Head coach Carlton Rosemond did some soul-searching over the weekend after Evanston’s flag football team dropped two of three games at a tournament at Willowbrook.
So did quarterback Maggie Conforti, who was benched in favor of freshman Ella Martin following losses to Addison Trail and Willowbrook.
The coach resolved to do a better job of not focusing so much on results and instead concentrating on helping the QB play to her strengths.
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The quarterback? She resolved to play better and with more confidence.
Back on the same page again with her coach, Conforti threw 5 touchdown passes and also ran for a score as the Wildkits established a new single game school record with a 44-point outburst in a 44-6 rout of winless Deerfield Monday night at Lazier Field.
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A confident Conforti completed 8-of-12 passes for 204 yards in Evanston’s next-to-last regular season tune-up prior to the Illinois High School Association state playoffs. Now 11-8 overall, the Wildkits will play Resurrection Friday in the regular season finale before hosting a regional tournament showdown with Regina Dominican October 8th at 7 p.m.
Winner of that game would likely face No. 2 sectional tournament seed Maine South for the regional title on Oct. 9 at 4:30 p.m.
Evanston will enter postseason play boasting one of the stingiest defenses in the state of Illinois. But the Kits won’t last long in the one-and-done “second season” if their quarterback isn’t playing at a high level, too.
So just in case Conforti was torn down by the temporary benching, Rosemond’s task moving forward is to build her back up.
“I really believe in Maggie’s talent,” said the first-year head coach. “My job is to maximize what she does well. All of these kids want someone to believe in them, and I believe in her. I’ve already told her she’s our quarterback for the rest of the year and we’ll go as far as she can take us in the playoffs.
“When we sat down together and looked at the (game) films, I reflected that I haven’t given her the opportunity to be her best. We had a conversation about what we can both do better.”
“Saturday was a rough day. I just wasn’t in it,” admitted Conforti, who added that she wasn’t surprised by the coach’s decision to start Martin. “But now I feel a lot more confident in myself and I know I can trust my arm.
“Coach showed me a lot of plays (on film) where I did well, and that really helped because a lot of times I get stuck on what I did wrong. I wasn’t surprised I didn’t start that last game (a 20-0 win over Oak Park-River Forest) because I haven’t been playing well. I was disappointed because I couldn’t perform the way I know I can perform.
“Going over the film made me realize if something goes wrong, it’s not always my fault. Tonight was an easy game, and I know I have to continue to play loose and be just as efficient when we play teams with better defenses.”
“There have been times in our games when she makes good passes, but the other girls drop passes, or they run the wrong routes,” Rosemond pointed out. “I just told her you can’t put it all on your shoulders. Tonight, she threw a lot of great passes. Now I’m just trying to pour some confidence into her.”
Conforti’s first three pass completions Monday night resulted in touchdown catches-and-runs by KyNia Hunt (28 yards and 19 yards) and Kennedy Murray (34 yards). She also tossed a 65-yard scoring strike to Brielle Rosemond to build Evanston’s advantage to 30-6 at halftime.
A 32-yard scamper by Hannah Honore set up another touchdown pass for Conforti, this one covering 25 yards to freshman Harper Wesenberg, and the junior quarterback completed her big night by scrambling 34 yards for a score.
Brielle Rosemond grabbed 3 interceptions and Martin also had a pick for the winners, who limited Deerfield sophomore quarterback Maya Silber to 10-of-21 passing for 93 yards and one TD. Deerfield fell to 0-13 on the season.
