Nazareth’s offense has been delivering big plays all season.
On Nov. 16, it was the Roadrunner defense’s turn to step up in a 42-8 road win over Rochelle in the Class 5A quarterfinals.
Nazareth (10-2) continues its quest for a third straight Class 5A title when it hosts St. Francis (10-2) in the state semifinals at 1 p.m. Saturday. The Spartans edged Nazareth 39-36 at home in Week 9 of the regular season.
Sophomore defensive back Henry Sakalas delivered one big defensive play for Nazareth, picking off a pass and returning it 61 yards for a TD and a 28-0 lead.
Sakalas played on the Roadrunners’ JV for most of this season and was brought up to the varsity for the last two weeks of the season.
“That was the nail (in the coffin),” Roadrunners coach Tim Racki said. “The ball was tipped and Henry caught it and took it to the house. I think I knew then that ‘OK, we got this.’
“We know he’s special. He got great experience on the JV level this season and that showed today.”
After a scoreless first quarter, Nazareth took a 14-0 lead in the second quarter when Lesroy Tittle scored on runs of 3 and 9 yards. An interception by Dylan Wellner set up the second score.
Then it was the passing game’s time in the spotlight as Logan Malachuk (15 of 24 passing, 212 yards) collaborated with Jake Cestone on a 33-yard TD strike for a 21-0 lead. Cestone finished with five catches for 113 yards.
After Sakalas’ touchdown, Malachuk found Trenton Walker for a 26-yard TD pass and a 35-0 lead. Charles Calhoun added the final TD for the Roadrunners on a 35-yard run.
“Our offense is really clicking and the O-line is doing an amazing job of protecting Logan,” Racki said. “And when an offense is balanced like ours is and Logan can run and make plays like he does, that’s good for us.”
Rochelle (10-2) scored 464 points through the first 11 games, a 42.2 average.
“Rochelle is a really good team,” Racki said. “You have to be sound and disciplined defensively.
“Our scout team really killed it this week in practice. That’s how you succeed when the guys who are backups get the starters ready to play. You might not get a rep in the playoffs, but if not for you, we don’t win today. They have talented running backs, and I didn’t see that coming that we would shut their running game down. But we did.”