High school football: Legnaioli does it all for Richmond-Burton

RICHMOND – Whether it’s the football field, the basketball court or the track, Richmond-Burton rising junior Nick Legnaioli belongs.

“He’s a kid who understands athletics well,” R-B football coach Mike Noll said of the three-sport athlete. “He’s got good aptitude. By that I mean: He understands on the football field where to put himself to be successful.”

So Noll was not surprised by Legnaioli’s kicking success last season.

When the Rockets called on Legnaioli to kick a 27-yard field goal with less than two minutes remaining in a tie game during the Class 4A state quarterfinals against Coal City last fall, there was no panic in the then-sophomore kicker.

Looking back on it now in the heat of summer with football camp underway, Legnaioli said those situations are what he lives for as a kicker.

“The pressure at the end of the games,” Legnaioli said. “It’s fun. Everyone has their eyes on you and you have to make sure you make it.”

Teammate Logan Hutson had little doubt Legnaioli would make what proved to be the game-winning kick.

“He booms it, for sure,” said Hutson, a senior receiver and defensive back. “I was confident. I didn’t think he was going to miss it at all.”

Legnaioli made that kick to send R-B into the state semifinals with a 17-14 win and he was later selected the Northwest Herald First-Team All-Area kicker. He made 7-of-8 field goal attempts and 27-of-28 extra points in 2018.

He grew up playing soccer, which led naturally to kicking on the football field. Legnaioli said he quit soccer after eighth grade because it overlaps with football at the high school level.

And as Noll said, he’s an athlete. He rushed for more than 400 yards on offense and pulled in four interceptions as a defensive back.

“He plays defense, he plays offense, he runs back kicks,” Noll said. “[Kicking] is just another thing that he does. In that sense, he’s a bit of a throwback. I like him because you’re sending a kid out there who – he can miss, just like anybody else – but it isn’t because of nerves. He’s comfortable in that spot.”

As a defensive back, he also had 67 tackles in 2018. He had two interceptions in a regular season win over Woodstock, and a key interception in a second-round playoff win over Genoa-Kingston.

Defensively, Hutson is most impressed with Legnaioli’s speed in the secondary.

“When he goes from one side of the field to the other, it’s crazy,” Hutson said. “He’s so fast. That’s the thing. That’s why he gets to the places he does, because he’s really fast.”

Legnaioli flashed that speed on the track this spring. He was a member of the Rockets’ state-qualifying 4x100- and 4x200-meter relay teams. Legnaioli also played for the sophomore basketball team last winter.

As he was last year, he should be all over the field this fall for R-B.

“Whatever the team needs,” Legnaioli said. “I’ll try to step up and do my best.”