Brother Rice football blows out Windsor Holy Names

Junior wide receiver and safety Rocco Milia thinks the general public has giant misconceptions about Brother Rice. He thinks the Warriors came into the season incredibly underrated, with people pointing to the lack of an offensive line or the lack of a running back.

Coming off of a season-opening win against Utica Eisenhower where the offense only put up seven points, Brother Rice did have something to prove offensively. And it did, with a backup quarterback.

With senior Greg Piscopink sidelined, sophomore Jake Coulter and the Warriors put up 53 points, shutting down Windsor Holy Names 53-3 for the Brother Rice football team’s second win of the season.

“We believe in Jake,” Brother Rice head coach Adam Korzeniewski said. “He can sit in there and do what he needs to do and not feel overwhelmed. He has a strong arm and he’s pretty accurate. I was very impressed with him today.”

Coulter finished the game completing 7-of-11 pass attempts for 148 yards and four passing touchdowns, three of which went towards sophomore wide receiver Cole Lacanaria.

The Brother Rice defense picked up Coulter when it could as well, with senior safety Giavino Murad intercepting Holy Names quarterback Matt Guenette’s first pass attempt and taking it into the end zone for the first score of the game.

After the interception returned for a touchdown, Holy Names recorded a 23-yard field goal after a 10-play drive for its only points of the game.

Along with another stout defensive performance, Milia said this game is big for how others perceive the quality of Brother Rice football.

“I think this game proves that we can pound the ball, throw touchdowns, put a bunch of points up on the board,” Milia said.

Here are three takeaways from Brother Rice’s 50-point victory on Thursday night.

Coulter leads in Piscopink’s absence

Coulter knew that he was going to play.

After a taxing win against Eisenhower the week before, Korzeniewski decided to play it safe with Piscopink, who was recovering from a minor shoulder injury and who should be ready to go for the Warriors’ Week 3 game against University of Detroit Jesuit.

Coulter knew the situation coming into the game. But that did not make it less nerve-wracking for the sophomore.

“I was nervous at the start,” Coulter said. “Once Gio got the pick-six at the start, I kind of got it going, feeling all right, we can do this. First pass play, I threw a touchdown. I was like we got this. Let’s go.”

From his very first passing touchdown, Coulter seemed to find his favorite target: Lacanaria, who brought in three catches for 88 yards and three touchdowns.

Coulter said he spends a lot of time with Lacanaria, since both are sophomores, talking to him during class about things they will do on the field.

“I trust him,” Coulter said.

Even though he did not touch the field, Piscopink took the role as Coulter’s personal quarterbacks coach. Clad in pads and a Brother Rice baseball cap, the senior was next to his offensive coaches, relaying signs to the sophomore, who stood in the huddle, calling plays for the hot Warriors offense.

Coulter said that Piscopink encouraged him throughout the game, giving him pointers on different situations and how to improve as the game went along.

“He was there with me the whole time, walking me through,” Coulter said.

To Milia, Coulter proved that Piscopink is not the sole glue of the Brother Rice offense on the field.

“I think Jake proved everyone wrong,” Milia said. “He was pulled up, kind of questionable in other people’s point of views, but I think he proved everyone wrong.”

Defense stands firm again

Korzeniewski saw the flaws in the Brother Rice defense against Holy Names.

When asked about the pressure of the defensive line, he said there was not much, saying that they just won one-on-one matchups up front. The head coach pointed out the long run by Holy Names’ Jacob Warner in the final drive of the game, calling out the “shady tackling” of his team. 

As a defensive coordinator, this is the mindset to stay in. But leaving the field, allowing three points in the first two games of the season, Korzeniewski showed how much better the defense can be.

The Warriors allowed 26 total yards in the first half, most of which was acquainted to one play: a 46-yard pass from Guenette to Theo Johnson.

Brother Rice continued to show its dominance with its turnover margin as well.

With Murad donning the team’s turnover chain on the sideline, the Warriors recorded another interception and a safety, recording 12 plays in which the Holy Names offense recorded zero yards or less on a completed play, 10 of which came in the first half.

Rocco Milia shines

Milia did a bit of everything for the Warriors on Thursday night.

He worked as a receiver, catching one of Coulter’s four touchdown passes. He worked as a wildcat quarterback in one drive, recording 43 yards on four carries for the offense. He was a shut-down safety, bringing in one of Guenette’s two interceptions of the night.

Milia views himself as a jack-of-all-trades football player. But it’s all for one common goal: winning.

“I want the team to win, I want to work with the team,” Milia said. “Every practice, I will go hard and I’m going to learn everything. I’m going to do it all.”

This is the kind of approach Korzeniewski wants out of a player. The head coach praised his football I.Q., which he said showed up in Brother Rice’s 50-point win.

“He has a 4.3 GPA in the classroom, and he’s a 4.3 player on the football field,” Korzeniewski said. “He’s very smart, and he’s a very good football player.”

Milia does not only seem to use his head on the football field. He plays with a chip on his shoulder.

After the 50-point win, the junior wide receiver/safety was still talking about the expectations that others had of the team as a whole. He said, with the win Thursday night against Holy Names, those expectations should be high.

“People hating on us is going to motivate us, make us work harder, concentrate in practice, work on defense, help on offense,” Milia said. “I think tonight, we just proved that all wrong.”

Brother Rice will try and continue its winning streak against University of Detroit Jesuit on Sept. 13.

Reach Colin Gay at cgay@hometownlife.com, 248-310-6710. Follow him on Twitter @ColinGay17. Send game results and stats to Liv-Sports@hometownlife.com.