Brady Elish leads Andrean on winning streak
To understand Brady Elish’s role for Andrea’s football team this season, consider his stats.
The 6-foot, 180-pound senior threw more interceptions as a defensive back than he threw in his second season as the 59ers’ starting quarterback.
“It’s been really cool,” Elish said. “Just being on the defensive side of the ball, I’m able to be with my guys more. I’m having a lot of fun doing it right now, too.
“I tried to keep the intensity up. I tried to make sure that every player in my position group, whether it’s the quarterback or the DB, knows what they’re doing and knows their job for the week and their assignments.”
Among the teammates Elish shares his knowledge with is sophomore Dylan Gore. They split their time at the quarterback position.
“Our program is constantly giving young players the opportunity to compete,” Andrea coach Chris Skinner said. “After all, they are the future. We will often have deep rotations at certain position groups. It’s easier to rotate at linebackers, where we have four linebackers on the field at the same time, or at H/Y, where the personnel changes depending on the scheme. But there is only one quarterback on the field at a time.
“Brady and Dylan have a great relationship. They sit at study tables together. They trade questions about the opposing team or the week’s call menu outside of practice. Brady has taken Dylan under his wing, and I couldn’t be more proud of him for that. He lives what it means to be a leader in the Andrean football family.”
As quarterback, Elish completed 65 of 93 passes for 777 yards and six touchdowns with two interceptions and totaled 347 yards and three touchdowns on 58 carries for the 59ers (7-1, 5-0), who are ranked No. 4 in the Class 2A state coaches poll after seven straight wins. They will face Lowell (7-1, 5-0), ranked No. 10 in 4A, for the Northwest Crossroads Conference title in the regular-season finale Friday night.
“He’s more comfortable up front this season,” Skinner said. “He was productive in the air and on the ground, providing us with a legitimate dual threat.”
Last season, Elish completed 151 of 254 passes for 1,740 yards and 16 touchdowns with 10 interceptions and rushed for 235 yards and two touchdowns on 98 carries.
“I feel more confident this year,” Elish said. “I have a whole season under my belt from last year, and I’ve grown and learned more about the position in the offseason. So my confidence is higher and I just know what I’m doing more.”
On defense, Elish has a team-high three interceptions and also leads the team in passes defended.
“We asked him to play a lot of defense this season, and he did very well,” Skinner said.
Playing more defense has only improved Elish’s position in the program.
“Everyone follows him,” senior defensive end/tight end Rocco Allegretti said. “He’s a leader. He’s been a leader for a few years, so we trust him.”
Elish’s sisters, Miranda and Madi, played at Crown Point as pitchers for the softball team. But he said he and his family loved the “crisis” at Andrean.
“He’s come a long way as a person and as an athlete,” Skinner said. “But the fact that he and his family, after all the success his sisters had at Crown Point, took a chance on us, he bought in from day one. He’s deserved all the success he’s had, but a big part of it is he trusts us, he trusts the staff, he’s bought into what we’re doing here.
“I don’t know how easy or difficult it was with her sisters at Crown Point, but good things happened, and that’s to her credit. Trusting and buying into the process and working hard every day, that counts for something.”
Elish is also an outfielder for the Andrean baseball team that won the Class 3A state title in June.
“Winning state was a really cool experience,” he said. “It showed me what it took, how much it took to get to this point. Now that I know, I don’t want to go any less.”
