St. Edward bowls over Riverside-Brookfield
The St. Edward football team installed a wildcat package this week, but the Green Wave version also included blockers built like a bull and a rhino.
The "heavy" wildcat featured 275-pound defensive tackle Kasey Cooke and 6-foot-4, 250-pound wide receiver Brandon Ostrander lined up behind tight end Petey DeWindt (6-2, 185).
The sizable entourage helped pave the way for junior tailback Dwayne Allen, who finished with 194 yards and 2 touchdowns on 43 carries in a 33-7 dismantling of the Bulldogs in a Metro Suburban crossover played in a cool, steady rain at Greg True Field in Elgin on Friday.
Green Wave coach Mike Rolando said he planned to use the new formation in short-yardage situations, but it worked so well he called for it approximately 15 times in 50 offensive plays.
"The kids get excited about little gadgets like that," Rolando said. "It's just a nice little wrinkle: a direct snap to Dwayne and follow the 600 pounds."
"We went to it a little more," Allen said. "We had to play smash-mouth football right into their lines, pretty much."
The victory improved St. Edward to 3-0 for the first time since 2011. The loss dropped Riverside-Brookfield to 1-2.
Allen dented the scoreboard first with a 21-yard scoring run in the first quarter, followed by Joe French's point after kick.
After a short R-B punt, the Green Wave drove 63 yards in 10 plays, capped by Joe Mullen's spot-on touchdown pass to 6-foot-4 receiver Nick Duffy. Also a varsity basketball player, Duffy outjumped the defensive back in front of him and hauled down 6 points.
The Bulldogs struck back with a 90-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by senior Matt Chapp with 18.9 seconds left in the first quarter, but the Wave answered with a 7-play, 54-yard march, capped by Allen's 1-yard touchdown run. He also ran in the 2-point conversion to give St. Edward a 21-7 lead with 9:53 to play before halftime.
The St. Edward defense smothered the Bulldogs all night (122 total yards), highlighted by two red-zone stops in the second quarter. R-B had first-and-goal at the St. Edward 8-yard line, but Chris Kelly made a tackle for a loss on second down, Cooke brought down quarterback Ryan Swift for a 4-yard loss on third down and Augustus Nottolini sacked Swift for an 8-yard loss on fourth down.
One possession later, the Bulldogs were about to score on a running play when the Wave forced a fumble at the 2-yard line that Bryan O'Neill recovered in the end zone for a touchback.
"I feel like the brothers we have out here have the mentality to make those stops, which is really key for us," Kelly said.
"They would bend a little, bend a little but when we got down near the goal lone they would not break," Rolando said of coordinator Marc Rusinko's defense. "The defense played a phenomenal game."
St. Edward led 21-7 at the half and tacked on 2 more touchdowns: a 12-yard scoring run by Allen on third-and-goal from the 12; and a 73-yard scoring strike from quarterback Joe Mullen to receiver Trevor Loewen. Mullen completed 8 of 14 attempts for 250 yards and 2 touchdowns.
The solid win over a school nearly four times its size sets up a showdown next week against old rival IC Catholic Prep.
"We always had IC marked on the calendar," Kelly said. "We didn't want to look ahead, but IC is a big rival. We lost to them last year in a close game and we expect a another close game. We'll get back to work on Sunday."