Nazareth Academy nearly allows huge lead to slip away
BY RICK BEHREN Contributor September 19, 2011 8:16PM
Nazareth's Joshua Moore breaks a run, during the Roadrunners' contest against St. Patrick Saturday. | Steve Johnston~for Sun-Times Media
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Updated: November 10, 2011 12:49PM
Nazareth Academy averted a second-half disaster, sidestepping costly turnovers and untimely penalties to hold off St. Patrick 35-32 in LaGrange Park Saturday afternoon.
The Roadrunners (3-1, 2-0 East Suburban Catholic Conference) ran all over the Shamrocks (3-1, 1-1) in the first half and built a 35-13 halftime advantage — thanks to 291 yards and five touchdowns, all coming on the ground.
But the Shamrocks were not about to go down quietly, and Nazareth head coach Tim Racki said he wasn’t surprised by St. Patrick’s comeback, warning his team in the locker room that the game was far from over.
“I’ve been in this situation before (with a big halftime lead), and tried to prepare them at halftime and tell them not to relax. I guess I didn’t do a very good job,” Racki said. “I knew that team was not going to give up because they have an explosive offense. So I wasn’t surprised, I was just hoping we would quit hurting ourselves with the turnovers and penalties, and I think we panicked a little bit. We have to work on that. We had a chance to close the deal, but St. Pat’s is a great team. They came in undefeated, so we learned some lessons. And it’s a win, so we’ll take it.”
After falling behind 7-0, as St. Patrick scored on its first possession — the four-play drive culminated in a 14-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Ryan Tentler to senior wide receiver Anthony Ferraris — the Roadrunners struck back, putting the ball in the end zone the first two times they had the ball.
Nazareth senior QB Sam Poulos completed a six-play, 82-yard drive with an 8-yard touchdown scamper to tie the score at 7-7. With under a minute left in the opening period, the Roadrunners again scored on the ground, as senior Kevin Kurtin’s TD made it 14-7.
St. Patrick scored early in the second quarter on a 3-yard TD run by receiver/back Guy DiBalsamo. But a missed point-after attempt prevented the Shamrocks from tying the score, which came into play later in the contest.
Nazareth then ran its way to three more rushing touchdowns — a 38-yarder by junior Rudy Romagnano, a 1-yard plunge by Kurtin and a 15-yard Romagnano romp — to pull ahead 35-13.
After a scoreless third quarter, St. Patrick began to mount its comeback on the first play of the fourth, as Tentler found Ferraris from 23 yards out with just 15 seconds gone in the final stanza. A 2-point conversion try was no good, leaving the score at 35-19.
The Shamrocks’ Tom Rahlfs intercepted a Poulos pass on the Roadrunners’ next possession, and St. Pat’s wasted no time in capitalizing. Tentler hit Ferraris with a 29-yard strike for his second TD in under two minutes, and his third of the game.
Romagnano broke free for a 54-yard run the next time he touched the ball, setting the Roadrunners up for another possible score at the 5-yard line. But a fumble by Curtin in the end zone on the next play turned the ball over to St. Patrick.
After an unsuccessful fake punt by Nazareth the next time it had possession, Tentler found a wide open Steve Galiardo for a 59-yard touchdown on the first play of the drive, drawing St. Patrick within 35-32 with 2 minutes, 54 seconds left to play in regulation.
But the Roadrunners were able to run out the clock and hang on for the win.
Romagnano led the ground onslaught with 207 yards on 14 carries, with two touchdowns.
“We learned we have to come back hungry in the second half even when we have a big lead,” Romagnano said. “We can’t let a team, especially one with a potent offense like St. Pat’s, get back into the game like that. We have to play hard and not let up the whole 48 minutes. They’re a big team, but we’re quicker, so I think we used that to our advantage.
“I just tried to keep my legs moving, keep pounding the ball, and my line made me some big holes and led me to the end zone.”
Tentler was just as spectacular for the Shamrocks with his arm, completing 31 of 44 passes for 383 yards and four touchdowns. He hit 13 of his first 14 passes in the opening quarter and finished the half 16-for-20 for 158 yards.
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