Brett Kasper’s future is at receiver. The Wheaton Academy senior has an offer from Illinois State and interest from other schools at that position.
But circumstances aligned this season and allowed him to live out a dream.
“I always wanted to be a quarterback,” Kasper said. “But I never really grew.”
Kasper, 5-10 and 150 pounds, stepped up and filled the most important position on the field for the Warriors (11-1) this season.
“At the beginning of the year we honestly didn’t know who would be throwing the ball,” Wheaton Academy coach Jim Johanik said. “But we were blessed with Brett’s brother Eddie being here a couple of years ago and we just knew that athletically the Kaspers are gifted.”
Kasper threw two touchdown passes and ran for one in the Warriors’ 42-7 victory against Sandwich in the Class 4A state quarterfinals on Friday in West Chicago.
“Brett rose to the challenge and created a dynamic offense,” Johanik said. “He can throw it, scramble, run. He has a lot of the shake and break his brother had. He keeps defenses off balance.”
Kasper’s seven-yard TD run opened the scoring. Later in the first quarter, he connected with Brett Dieter on a five-yard TD. Then early in the second quarter was the big play of the game, a 99-yard TD pass from Kasper to junior Giovanni Spinelli.
“I threw it up there and it hung for awhile,” Kasper said. “I wasn’t sure if he’d be able to get it and once he caught it he just had one man to beat.”
Kasper was 6-for-10 for 192 yards. Spinelli caught four passes for 173 yards.
“I love this team and I really wanted to lead them this year,” Kasper said. “It was the greatest decision of my life to stay with quarterback for one more year.”
Junior Brandon Kiebles had eight carries for 79 yards and two TDs for the Warriors. He also played linebacker, teaming with senior defensive end Ethan Bruner and sophomore linebacker Greyson Kelly to shut down Sandwich’s offense.
Brett Kasper with a 7-yard TD run and Wheaton Academy leads Sandwich 7-0. pic.twitter.com/M8ZsTvkA0G
— Michael O'Brien (@michaelsobrien) November 11, 2023
“We were focused on their fullback [Parker Anderson],” Kiebles said. “When he gets downhill it is pretty hard to stop him so it was just making sure everyone was in their gaps and doing their jobs.”
Sandwich (8-4) had a remarkable season. The school went winless during the COVID spring football season and didn’t have a varsity team last year. Before this year, Sandwich hadn’t won a varsity game since 2019.
Braden Behringer connected with Brodie Case on a 13-yard TD pass for Sandwich’s only score.
Wheaton Academy’s only loss this season was a 30-29 defeat to Hope Academy, which is still alive in the Class 1A state playoffs. The Warriors beat St. Viator on the road in the second round. Up next is the IC Catholic vs. St. Laurence winner in the semifinals.
“We’re not surprised we are here,” Kiebles said. “We’re surprised it has taken this long for us to get noticed. We’ve been trying to get in that spotlight for the past couple of years. We know what we can do.”
STILL ROADRUNNING
Nazareth’s remarkable playoff run continues. The Roadrunners, who started the season 0-4, pulled off a 21-17 victory against Carmel on Saturday in Mundelein. Junior Logan Malachuk connected with James Penley on a 27-yard touchdown in the final minute to win it. Malachuk threw for 309 yards.
Nazareth, the defending Class 5A champs, hosts St. Francis in the semifinals this weekend.
SOPH SLINGER
Another young quarterback made noise in the quarterfinals. Downers Grove North sophomore Owen Lansu threw for 259 yards and four TDs in the Trojans’ 34-6 win against Lincoln-Way West.
Downers Grove North will host Normal (12-0) in the semifinals next weekend. The Ironmen are the only non-local team still alive in the two largest classes. They weren’t challenged in the regular season and posted five shutouts. But they only snuck by Bradley-Bourbonnais 31-30 in the second round of the playoffs before beating Glenbard East 45-28 in the quarterfinals.
SUPER 25 UPDATE
Any doubts about the area’s hierarchy were firmly dispelled over the first three weeks of the state playoffs. The top four teams haven’t been challenged. Loyola, Mount Carmel, Lincoln-Way East and Batavia won the 12 playoff games by a combined score of 522-92, which works out to an average of 44-8.
The Griffins shut out all three of their opponents. Batavia has scored more than 44 points in all three games.
Mount Carmel hosts the Bulldogs in the Class 7A semifinals this weekend, so all four teams won’t wind up at Illinois State, which is a shame.
Four teams dropped out this week after not being competitive in the quarterfinals: Morris, Geneva, Lincoln-Way West and St. Ignatius.
Three teams rejoin, based on their overall season resume: Hersey, Glenbard West and Prairie Ridge. Wilmington, which is still alive in Class 2A, makes its season debut in the rankings.
