Vinny Stubitsch began playing football alongside John Fennell at 7 years old.
The two went from playing flag to tackle while attending grammar school at St. John Fisher in Beverly. The two are now in their final days playing together at St. Rita.
“All throughout grammar school, me and Vinny — he was receiver, I was quarterback, so I was throwing him all the time,” Fennell said after St. Rita’s 17-14 win at Nazareth on Oct. 16.
“It’s a brother relationship — they push each other, they pick each other up. It’s never from a bad place, it’s all love,” Mustangs coach Martin Hopkins said. “John trusts Vinny, so when the game’s on the line, he likes to go to him.”
Fennell connected with Stubitsch on a 2-yard touchdown with 46 seconds left in the fourth quarter to give the Mustangs (6-3, 3-0 Catholic League Green) the comeback win against the Roadrunners (4-5, 0-3).
“Once we called the play, I knew it exactly what was going to happen,” Stubitsch said. “We never ran the play until tonight but it definitely felt good to capitalize off of it.”
“Kudos to coach Pat Connolly,” Hopkins said. “He waited till the right time and knew to call that play right at the perfect time.”
“Once I saw the defense go toward John, I knew it was a touchdown,” Stubitsch said. “It goes back to playing grammar school football together and having that camaraderie.”
Stubitsch also came up big on defense when he intercepted Roadrunners quarterback JJ Chapman late in the first half. Freshman Griffin Sinkovich kicked a 47-yard field goal to pull the Mustangs within four points.
The first interception of the night actually came at the hands of junior TJ Burgos shortly before Stubitsch’s. Fennell scored a 2-yard rushing touchdown at 5:21 in the second quarter.
Fennell completed 7 of 17 passes for 70 yards and a touchdown and rushed 20 times for 55 yards and touchdown. Brandon Johnson Jr. rushed 13 times for 75 yards.
St. Rita is the 14 seed in Class 7A and will Buffalo Grove (6-3) or Andrew (2-7) in the first round of the IHSA playoffs.
Chapman completed 15 of 17 passes for 111 yards with a touchdown to Northern Illinois commit Cashmere Coleman and two interceptions.
After a blocked punt, Rocco Lopez secured the loose ball for a touchdown to give Nazareth a 14-0 lead.
“Our defense may bend at times but it never breaks,” Roadrunners coach Tim Racki said. “Regardless of the score they fight until the end.”
The Roadrunners go into the playoffs with a 4-5 record for the second time in four seasons. They went on to win a state title the last time that happened in 2023.
Nazareth is seeded 20th in the north half of Class 6A and plays at Shepard (5-4) in the first round.
“This team is very resilient and has persevered through many obstacles this season. The playoffs offer an opportunity for a fresh start, as you can’t take a regular season with you into a playoff run,” Racki said.
Stubitsch also plays baseball at St. Rita and will continue his career at Purdue Northwest.
Despite making it to the Class 7A title game last year before losing to Brother Rice, the Mustangs were surprised by preseason rankings. That made this final conference win that much sweeter.
“It felt really good, especially when preseason you have all the nonsense about ‘St. Rita won’t do that, St. Rita won’t do this’ and also get picked last,” Stubitsch said.
“Those guys all believed in themselves,” Hopkins said. “So to come out of that 3-0 (in conference) said a lot about this group.”