DePaul Preps advances to first-ever IHSA state semifinals with 26-14 comeback win

CHICAGO – Nick Martinez, Juju Rodriguez, Shae Griffith and their DePaul Prep teammates waited eagerly on the east side of the Rams’ field on Saturday afternoon. The Rams watched as the final handshakes with St. Laurence players and coaches took place while the Vikings made their way to the north end zone.

The Rams wanted to wait for everyone to pass, but the Rams had waited 10 years for this moment. They weren’t waiting anymore.

DePaul players sprinted toward the west and weaved their way to the home stands to celebrate with their fans. The Rams had just come back to beat St. Laurence 26-14 in a Class 4A quarterfinal. They reached the semifinals for the first time since the school changed names from Gordon Tech.

“[It] feels like Christmas,” Martinez, a senior, said. “[We’re] so excited, waiting to sprint over to see your best friends that can’t be on the team. It was such an amazing feeling, being part of it with your family, seeing all the blood, sweat, tears we’ve gone through. Everyone deserves it.”

The Rams (9-3) deserved it after an impressive second-half comeback. Trailing 14-0 at the half, DePaul’s defense set the tone by forcing a three-and-out from the Vikings.

Rodriguez gave the Rams a spark on the team’s first second-half drive. He completed a 45-yard pass to junior Matt Osterman, who made an impressive catch to score with 8:41 left in the third quarter.

Martinez tied the game 14-14 with 2:00 left in the third quarter on a 1-yard run before Rodriguez broke through on a 2-yard run to give his team a 20-14 lead with 10:38 left in the game. Rodriguez found Osterman once again, this time for an 18-yard touchdown pass to make it 26-14 with 7:12 left in the game.

Rodriguez completed 11 of his 16 passes for 160 yards while Martinez finished with 118 rushing yards on 23 carries. Osterman caught four passes for 120 yards.

The Rams felt like they were nervous in the first half and couldn’t execute their game plan. Once those nerves went away, DePaul scored 26 unanswered points by sticking to their plan.

“They want me to stay in the pocket and deliver the ball,” Rodriguez, a senior, said. “But they know sometimes the scramble plays come with it, and sometimes they work out for the best, sometimes they don’t. But I guess that’s just who we are as an offense and a part of our game.”

They got a chance to execute that game plan thanks to a strong defensive performance in the second half by the Rams. DePaul made their defensive fronts multidimensional in the second half and the Vikings couldn’t adjust.

St. Laurence failed to pick up a first down in the second half and only amassed 36 total yards in the second half. Griffith forced a fumble in the second half while junior Nick Flom intercepted a pass in the second quarter.

“We came together, we communicated and we bounced off each other,” Griffith said. “Hustling to the ball, 11 hats to the ball. I think every one of us was hustling on that field and we weren’t ready to leave without winning.”

St. Laurence (8-4) looked like it would move on to the quarterfinals for a second straight season after a dominating first half. Senior quarterback Chase Kwiatkowski completed a 10-yard touchdown pass to senior Kyle Richardson to give the Vikings a 7-0 lead with 4:02 left in the first quarter.

Senior Harley Rizzs made it 14-0 when he scored on a 15-yard run with 1:16 left in the second quarter.

“[It] feels like Christmas. [We’re] so excited, waiting to sprint over to see your best friends that can’t be on the team. It was such an amazing feeling, being part of it with your family, seeing all the blood, sweat, tears we’ve gone through. Everyone deserves it.”

—  Nick Martinez, DePaul Prep senior

Rizzs ran for 64 yards on 17 carries while senior Cory Les had 46 on nine carries. But the defensive adjustments were too hard to overcome for the Vikings.

“They made the plays when they had to, we didn’t,” St. Laurence coach Adam Nissen said. “We had too many self-inflicted wounds and penalties and things that we did to ourselves.”

The Rams will play Coal City in the semifinals, with a date and time set to be announced at a later time.

No matter when that time is, the Rams will be ready to continue their longest playoff run in school history.

“[We need to] just keep on working, keep on doing the same old stuff, keep on showing up, keep on working our hardest, that’s about it,” Martinez said. “Keep the passion going.”