Garrett Reese, Jake Cestone have big games as Nazareth rolls past Woodstock North

LA GRANGE PARK – Nazareth’s Garrett Reese is part of long and illustrious family that has made a mark in football.

The senior safety also made a big mark in Saturday’s Class 5A second-round playoff game against Woodstock North.

Jake Cestone hauled in three touchdown receptions, and Reese intercepted a pass to power Nazareth to a 42-20 victory in LaGrange Park. The Roadrunners (9-2) travel to Rochelle (10-1) next Saturday for a 1 p.m. game in the quarterfinals.

Led by quarterback Logan Malachuk’s 298 yards and four touchdowns passing and one rushing TD, the Roadrunners offense jetted out to a 42-0 lead. Woodstock North (8-2), meanwhile, couldn’t build on its first-round playoff win over Freeport, but showed some heart by scoring the final 20 points against Nazareth’s reserve players.

“When the draw came out, this was the best thing that could’ve happened to us, because we got to measure ourselves,” Woodstock North coach Matthew Polnow said. “We played one of the best teams in the state. We’re thrilled with our effort. It obviously helped when Nazareth took their starters out, so we could move the ball.

“I’m so proud of our kids and happy we got to come here. It was awesome. We’re going to miss our seniors. We have a lot of love for the six seniors.”

Cestone padded his season totals with TD grabs of 56, 15 and 20 yards – all in the first quarter.

“We felt good and had a really good scout team, and they implemented everything they were going to do,” Cestone said. “As soon as we got into the game, we saw what we had been seeing all week, so that made it easier for us.”

Defensively, the 6-foot-3, 195-pound Reese made the play of the game by diving for an interception with 1:50 left in the first quarter.

“I saw the ball and then the receiver coming over the middle, and I saw the quarterback throw the ball in a weird way, so I knew it was going to be a little short,” Reese said. “I just tried to sprint over there to see if I could get the ball.”

Reese – an Indiana recruit – has an older brother, Max, who was a standout at Fenwick and is a junior wide receiver at Eastern Michigan. His cousin, J. Michael Sturdivant, is a redshirt junior wide receiver at UCLA and is the nephew of legendary Pro Football and College Football hall of famer Floyd Little. His uncle, Michael Sturdivant, also played wide receiver at Virginia Tech, and his father, Alvord Reese, balled at Grambling State.

“We have a lot of football players in our family,” he said.

Cestone, a CCL/ESCC All-Conference selection, said his game is helped by battling against Reese in practice.

“I go against Garrett all the time,” Cestone said. “It’s really fun at practice when we are competing, and that elevates our game. Going against Garrett really helps, because no one is as good as him.”

With the Roadrunners relying on a plethora of talented wide receivers – namely Cestone, Trenton Walker and James Penley – Reese is the rare Power Four decoy on offense.

Reese estimated his season total at five receptions, but he played wide receiver in his freshman season at IC Catholic. Reese moved over full-time to the defensive side at Nazareth during his sophomore campaign.

“My main position was offense up until my sophomore year when I started to train as a defensive back,” Reese said. “It was a shift I made because of my build. I was naturally better as a defensive back. It was hard to give up playing wide receiver, but I’m so happy with the change. I came here thinking I was going to play wide receiver. The next summer I trained as a defensive back, and that’s where I’ve been at.”

Reese credited his fast rise due to his work with defensive backs coach Pete Houlihan. Reese admitted the Roadrunners’ talented group of wide receivers also forces him to raise the level of his game in practices.

“Every day in practice is just a battle,” Reese said. “The guys on our team are some of the best receivers I’ve ever guarded, including five-star receivers.”

Nazareth coach Tim Racki said Reese is a high-character star athlete.

“He’s following in his family’s footsteps,” Racki said. “He plays so hard and will thrive at safety in Indiana. He’s such a great hitter and has such a nose for the ball. He knows how to bring it on the football field. He came here only playing receiver, but he didn’t fight me about playing on defense. He started to focus solely on defense and just took off from there.”