CLARKSTON — A mere two games into the season, Jim Nedwick and Jimmy Schmitt have the hyped-up Everest Collegiate squad talking about a state championship.
Schmitt, a rookie senior playing in the first football game of his life, kicked a 20-yard field goal with 15 seconds remaining for the Mountaineers’ season-opening, come-from-behind, 27-24 victory against formidable Division 6 opponent Warren Michigan Collegiate.
Nedwick, a veteran senior playing in his fourth year on the varsity, scored the winning touchdown for a hard-fought 21-14 showdown with last year’s Division 8 champion, Ubly.
“We want it so badly this year,” Nedwick said. “We are a step closer.”
Well, maybe they’re a kick closer, too.
Nedwick’s tenacity is well known by the Everest gridiron family and the wider Catholic High School League community. A 5-foot-9, 165-pound running back and linebacker, he astounds onlookers by his seeming disregard for his personal wellbeing in pursuit of the end zone — or of making sure opponents don’t get there.
His signature performance occurred in the CHSL Prep Bowl last October, when his number was called 41 times and he responded with 258 yards on offense and a dogged intensity on defense.
Nedwick had 33 carries for 180 yards and three touchdowns against Michigan Collegiate.
Against Ubly, he carried 27 times for 128 yards, including 20 carries in a row for 84 yards in the second half and the victory-clinching touchdown.
Everest took a 14-0 lead on 40-yard and 52-yard runs by quarterback Oliver Neiman. Some 50 seconds before halftime, Ubly reduced the difference to 14-6 and tied the contest by taking the second-half kickoff on an 80-yard, 16-play, nine-minute drive for a touchdown and a 2-point conversion.
Nedwick is unabashed about his football philosophy. “It’s really all for Him. That’s our team motto,” he said, “so I’m putting everything up there for God.”
He continued: “It’s not just me. That offensive line is doing all the work for me. They’re busting their butts every single play so I can carry the ball that many times. I was banged up a little (in the first half) so I knew we had to come out and be the tougher team. I had to find it in me so I offered it up for my brothers.”
“Our goal is the state championship,” Neiman said. “To beat last year’s champs and all the work we put in all season means a lot to us.”
“We had long grueling practices every day this week,” said senior center Paul Rotole. “We put it together. We’re a very tight group, all of us (13) seniors. We put our heads down and push for the state title.”
Schmitt has experienced what it’s like to play for a state championship. He was a freshman when Everest reached the Division 4 soccer finals and was a member of the Mountaineers’ back-to-back D4 golf champs the last two years.
“But I never thought about football,” he said. “I’ve played soccer my whole life, for 14 years.” He’s 17. “One day in June I went to a local field, took one football with me. My cousin held the ball for me. Things went pretty well. I was up to 50 yards (of kicking distance).”
He competed at the 2024 Kohl's National Scholarship Camp in Tennessee. He scored 20 field goals, demonstrating good command of the football, and achieved an impressive overall kickoff score of 99.48 and a 4.5 star rating.
“I decided I wanted to play football,” Schmitt said. He competed against Everest’s kicker, “my soccer friend” Isaac Cross, and joined the roster a month before the season began. He’s juggling his time between soccer and football practices.
Schmitt has made an immediate impact. In addition to the game-winning kick against Michigan Collegiate, in the first two games, he’s kicked another field goal (a 28-yarder), converted six extra points and a half-dozen kickoff touchbacks.
“Soccer’s still my favorite,” Schmitt said, “but football is coming up in the rankings.”
Mike Pruchnicki is in his 12th year coaching Everest. The Mountaineers have qualified for the state playoffs every year, winning two regional titles and four districts.
“We have some resilient kids,” he said. “They keep believing and fighting for each other. As a coach, that’s what I like to see. I‘m really happy for them. Motivation comes from the heart. It’s believing, keep on going. That’s the best kind of motivation.”
Contact Don Horkey at [email protected].
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