After dealing with a long line of injuries — and with a future in baseball already secured — Brother Rice’s Anthony Cartolano made a decision this summer. He was done with football.
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Cartolano missed most of his sophomore season and all of his junior year of football after breaking his right arm twice. In August, he committed to play baseball at Northern Illinois. He figured it was time to walk away from football.
His mother, Amanda, talked him out of it just in time.
“I was in the car texting coach (Casey Quedenfeld) and typing, ‘Hey coach, I think I’m just going to play baseball,’” Cartolano said. “I was literally about to click send and I got a text from my mom saying, ‘I think you should give it one more chance.’ I was like, ‘She’s right.’
“I didn’t send the text. I went to a couple practices, and next thing you know, I’m playing football again.”
Cartolano and the Crusaders are equally grateful that text never got sent.
The senior receiver came through with three catches for 80 yards Friday night, including a huge 20-yard touchdown grab that sparked host Brother Rice on its way to a 35-24 Catholic League Blue upset of Mount Carmel in Chicago.
Freshman quarterback Sam Holcomb completed 8 of 15 passes for 155 yards and two TDs and ran for 76 yards and two more TDs on 11 carries for the Crusaders (4-2, 1-1). Defensive star Kameron McGee caught a 33-yard TD pass, while Cayden Stewart had a fumble recovery.
“They have a lot of big-time players on their team,” Holcomb said. “We knew we had to step it up and get the job done, and that’s exactly what we did.”
Brady Cloherty completed 25 of 40 passes for 236 yards and two TDs for Mount Carmel (4-2, 1-1). Marshaun Thornton finished with 11 catches for 110 yards and a TD, while Michigan recruit Tavares Harrington added an interception.
Mount Carmel led 17-7 with 28 seconds left in the first half when Cartolano caught a 20-yard TD pass from Holcomb to give the Crusaders a boost heading into the locker room.
Cartolano was extra fired up for Friday night.
In addition to the arm breaks — the second of which kept him out for the baseball postseason his sophomore year — he suffered a broken hand this spring that again knocked him out for the playoffs.
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With Cartolano on the bench, Mount Carmel beat the Crusaders 11-1 in a Class 4A sectional final in June.
“What Mount Carmel did to us in baseball, kicking our butts like that, I didn’t like that,” Cartolano said. “This was personal for me.”
Brother Rice carried the momentum from Cartolano’s big play into the second half, when Holcomb ran for two TDs. Holcomb’s 33-yard TD pass to McGee with 3:06 left in the third quarter gave the Crusaders the lead for good.
Quedenfeld wasn’t surprised to see Cartolano provide the spark.
“These seniors didn’t lose a game their freshman year and if you would have asked me then who the best players were on that freshmen team, it was (Notre Dame recruit) Brayden Parks — that was very obvious — and Anthony Cartolano,” Quedenfeld said. “Cartolano scored 14 touchdowns as a freshman. He’s had tough breaks.
“I told him to stay away from football last year. I said, ‘Don’t even talk to me.’ I told him to take care of his baseball stuff this summer. He didn’t practice with us until August. He’s still a bit out of shape. But he’s a warrior.”
One who’s glad he listened to his mom.
“Football’s been my first love,” Cartolano said. “I was always a football-first guy. It’s going to hurt once I stop, but right now, all I’m focused on is playing Brother Rice football and kicking butt.”