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The Jerseyville High senior was only 3 years old when his younger brother Mark died of cancer.

"I sometimes feel like I have a memory of being there in the hospital with him," Blake says. "But, then I think maybe it's just me imagining what it was like."

Actually, Mark's image is alive and well — through Blake.

A three-sport standout, Blake lives every minute of his life to honor the brother he never got to know.

Wittman will go down as one of the most decorated wide receivers in the long history of Jerseyville football. He departs with eight school records, including career receiving yards (2,760) and career touchdowns (27). He also set school marks in receptions in a season (75) and a game (13).

The 6-foot-2, 185-pounder is a baseball and basketball standout as well. A true big man on campus, he is admired by all the different social groups around school.

But Wittman's biggest accomplishment is keeping the memory of Mark alive. Mark died from Neuroblastoma at age 2 in Dec. 2003.

"I just want him to shine through me," Wittman said. "He never got a chance to play sports and do things like this, so I feel like he's there right with me in everything that I do."

Wittman's prize treasure is not a trophy, ribbon or letter on a jacket.

It's his cell phone where the screen saver displays a picture of Mark and Blake together dressed in St. Louis Rams football uniforms as toddlers.

"I use my phone so much, see it every day," Wittman said. "And I smile every time I look at it."

The tragedy helped Blake grow up fast. It also gave him drive to succeed in every aspect of life.

"It's led him down the correct path," said his father, David. "He takes it to heart and knows that what he does is not just for himself."

Wittman is the typical All-American boy. A straight A-student ranked 19th in a class of 187, he is Jersey's Post-Dispatch Scholar Athlete. Quiet and unassuming, he prefers to lead through example.

"In four years, I don’t think I've ever heard him speak more than 500 words," Jerseyville athletics director Scott Tonsor said. "He's down-to-earth, so unassuming and always smiling."

Blake and his family continue to keep Mark's legacy alive through charity work that involves plenty of friends in the tight-knit Jersey County town of 8,465.

"Everybody here knows about what happened with (Mark) and they've always been good about helping," said Jerseyville senior Jacob Brady, Blake's teammate and close friend since first grade. "He's open about it. When you're faced with something like that sometimes you need help and we are always there for him."

Wittman is heavily involved in a charity aptly named Snow Angels after Mark. The group raises funds for childhood cancer victims in the area.

The charity got its name from Debra Wittman, Blake's mother.

"When he passed, she asked for a sign from God that (Mark) would be OK," Blake said. "It snowed that day even though it wasn't supposed to. That was the sign that he was going to be fine."

Wittman also participates in the national St. Baldrick's Foundation. Volunteers shave their heads annually to raise money for the cause.

An avid hunter and fisherman, Wittman recently signed a letter of intent to play football at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa. He will study physical therapy and hopes to follow in the footsteps of his mom, a therapist who attended the same school.

Athletically, Wittman will leave a mark in all three sports. He helped the basketball team to a 17-13 mark by leading in scoring (14.6) and rebounding (4.9) last winter. An outfielder, he is hitting a team-high .511 with a .711 slugging percentage.

But football was always at the top of his list ever since he took up the sport in the fifth grade.

Wittman will leave a standing legacy at Jerseyville, not just for himself, but for his brother as well.

And that helps complete his goal.

"My family and I will remember him the rest of our lives," Wittman said. "I hope everyone else does, too."