SPORTS SPOTLIGHT BY JOHN MONTGOMERY
It all amounted to shattered dreams for the Shamrocks.
Cary Grove ended St. Patrick’s season on Saturday night in the second round of the Class 5A football playoff with a rousing 55-21 victory at Triton College. It wasn’t as close as they score indicates. Cary Grove built a 48-0 halftime lead and coasted.
“Cary Grove played well today,” St. Patrick coach Tom Zbikowski said, stating the obvious. “They were the better team with great coaching. They outcoached me. They have a great program. They have been doing well for a long time.”
St. Patrick, which finished 6-5, knew it was going to be a major challenge to face Cary Grove’s dynamic triple option offense. Led by sophomore quarterback Jackson Berndt, the Trojans didn’t attempt a pass and rushed for 475 yards and eight touchdowns while punting only once.
“We played really well as a team and all 11 guys did their job,” said Berndt, whose 9-2 team will meet Belvidere North (11-0) in the quarterfinals.
If this was a boxing match, it would have been called off in the first quarter. Cary Grove built an early 27-0 lead as Berndt scored on runs of 44 and 70 yards. He finished with five carries for 128 yards.
“They punched us in the mouth in the first quarter,” St. Patrick running back Anthony Catron said. “They are a great team. They are a great program.”
“I knew they would start fast and we would have to make adjustments,” Zbikowski said. “Unfortunately, they made more plays today.”
Leon Zavala, a freshman, made life more difficult for St. Patrick by scoring twice on runs of 66 yards in the second quarter. The Trojans, who have been averaging 37 points per game, also got a solid performance from senior running back Logan Abrams, who scored once and carried seven times for 71 yards.
Cary Grove has emerged as one of the state’s most successful high school football programs. The Trojans have won three state championships and qualified for the state final on six occasions.
So what about St. Patrick who was 2-7 in 2024?
Quarterback Gavin Gardiner had a difficult time as he was intercepted twice in the first quarter and once in the second quarter. He finished with 18 completions in 28 attempts for 132 yards and two touchdowns, both in the fourth quarter. He completed his junior season with over 2,000 yards and 16 touchdowns passing. Certainly, something to build on.
“He is going to learn from this experience,” Zbikowski said. “This is his first year playing on the varsity. You can’t beat experience. He knows now what it is like to play in the state playoff.”
Meanwhile, Catron, St. Patrick’s leading ball-carrier, was limited to only 43 yards on 23 carries by a Cary Grove defense that was led by Abrams, also a standout at linebacker.
So what’s ahead in 2026? St. Patrick’s freshman team won four games while the sophomores won five. Gardiner appears to have a bright future at quarterback but Zbikowski will have to find a new supporting cast with 35 seniors leaving the program.
“I had no expectations for this team,” the first-year head coach said. “There is no point in having expectations. It is not about wins and losses as long as they buy into your philosophy. My kids never quit. They kept fighting. It’s all about the process for me.”
Zbikowski will try to build a winning and successful program in the Chicago Catholic League, considered by many observers as one of the toughest leagues in the state.