5-4.

It would mark quite a turnaround for a program that has one playoff appearance in the last 16 seasons.

Win or lose Friday, Connelly is optimistic about the future.

“We have good numbers on our lower levels,” he said. “Things are changing. We’re making strides.”

Did you know? Former Eastern Illinois coach Bob Spoo, who died Monday at age 80, graduated from St. Rita. He retired in 2011, compiling a 144-131 record over 25 years with the Panthers.

pdisabato@tribpub.com

Twitter @disabato