Nazareth skips waiting this year, becomes playoff eligible in blowout win over St. Rita

CHICAGO — Nazareth players ran to their fans in the visiting bleachers of St. Rita’s Doyle Stadium on Friday night and started to celebrate.

The Roadrunners had just beaten St. Rita, 45-21, in a pivotal win in the CCL/ESCC Green race. But they also did something that hadn’t been done over the past couple of seasons.

Nazareth picked up its fifth win of the year, earning an at-large playoff berth before Week 9.

“It means everything,” Nazareth senior quarterback Logan Malachuk said. “We’re 5-1, it’s the best start I’ve had here in my four years. It definitely means a lot to be in this position.”

It’s not that the Roadrunners (5-1, 2-0) haven’t accomplished a lot under Malachuk’s helm. They had two historical runs to win back-to-back Class 5A state championships after qualifying for the playoffs in Week 9. But Nazareth was motivated to earn win No. 5 Friday in a matchup between two of the top teams in the state.

After leading 17-14 at halftime, Nazareth turned the game’s momentum on its first drive of the second half. Malachuk found junior Jake Cestone for a 73-yard touchdown to give Nazareth a 24-14 lead with 10:38 left in the third quarter.

Nazareth broke the game open with its next two drives. The Roadrunners made it 31-14 with 5:54 left in the third quarter when sophomore Charles Calhoun rushed in for a 9-yard touchdown. Malachuk hit junior Trenton Walker for a 50-yard touchdown pass to make it 38-13 with 1:19 left in the third.

Sophomore Dylan Wellner picked off a pack on the Mustangs’ next drive and returned it for a touchdown to make it a 45-14 lead with 36 seconds left in the third quarter.

Malachuk completed 14 of his 19 passes for 255 yards and three touchdowns. Walker caught six passes for 137 yards and two touchdowns while Cestone brought in four catches for 99 yards. Junior Lesroy Tittle rushed for 70 yards on eight carries and had a touchdown while Calhoun carried the ball 10 times for 46 yards.

Both Malachuk and Nazareth coach Tim Racki credited the running attack for opening things up offensively.

“When you have a run game that’s starting to take off more and more, everyone knows what we have in the passing game, it opens that up, which you saw tonight,” Racki said. “I credit our offensive line for opening up the run game, which in turn opened up our pass game. We just exploded. I didn’t see that coming.”

The Roadrunners defense took St. Rita junior quarterback Steven Armbruster and the Mustangs out of rhythm in the second half. St. Rita added a touchdown in the second half after moving the ball down the field on the ground and through the air in the first half.

“We figured if we could do some stunts, containing him but also confusing the line to put a little bit more pressure on the quarterback to either hurry the throw or get the sack,” Racki said. “It worked like a charm.”

Armbruster started the game for the Mustangs (4-2, 1-1) with a bang when he completed a 54-yard pass to Walter Jones on their first drive. Armbruster found senior Thomas Perry for a touchdown in the second quarter while sophomore Brandon Johnson Jr. rushed in for a 5-yard score in the fourth quarter.

“It means everything. We’re 5-1, it’s the best start I’ve had here in my four years. It definitely means a lot to be in this position.”

—  Logan Malachuk, Nazareth senior quarterback

Armbruster completed 10 of his 16 passes for 132 yards while Jones had 106 receiving yards on three catches. Senior Nick Herman had 67 rushing yards on five carries but left early in the second quarter with what St. Rita coach Martin Hopkins called a lower-body injury.

Hopkins said the Mustangs made too many mistakes against a talented Roadrunner team in the second half.

“Great teams take advantage of mistakes,” Hopkins said. “That’s what they did.”

The Mustangs will play Leo on Friday to start the final third of the season while the Roadrunners will have a bye week and earn a sixth win since De La Salle suspended the rest of its season.

With a playoff berth earned earlier than usual, Malachuk is enjoying the moment. But that doesn’t mean Nazareth is changing its approach down the stretch.

“Just keep going,” Malachuk said. “Nothing different, like I said, just like any other football game. Just try to get into the playoffs 8-1 and see what happens then.”