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Football: Sam Poulos passes Nazareth past Cary-Grove
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Updated: November 6, 2011 11:11AM
In the first round, Nazareth relied on the legs of Joshua Moore. In Saturday’s second round, it was the right arm of Sam Poulos.
Poulos threw a season-high three touchdowns passes and Nazareth’s suffocating defense shut out Cary-Grove for the first time this season as the host Roadrunners won 24-0 in the Class 6A playoffs. Third-seeded Nazareth (10-1) ended the Trojans’ run of seven quarterfinal appearances in the last eight years.
The 5-foot-9, 185-pound Poulos (8-of-11, 103 yards) threw TDs to three different receivers, but the first one was the most memorable when Aeneas White sprinted past the secondary for a 56-yard TD reception from Poulos on Nazareth’s third play from scrimmage after Cary-Grove’s first possession.
“It was awesome,” said White, who caught his first TD pass of the season. “We [White and Poulos] talked about it before the play started. We knew coming in that it would be tough. Getting off to a great start helped us in the long run.”
The Roadrunners will make their first quarterfinal appearance since losing to Marian Central 34-27 in 2007 and will play second-seeded Prairie Ridge (9-1) or 10th-seeded Glenbard South (7-3) next weekend. Nazareth won its ninth consecutive game and ended sixth-seeded Cary-Grove’s five-game win streak. The Trojans (8-3) lost for the first time since a 28-20 defeat to Jacobs Sept. 23.
Nazareth’s defense, led by linebacker Thomas Gray and safety Kevin Curtin, limited Cary-Grove to 54 yards in the first half, 101 yards total. Quarterback Quinn Baker did not complete a pass in five attempts in the first half and connected with Ryan Mahoney for a 1-yard gain with 1:13 to go in the third quarter for a completion. Baker attempted nine passes in the game and completed only one more pass for 25 yards.
Baker, who entered the game with 1,016 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns, finished with a team-high 65 yards on 20 carries.
“That’s as good as we’ve seen,” C-G coach Brad Seaburg said of Nazareth’s defense. “They played very, very well.”
The Trojans did not reach Nazareth territory until its first drive in the fourth quarter. Cary-Grove drove to the Nazareth 21 until Mahoney was buried for a loss on fourth-and-4. The Trojans had only five first downs in the game.
“Our seniors were an outstanding group this year,” Seaburg said. “We played a lot of big games. You win some and you lose some.”
Matt Ramsey’s 35-yard field goal sent the Roadrunners into halftime with a 10-0 lead. Poulos connected with Sean Maloney on a 12-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter and then a 3-yard touchdown pass to Curtin in the fourth quarter.
“I felt comfortable passing. I had a lot of trust on my offensive line and a lot of trust for my wide receivers,” Poulos said. “I know everybody was doing their job. I try to do mine.”
Nazareth’s leading rusher, junior Joshua Moore, scored a career-high four touchdowns and rushed for 160 yards in a 35-6 win over Deerfield in the first round. He had 133 yards on 30 carries Saturday, but his longest gain was 28 yards. One of the highlights of the game for the Roadrunners came with 3:39 remaining when starting junior running back Rudy Romagnano took the field for the first time since injuring his ankle against Joliet Catholic Sept. 30.
Romagnano carried the ball once for two yards while the crowd cheered “Rudy, Rudy, Rudy.”
“This week, the doctors cleared him,” Nazareth coach Tim Racki said. “I wanted to make sure he could run. Five weeks of rehab is a lonely place. To see his smile after the game, meant the world to me.”
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