Nazareth football coach Tim Racki said it felt like the sad end of a movie as his team came up just short in a 28-21 loss to Prairie Ridge in the Class 6A state championship game Saturday in DeKalb.
But if the season indeed was a movie, it might have an exciting sequel next fall. The Roadrunners have plenty of talent returning and are poised for another promising campaign.
But it might take a while for the pain of Saturday’s loss to subside.
Nazareth (12-2) drove 67 yards in less than a minute and had the ball at the Prairie Ridge 13-yard line with a chance to tie the game in the closing seconds. But Prairie Ridge senior defensive back Drew Norton picked off Roadrunners senior quarterback Bobby Grimes in the end zone on the game’s final play.
“I was convinced we were going to score. I think the whole sideline was,” Racki said. “When the end is so abrupt and sudden, it was like a movie. You look up and you’re hoping you have one more play, but you see the zeroes (on the clock) and it’s over.”
Prairie Ridge (14-0) repeated as Class 6A state champions. The Wolves kept the ball on the ground and mostly in the hands of senior quarterback Samson Evans, an Iowa recruit.
Evans attempted just one pass but ran 35 times for 155 yards and two touchdowns. He also had a 78-yard punt return for a touchdown and set up his team’s winning score with a 38-yard kickoff return in the fourth quarter.
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“Samson played a heckuva game,” said Nazareth junior defensive back/wide receiver Diamond Evans, a Westchester resident. “We knew what they were going to do, we just couldn’t finish the tackles.
“But I’m proud of my boys. We played hard, came so close that we tasted victory. We just couldn’t finish. But it’s fine: We’ll be back.”
Diamond Evans caught a team-high nine passes for 108 yards, while teammate Michael Love had six catches for 121 yards, including a 30-yard touchdown grab late in the third quarter that tied the score at 14.
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Evans and Love are just two of many key players on both sides of the ball expected to return next season.
Junior Devin Blakley was the team’s top rusher this season, and he had nine carries for 63 yards and a touchdown on Saturday. Junior defensive backs Dylan Smith and David Oglesby also should be back next season.
Though Grimes is gone, the Roadrunners have two highly regarded young quarterbacks on their roster. Nazareth coaches said freshman J.J. McCarthy already has Division I offers, while sophomore Teddy Olander also should be in the mix.
The Nazareth defense included six junior and sophomore starters in addition to two-way junior lineman Nathan Lugo, who got plenty of reps.
“(Next year), we could be really good. Our potential is through the roof,” said Love, an Elmhurst resident. “We could have a special team. I think we can do great things.”
Love said the team’s younger players grew up during back-to-back postseason road victories against state powers Sacred Heart-Griffin and Providence.
“Those were big turning points for us,” he said. “Playing those games helped us improve as people and players.”
Despite the strength of the returning players, the Roadrunners will have to replace a talented senior class. Senior linebacker Wesley Lones was the team’s leading tackler, and Grimes was the leading passer. They’ll also lose senior lineman Isaiah Lee, an Iowa State recruit and the team leader in sacks.
“The juniors, we kind of brought the swag, the energy and speed,” Love said. “But the seniors were more the hard-knocks players, players you don’t really hear about in the newspaper.”
Racki said the senior class provided a lot of leadership, and likely confounded some skeptics.
“People said ‘Well, you have juniors, but I don’t know about the seniors,'” Racki said. “But (the seniors) proved everybody wrong basically by taking the leadership role and getting us to the state championship game.”
State final notes
*Grimes completed 22 of 32 passes for 296 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions.
*Racki took the blame for allowing Samson Evans to accumulate 161 yards on one kickoff return and two punt returns. “Special teams, I got outcoached today,” Racki said. “That’s something I have to learn from and be an example to my players.”
*On defense, Lones led the way with 11 tackles. Senior defensive back Carrillo had seven stops, and sophomore linebacker Riley Theobald had six.
Dan Shalin is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Twitter @Pioneer_Press
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