Conforti, Kit Girls Romp In Regular Season Finale

Maggie Conforti is on the move again in the pocket.

Now the question is, can the rest of the flag football teams in the state of Illinois keep up?

The Evanston senior quarterback passed for four touchdowns and ran for another Saturday as the Wildkits wrapped up the regular season with a 31-14 victory at Mother McAuley.

Bouncing back after a loss to Glenbrook South earlier in the week cost them a share of the Central Suburban League South division crown, the Wildkits will take a 14-3 won-loss record (and the No. 2 sectional seed) into regional tournament play Wednesday at the Chicago Academy Regional.

And if you believe in momentum going into the postseason --- now Evanston owns it.

Conforti overcame a slow start Saturday to complete 11-of-24 passing attempts, including touchdown passes of 16 and 84 yards to Brielle Rosemond, 33 yards to KyNia Hunt, and 6 yards to Camille Calixte, for a total of 197 yards. She also contributed a career-long 78-yard TD run for the winners.

Back on track? Head coach Carlton Rosemond thinks that describes just where his team is heading into the “second season.”

And it wouldn’t have happened without Conforti’s ability to generate big plays while on the move on offense, taking advantage of her athleticism even while leading an ETHS offense that is designed to feature quick, short passes.

“Maggie needed a game like that,” Rosemond pointed out. “Just for her to understand what she needs to do to create plays for the others. She had to trust in her reads (of the opposing defensive alignment), and when she did that today, she stepped up in the pocket and made some spectacular throws.

“We’ve been working a lot on her movement back there. I absolutely don’t want her just standing still in the pocket. Last time out against GBS there were times when she didn’t think about running, but she can find the open areas and run with the best of them. Today she started to see the options that were available to her to make plays.”

“I felt a lot more comfortable back there today. I made some decisions and I stuck with it,” Conforti said. “For the most part, I know I can make any throw I need to make on the run. On that one throw to Brie I stepped up in the pocket and launched it to her. And on that (TD) run I didn’t see anyone open, so I just took off. That’s the longest run I’ve ever had --- and I felt it!”

Conforti started slow Saturday, faced with a Mighty Macs defense that started out rushing three defenders at the QB, an unusual strategy that kept the ETHS senior off balance at first. She only completed one of her first nine throws in a scoreless first quarter.

But Conforti’s second completion of the day was that 86-yard strike to Brielle Rosemond with 5:15 left in the first half, and she also added a PAT pass to Hunt for a 7-0 lead. And when McAuley turned the ball over on downs, Conforti found Rosemond again for a 16-yard score to up the advantage to 13-0.

The Mighty Macs reclaimed the momentum, scoring with no time left on the first half clock on a 79-yard bomb from quarterback Karys Collins to Mary Morris. Collins’ extra point pass to Caroline Fishback cut the deficit to 13-8.

Collins, a sophomore, completed 26-of-45 passes on the day for 255 yards but was intercepted four times. Ella Martin accounted for two of those picks for the visitors and Rosemond and Harper Wesenberg were each credited with a theft.

A 1-yard TD run by Collins at the end of an 86-yard drive by McAuley to start the second half actually lifted the hosts to a 14-13 lead. Evanston answered when Conforti broke loose for a 78-yard TD dash, and the Wildkits tacked on two more scores in the fourth quarter to seal the win.

“Do I believe in momentum? There is some validity to that, but each game (in the postseason) is an island unto itself. You have to prepare as if it’s your last game,” said the ETHS coach. “We played well today when we started playing with discipline on defense, but we did have some breakdowns. And once Maggie was able to read the defense while McAuley was rushing three, she made a lot of good throws.”

“We have all the tools on this team,” Conforti said about Evanston’s chances to repeat as an Elite Eight contender again in 2025. “We just have to execute. I think we’re more than capable of making a deep run in the (state) playoffs.”