Confident Concialdi delivers in style
Richie Concialdi wasn't exactly on the fast track to continuing the successful line of Fremd quarterbacks.
He was a "B" teamer as a freshman and didn't even start a game last year for the sophomore team.
Last week he didn't start or play in the first half against Rolling Meadows.
But none of it has shaken Concialdi's belief since the summer he could run Fremd's offense and continue its run of postseason appearances.
And on a rainy Friday night at Barrington suited to running the ball, Concialdi did more than just hand off to let Evan Wright do his thing.
Concialdi passed a big test as he completed 10 of 14 passes for 164 yards and a touchdown as six-time defending Mid-Suburban West champion Fremd rolled to a 35-14 victory.
"Richie grew up a little bit tonight," said Fremd coach Mike Donatucci after his team improved to 5-0 to become playoff eligible for the 15th consecutive year.
"From the first game he was confident in himself," said Fremd senior right guard Michael Rumps. "The biggest thing is his presence in the huddle and his composure - and he's having fun now."
Concialdi exhibited that confidence on Fremd's first offensive play when he hit Jeffrey Diegel for 19 yards. Then he converted a big third-and-8 by hitting Jayme Szafranski for 19 yards at midfield.
It was all part of a 14-play, 92-yard scoring march behind Rumps, Christian Lombard, Michael Metzen, Brian Bobek and Evan Schaeffer which set the tone for Fremd's ninth victory over Barrington in the last 10 meetings.
"We wanted to open up the running game for Evan and the line gave him a lot of room to run the ball," Concialdi said, "and they gave me a lot of protection to throw the ball."
He started the second scoring drive with a 16-yard toss to Szafranski. Then came the dealbreaker for Barrington with just 46 seconds left in the half.
On third-and-6 at the Broncos' 23, Concialdi lofted a beautiful toss through the raindrops and over a defender to sophomore Josh Jyawook for a fingertip grab in the end zone for a 21-0 lead.
"With guys catching the ball like this," Rumps said with a smile, "that helps."
It turned out it didn't hurt Concialdi at all that he didn't play last week's first half after starting Fremd's first three victories.
"Last week probably helped him, sitting down and putting things into perspective," said former Fremd star quarterback and assistant coach Patrick Brown. "He watched a whole lot of film and he's putting the time in now. He did a great job."
Especially with how he responded in the second half of last week's comeback win and followed it with this week's breakout performance.
"He's taken control of the team, and he said he would be a leader at the beginning of the season," Jyawook said. "When Billy (Payne) started (last week) he was encouraging Billy and didn't let it get to him.
"He finally got his chance to play (again) and he stepped up and Billy did the same for him."
That's what successful teams do.
And what Concialdi did Friday night could have a big long-term impact along with Wright's running behind the Vikings solid line and their stingy defense.
"This boosted (my confidence) a lot," Concialdi said. "I feel really comfortable with this team.
"Everyone was telling me I could do this and I knew I could do it from the first game on."
mmaciaszek@dailyherald.com