Just for kicks: Ryan Soliman thrives in role at St. Bede

St. Bede assistant coach Bill Booker taught Ryan Soliman in PE classes at Mendota Holy Cross School and thought he might just be an asset to the Bruins football team.

A soccer player by trade, Booker invited Soliman to come to a football practice his freshman year last year to see if he might want to join the team as their kicker.

“He’s a great kid in school and he played soccer prior. I just wanted to make sure he got involved right away at St. Bede and had a great experience as a freshman,” Booker said. “One day I saw him in PE class and told him to come to practice and check it out. We were a week into school, he took me up on the offer. I told Coach (Jim) Eustice and a few days later he was getting his equipment.”

It’s been a great match.

Soliman has been money for the Bruins. He’s now made 30 of 31 PAT attempts, including a 7 of 7 in a 49-26 Homecoming win over Elmwood Park, and 5 of 5 last week against Seneca.

He’s also made 1 of 2 field goal tries. The one field goal was a game-winner, a 24-yarder that lifted the Bruins to a 31-28 win over Dwight, ultimately sending them into the playoffs.

The hero of the night said he just went out there with no pressure and was happy to deliver for his teammates.

“I went out there, and was like, ‘I don’t need to create pressure or be afraid of anything. Go out there, trust your fundamentals and there’s no way you’ll miss,’” he said. “Feels pretty good. All the work you put in practice, it feels great to have it come out for something big.”

Soliman doesn’t pay much thought to those who may think he’s not a real football player.

“I really don’t care. I’m just out here to put points on the board. I don’t need to do anything else,” he said.

Soliman, who has kicked a 46-yard field goal in practice, made a field goal for the varsity a year ago in his hometown Mendota.

Eustice and Booker are happy to have him.

“He works hard and has become extreme reliable and gets better every day with the different kickoffs we do,” Eustice said.

“I’m very happy for him and with his work ethic. He’ll continue to improve,” Booker said.

During a typical day, Soliman spends half of most practices working with his special teams crew, long snapper Marly Tillman and holder Ryan Nawa, to make their kicking a matter of routine.

He said he will also try to get some reps on other positions.

Soliman’s only prior experience kicking balls came in soccer, which he said has some similar skills.

“I played soccer. That was about it,” he said. “There’s a lot of similarities between them. Some of it’s difficult because it’s different swings but you get used to it over time,” he said.

Tigers scoring in the classroom

Members of the Princeton Tiger football team are role models on and off the field for the kids in town. A group of Tigers visited Jefferson School on Wednesday to read to the second grade classes. It’s a reading program created by senior captain Bennett Williams.

The interaction brings great joy to players and kids alike.

“I love doing it. It’s really fun be able to interact with the kids in Princeton,” PHS senior Evan Driscoll said. “It means a lot that these kids look up to us or even care about us playing. It’s a really cool thing that we can just play a sport we love and be able to impact people with it.

“Seeing the kids looking up to us definitely makes me hold myself accountable because it motivates me to actually be a good role model for them and act in a way that they should emulate whether I’m with them or not.”

Tiger coach Ryan Pearson is proud to see his players excel off the field and “loves seeing how they interact and read to the students.”

Playoffs lineup

Princeton (8-1), ranked and seeded No. 2 in Class 3A, will kick off the playoffs at home at 1 p.m. Saturday against No. 15 Paxton-Buckley-Loda (5-4). They met at Bryant Field in the 2019 3A quarterfinals with the Tigers winning 38-12.

No. 14 St. Bede (5-4) will also have a playoffs rematch when it travels to No. 3 Chicago Hope Academy (8-1) in a 1A opener. The Bruins beat the Eagles, 30-19, in a 2019 opener at the Academy.

Game time is 2 p.m. at Altgeld Park in Chicago.

In other area matchups:

In Class 1A: No. 15 Princeville (5-4) is at No. 2 Stark County (9-0), 7 p.m., Friday

No. 13 Deer-Creek Mackinaw (5-4) is at No. 4 Annawan-Wethersfield (8-1), 1 p.m. Saturday

No. 12 Fulton (6-3) is at No. 5 Morrison (8-1), 1 p.m., Saturday

No. 10 ROWVA is at No. 7 Newman (7-2), 1 p.m., Saturday

No. 9 Marquette (7-2) is at No. 8 Forreston (7-2), 7 p.m., Friday

In Class 2A: No. 9 Rockridge (8-1) is at No. 8 Westville (8-1), 2 p.m., Saturday

No. 16 Dwight (5-4) is at No. 1 Seneca (9-0), 7 p.m., Friday

In Class 3A: No. 10 Monmouth-Roseville (5-4) is at No. 7 North Boone (6-3)

In Class 4A: No. 14 Peoria Notre Dame (5-4) is at No. 3 Kewanee (8-1), 7 p.m., Friday

No. 14 Plano (5-4) is at No. 3 Dixon (8-1), 7 p.m., Friday

No. 10 Geneseo (6-3) is at No. 7 IC Catholic (7-2), 5 p.m., Saturday

Class 5A: No. 16 Sterling (4-5) is at No. 1 Chicago Payton (9-0), 4 p.m., Saturday