‘2 dudes’ key win
Love, Evans help Nazareth capture 3rd title in 5 years
CHAMPAIGN — It’s a question that has stumped defensive coordinators facing Nazareth all season: Do you try to stop Michael Love, Diamond Evans or both?
St. Charles North coach Rob Pomazak decided on the third option, putting his best defender — Minnesota recruit Tyler Nubin — one-on-one against Love and doubling up on Evans.
“They have two dudes on their team, and we wanted to keep them in check as much as we could,” Pomazak said.
Love and Evans didn’t put up huge numbers in Saturday’s Class 7A championship game at Memorial Stadium. Love finished with 166 all-purpose yards and Evans with 125.
But each had a big play that paved the way for a 31-10 win that gave Nazareth its third title in five seasons.
Love raced 59 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter, and Evans hauled in a 61-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback J.J. McCarthy in the third, turning a 7-3 Nazareth lead into a 21-3 edge.
McCarthy completed 15 of 24 passes for 201 yards, and Nazareth (13-1) got scoring runs from Derrick Strongs Jr. and Dylan Smith.
But the spotlight, as always, was on the senior receiver duo.
“The connection me and Mike have — I really cherish that,” Evans said. “When I get the ball, he blocks for me. When he gets the ball, I block for him.”
The feeling is mutual. “Diamond made the block,” Love said of his touchdown.
“He’s probably the best blocker in the state as a wide receiver.”
Nubin won’t argue the point. “Both of those guys are real physical, very athletic,” he said. “They made me raise my game tonight.”
Love, Evans and the rest of a large Nazareth senior class did the same for McCarthy.
“To make all these seniors smile like that was my main goal,” McCarthy said.
Ditto for coach Tim Racki, who won his third state title at Nazareth to go with four at Driscoll.
“This has been very emotional for me personally,” Racki said.
“I’ve never coached this number of seniors on the varsity level for so many years. To see them go out on top after (finishing second) last year — this has been on our minds since the Sunday of state week.”
St. Charles North, which hadn’t been past the quarterfinals before, got a titlegame-record 53-yard field goal from Luke Barresi.
“It’s pretty awesome, I’m not going to lie,” Barresi said.
“But I didn’t do it alone.”