By Danny Durkin ‘23

The Crusaders move onto the quarterfinal round with a dominant win over Collinsville.

Round two of the IHSA Playoffs came back to Brother Rice as your Crusaders went up against Collinsville. It was a big matchup for the Crusaders, but they were prepared to get a good win. Senior Brendan Arnold said, “It was a great week of practice and we were focused the whole week.”

The Crusaders had a pretty good first half, leading 14-0 with a great showing from the defense. Senior defensive end Nick Dorn said, “We came out strong, and we were well prepared for what they were going to do.”

However, Brother Rice knew a lot more work had to be done to secure this win and move on. In the second half, the Crusaders came out on fire. Big touchdowns from Marty O’Keeffe, Owen Lyons and Randall Nauden helped the Crusaders.

More huge plays were made in the game including the Crusaders punt team blocking a punt and Conner Stack picking up the ball, and taking it to the house.

In the second half, the Crusaders really blew the door open, with everyone making plays. Senior James Siegler said, “This was a big win, and it’s big for the team.”

Brother Rice really made a statement with a 44-15 win over Collinsville.