WILMETTE CATHOLIC WINS LAST GAME OF SEASON 26-6 vs. OLPH

Hail to our 8th Graders!!

WILMETTE CATHOLIC WINS LAST GAME OF SEASON 26-6 vs. OLPH

Led by Keenan Ryan's 85 yard interception for a touchdown and Sam Bevenour's three rushing touchdowns, Wilmette Catholic Football ended their last game of the season a victor with a 26-6 win over Our Lady of Perpetual Hope.

Wilmette Catholic's defensive end Colin Richards tipped the OLPH pass allowing Ryan to ramble on his 85 yard interception return to open the scoring.

Bevenour then rushed for 3 touchdowns, rambling for 156 yards on only 5 carries. Thomas Smart was the second leading rusher and threw a head's up pass to Bevenour in the endzone for a successful "point after" attempt after a botched snap. Others contributing to Wilmette Catholic's strong running game included , Brendan Watts, Colin Van Balen, Tom Eberle, Danny Selzer and Ed Weschler.

On defense, Wilmette Catholic's Austin Eichenlaub, Colin Richards, Thomas Smart, John Bouchard and Jack Tamisea combined for forty tackles as each recorded eight tackles a piece. Luke Selzer and Colin Van Balen also chipped in with six solo tackles each. Thomas Smart ended the season as the team's leading tackler while Joe Van Horn lead the league in interceptions. Will Fox was the recipient of the team's "pancake" award given to the team's best block on the season.

Recap of our Final Game of the 2010 Season

Wilmette Catholic's "Air Force" Turns On Afterburners:
Bevenour (100 yds, 1 TD) and Smart ( 57 yds., 1 TD) Lead Inspired Effort vs. #1 OLPH.

by Matt Bevenour

David vs. Goliath.........Wilmette Catholic vs. undefeated OLPH.......but this time the underdog slung footballs instead of stones at their much larger opponent..
Knowing full well that the much larger OLPH football team would control the line of scrimmage making any kind of running game all but impossible, Wilmette Catholic installed their own version of the "west coast" passing offense.....and with good success ! Wilmette Catholic's "Air Force" scored more touchdowns against #1 ranked OLPH than any other team this season ! Although OLPH won the game, Wilmette Catholic played their tails off in tough, smash-mouth football game.

Sam Bevenour got the scoring started with a 57 yard touchdown catch from quarterback Thomas Smart. After leaping high to grab Smart's pass, Bevenour outran the rest of the OLPH team down the right sideline giving Wilmette Catholic their first touchdown on the day and a much needed boost to the team spirit along the sideline.

Thomas Smart then proved that not only could he THROW the ball for a touchdown, but that he could also CATCH the ball for a touchdown as well. With Keenan Ryan at quarterback and facing a tough 4th down and a long 19 yards to go for a first down, the Wilmette Catholic "Air Force" went to work. Ryan took the snap from center Joey Modica and dropped back faking a pass to decoy Sam Bevenour. As OLPH bit on the fake pass to the right, Thomas Smart snuck out of the backfield to the left catching a perfectly thrown ball from Ryan. Smart did the rest on his own outracing the OLPH defenders along the left sideline for a 50 yard touchdown !

Shock and Awe: this was the first time ANY team had scored two touchdowns on #1 ranked OLPH this season........and we were'nt done with our strafing runs yet....

Eddie Trapp almost gave Wilmette Catholic their third touchdown on the day with a nice 28 yard reception and run along the left sidelines - only one desparate OLPH defender was able to trip up Trapp, preventing the touchdown on a terrific effort by Trapp.

As always with a successful air attack, give credit to the Wilmette Catholic offensive line for giving the quarterbacks time to throw the ball. Austin Eichenlaub, Colin Richards, Will Fox and Brendan Watts are the 8th graders providing the leadership on the "O" line. John Bouchard, Jack Tamisea, Joey Modica, Phil Later, Johnny Kitchie, Ed Weschler and Aidan Connolly were also warriors involved in hand-to-hand combat against the huge OLPH defensive line.

On the defensive side of the ball Colin Van Balen , Luke Selzer and Will Fox started at linebacker/ defensive ends and did a nice job of stuffing the OLPH offense, particularly in the 2nd half. The leading tacklers of the game were Sam Bevenour (4 solos), Austin Eichenlaub ,(3 solos) and Colin Richards (3 solos). Johnny Kitchie and John Bouchard each had 2 solo tackles as well.

Although our special teams coverage had a hard time handling the OLPH horses on kickoff coverage, one positive highlight was our OWN kickoff returns with 7th grader Tommy Eberle doing a nice job of catching and returning kickoffs for positive yardage. Other special teams shout-outs go to Danny Selzer and Will Sommer for their kickoff return and kickoff coverage speed , toughness, and containment.

Wilmette Catholic will next play their consolation bracket playoff game this Saturday 11/6 at 12pm vs. OLPH 7th at John's Park in Glenview.

In the post-game team huddle coach Dennis Selzer summed up how pleased the entire coaching staff was of our Wilmette Catholic team that played hard for all four quarters: " You did the 'green' proud today, boys......you did the 'green" proud ! " .