Roadrunners look to peak again
Nazareth was supposed to be too young to make a deep playoff run last season. But nobody bothered to tell the Roadrunners, who nearly upset Prairie Ridge in the Class 6A state title game.
‘‘It’s all about peaking,’’ Nazareth coach Tim Racki said. ‘‘Last year, the best thing that happened to us was we got trucked by Marist. That game woke us up. A team could go either way after that. We were completely demoralized. We were outcoached, outplayed by Marist. Instead of feeling sorry for ourselves, we rebuilt everything from the ground up and started peaking. I was surprised. I wasn’t sure how far we would go in the playoffs.’’
All the talent that was allegedly a year away is now older and experienced. There has been one major change, though: The Illinois High School Association’s success-factor rule has bumped Nazareth up to Class 7A.
‘‘We will handle it pretty well,’’ senior Michael Love said. ‘‘I’m not too worried at all. Whether we are 8A or 2A, I don’t think it matters. Any team can bring energy and talent; it just comes down to us playing our hardest.’’
Love is expected to play receiver in college at Bowling Green. He’s a running back, receiver and defensive back for the Roadrunners.
‘‘Michael can play any position in high school football,’’ Racki said. ‘‘He’s a legitimate quarterback if we didn’t have a quarterback, that’s how versatile he is. He could have been a punter. We can put him literally in any spot. He has an off-the-charts IQ. He did a great job this summer leadership-wise.’’
Love’s brother Julian is a star player at Notre Dame, so it was odd that his recruiting took awhile to heat up.
‘‘People think I’m too short,’’ the 5-10 Love said. ‘‘People say I’m too slow. But when they see me in person, it is a whole different story. I bring a lot of electricity, energy on the field. I’m very elusive.’’
The Roadrunners are loaded with offensive weapons. JJ McCarthy will start at quarterback. The 6-2, 180-pound sophomore already has scholarship offers from Cincinnati, Indiana and Iowa State.
‘‘We have a lot of different players that can make plays,’’ said running back Devin Blakley, a Miami of Ohio recruit. ‘‘It isn’t too much pressure on one guy. We are very spread. JJ is pretty accurate, I can run the ball and we have nice receivers.’’
Nazareth has several multisport athletes playing football, something that is increasingly rare across the area.
‘‘We have a lot of them,’’ Racki said. ‘‘[Sophomore running back] Alex Carrillo has really been killing it. He’s an allstate wrestler. He plays safety and running back and has a high motor.
‘‘Louis Stec is another wrestler. He’s going to be a three-year starter. He’s oldschool. He’s going to play defensive line and offensive line. All our wrestling kids are real tough.’’
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