Brother Rice qualifies for playoffs with 42-21 win over St. Rita

CHICAGO — Conner Stack just wanted to do his part against St. Rita on Friday night.

Momentum felt like it slipped away from Brother Rice in the third quarter and Stack knew if he did his job on punt defense, he could make a difference. Stack’s dedication paid off when he forced a fumble on a punt return and swayed the momentum back to the Crusaders, who went on to win 42-21 to qualify for the IHSA playoffs.

“We needed momentum,” Stack said. “I feel like I’m good at that. I needed to help the team out in a big way and I did.”

Brother Rice (5-4, 1-2 CCL/ESCC Blue) had just given up the lead for the first time in the third quarter when St. Rita scored on a 61-yard pass from Jett Hilding to Jimmie Maxson III to give the Mustangs a 21-20 lead with 9:55 left in the third quarter. The Crusaders offense failed to respond and decided to punt after going 3-and-out before Stack swayed the game for good.

Stack shed his block on the line of scrimmage and ran to the Mustangs punt returner, who Stack didn’t see wave fair catch. He laid out a hit and forced a fumble, which the Crusaders recovered.

Brother Rice went on to score on a one-yard run from Marcus Brown to take a 27-21 lead with 5:16 left in the third quarter.

“He’s one of those guys who can just make things happen,” Brother Rice coach Casey Quedenfeld said about Stack. “He scored on special teams earlier this year, retrieving punt blocks and stuff like that. A play like that from Conner doesn’t shock me at all.”

The Crusaders kept the momentum and went on a 5:32 drive to start the fourth quarter and scored on a 14-yard run from Brown to make it a 35-21 Brother Rice lead with 5:27 left in the game. Randall Nauden made it 42-21 when he scored on a 56-yard run with 2:08 left in the game.

Brown completed four of his five passes for 48 yards while Ryan Hartz completed seven of his 11 attempts for 119 yards. Nauden rushed for 222 yards, scoring three times.

Despite how many different times Brother Rice faced obstacles Friday, the Crusaders knew they could overcome them if the responded together.

“It’s football, plays are going to happen,” Nauden said. “The other team is going to make plays, it’s about how we respond. I feel like we did a great job responding tonight.”

St. Rita (5-4, 0-3 CCL/ESCC Blue) responded from an early 17-0 hole in the first half when Hilding found Maxson for a 37-yard touchdown pass to make it a 17-7 Brother Rice lead with 10:44 left in the second quarter and a 17-14 lead when DJ Stewart scored on a two-yard run with 4:46 left in the second quarter.

“We needed momentum. I feel like I’m good at that. I needed to help the team out in a big way and I did.”

—  Conner Stack, Brother Rice junior

But Hilding left the game with an undisclosed injury toward the end of the third quarter and the Mustangs couldn’t build momentum. Hilding completed seven of 14 passed for 195 yards and two touchdown while Stewart ran for 70 yards.

Mustangs coach Martin Hopkins wasn’t sure whether Hilding’s injury would keep him out of the playoffs but he knew the team needed to play better than it did Friday if it wants to advance far in the playoffs.

“Tonight we didn’t play our best football trying to get ready for the playoffs,” Hopkins said. “That’s kind of the frustrating part: We made a lot of mistakes, self-inflicted wounds put us in that situation. This time of year, doing that, you’re not going to win football games.”

Both St. Rita and Brother Rice will wait to see who they’ll play in the first round of the playoffs. The Crusaders won their last two games of the season and overcame numerous injuries to make the playoffs.

Now they’re ready to keep that momentum going in the postseason.

“Everyone has to play us,” Stack said. “We’re going to give everything we have. The goal is state.”