Brother Rice dispatches St. Charles
By Paul LaTour
Two maddening tendencies were on display for Brother Rice and St. Charles early in their iYRA Tier 1 semifinal match Monday night at Rice.
For the host Crusaders, slow starts again got the better of them. For the Predators, it was the lack of focus and energy that continued to frustrate their coaches.
After jumping out to a quick lead, the Predators couldn’t sustain that energy. Rice roared back for a 39-19 victory that propelled the defending champions into the state championship game at 4 p.m. Monday at the Chicago Blaze facility in Lemont.
“We always start slow,” Rice coach Brian Gilmartin said. “For whatever bizarre reason, it just takes us a while to get into the game and wake up.”
St. Charles struck early. David James scored and Cory Harmon added the kick for a 7-0 lead five minutes into the game. But the 7-0 lead didn’t last long. Two Predator penalties inside their own 10-meter line allowed the Crusaders to tie it. Tony Franchetti scored and Connor Healy added the kick in the 13th minute.
About 10 minutes later Jason Venckus broke free for a run from midfield before getting tackled near the try line. However he was awarded the try when the referee ruled he was brought down illegally. The score and Healy's kick gave the Crusaders a 14-7 lead.
Next, Healy and the Crusaders took advantage of a mistake on the ensuing kickoff from St. Charles. A miss-hit boot sent the ball away from the side loaded with Predator forwards.
Instead Rice's Scott Dempster caught it and pitched it to Pat Sullivan, who pitched it near the sideline to Healy. He took it all the way untouched for the try and a 19-7 lead.
“We got lucky that they kicked the ball to our left side,” Sullivan said. “I got the pass from Scott and just gave it to Healy. He’s been doing that all year. He just runs up the sidelines really fast. That was great.”
The Crusaders added to their lead with Chuck Busking's late try for a 24-7 advantage at the break.
In the second half, St. Charles scored first again and looked like it gained some momentum. Mark Lindholm got across the line to make it 24-12. But any life the try seemed to give the Predators was soon extinguished.
During a three-minute span, Sullivan gave Rice a 29-12 lead before Dan Hendren scored to put the Crusaders firmly back in control. Harmon tallied for St. Charles followed by a Healy try that closed the scoring as the clock ran out.
Healy said the early deficit provided motivation for the Crusaders.
“When people score on us in the beginning like that, that only makes us want it that much more,” he said. “It definitely made us turn it up because our goal is the state championship.”
St. Charles' shot at a fifth Tier 1 title will have to wait. They were undone by a season-long problem with consistency.
“One of the biggest problems we’ve had all season is mental preparation,” assistant coach Andy McPeak said. “Game in and game out we’re not sure which team is going to show up for us. We had a good week of practice coming into this and then it just wasn’t there. It’s mind boggling for us as coaches.”
St. Charles will play for third place vs. the loser of the the Naperville/Morton semifinal. Game time is noon Monday at the Blaze facility.
