As a junior, Luke Rolando is in a unique position for St. Edward. He’s in his first full season starting at quarterback.
In the spring, Luke backed up his brother, Zeke. He plays under the watchful eye of Mike Rolando, his father and St. Edward’s coach.
That’s a lot of family time.
“I’m good with it,” Luke said of being the quarterback, a prime-time role. “I got some reps on varsity last year, so I’m pretty comfortable in it right now.”
Rolando is off to a 1-1 start this season following Saturday’s 26-14 loss to Taylorville, but he’s also growing into the position.
Last season, Rolando got more reps than most backups as Zeke nursed a leg injury all spring. In addition to playing a whole game against IC Catholic and half the game against Aurora Central Catholic, Luke took the reins in practice.
“He took every practice rep, which I think was good for his experience here,” Mike Rolando said. “He’s confident. He runs the team well. I’m super proud of him.”
Luke Rolando was at his best Saturday during both scoring drives for the Green Wave.
In the second quarter, he led St. Edward on a 13-play, 66-yard drive that took 6 minutes and 26 seconds off the clock before Deryious Smith delivered a 9-yard touchdown run that cut Taylorville’s lead to 12-7.
In the third quarter, Rolando helmed another long scoring drive, this one covering 88 yards on 13 plays in 7:57. The big play was a 36-yard pass to Carson Busto on third-and-18 that kept the drive alive.
Joseph Betancourt ended the drive with a 15-yard TD run, whittling the deficit down to 19-14.
“We did everything we could,” Luke said. “I did my best to get around them, make some plays happen. Everyone gave it their best effort. I just did my best, like I always do.”
Mike Rolando expects to see more of those flashes as extensive practice time turns into actual varsity experience.
“Luke just needs to become more of a seasoned quarterback,” Mike said. “What he does really well is run the offense, understands the game. He’s a great leader of the offense.
“He’s just got to get experience throwing the ball against a varsity defense, and that just comes with reps.”
One advantage Luke Rolando has? Unlike Zeke, who’s now a receiver at North Central College, quarterback is his natural position.
In addition, playing for his father has some perks since he can act like a coach on the field.
“He’s a kid I can count on to change plays,” Mike said. “He audibled a couple times (Saturday), changed plays. He just understands what we want to do.”
Rolando is growing along with St. Edward’s offense. He can count on fellow juniors in Betancourt and Smith in the backfield and Busto, Nico Maloney and Timmy Warner on the outside.
“I’m really close with all these guys,” Luke said. “We trust in each other. They believe in me. I believe in them.”
For the rest of this season into the next, Mike Rolando gets a front-row seat to his son’s career, which is a rare occurrence.
“Just being able to talk football with him, watch football with him, watch film with him, he gets it,” Mike said. “He wants to be a quarterback.
“I’ve been doing this 17 years. It’s neat to have your kids come through, but really all of these kids are like my kids. Over the years, you love all of them, but it’s fun to have him.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.