Calixte Comes Through At Flag Family Reunion

Camille Calixte has spent most of her flag football career sacking opposing quarterbacks and generally making life miserable for them as Evanston’s designated pass rusher.

Calixte did it again Friday night at Lazier Field, but this time was an impact player on both offense and defense.

The junior sparkplug stole the spotlight at a family reunion and helped the Wildkits to their third straight victory, scoring both touchdowns in a 13-6 trimming of Chicago Kenwood.

That family reunion was a meeting of brothers, Evanston head coach Carlton Rosemond and younger brother Billy Survillion, a former ETHS quarterback who is currently a Kenwood assistant.

The two brothers spent most of the game in a chess match that was a stalemate until Rosemond found another option in Calixte, who rarely gets as many offensive touches as she did Friday night.

Besides sacking Kenwood quarterback Indiah Zarbock four times, Calixte also rushed 8 times for 34 yards and caught 6 passes for 73 yards, including short TD passes covering 2 yards and 8 yards from quarterback Maggie Conforti.

Calixte rose to the occasion for an Evanston team that had scored blowout victories over Niles North and Niles West to open the 2025 campaign, enabling the Kits to clear their toughest hurdle to date.

It was an emotional night for Rosemond and he’d be the first one to admit it.

“We had to simplify a few things to get it done tonight,” he said. “I’ve learned a lot from my brother over the years. He knows more about football in his sleep than I do waking up in the morning. He seemed to know everything we were going to try to do and that first half it was tough to figure things out.

“Billy really wanted to come here and play against us. He loves the atmosphere here, and I’m glad we were able to put on a show tonight. But they kept giving Camille an opportunity to shine --- and she showed out tonight.

“She has such a motor on offense and on defense, and that motor does not stop. We’re lucky to have another premier pass rusher in Nikki Dandelles (two sacks Friday night) and now with the new rules (rushers line up 1 yard from the line of scrimmage instead of 7 like in the past) sometimes the rusher has to be more elusive now trying to get the quarterback. We’ve been ahead of the curve, but we’re still adjusting to it, too.”

Zarbock, a junior, completed just 9-of-20 passes for 112 yards and threw an interception to Evanston’s Ella Martin right before halftime. But she did account for the first score of the season against the Wildkit defense, hooking up with Ariah Butts for a 46-yard touchdown pass on the Broncos’ first possession of the game.

Evanston answered right away. The biggest play in the 68-yard scoring drive was the first one, as Calixte used her speed, cunning and guile to turn a short catch into a 25-yard gain and forcing a couple of missed tackles.

A personal foul on fourth down later against the Broncos helped keep the drive alive, and on fourth and goal Conforti (15-of-26 for 170 yards) flipped a 2-yard scoring pass to Calixte that pulled the two squads even at 6-6. It stayed that way when Calixte’s PAT run fell short.

The host team scored what turned out to be the game-winner at the 4:10 mark of the third quarter. ETHS only needed five plays to cover 43 yards after Kenwood turned the ball over on downs. Junior linebacker Emma Reese stopped that drive by yanking out Zarbock’s flag one yard short of a potential first down.

Calixte weaved in and out of the Kenwood defense for a 15-yard gain, and back-to-back catches by Brielle Rosemond moved the ball to the Kenwood 8. From there, Calixte slipped out of the backfield and grabbed Conforti’s toss for an 8-yard score.

The visitors couldn’t muster a single first down after that.