CCL/ESCC notes: Marist coach Mike Fitzgerald treasures ‘really cool’ return to RedHawks sidelines

Saturday was a special homecoming for Marist coach Mike Fitzgerald.

Not only did Fitzgerald make his return to the sidelines for the RedHawks and debut as their head coach. He did it surrounded by his former players and coaches who came to support him in Marist’s 29-16 win over Morgan Park.

“I have a lot of pride in what’s been built there, the foundation, where the program’s at,” Fitzgerald said. “Just being able to come back was really cool.”

Fitzgerald came back to the program as its head coach over the winter after former coach Ron Dawczak stepped down. He had previously been Marist’s offensive coordinator under former coach Pat Dunne for six seasons.

Marist had plenty of strong performances in Fitzgerald’s debut. Senior quarterback Jacob Ritter, who transferred to Marist from Lincoln-Way East after Jonas Williams joined that program, threw four touchdown passes and for 153 yards. Four different players caught a touchdown while senior running back John McAuliffe had 82 rushing yards.

The RedHawks’ defense also came up big in key moments, matching Morgan Park’s intensity. Senior defensive lineman and Iowa commit Brad Fitzgibbon and junior Tommy O’Brien each had five sacks to limit big plays from the Mustangs.

That team performance made Saturday more special for Fitzgerald.

“Anytime the kids’ hard work is rewarded, it’s always good to see,” Fitzgerald said. “It was more about them than me. I’m really proud of the kids committed over the offseason, how we’ve come together as a team and the progress we’ve made.”

The emotions won’t go away in Week 2. The Battle of Pulaski is set between the RedHawks and Brother Rice on Friday.

“I have a lot of pride in what’s been built there, the foundation, where the program’s at. Just being able to come back was really cool.”

—  Mike Fitzgerald, Marist head coach

But Fitzgerald learned as a young coach not to put one opponent over another. Friday will be another game day for Marist.

“It’s about our process,” Fitzgerald said. “The toughest opponent on our schedule is Marist. The way if we can handle our process, specifically the decisions we make, the choices we make and the way we prepare, that’s all we can control. We have to maximize each day.”

Spartans’ defense steps up

St. Francis’ defense stepped up for the Spartans when their offense struggled in the first half of their 27-21 win over Kenwood on Friday.

Although the Spartans allowed a couple touchdowns in the second quarter, St. Francis coach Bob McMillen said taking away Kenwood’s running game secured a season-opening win.

“For us to take away the run from them and make them a little bit one dimensional in the first half, I think kind of slowed down their offense,” McMillen said. “Which helped us propel to a victory.”

A defense carrying the load early in the season as an offense tries to figure things out isn’t a novel concept in any level of football. But McMillen said the defense flew around on the field and made some good plays to keep St. Francis in the game as the offense tried to get its footing.

Senior Ryan Palmeri impressed McMillen by stepping into the middle linebacker role while senior Liam Kolinski had an important interception returned for a touchdown. McMillen also said seniors Seth Valeri and juniors Jalen Carter and Tanner Glock did a good job securing the secondary while senior defensive end Will Alt created constant pressure on the line.

The defense reached another level in the second half once the coaches made some halftime adjustments.

“We just made some small tweaks and just changed some alignments a little bit to where we would have more success,” McMillen said. “Fortunate enough, it seemed to work.”

The Spartans did find a groove once senior TyVonn Ransom came into the game after missing the first half because of a disciplinary issue. St. Francis scored 20 points in the third quarter to put the game away.

McMillen will look for continued growth from his first-time starters like junior quarterback Brady Palmer when St. Francis travels to play Lift for Life Academy in the East St. Louis Classic on Saturday.

“It’s just getting used to the game, getting used to the speed and just being more consistent and not making mistakes that could cost us games,” McMillen said. “So just getting better and having them understand how fast this game is, and how much it changes from that side of things and how big some of these kids are.”

Corsairs’ Trae Taylor makes debut

After much offseason hype, Carmel sophomore quarterback Trae Taylor made his starting debut for the Corsairs on Friday. He lived up to the hype.

Taylor looked poised for much of the first half that he played against Grayslake Central, leading Carmel to a 62-13 win.

“He’s been a multiplier,” Carmel coach Jason McKie said. “He’s been able to make everybody around him better. And I think he really took command of the game in terms of a leadership role, in particular with our offense.”

Taylor’s poise transferred to results. He completed 12 of his 18 pass attempts for 180 yards and four touchdowns. He spread the ball all over the field, making strong short passes while also airing the ball out for deep passes.

Taylor is considered by many to be Illinois’ top quarterback prospect since J.J. McCarthy. Some of the nation’s top college programs like Michigan, Ohio State, Miami, Oklahoma and Ole Miss had already offered him without making a varsity start.

McKie has been impressed with Taylor’s poise since he came to Carmel as a freshman. He’s excited to watch that continue this season.

“He doesn’t really show any signs of frustration,” McKie said. “He just likes to go out there and have fun. And that’s what I saw from the very first snap until the last snap, when we took him out. He was out there having fun with his teammates. He was overly excited to finally get out there and to put his talent on display, to put all the hard work he’s putting on display and that’s what he did.”

Caravan feat broken

New Jersey’s The Hun School did something no team had done against Mount Carmel since October 2021. The Raiders scored 42 or more points on the Caravan defense in their 42-38 win.

Mount Carmel allowed Brother Rice to score 43 points in a tight loss then. The Hun School stuck to the pass Thursday and threw for 465 yards.

“We got beat on a simple concept three times, that’s malpractice,” senior linebacker Matt Mucha said. “That can’t happen. You go in and take responsibility for it.”

Crusaders offense needs more experience

Brother Rice’s new-look offense showed promise in its 50-0 win over Phillips on Friday. Junior quarterback CJ Gray threw two touchdown passes in his first start while senior running back Tyler Lofton rushed in for three scores in the second quarter.

But coach Casey Quedenfeld said the Crusaders is still looking for more consistency from his young group. He said the offense committed too many penalties and needed to get more experience.

“We have an inexperienced group and the inexperienced group only played a half, so we’re still very inexperienced,” Quedenfeld said. “But we’re happy they were energized and eager to play. We still have to figure out who we are offensively so we can capitalize on some things.”

Injury hurts Ramblers’ pass rush

Loyola’s defense suffered a key injury on the first play Saturday’s loss to East St. Louis. Senior defensive lineman Connor Sullivan went down on the first play and didn’t come back in.

Ramblers coach Beau Desherow said that affected the team’s pass rush, including an injury to senior defensive back Micky Maher. Ultimately, Desherow didn’t feel like the injuries decided the game.

“We always go with the next-man-up mentality,” Desherow said. “The guys that came in, they played well. I don’t think it got to them. I think we got beat by a better team.”

Perfect divisions

All the teams from the Green and White divisions had perfect starts to the season. Nazareth, St. Francis, IC Catholic and St. Rita all won their games for the Green while St. Laurence, Montini, Carmel and Fenwick all won in the White.

Teams in the Green won their Week 1 matchup by an average of 6 points and scored an average of 29.5 points per game. Teams in the White won by an average of 48 and averaged 53.25 points per game.

The Vikings were the biggest winners in both divisions, taking down Noble Academy 72-8. IC Catholic won by the closest margin, beating St. Louis’ St. Mary’s 27-26 in overtime.