Loyola Academy’s Anthony Romano (No. 40) and teammate Matt Gordon come over to clean up a play during the team’s win over Maine South PHOTOGRAPHY BY GEORGE PFOERTNER
He spent the entire third quarter and nearly half of the fourth quarter in an ice bath.
It was pure … agony.
Anthony Romano was in the last place that he wanted to be on Sept. 3: sitting in an arctic-cold water tank — football’s twisted version of a spa.
But the star Loyola Academy inside linebacker had to be there. Trainer’s orders. By halftime of this epic battle — host Loyola 44, Maine South 43 — Romano was cramping up. Dehydrated.
Well, Romano is not exactly a spa-like kind of guy. He’s more 24/7 football. He’s not one to go on a getaway on Game Day.
And so, not being able to bring the heat — of a pass rush — in a red-hot, heart-thumping game was harsh. It torched him to the core.
“Roughest thing ever,” said Romano, fully recovered and smiling broadly in a postgame interview on the LA football field. “But the cramping eventually subsided.
“When I first came back, I was still a little sore,” the senior added. “But I had to push through. When the game went into the fourth quarter, I just had to be out there.”
Despite missing all that time in the trainer’s room — located in the southwest end of the stadium — Romano still wound up as the team’s leader in tackles (10).
“It was nerve-racking not having him out there,” said fellow inside linebacker Graham Repp. “He is such a phenomenal player. So athletic.
“But Michael [Bradley] stepped up and did a good job in his place,” Repp added.
LA’s coaching staff has come to depend on the hard-hitting 6-foot-2, 220-pound Romano, who led the reigning Class 8A state champions in tackles (120) last fall.
“Without him out there, we had to change some calls,” said LA head coach John Holecek. “We couldn’t do as much.
“He’s a captain. He’s a leader. He’s experienced,” Holecek said. “And he brings a lot of physicality.”
Mr. Physicality turned into Mr. Disrupter. Romano was out there during the game’s moment of truth: Maine South’s two-point conversation attempt with 52 seconds left to play.
LA fans can thank Romano for causing the Hawks to whiff on that decisive play, allowing the Ramblers (2-0) to come away with the one-point victory. He came on a blitz, forcing Maine South quarterback and old friend, Nick Leongas, to throw under heavy pressure and way off target.
“Coach called a blitz, and everything opened right up for me,” said Romano, who came full bore with hands raised high. “I was one-on-one with the quarterback.”
Romano couldn’t help but circle this year’s LA-Maine South game with a red marker. Prior to moving to Mount Prospect, he lived in Park Ridge and attended Emerson Middle School.
In Nick Leongas, Romano went mano a mano with a player that he’s known since elementary school.
“I used to play on the same teams with Nick,” said Romano. “Great kid. Great player. What a game he had today. He just kept bringing his team back. And their running back [Fotis Kokosioulis] is very dynamic.”
Kokosioulis (13 rushes, 90 yards) had TD runs of 7 and 19 yards, while he made four catches for 166 yards. His TD grabs measured 42 and 65 yards.
Leongas finished the game 15-for-24 for 412 yards and four touchdowns. But he did get mistreated on several occasions. Romano sacked him for an eight-yard loss late in the first quarter. He also was sacked by Repp (8 yards), Bradley (6 yards), defensive lineman Marty Geary (7 yards) and outside linebacker Mickey Kane (7 yards). And he was intercepted by Ryan Lin-Peistrup on the first series of the second half.
Still, the Hawks ended up with 544 yards of offense.
“I’ve never had a team give up 500 yards. Never,” said Holecek, a former NFL linebacker. “Disheartening.”
“It’s not what we wanted,” Repp added. “We had too many breakdowns. Too many missed opportunities. But everything’s fixable. We’ll clean it up.”
Anthony Romano is seen here making a tackle against Homewood-Flossmoor in last year’s state playoffs. PHOTOGRAPH BY JOEL LERNER