On a cold, gloomy afternoon at Lane, yards were hard to come by.
Except for DJ Stewart.
The St. Rita senior rumbled 41 yards for a touchdown on his first carry and added two more scores as the Mustangs beat Kenwood 21-7 in the 93rd Prep Bowl.
Stewart finished with 25 carries for 143 yards in a game dominated by the defenses. The Mustangs (8-5) didn’t complete a pass and the Broncos were limited to 84 total yards. Kenwood (8-5) also had six of the game’s eight turnovers.
Through it all, Stewart, a 6-foot, 217-pounder, kept grinding out the yards.
“That game just summed up DJ’s career,” first-year St. Rita coach Martin Hopkins said. “He’s been a workhorse for us. He just gets the ball, puts his head down and goes. I tell everyone, you chip away at a rock a hundred times and it might not break till the hundredth time. That’s what he did and it’s great to see him end his career like that.”
St. Rita and Kenwood both were knocked out of the IHSA playoffs by teams playing for the Class 7A title on Saturday. The Mustangs lost 39-10 to Mount Carmel and the Broncos fell 42-13 to Downers Grove North.
But St. Rita was able to refocus, run off three more wins and earn its ninth Prep Bowl title overall and first since 2018.
“We just came in after we lost to Mount Carmel and we wanted to have physical, fast practices,” Stewart said. “High energy, to keep the juniors and sophomores up.”
Stewart’s second TD run, a two-yarder, came after Kenwood’s first turnover and made it 14-0 midway through the first quarter. His third scoring run, from five yards, came on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Up next for Stewart is sorting out his college plans. He has six offers, including Drake and Valparaiso. The early signing period starts Dec. 20 and he hopes to decide around that time.
Kenwood scored on Kevari Thunderbird’s 17-yard pass to Patrick Clacks III, a senior transfer from Andrean (Ind.) whose offers include Iowa, Nebraska and California.
St. Rita poses for a photo with mayor Brandon Johnson after winning the Prep Bowl against Kenwood at Lane Stadium.
Kirsten Stickney/For the Sun-Times
But edge rusher Ray Saffold and the rest of the St. Rita defense kept the lid on the Broncos offense the rest of the way. Going against Stewart was good preparation.
“Being able to practice against him every day gave good looks for the defense,” Saffold said.
Kenwood, playing in its second Prep Bowl in three years, used three quarterbacks. Coach Sinque Turner said starter NaCari McFarland may have injured his throwing hand early in the game. “He was out of rhythm a little bit today,” Turner said. “I noticed he was just not looking like himself.”
Thunderbird, one of the state’s top baseball prospects as a left-handed pitcher, split the remaining quarterback snaps with Michigan-bound receiver I’Marion Stewart, who lined up in a wildcat formation.
“We’ve got to get right back to our offseason plan,” Turner said. “We’ve got to change a couple things so we’re going to end up with different results for next year.”