St. Edward shares Metro Red title
Reverses, halfback passes and quarterback throwbacks.
St. Edward coach Mike Rolando emptied his bag of offensive tricks in the finale of the shortened 2021 season.
Gaining a share of the Metro Red Division with Chicago Christian with identical 4-0 marks, the Green Wave cruised past Ridgewood 49-6 Saturday afternoon at Greg True Field in Elgin.
The Wave (4-1 overall), who haven't lost a Red Division game, won the title in 2018 and 2019.
St. Edward set the tone on the opening kickoff and never looked back.
After a clever fake handoff, senior Anthony Kirkwood ended up with the ball and rambled unscathed down the sidelines 85 yards for the Wave's first score of the game. After a 2-point conversion by Clem McCullough, the Wave held an 8-0 lead with only 15 seconds elapsed in the contest.
"It was great to start quick," said Rolando, "We wanted to have fun and get all the seniors involved."
Rolando's son senior Zeke proficiently engineered the Wave's offense in his final high school game.
With plenty of protection from his offensive line which includes monstrous senior tackle Tristan Merlin (6-6. 305 pounds), Rolando completed 11-of-14 passes for 238 yards and 5 touchdowns.
"Led by Tristan Merlin, the offensive line gave me plenty of time to throw," said Rolando. "We wanted to come out aggressive and have fun."
Rolando spread the wealth among his running backs and wide receivers.
Senior Liam Pomeroy grabbed 6 passes for 166 yards with TD catches of 10 and 37 yards. The senior also had downfield catches of 51 and 37 yards.
Senior running back Joe Sacco snared 3 passes for 51 yards with TD catches of 21 and 20 yards. Sacco also scored on a 10-yard run.
"We made so much progress this season," said Sacco. "It was just great to have a senior season."
Senior Erik Hill also grabbed a 10-yard TD pass for the winners.
On a quarterback throw back, Rolando caught a 45-yard pass from wing back McCullough.
McCullough spearheaded the Wave's defensive effort with 2 interceptions.
Ridgewood's offense compiled 125 yards of total offense, 108 rushing and 17 passing.
Quarterback Anthony Boccia completed 4-of-9 passes with 2 interceptions,
Boccia scored the Rebels' only TD on a 2-yard run with 10:44 left before halftime.