Playmakers Foust, Morehead racked up the numbers

When you consider Cardinal Stritch football’s offensive talent, 6-foot-1, 165-pound junior quarterback Thomas Foust is the first to come to mind.

Foust completed 68 of 129 passes (52.7 percent) for 724 yards and four touchdowns with just two interceptions, plus he ran for 771 yards on 95 carries (8.1 per carry) and nine TDs.

“Thomas was the engine that got us going. He’s a real quiet kid, really hard worker and a big competitor, but his ability at any point to make a big play is something that I know, as a defensive guy, would keep me up at night getting ready to play against him,” said first-year coach Gene Rucker, who played linebacker and defensive back at Capital University. 

“I think he really grew as a quarterback this year, and I think next year he could have a really big year,” Rucker continued.

Foust was accompanied by other standout talents who could make a big play at a minutes notice.

“We had a little bit of ups and downs, but overall, we had good season,” Rucker said. “Offensively, we have so many athletes. It’s a blessing to have and it’s a good thing for us, too, is a lot of those guys come back next year, too.”

 Rucker says the “athletic” 6-2, 185-pound senior Dwayne Morehead played wide receiver, running back and defensive back and has committed to continue playing football at the University of Dayton next year. Morehead, a first team All-TAAC selection, ran for 558 yards on 91 carries (6.1) and caught 23 passes for 280 yards.

For Foust and Morehead, it was their second year leading the Stritch offense. In 2019 as a sophomore, Foust completed 133 of 211 passes (63 percent) for 1,727 yards and 17 touchdowns. He also ran for 1,039 yards on 130 carries, averaging eight yards per attempt and scoring eight rushing TDs. As a junior, Morehead ran for 674 yards on 106 attempts, averaging 6.4 per carry and scoring six TDs and he caught 14 passes for 213 yards (15.2) and a TD, 

Foust did not get a 10-game season this year, but hopes to his senior year as long as this global coronavirus pandemic goes away. However, there were nights in 2020 that he shined in the Cardinals’ shortened eight-game season.

Rucker says his entire offense was up to the task when the Cardinals almost beat Edon, which finished 6-4 under coach Bob Owen. It was Owen who originally brought the spread offense to Fairview, where it has stuck and continues to thrive, and Owen also coached one year at Lake.

“The best game we had all year was against Edon (36-34 Stritch loss), who ended up second in the league. We lost by two, they got the win at the end, but that was a really good game,” Rucker said. “They scored late, and then we took the ensuing kickoff about 65 yards back, drove down, got to about a 25-yard field goal and then pushed it (wide).

Rucker says a philosophy of brotherhood was instilled to create some badly-needed confidence.

“We really harped on the family atmosphere this year. We let them know they can compete with anybody, and they all bought in from the start, so I think they thought of their teammates as brothers, and knowing that, they didn’t want to let down their brother, and with that regard they really pulled through in the end,” Rucker said.

Now, with so many returning, Rucker wants to begin setting the table for next year.

“We have a lot of young pieces, basically just two or three guys who won’t return next year, but other than that we’ll be good to go,” Rucker said.

“I think that if we get a good offseason together and the guys continue to buy in, we would like to be competing close to the top of the conference next year. I think we have a lot of guys coming back in key positions, so I think they’ll have experience, even with COVID last year that will pay off,” Rucker continued.

“I think that if we continue to grow upon that, we should be and will want to be competing with the Northwoods, the Edons, the Ottawa Hills — we haven’t beaten those guys in a long time, and we haven’t had a winning record since 2006. So that is something that we have really set our eyes on, too. We will get to work and hopefully we can get that done next year. We have still got some things we need to work on.”

(In last week's edition of The Press, due to a graphics template error, Cardinal Stritch defensive lineman Bob Sobczak was listed on the Alan Miller Jewelers All-Press Team. Sobczak graduated last year. The Press regrets the error)