Wall of Fame #1: Tim Brasic

Not much of a surprise here. Without a doubt Tim Brasic is the greatest football player to ever play for RB. At this point, a decade or so in the future, Brasic’s accolades have passed the test of time with flying colors. The numbers only get more impressive, especially in RB footballs’ current state. It’s bone-chilling looking back at those two incredible season, thinking about how Riverside-Brookfield, this small school outside of Chicago was right up there with the annual state power houses. The individual responsible for this was none other than Tim Brasic. Growing up, Brasic’s first love was basketball; it was only when he hit high school that he started getting really serious about football. After a 1999 season in which RB went 2-7, Brasic’s sophomore year, Tim and the Bulldogs had their sights set on greater things for the 2000 season. In that season the Bulldogs dominated their opposition going undefeated in the regular season, but ultimately falling to Kankakee 36-25, in the Quarterfinals of the 4A playoffs. Brasic had a legendary year in which he completed 248 passes for 3,200 yards, and 35 touchdowns. In 2001, Brasic’s senior year, he led the Bulldogs to arguably the greatest season in school history.  Brasic topped his junior year by a landslide as he had 313 completions, (second in state history), for 4,644 yards, (also second in state history), and 58 touchdowns, (again second in state history.) The Bulldogs ended the regular season undefeated for the second year in a row. Tim Brasic led a Bulldog offense that averaged 43 points per game, and on average the Dogs beat their opponents by a ridiculous 27.67 points per game. In the first round of the playoffs the Bulldogs blew out River Grove 42-0. Following their big win the Bulldogs took on Geneseo. The Bulldogs made short work of the Maple Leaves, throttling them 54-27. The next game the Bulldogs would play the defending state champions, Joliet Catholic, in a matchup that would go down in the books as one of the most legendary games of all time. Throughout the season RB had been heavily criticized for having, what seemed to be a soft schedule. The Bulldogs had dominated everyone they had come up against, so there was really no barometer to tell if they were that good, or if everyone else was that bad… At least until they played Joliet Catholic. Otto Zeman’s five wide-out set, including a whopping zero running backs would finally be put to the test against the stout defense of the Hilltoppers. Let me try to set the scene for you. RB was hosting the game, and if you had a pulse and lived within a four mile radius of RB, you were there. Upwards of 8,000 people were in attendance…The bleachers at Shuey Stadium only hold 3,000. There were people standing on top of eachother just to get a glimpse of the game. The traffic jam getting in and out was a circus. It was like nothing RB had ever seen. The game was a shootout; Brasic broke the playoff record for passing yardage in a game with 589 yards. He also threw seven touchdown passes—yes seven touchdown passes. (So much for that stout Joliet Catholic defense.) With RB down by 12 with 2:07 left on the clock, the Bulldogs looked to Brasic, one last time, to deliver them a miracle win. In 51 seconds Brasic took the Dogs the length of the field for a touchdown to shrink the deficit to six with 1:16. So the Bulldogs needed to recover an outside kick have any chance of winning. Sure enough, they did just that. In an insane turn of events the Bulldogs now had the ball, down 56-50, with a minute and change left on the clock. The Bulldogs got the ball down the field all the way to the yard line. On fourth down with the final seconds ticking away the Bulldogs had one final chance. Tim Brasic saw his all-state wide out, Matt George open in the end zone, he threw the ball, but as it was in the air it was tipped away by away by a Joliet Catholic defender. Riverside Brookfield, the small school by the zoo, outside of Chicago, was two yards shy of knocking off the defending, and eventual state champion, as the Hilltoppers went on to win it all. There is little question that if the Bulldogs were to have beaten Joliet Catholic that there would be a state championship banner hanging in the gym today. After high school Brasic attended the University of Illinois on a football scholarship. Brasic threw for 2,325 yards over his 18 game career with 11 passing and five rushing  touchdowns.  In 2010 Brasic returned to RB to help out with the football program. Brasic, as head coach of the freshmen team, led them to a 7-1-1 season, and a share of the conference title. Tim is currently the college and evangelism pastor at The Vineyard Church of Central Illinois.