As they spent the offseason preparing for their final year on the high school football field this fall, the seniors on the Bishop McNamara football team were on the precipice of school history.

But not a history they wanted to be associated with.

After they began high school in the wake of the retirement of five-time state champion coach Rich Zinanni, the Class of 2026 saw the varsity team go 3-6 their freshmen year.

As the class’s core moved up to varsity as sophomores, they suffered the first of back-to-back 4-5 seasons. They were in danger of becoming the first class to graduate at McNamara without seeing the playoffs at least once.

Not only did the Fightin’ Irish snap that program-long three-year playoff drought this year, but they even rewrote record books on their way back. Their 9-0 regular season is the program’s first since 1998 and their Chicagoland Christian Conference championship isn’t just their first in the conference’s three-year history, but first conference title since 2011.

After Zinanni retired, his chosen replacement, Alan Rood, left before the offseason began to build the 8-Man program at St. Anne. JV head coach Shawn Lade was named interim coach for that 3-6 run in 2022 before rookie coach Bob Kelly was hired in 2023. After resigning following consecutive 4-5 seasons, defensive coordinator Greg Youngblood was promoted last winter, the perfect time to lead a hungry core.

“I think coach Youngblood came in looking for a group of guys looking to buy in and pick up what he was doing,” Bishop McNamara senior Tucker Inman said. “He had a great plan for the team and all the guys were sick of losing, so we bought in and turned it around. … We always hoped for it in the future, but the way it was looking was really rough. Getting a new head coach each year, the hope was kind of fading. But we turned it around and kept hope."

While they had familiarity with Youngblood’s coaching style, his spread option offense was a new look. Senior quarterback Karter Krutsinger noted that the power run style out of the new look is something they were familiar with, and once they started to strap up the pads and put their new offense to the test, he and his teammates saw how special it could be.

“When we started our summer workouts we started running it, and I was like OK, it’s another offense,” Krutsinger said. “Then we put the pads on and I saw how coach Youngblood has an answer for multiple defenses. … Once we really opened up the playbook is when I realized we could be special."

Krutsinger hasn’t had to throw it much, going an efficient 17-of-29 passing for 450 yards, eight touchdowns and an interception in the regular season. That’s because the rushing attack has been so electric.

Julius May (1,143 yards, 11.1 yards per carry, 20 TDs) and Malachi Lee (601 yards, 13.7 YPC, 10 TDs) are each averaging more than a first down per attempt to lead a ground game that’s totaled 2,932 yards and 53 touchdowns.

“I’ve got to thank the linemen first,” May said. “As soon as they open up that hole you’ve got to be gone.”

One of those linemen, Kian Bramer, knows he’s never going to tote the rock himself. But for him, that doesn’t matter. The selfless mentality he brings to both sides of the trenches – one of almost an entire lineup of two-way starters – is one that exemplifies a mindset the team has bought into collectively.

“You’ve just got to fight tooth and nail to stay alive,” Bramer said. “In the trenches, I have to go from blocking to trying to get that running back or quarterback. It’s a hard job and takes a toll on you, but what motivates me is just trying to win, trying to do the best for my teammates. I live through every one of them, so when I see them successful, it makes me feel successful.”

The offense that averages 50.8 points per game may catch the most attention, but the defense has had great moments, surrendering 13.8 points per game while notching three shutouts. Inman, whose 49 tackles are third behind Ian Irps (74) and Rhys Landsmann (70), is at the heart of a unit the team knows it can count on.

“I feel like the defense is the group the offense can always lean back on,” Inman said. “The offense will score and score, but there might be a drive or two where we have to kick it away. But that defense is always there and fired up, ready to take it away.”

Beginning with a Week 2 win at Herscher to avenge their 2024 loss, the Irish have earned wins at several turns where they were met with doubt. They held on for a 45-42 win at Aurora Christian in Week 2, went to a Wheaton Academy team they hadn’t scored on in three years and left with a 29-14 win in Week 7, following it up with a 48-20 win at then-unbeaten Hope Academy in Week 9 to clinch the conference.

“It’s been great, honestly. It’s really exciting,” May said. “Every week we get a new challenge and have been able to rise above it. When you get to the fourth quarter and see those double 0’s, Mac is back. That’s what we’ve been wanting to say this year.”

Their first-round opponent in the Class 3A playoffs will be a familiar one when they host Herscher on Friday. The Tigers’ 28 points in Week 2’s 45-28 decision were the most the Irish have allowed this season, and the last time these bitter rivals met in the postseason, the Tigers scored a 21-18 upset.

A rematch with Hope or, more likely, a showdown with former Metro Suburban Conference rival and state frontrunner IC Catholic would be in store in the second round. But the Irish know they have a tough task this week to worry about first, a challenge they look forward to.

“I feel like the group of guys we have, we’re really senior heavy, and our focus is that to be the best, you’ve got to beat the best,” Inman said. “Having that pull in the bracket, we all knew it wasn’t going to be easy, so I feel like we’re all going to prepare ourselves and be ready to go.”