The hall of James
Big block on 94-yard kickoff return touchdown helps St. Rita slip past Providence
Early in Thursday night’s game, St. Rita’s Kyle James scored a memorable touchdown on a 42-yard screen pass.
The senior running back/defensive back also made an unforgettable interception in the end zone with eight seconds left.
But perhaps the most important play he made came on special teams — and he completely brushed it off afterward.
Behind a big block from James, junior B.J. Hall returned a kickoff for a 94-yard TD with 11:33 remaining. That turned out to be the final and winning points, giving the Mustangs a 33-28 CCL/ESCC Green win over Providence in Chicago.
The win gave St. Rita (2-1, 2-0) at least a tie for the conference championship.
“Scoring the touchdown was my only option,” Hall said. “In the locker room, coach (Todd Kuska) said we had to come back and come back strong. When I saw the ball in the sky, I had a good lane.
“I took it and got a good block from Kyle.” James, a University of Chicago recruit and Hall’s longtime friend from playing youth football together for the Dolton Bears, shrugged off the block.
“I don’t even remember it, man,” James said. “It’s all him — it was his return. And there’s more to come with this guy.”
On a night of big plays, James played a big part in three of them. His favorite, however, was the interception when the Celtics (1-2, 0-1) were driving in the last 20 seconds.
“You know that it ends the game and you go home with the ‘W’,” James said. “It’s all about the ‘W.’ I’m grateful to get out of there with a win.”
This was the Mustangs’ final home game of the abbreviated six-week season. They have road games left against Marian Catholic, Benet and Notre Dame.
St. Rita also kept its offensive momentum going.
After opening with a 7-3 loss to Loyola, the Mustangs scored at will in a 51-13 win over Montini by scoring TDs on six straight possessions after the first drive fizzled. Heralded junior Kaleb Brown broke the ice with a 71-yard run on the second possession and released the floodgates for the rest of the offense.
Brown hauled down a 67-yard pass from quarterback Tommy Ulatowski to start the scoring in the first quarter against the Celtics and had a 60-yard run in the third. Ulatowski also threw the TD pass to James and a 52-yarder to Isaiah Bragg, finishing with 189 yards and three TDs.
On defense, Djabril McNabb delivered three solo sacks and assisted on two others.
Providence coach Mark Coglianese earned his 100th career victory with a 7-0 Week 2 win over Notre Dame, but combined with a 28-7 loss to Brother Rice in Week 1, the Celtics had scored just two TDs in eight quarters.
Offense didn’t figure to be easy to come by against St. Rita. In 2019, the Celtics averaged 29 points a game but were stopped 22-0 by the Mustangs in New Lenox.
Providence did break out a bit offensively as quarterback Kevin Conway completed 30 of 39 passes for 368 yards with TD tosses to Jameson Geers, Brayden Garrigan and Michael Alverado, who had two.
Despite Providence’s previous struggles on offense, Kuska knew this was going to be a tougher game.
“Gosh, yes, it’s Providence and it’s a Catholic League football game,” he said. “Both teams took shots, and we were the last ones standing.
“It’s Friday night ... well, it’s Thursday night football in the Catholic League. It’s two storied programs battling it out. It must have been a good game to watch. It wasn’t a fun game to coach.”