Brother Rice dominates the trenches to eliminate St. Charles North
Brother Rice is a team built to bully opponents, and that mission was accomplished Saturday.
The Crusaders used a variety of offensive weapons to post a 48-7 victory over visiting St. Charles North in the Class 7A playoffs. Brother Rice (8-2) will host another team from the DuKane Conference, Batavia (8-2), next week in Round 2.
The dominant positions in this one were Brother Rice's offensive and defensive lines. Senior tackle Ethan Posey is listed at 6-feet-4, 304 pounds, and isn't even the biggest player on the Crusaders' offensive front, which helps explains the way things went in this game.
“You look at big C.J. Anderson, our (sophomore) right tackle, he's like 6-8 and you think, 'Where in the world did that kid come from?'” Posey joked. “Chicago's a pretty talented area for offensive linemen, then you get a strength coach like coach (Mike) Cano, who makes them look physically impressive with the size, and that's what we're getting.”
This wasn't a game for gaudy statistics. Brother Rice freshman Sam Holcomb threw for 167 yards in the first half, then sat out as the second half was played with a running clock. The Crusaders scored on a 65-yard punt return by Damari Thigpen and also scored off their own bad snap on a field goal when kicker Anthony Cartolano picked up the ball and ran 13 yards, Chester Marcol-style, for a touchdown.
“Our main goal is to dominate every game,” Posey said. “I think there was a play with Sam in pass protection where all three of their defensive linemen were on the ground, so he had all day in the pocket. That picture right there, we watched it on the sideline, that's exactly what we want to accomplish. Give the quarterback all day to make his plays and basically be playing 7-on-7 back there.”
Brother Rice coach Casey Quedenfeld talked about the process of learning this team's identity, with just three starters back on both sides of the ball.
One move that paid off was moving senior San Diego State commit Carlos Rios (6-6, 310), from tackle to guard, so they could get Anderson on the field. Juniors Joseph Bartozek (6-0, 260) and Tyler Houlf (6-5, 270) are the other starters on the offensive line.
“Then it was figuring out even more micro — the offensive line, what's their identity? What were they good at?” Quedenfeld said. “We kind of mixed and matched for four games and finally stumbled upon our best five for this year, and they've done a good job of grooving together, learning together and ultimately finding their identity.”
St. Charles North (6-5) has been a scrappy team all year but just couldn't find the leverage to make a stand in this game. The North Stars scored on a 39-yard run by Josh Wilkerson in the fourth quarter.
Quarterback Landon Conroy threw for 99 yards with no turnovers and was sacked five times. He left the field after the final sack late in the game but said later he was OK. Senior defensive end Braden McPheeters, who had a sack in the first half, left with an injury and spent the second half on crutches with an ice bag on his left knee.
“We didn't really care about their size, we came into it just looking at, 'Remember your steps, remember your fundamentals,'” Conroy said. “Even though the score didn't say so, I'm so proud of every one of my teammates because we were able to move the ball up and down the field. Even though we were such big underdogs, proud of the way we were able to handle that.”