By Bobby Narang
Nazareth Academy’s Garrett Reese, is part of long and illustrious group of family members to make a mark in football.
Reese, an Indiana recruit, said his family has a rich and deep history in football, especially at wide receiver.
His older brother, Max, was a standout at Fenwick and is a junior wide receiver at Eastern Michigan. His cousin, J. Michael Sturdivant, is a redshirt junior wide receiver at UCLA and is the nephew of legendary Pro Football and College Football Hall of Famer, Floyd Little.
His uncle, Michael Sturdivant, played wide receiver at Virginia Tech.
His father, Alvord Reese, played at Grambling State.
“We have a lot of football players in our family,” Garrett Reese said.
The senior safety also made a big mark in Saturday’s Class 5A second-round playoff game against Woodstock North.
Jake Cestone hauled in three touchdown receptions and Reese intercepted a pass to power Nazareth to a 42-20 victory in LaGrange Park. The Nazareth Roadrunners (9-2) will travel to Rochelle (10-1) Saturday, Nov. 16 for a 1 p.m. game in the quarterfinal round.
Led by quarterback Logan Malachuk’s 298 yards passing and four touchdowns in the air and one rushing TD, the Roadrunners offense jetted out to a 42-0 lead.
Cestone had first quarter TD catches of 56, 15 and 20 yards.
“We felt good and had a really good scout team and they implemented everything they were going to do,” Cestone said. “As soon as we got into the game, we saw what we had been seeing all week, so that made it easier for us.”
Defensively, Reese (6-foot-3 and 195-pound) made the play of the game by diving for an interception with 1:50 left in the first quarter.
“I saw the ball and then the receiver coming over the middle and I saw the quarterback throw the ball in a weird way, so I knew it was going to be a little short,” Reese said. “I just tried to sprint over there to see if I could get the ball.”
Cestone, a CCL/ESCC All-Conference selection, said his game is helped by battling against Reese in practice.
“I go against Garrett all the time,” Cestone said. “It’s really fun at practice when we are competing and that elevates our game. Going against Garrett really helps because no one is as good as him.”
With the Roadrunners relying on a plethora of talented wide receivers, namely Cestone, Trenton Walker and James Penley, Reese is the rare Power Four decoy on offense.
Reese estimated his season total at five receptions, but he played wide receiver in his freshman season at IC Catholic. Reese moved over full-time to the defensive side at Nazareth during his sophomore campaign. At any other school, Reese would be a two-way star.
“My main position was offense up until my sophomore year when I started to train as a defensive back,” Reese said. “It was a shift I made because of my build. I was naturally better as a defensive back. It was hard to give up playing wide receiver, but I’m so happy with the change. I came here thinking I was going to play wide receiver. The next summer I trained as a defensive back and that’s where I’ve been at.”
Reese credited his fast rise to a defensive star due to his work with defensive back coach Pete Houlihan.
Reese admitted the Roadrunners’ talented group of wide receivers also forces him to raise the level of his game in practices.
“Every day in practice is just a battle,” Reese said. “The guys on our team are some of the best receivers I’ve ever guarded, including five-star receivers.”
Nazareth coach Tim Racki said Reese is a high-character star athlete.
“He’s following in his family’s footsteps,” Racki said. “He plays so hard and will thrive at safety in Indiana. He’s such a great hitter and has such a nose for the ball. He knows how to bring it on the football field. He came here only playing receiver, but he didn’t fight me about playing on defense. He started to focus solely on defense and just took off from there.”