By Nolan Leonard ’26
Last week, history was made as the Brother Rice Crusader varsity football team culminated a dominant playoff run by defeating our rivals on 79th and Western 16-0 in the IHSA 7A state championship game. Throughout the season, fans tuned in to follow this exciting team and got to know the players and their stories. Fans heard so much about these players, but now I want them to hear about this legendary season from a different perspective.
In addition to being the editor-in-chief of The Standard, I also have been the voice of the Crusaders for the last two years as one of the faces of Brother Rice TV (BRTV). It has been an absolute pleasure to be a part of BRTV football productions these last four years, including calling games for the last three. However, this season was a special one, as I was one of the few seniors who is heavily involved with the club. Just like how football standout seniors lead the way for the younger guys, I have been able to do that up in the broadcast booth.
Like the team, we started our “season” way back in August when the Crusaders played host to Valparaiso who made the trek from the Hoosier state. Brendan O’Connell ‘28, Jack Fratto ’28, and I started the season off with a bang. We had an excellent broadcast in what was a great opening win for the Crusaders against a hapless Vikings squad.
Week 2 saw us play our biggest rival the Marist Redhawks. As many of our readers know we can only stream our home games, and with the game against the Redhawks on the other side of Pulaski, I had to ride my bike with the rest of the Crazies for the most fun 12 minutes of our lives. More than 300 of us caused chaos riding down Pulaski like something out of a movie. I was then granted access by the Marist administration to provide updates to fans from around the globe on BR social media pages.
Oh, and for those that don’t know, we made those Redhawks wish they hadn’t stepped out on the field in what was a breakout game for receiver Lucas Strang ‘27.
Coming off of that statement win, another challenge awaited us. We were back at it in the first of two games against the Mustangs. I spent my time down on the sidelines giving updates again while multitasking and trying to convince prospective St. Rita students to give the maroon and orange a try. The Crusaders won this one as well.
Week 4 we played the Loyola Ramblers and for the first time all year were seen as underdogs. However, Bryan Chesley ‘28, Tommy Beverly ‘29, and I certainly didn’t see us that way when making our score predictions on Crusaders Gameday, and the team agreed with us ramblin’ on the Ramblers.
Week 5 represented the midway point of the regular season as O’Connell and Shane Lyons ‘28 were like a couple of comedians, keeping audiences entertained. The luck of the Irish wasn’t enough for the Shamrocks with the Crusaders winning 56-14.
Week 6 we traveled to Dante, but I don’t count that one because I was out of town as a Super-Senior leader at the Christian Brothers Action Leadership Conference in New Jersey. If you would like to learn more about that, Max Griffin ‘26 wrote a story about it.
Week 7 the Crusaders made the long trek to Notre Dame of Niles with the Crusaders winning on the field, but both teams winning in life, and our very own Parker Baudo ’28, a member of the Mt. Sion program, and Will Regan ‘26 of Notre Dame, a member of their special ed program, were the honorary captains.
Week 8 was back home, hosting St. Laurence with the Crusaders taking care of business. This was also when Bryan Chesley and I produced our first edition of Chalk Talk.
Week 9 Jack Makuch ‘26 and Ryan Ade ‘28 told us stories from the booth while I was sent down to be the sideline man for the night, informing the public about the big news of the community and giving injury reports. All of this was done on the Marquee Network which was viewed on national television. The game itself set back time to the 1940’s with all the running plays. The Crusaders pulled out a tight one 21-17.
This brings us to the end of the regular season and the start of the postseason. In the first round on Halloween night, the Crusaders obliterated the 28 men who made up the Jefferson High School football team. They made their own history by making the state playoffs for the first time in 30 years, so a big congrats to them. I was on the call for this one with Brendan and Bryan, but I was not Nolan Leonard that night; instead, I was Albert Einstein.
The next game was on the road and the Crusaders, behind 5 rushing touchdowns from Jaylin Green ’26, were able to advance to the Elite 8.
We were back home against St. Charles North and, by this point, the IHSA had decided they would be broadcasting the remainder of the games, so I transitioned to being one of the leaders of the Crusader Crazies. The Crusaders continued to cook with ease as they improved to 11-1.
Then came the semifinals, as the Crusaders were able to continue their quest and punch their ticket to state just as Ms. Pacetti had prophesied way back in Week 2.
Finally, it was state and a rematch against those boys from 79th Street as the Crusaders came out firing. Quarterback CJ Gray ‘26 rumbled into the end zone for six, and the special teams forced a safety out of St. Rita punter Saul Ruiz. More than 200 Crazies took fan buses and another 100 drove. Together, we screamed and hollered, braving the frigid temperatures to watch our brothers make history and collect the final stone on a truly special and remarkable season.
So with that, until next August: time to stop returning punts and start making three pointers, getting strikes, making goals on the rink, winning on the mat, and jumping in the pool as we conclude our fall sports coverage and transition into the winter season.
