Junior quarterback Jett Hilding, who is also a major threat with his feet, knows that opponents usually will be focused on stopping St. Rita’s ground game.
While Hilding complements junior running backs DJ Stewart and Ethan Middleton, he had thrown just three touchdown passes this season entering Friday night’s game.
And that’s where this all started.
“We were talking on Saturday morning saying, ‘They’re going to dare us to pass the ball,'” Hilding said of Prospect. “I had a chip on my shoulder. I worked all week in practice on it, and we got it done.”
Hilding doubled his season total for TD passes, throwing three and running for another as the 12th-seeded Mustangs pulled away late for a 38-21 victory over host and fifth-seeded Prospect in a Class 7A second-round game.
Hilding completed 6 of 12 passes for 102 yards and ran for 78 yards on nine carries for St. Rita (9-2). Stewart piled up 186 yards and a TD on 34 carries, while Calvin Lee had two TD catches.
The Mustangs will take on the winner of Saturday’s game between St. Charles North (9-1) and Hoffman Estates (7-3) in next week’s quarterfinals.
Bradley Vierneisel threw two TD passes and ran for another to lead Prospect (9-2), which also was eliminated by St. Rita in last year’s semifinals.
Hilding threw a 24-yard TD pass to Lee in the second quarter, a 17-yard TD pass to Owen Manning in the third and a 14-yard TD pass to Lee in the fourth quarter.
The final one gave St. Rita a 35-21 lead with just over 10 minutes left.
“We went into this week saying we wanted to pass a lot and that’s what we did,” Hilding said. “My receivers got open going against the man coverage. My line gave me a bunch of time. I just sat back, relaxed and found them.
“It took us a little bit to find our groove on offense, but in the postseason, we’ve definitely got it going.”
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Hilding competed for the starting job in the preseason with senior Michael Collins and the two split time early in the season before Hilding seized control.
“We started out battling, and it was just back and forth every week,” Hilding said. “I kind of had a talk with myself and said, ‘I’m ready to go. I want to make the next step.'”
St. Rita coach Todd Kuska has seen Hilding do just that.
“Kudos to Jett,” Kuska said. “I think he was pretty accurate. We made some big plays. People know we like to run the football and we’re built for that, but we have the ability to throw the ball.”
Lee celebrated his 18th birthday with the two TD catches, including a great one-handed grab in the second quarter.
“We were ready to throw the ball,” Lee said. “We’ve been running a lot this season. We knew our linemen were ready and our quarterback was anxious to throw it.
“I’m blessed, especially with it being my birthday, to have the game I did.”
Illinois recruit Pat Farrell put the finishing touches on the win with an interception and a big sack in the fourth quarter.
“The first half was pretty rough,” Farrell said. “We had a couple mix-ups. In the second half, I feel like the defense really stepped up.
“We were really going at it the last couple drives to shut them out. We didn’t want to give them any hope like we did in the first half.”
Farrell was also pleased with what he saw from the sideline, watching Hilding and the offense flourish.
“That was huge,” Farrell said. “I think that’s the best I’ve seen our offense play this year. I’m really happy as a defensive player to see that. Hopefully, they build on top of that.”
Steve Millar is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.