Lally is Beacon-News Player of the Year

Updated: March 22, 2011 4:58PM

It is only fitting that an unforgettable season in Marmion Academy football history would include an unforgettable player who produced the area's single most unforgettable highlight in a year that will go down as one of the greatest all-around performances in recent memory.

That player is the Cadets' T.J. Lally, and the senior running back and linebacker is the 2010 Aurora Beacon-News Football Player of the Year - the program's first since Tom Koutsos in 1998.

Lally's performance this year is even more remarkable considering he came into the year as the reigning Suburban Christian Conference Blue Player of the Year for the defending conference champions. He was not an unknown commodity on a surprise team - the target was on No. 46 from the beginning of the season.

"Being able to have the success I had last year, I didn't want to be a player where a kid has a good junior year and then comes out as a senior and doesn't do as well," he said. "I really did put a lot of pressure on myself because I wanted to have a better season than I did last year and as a team have a better season. I definitely wanted to take a step forward."

He did just that, all while playing with a broken bone in his left hand, an injury suffered early in Week 2 against Mundelein. Yet he missed no games - and few tackles.

"We're very, very fortunate," Cadets head coach Dan Thorpe said. "He's very humble and he gives a lot of credit to his teammates and he's an inspiration to his teammates also by the way he plays, which is probably the greatest contribution a player can have."

But more than stats or words from people in house or casual observers in press boxes or bleachers, the true measure of a player can be found in the way opponent's speak of him. They're the ones that have to gameplan for a player, breaking down hours of tape, looking for weaknesses to exploit - or strengths to avoid.

"I can tell you this because I have been around a long time - T.J. Lally is simply one of the best players that I have ever coached against and one of the best players our conference has ever seen," Montini Catholic coach Chris Andriano said in an e-mail as he prepared for his Broncos to defend their Class 5A title. "He is a great two-way player that has an affect on every play. I respect and admire the way he plays and carries himself. He is a class act on and off the field. He is any coach's dream - tough and a great competitor."

It's safe to say that Andriano's colleagues in the Suburban Christian Conference Blue felt the same, naming Lally the conference's Co-Player of the Year, making him a two-time winner of that award.

He was also an Illinois High School Football Coaches' Association all-state pick in Class 6A.

"T.J. has the greatest gift of any athlete, especially a running back, and that's the ability to just not go down. That's rarely seen," Aurora Christian coach Don Beebe said. "I don't think you can coach that. I don't think you can coach a kid to have that sheer determination to just refuse to go down. Guys like my hero Walter Payton had that, that sheer nastiness to not go down. That's embedded in a kid at a young age.

"And if they form that ability that T.J. has to go with it, as far as size and speed, then he's a great one."

The kind words for Lally stretched to the classroom at Marmion Academy as well.

"I'm most proud of several teachers coming to me in recent weeks saying how neat it is to have T.J. in class, not boasting or gloating with the laurels he's been given," Thorpe said. "He's just a Marmion Cadet sitting in the second seat of row three. And at three o'clock he's a football player."

On the field, it is impossible to find a more complete player in the area this season, as Lally was a full-time, two-way player for the 12-1 Cadets.

And it on was the turf at Marian Central Catholic in Woodstock where Lally earned YouTube stardom with a touchdown run in which Beebe said Lally shed eight "legitimate" tackles while running away from the other three defenders on the field.

"We knew we were in for a long day when we were watching that film," Beebe said. "It was definitely a highlight of the year, there's no doubt about that."

Statistically, Lally enters the Class 6A title game against Rockford Boylan with 1,264 rushing yards on just 130 carries, good for a 9.7 yards-per-carry average. He has also rushed for 16 scores.

He was a complete offensive threat for the Cadets, too, catching eight passes for 143 yards and a score and completing 2 of 3 passes for 70 yards.

In all, Lally has piled up 1,477 yards of total offense while averaging a whopping 10.6 yards per touch.

Then there is his effect on the defensive side of the ball as the Cadets' middle linebacker. He has a nose for the ball - both in coverage and against the run - racking up 134 total tackles, five quarterback hurries, four sacks and three forced fumbles.

Surprisingly, no NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (Division I) have offered the 6-1, 215-pounder a scholarship, so he is considering options in the Football Championship Subdivision (Division I-AA), Ivy League and NCAA Division II.

"I couldn't be much happier with the way I've played this year," Lally said. "There are obviously some things I wish I could go back and re-do, but it's been a good year and as team it's just been awesome. It's been the most fun I've ever had being part of this team."

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