Feeling blue all over
Ohio State commit Kaleb Brown and St. Rita lose in 7A final the same day Michigan beats Buckeyes
DEKALB — It was a rough day for both Kaleb Brown’s current and future teams.
Brown’s future team, Ohio State, lost to archrival Michigan for the first time since 2011. Then a few hours later, he hit the field with his St. Rita teammates.
Even though the senior running back/ receiver caught eight passes for 128 yards, the Mustangs lost 35-6 to Wheaton North in the Class 7A state championship game at Northern Illinois’ Huskie Stadium. Two big games. Two big losses.
“I was getting updates on the bus on the way here,” Brown said. “It was kind of like the same situation with us.
“This was rough. They didn’t expect it to end that way, and neither did we. There is a lot of learning to do.”
St. Rita (11-4) knocked on the door twice in the first quarter, moving the ball to the Falcons’ 12 and 16 in the first two drives, but came up empty.
The Mustangs finished as the 5A state runners-up in 2019. It was the fourth state title for Wheaton North (13-1) but first since 1986.
Senior quarterback Tommy Ulatowski, who completed 17 of 36 passes for 189 yards, had a 10-yard touchdown run in the third quarter for St. Rita’s only score.
“It definitely hurts to put together big drives and still see a zero on the board,” Ulatowski said of the early drives.
Wheaton North played the Mustangs to a scoreless draw in the first quarter but scored twice on TD passes in the second quarter as Mark Forcucci connected with Seth Kortenhoeven on a 38-yarder and Casey Morrison on a 29-yarder.
While it appeared St. Rita would head into the locker room down 14-0, the Falcons capitalized with only 2 seconds left in the
by Keefe.
Danny Martisek had two interceptions for the second straight game and also forced a fumble for the Porters.
“The D-line got pressure and he was just chucking it up,” Martisek said of Keefe. “And then it was just me making plays.”
Sajenko, who scored 14 TDs in the playoffs, was held in check by Lockport. He finished with 76 yards on 15 carries.
Senior linebacker Dylan Schmutzler wasn’t surprised by Lockport’s defensive effort.
“We’ve stopped the run game all year,” he said. “We wanted to get after him. We didn’t want him to get any yards. Obviously, that’s not going to happen, but I feel like we shut him down pretty good.
“We wanted to make sure he knew we were going after them. We were calling his name. We wanted to make sure he knew where we were.”
Andrew LoPresti added a 21-yard TD run for Lockport and Gabe Czako, who also earned a third-place medal in Class 3A with the Lockport boys soccer team, kicked a 26-yard field goal.
Nicholas Franciskovich contributed 12 tackles for the Porters.
Hayden Timosciek completed 12 of 22 passes for 116 yards as Lockport completed a journey he first envisioned in junior high.
“A lot of us were on the (Homer) Stallions together and we were always competitive,” Timosciek said. “By seventh and eighth grade, we kind of got a glimpse of what we could be.
“Now five, six years later, we’re state champs.”