One of the goals that the Fenwick High School football team set this season was to defend its 2016 Chicago Catholic League Green Division championship.
Mission accomplished.
The Friars realized their goal via an impressive 31-28 win over De La Salle Saturday afternoon at St. Rita in Chicago. The victory improved the Friars’ record to 6-3 (3-1 in the CCL Green) and clinched a share of the conference title with Montini.
More importantly, it marks the first time this season that Fenwick has won back-to-back games on the field as the season started with a forfeit win over Bowen, followed by an on-field victory over Moline. With the state playoffs starting this week, it seems like the Friars are starting to play better ball – a very timely coincidence.
“It feels good to be in the playoffs,” Fenwick coach Gene Nudo said. “We knew we were already in and so we didn’t need to win. But at the same time, this was for a share of the conference championship. It’s nice to get our piece.”
The players are also proud of what they accomplished in the regular season.
“We did a great job,” said senior wide receiver Michael O’Laughlin, who had two touchdown catches against De La Salle. “We started off a little shaky, but we got it together. We’ve got a young group and it was good to see the guys mature throughout the year. Now we’re playing good football.”
Sophomore quarterback Danny Cronin, a talented player who has endured his share of growing pains as a first-year varsity starter, is elated about the team’s regular-season finish.
“Conference champs, there’s nothing better than that,” Cronin said. “It was a great win. Offensive line played great; defense played great. And we picked each other up throughout the game. Our defense picked us up when we were down, and we picked up the defense when they were down.
“All the tools are there for us to make a (post-season) run. We have good running backs, receivers, linemen, and a good defense.”
De La Salle struck first when Rob Simental threw a 67-yard touchdown pass to Frank Ramundo about halfway through the first quarter. Fenwick countered with a Cronin 22-yard touchdown toss to O’Laughlin, but the Meteors regained the lead on a 24-yard TD pass from Simental to Tom Coates. De La Salle led 14-7 after the first quarter.
Fenwick defender Solomon Singleton recovered a De La Salle fumble early in the second quarter at the Meteors’ 44-yard line. Cronin connected with O’Laughlin for gains of 22 and then 32 yards, setting up senior running back Jason Ivery’s 6-yard TD run. Brian Dowd’s PAT tied up the game at 14.
The Meteors responded with an 8-play, 61-yard drive that culminated in Simental’s third TD pass, a 28-yarder to Jameel Stephens. Otis Mayberry’s extra point gave De La Salle a 21-14 lead with 3:15 left before halftime. However, the Meteors missed a chance to pad the lead near the end of the first half as Mayberry’s 43-yard field goal attempt sailed wide left.
Fenwick went three-and-out to start the second half, but immediately got the ball back when the De La Salle punt returner fumbled and Joe Rafferty recovered at the Meteors’ 33. Three plays later, Lucas Kolovitz tossed a 13-yard TD pass to O’Laughlin on an end-around play to tie the game again at 21.
After stopping the Meteors on downs late in the third quarter, the Friars embarked on a 9-play, 83-yard drive to take their first lead of the game. The last play of the drive started the fourth quarter and is a good candidate for Play of the Year. Kolovitz caught a short pass from Cronin, shook off one Meteor defender, broke the tackle of another one, stiff-armed yet another, then dragged still another defender the last five yards into the end zone to give Fenwick a 28-21 lead.
“That was the best touchdown I’ve seen all year,” O’Laughlin said. “The will to not go down and break off six tackles is just an amazing play by an amazing player. The whole team did a great job getting downfield after the catch to ensure the touchdown. Even Cronin was blocking downfield.”
Kolovitz’s sensational effort sparked the Friars’ defense as it got an immediate stop and got the offense the ball back. But then Cronin tossed an interception to Dakota Billskov to gift De La Salle excellent field position at the Fenwick 45.
Three plays later Simental tossed his fourth touchdown pass – a 20-yard strike to Coates. The PAT tied up the game at 28 with 8:28 left in regulation.
The Friars went on a clutch 14-play, 76-yard drive that used up almost seven minutes and ended with Dowd’s decisive 21-yard field goal with 1:33 left in the fourth quarter. Four De La Salle defensive penalties helped the Friars’ decisive drive.
The Meteors made one last charge deep into Fenwick territory, aided by a 46-yard pass from Simental to Stephens.
However, the Fenwick defense stiffened when it mattered most. On a fourth down at the Fenwick 13, the Meteors decided to go for the win instead of kicking a game-tying field goal. The gutsy decision didn’t pay off as Ramundo’s catch on the left side of the end zone was ruled out of bounds.
“It’s amazing to win the conference again,” Rafferty said. We’ve got a good group of guys.”
The Friars took over on downs and ran out the clock.
“There were a bunch of guys that came up big today,” Nudo said. “Lucas Kolovitz, Danny Cronin and Michael O’Laughlin all came up big. Jason Ivery ran like a champ today.
“Defensively, we have guys that will hit you. We’re not as polished as we should be sometimes, but we’re physical. People know that they’re playing somebody when they play us.”
Against De La Salle, Cronin completed 8 of 15 passes for 163 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Ivery (19 carries, 88 yards, TD) and O’Laughlin (5 catches, 101 yards, 2 TDs) led offensively as well. On defense, Jalen Bates had six tackles, Jacob Kaminski 5.5 and Max Forst five. The Friars recovered two fumbles and deflected four passes.
With the regular season concluded, the Friars now turn their attention to the playoffs. To a man, they share the belief of enjoying another extended postseason stay similar to last season’s run to the Class 7A state semifinals.
“We’re more united as a team now, which is exactly what you want going into the playoffs,” Ivery said. “We’re going in on a winning streak. Everyone’s counting us out, but we’re the only ones counting ourselves in.”
O’Laughlin added: “Our primary goal was winning the conference. Now we can focus on the playoffs. We’ve got a great coaching staff. We’ve been there before and we know what it takes. We prepare well, and absolutely we can make a deep run.”
Fenwick faces host Wheaton North on Saturday, Oct. 28 at 6 p.m. in an opening-round matchup of the Class 7A playoffs.
“There are some top-heavy teams in 7A this year,” Nudo said. “We’re happy to be there. To make a run, you’ve gotta get in, and we’re in. Now let’s see what we can do.
“We’ve got nothing to do next week, so we may as well go practice some football.”
