Either way, Price is right for St. Rita, Providence
By Mike Clark mclark@suntimes.com September 20, 2012 8:46PM
Providence's Brandon Price (center). | File photo
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Updated: October 22, 2012 6:19AM
David Price will be rooting for two players Friday night when St. Rita travels to Providence — one just a little more than the other.
Price’s son, Ryan, is a junior defensive back for St. Rita, while his nephew, Brandon, is a senior running back for Providence.
“A gentleman last year asked me, how do I cheer,” David Price said. “I said, ‘I hope Brandon has a thousand yards and scores a hundred touchdowns. I hope we score 101 touchdowns.’ ”
That won’t happen, but no one really knows what will happen when the cousins meet on the field for the first time in the MeTV/Sun-Times Catholic League Blue Game of the Week. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
“The difficult part is (for) my parents, trying to figure out which side to sit on,” David Price said.
Brandon and Ryan never have been teammates, but, David Price said, “they’ve looked forward to this game since they were freshmen.”
Most weeks, they also talk to each other about how the season’s going. But this week, they decided not to communicate ahead of the game.
If they were chatting, it might be about how glad they are to be back in action. Brandon Price helped Providence (3-1, 0-1 Catholic Blue) beat Joliet Catholic to open the season before missing a Week 2 victory over Minooka. He has rushed for 262 yards and four touchdowns while catching three passes for 43 yards.
“Unfortunately, he got that ankle sprain against Joliet Catholic,” Providence coach Mark Coglianese said. “He really hasn’t been quite as explosive as he was that first game.”
Ryan Price had seven tackles and an interception in St. Rita’s opening loss to Marist, then suffered a mild concussion in a Week 2 win vs. Danville. He did not play in last week’s loss to Brother Rice.
“He was like, ‘Dad, I hate this,’ ” David Price said. “I said, ‘Sit this one out, be ready for the one that matters.’ ”
The game is a key one for both teams, neither of which wants to go to 0-2 in the Catholic Blue. Both saw their league openers slip away late last weekend, as St. Rita (2-2, 0-1) gave up the winning touchdown with 1:52 left in a 23-21 defeat and Providence was down just seven points heading into the fourth quarter of an eventual 41-21 loss at Loyola.
“We just need to improve a little bit in all three areas,” Coglianese said. “Offensively, we need to get back to our strength, getting the ball in the hands of (Chad) Weaver and Price and (Miles) Boykin and (quarterback Dominic) Lagone carrying the ball.”
“We’re going to try and not turn the ball over,” said St. Rita coach Todd Kuska, whose team lost three fumbles against Rice. “We’re going to try to limit the turnovers and limit the big plays. We want to establish the running game and have an identity.”
Derrick Miles and Tim Lombard have been productive runners for the Mustangs. But Kuska is wary of overworking Lombard.
“He’s a great player for us,” Kuska said. “Right now, he’s really important to the defense.”
