It took awhile, but all the pieces are back in place for St. Laurence.
Running back Harley Rizzs and quarterback Chase Kwiatkowski missed multiple games because of injuries.
Senior linebacker Brendan Carroll also had a significant injury, breaking his right thumb in the same game Kwiatkowski went down. He didn’t miss any games but has been playing with a club-like cast on his right hand and forearm.
All of them had starring roles Saturday afternoon in St. Laurence’s 26-14 victory against Wheaton Academy in a Class 4A second-round game in Burbank.
The Vikings (8-3), who finished second in 4A last season, play at DePaul Prep (8-3) in the quarterfinals next weekend.
Rizzs, the defending Class 2A state champ in the 100 meters, ran 24 times for 126 yards and a touchdown. He also caught a 12-yard shovel pass for a TD from Kwiatkowski, who was 9-for-11 for 61 yards. Running back Corey Les added two short scoring runs for the Vikings.
Kwiatkowski, an Illinois State commit, transferred in this year from Lake Central in Indiana. His only season with the Vikings went sideways when he was hurt in Week 5.
With a less-balanced offense, St. Laurence lost three of its last four regular-season games.
“Man, [sitting out] was terrible,” Kwiatkow-ski said. “I was just watching every single week, and I was like, ‘I want to be on that field.’ ”
He returned for the 35-17 win against Richmond-Burton last week, and the Vikings were back in sync.
Rizzs was glad to have Kwiatkowski back.
“He understands the game really well,” Rizzs said. “And when we know that, we know what we’re doing on offense. It gives us supreme confidence.”
It also helps having Les, a 6-foot, 205-pounder who had nine carries for 45 yards.
“He’s a really good blocker, which I like a lot,” Rizzs said. “He can run; he can do it all. He’s a good all-around athlete. I feel more confident when he’s on the field.”
And St. Laurence coach Adam Nissen feels more confident with Kwiatkowski and Rizzs healthy again.
“Having [Kwiatkowski] back there, it’s been a game-changer,” Nissen said. “He’s impacted our team attitude. . . . He’s a really, really good leader.”
And he keeps defenses honest.
“Having him back out there with the threat to pass and the threat to run, it has really opened up a lot of doors for Harley and Corey.”
Carroll and defensive back Jimmy McDermott also made an impact with interceptions for the game’s only takeaways. Carroll’s — his first of the season — was all the more impressive given that he has been playing basically one-handed half the season.
“I honestly don’t know how I came down with that,” Carroll said. “I just went up, tipped it and tried pulling it in. I was bobbling it for a second, but I got it.”
For Wheaton Academy (9-2), quarterback Nathan Downey was 9-for-19 for 141 yards and two touchdowns to Zach Moravec along with two interceptions.