Back in the game

Updated: March 22, 2011 4:10PM

St. Rita played 14 football games last season, but Joey Filomeno went to only one of them.

After watching the Mustangs beat Brother Rice in Week 3, Filomeno stayed away even though the Mustangs kept playing until Thanksgiving weekend when they won the Prep Bowl.

‘‘It was really tough,'' Filomeno said. ‘‘I decided I wasn't going to go out there again.''

But it was a different story this fall. Filomeno, who was a good enough defensive lineman as a freshman to get promoted to the varsity for that year's Prep Bowl, skipped last football season to concentrate on his No. 1 sport, baseball.

He landed a scholarship with Louisville and helped the Mustangs reach the Class 4A state-championship game for the second straight season. With his immediate future secured, Filomeno decided to give football one last go.

It's looking like a pretty good decision.

In last Saturday's surprisingly close matchup with Fenwick, Filomeno came up with a big defensive stop when the Friars went for what would have been a game-winning, two-point conversion in the closing seconds. That preserved a 14-13 win for St. Rita and kept the Mustangs tied for the Catholic League Blue lead with Mount Carmel.

‘I missed it'

Filomeno, who started every game on the varsity as a sophomore, had gone down to the wire on whether to play as a junior. He kept his options open by attending the Mustangs' summer camp, and coach Todd Kuska said there were no hard feelings about Filomeno's decision to sit out last fall.

‘‘The first week or two, we extended the offer [to return],'' Kuska said. ‘‘The kids said, ‘Come back.' People have been saying we didn't let him. That's not the case.''

In any event, Filomeno missed the Friday night lights, and the Louisville baseball coaches had no problem with him playing football this fall. So he's back in the middle of the action for what could be a special team at a school that's had more than its share.

‘‘I knew I wasn't ever going to play football again [after this year],'' Filomeno said. ‘‘I missed it. ... I want to be a part of something. The football tradition at St. Rita is so unreal.''

You don't take a season off and come back at exactly the same level, of course. ‘‘Right now, I'm a little out of shape,'' Filomeno said.

‘‘It's hard when you miss a full year,'' Kuska said. ‘‘[But] he got right back in the swing of things. ... He's got some very good explosion off the ball. He's got a knack for making big plays. He played at a high level as a sophomore. He was part of some good football teams.''

Totally different from baseball

That's a point Filomeno takes pains to emphasize, that he's one guy among many working to get St. Rita to Champaign for the state finals over Thanksgiving weekend. It's not like in baseball, where he is both one of the top left-handed pitchers and one of the premier power hitters in the state.

‘‘For sure, baseball is totally different,'' he said. ‘‘If you're the pitcher, you're the guy; everyone is looking at you. In football, it's 11 guys working together.''

So it was last weekend, when Filomeno was the guy who got all the props for the PAT stop of Fenwick's Patrick Hart. But he couldn't have done it by himself.

‘‘He was a right-handed quarterback, and I was coming from his back side,'' Filomeno said. ‘‘I was lucky enough to get the credit for getting him. It was most of the defensive backs and linebackers [who helped make the play].''

The bottom line is the play went the Mustangs' way. Filomeno certainly hopes that trend continues all the way through the season as he chases an elusive state championship. He's been close twice the past two seasons in baseball, but St. Rita lost to New Trier in 2009 and Naperville Central last June.

Winning a football title won't ease the pain of losing those baseball championships. ‘‘I want a state ring,'' Filomeno said. ‘‘[But] I mean, baseball is a different thing and a different season.''

Still, winning feels just as good in September as it does in April. And so does just being on the field. It's a lot better than watching from the stands, as Filomeno knows from experience.

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