Call him what you will, but Schuette’s presence and restarts are making him name to remember

EAST PEORIA, Ill. — An ongoing problem throughout the boys soccer postseason has been the inability of public address announcers to pronounce Deakon Schuette’s last name correctly.

During the Class 1A Mendota Sectional, the Quincy Notre Dame senior defensive midfielder was referred to as “Shoot.” In the second half of Friday’s Class 1A state semifinal against Elmhurst Timothy Christian at EastSide Centre, he was called “Schulte.”

He was even misidentified as teammate Jake Hoyt in one instance.

It’s a safe bet Belleville Althoff knows who Schuette is even if no one says his name correctly.

The 6-foot-3 Schuette — phonetically his name is pronounced “Shoo-tee” — delivered two critical restarts that were finished by Tanner Anderson for the first two goals in the Raiders’ 4-1 victory that sends them into the state championship game against Althoff at 5 p.m. Saturday.

“It’s just a blast,” Schuette said while soaking in the postgame atmosphere. “When I have someone like Tanner up top to play the ball to, it’s great.”

The two plays on which they connected were spectacular.

Seven minutes into the game, Schuette — also a placekicker on the QND football team — drove a restart 55 yards in the air to Anderson on the right side of the penalty area. With Trojans goalkeeper Peter Buikema coming off his line, Anderson flicked a header from about 15 yards out that sailed over Buikema and into the net for a 1-0 lead.

“I knew the keeper would come out,” Anderson said. “I heard him calling for it. As long as I got my head on it, I knew I could flick it over him.”

The ball just had to get there.

“At first I thought I hit it too hard,” Schuette said. “(Anderson) made it to the ball, flicked it over and it was nuts. We all just went crazy.”

In the 66th minute, Schuette drove another restart about 47 yards into the box where Anderson again won the header and drove it into the right side netting for a 2-0 lead.

“Deakon put it in a good area, a dangerous area,” Anderson said. “I just got the right head on it, and it found the back of the net.”

Schuette shrugged his shoulders and pointed at Anderson when describing the goal.

“That was all him,” Schuette said. “I just flighted the ball in and he took care of it. He’s just that good. That’s what I mean. When you have Tanner up top, you have someone to rely on.”

All that’s needed is an opportunity.

“I have to get fouled a couple times so I can play the ball to him,” Schuette said.

When that moment arises, Anderson knows to go long.

“Deakon has a big foot,” Anderson said. “He’s a football kicker for a reason.”

A transfer from Quincy High School after his family moved out of district and into rural Adams County, Schuette has helped the football team reach the playoffs and the soccer team reach a state title game. That’s made the adjustment completely worthwhile.

“I’m loving it,” Schuette said. “It was my last year, and I was like, ‘I’m just going to play both.’ I went for everything, and I’m glad that I did.”