July 06, 2025
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Nate Wrublik’s 221 yards, Payton Salomon’s 3 TD passes help Lemont ease past Quincy

By Don O'Brien
Lemont Logo

Lemont Logo

QUINCY – Nate Wrublik ran for 221 yards on 35 carries and Lemont amassed 428 yards of offense in beating host Quincy 38-24 in a Class 6A second-round game Saturday.

Lemont (11-0) took a 17-10 lead at halftime on two touchdown passes from Payton Salomon to Luke Wallace. The first was a 36-yard bomb on the first play of the second quarter to give Lemont its first lead at 7-3. It was the first play Lemont had with the wind at its back.

“It was huge,” Lemont coach Bret Kooi said of the playing conditions, which saw a strong wind blowing out of the west.  “It made a big difference.”

However, Kooi said it just happened that Salomon, who threw two passes in the first quarter, unleashed at that time.

“We weren’t looking at (the wind) whatsoever,” Kooi said. “It was the given situation. Payton is capable of throwing into the wind. It’s sort of nice that you don’t have to worry about it.”

Wallace scored later in the second quarter on a 23-yard reception, making two would-be Quincy tacklers miss on the way to the end zone.

The game turned early in the third quarter when a pass by Quincy sophomore quarterback Bradyn Little deflected off Lemont’s Nathan Kunickis and into the hands of Roberto Patino, who took the ball 25 yards for a score and a 24-10 Lemont lead.

“They made more than one big play,” Salomon said of the Lemont defense. “That was key to this game.”

Lemont picked off Little three times. An interception by Jason Piskule, playing with just one hand and wearing a cast on his right hand after an injury, on Quincy’s second third-quarter possession set Lemont up in Quincy territory again. Seven plays later, Wrublik scored from 8 yards out to extend the lead to 31-10.

The Lemont lead swelled to 38-10 when Salomon hit Kunickis for a 9-yard scoring strike, Salomon’s third passing touchdown of the game.

“(The wind) affected me a little, but you can only control the controllables, said Salomon, who finished with 151 yards and completed 12 of 16 passing attempts. “Stuff like that shouldn’t bother us.”

Wallace led the receiving corps with 95 yards on six receptions for Lemont, which advances to host Kenwood in a quarterfinal.