Pacelli High School senior running back Jesse Raczek (22) breaks into the open field on his 28-yard touchdown run in the second quarter of the Cardinals’ 62-15 win over Wittenberg-Birnamwood at Community Stadium at Goerke Field Friday, Oct. 12, 2012. (George Check photo)

This story is a reprint from the Oct. 19, 2012, edition of The Portage County Gazette.

Portage County Gazette

By John Kemmeter

After spending most of his life around the Pacelli High School football program, senior running back/safety Jesse Raczek was faced with the possibility of playing in his final game in a Cardinals uniform Friday, Oct. 12.

The grandson of 46th-year Pacelli football head coach Bob Raczek and son of Steve Raczek, a Pacelli assistant coach since the 1990s and the current co-head coach this season during his father’s battle with cancer, Jesse was hoping to help keep Pacelli’s slim playoff chances alive in its regular-season finale.

On Senior Night at Community Stadium at Goerke Field, Jesse put together the game of his life, as he rushed for 267 yards and five touchdowns on 19 carries, and finished with a team-high 16 tackles on defense, to lead the Cardinals (4-4, 3-4) to a 62-15 win over Wittenberg-Birnamwood (2-6, 2-5).

“He played great, on both sides of the ball,” said Steve. “We’ve always known he’s had the ability.

“And the o-line made some nice holes for him,” said Steve. “It was a very proud moment.”

“As long as I can remember, Pacelli football has been my life,” said Jesse after the game. “I remember (as a kid) standing on the 40-yard line, waiting for my dad to yell, ‘go,’ and for me to go out and get the tee.

“And that seems like it was just yesterday,” said Jesse. “I can’t believe that this could be my last time wearing this jersey.”

Pacelli High School senior running back/safety Jesse Raczek (22) is joined by his father Steve, sister Emily and mother Amy after he scored five touchdowns in the Cardinals’ 62-15 win over Wittenberg-Birnamwood on Senior Night at Community Stadium at Goerke Field Oct. 12, 2012. (John Kemmeter photo)

Jesse followed in the footsteps of his father, who grew up attending Pacelli football practices and games with his brothers Matt and Mark, and then joined them in playing for their dad, Bob, in the 1980s.

“He’s been raised with this program,” said Steve of Jesse. “He was at practices, he was at weight-room workouts; he was at everything he could from the time he could pretty much walk.

“Whether he was hanging on my leg, or on grandpa’s leg,” said Steve.

Jesse began his playing career at Pacelli as a freshman in 2009, as he saw limited action on varsity for his grandfather, who is currently the second all-time winningest high school football coach in state history (359 wins), and has led the Cardinals to three State Titles and six other State Championship Game appearances.

Jesse then earned regular playing time on both sides of the ball as a sophomore, before injuries cut his season short.

As a junior, Jesse was a two-way starter, and the team’s leading rusher heading into the fourth game of the year, when he suffered a season-ending injury.

“Outside of the injuries, when he was healthy, he was good,” said Steve. “And nobody’s ever known how good.”

“He’s a good kid,” said Bob. “He works hard in practice, and never talks back to anybody.”

While Jesse was looking forward to staying healthy for an entire season as a senior, he also didn’t know if his grandpa would be there to coach him on the sideline.

Bob was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2004, and although he continued to coach for eight seasons while battling the disease, he wasn’t planning on returning this fall due to his health.

However, he changed his mind prior to the start of the season and decided to share co-head coaching duties with Steve, while he has attended practice whenever he’s well enough.

“It was a blessing, it really was,” said Jesse. “They told us at the beginning of the year that he wouldn’t be here.

“My dad did some talking, and grandpa said he wanted to come out and coach another year with us,” said Jesse. “He’ll keep fighting… that’s what he loves to do.”

“It took some coaxing, and I tell you, it was a gutsy move for him,” said Steve. “His health is not good. And I think it meant a lot to him that Jesse was a senior this year, and it meant a lot to me to have that mentor still there.

“And he was a huge help all season long,” said Steve. “But he battles through a lot of things every day. And I tell you, he’s one tough, tough old bird.”

This season has also been a challenge on the football field for the Cardinals.

After making it to at least the State Quarterfinals in four out of the last five years, Pacelli got off to a 1-3 start this season, as it appeared the team would need to win its final four games to qualify for the playoffs.

The Cardinals beat Iola-Scandinavia 28-7 on Sept. 21, but then fell behind Bonduel 21-0 at halftime the following week, before they rallied for three touchdowns in the second half to pull within 21-19 with just under four minutes left.

However, Pacelli was unable to get the ball back until the final seconds and went on to lose 21-19 to fall to 2-4 on the season and 1-4 in the Central Wisconsin Conference-8 (CWC-8) with two games remaining.

While no team in the 37-year history of the WIAA football playoffs had made the postseason with a sub-.500 record in conference, the Cardinals kept their slim playoff hopes alive, and blasted Weyauwega-Fremont 35-0 on the road on Oct. 5, to lead into their regular season finale against Wittenberg-Birnamwood last Friday.

Jesse entered the game as the fourth-leading rusher in the CWC-8 this season, while he also received his first scholarship offer a week earlier, to NCAA Division II Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Mo.

With emotions already high for the possibility of the last game for Pacelli’s senior class, Bob suffered a fall during the week, and as a precautionary measure watched the game from his car in the parking lot on the south end of the bleachers at Goerke, and behind the Pacelli sideline.

“Before the game, I talked to the team, to go out there and do this one from my grandpa,” said Jesse. “And I told them, ‘this could very well be his last game that he’ll be around in Pacelli football, and we don’t want him going out on a loss. We want to put him on top.’”

In the game, each team scored a touchdown early in the first quarter, before Jesse scored on a 25-yard touchdown run and senior Nathan Zurawski recovered a fumble and returned it 16 yards for a touchdown to put Pacelli ahead 20-7 at the end of the first quarter.

Pacelli senior running back Jesse Raczek (22) pulls away from the defense on his way to the end zone in the Cardinals’ 62-15 win over Wittenberg-Birnamwood at Community Stadium at Goerke Field Oct. 12, 2012. (George Check photo)

Jesse then scored on touchdown runs of 34 and 28 yards in the second quarter to make it 34-7, while senior quarterback Adam Kluck connected with senior wide receiver Chris Poeschel on a 53-yard touchdown pass to give the Cardinals a 41-7 lead at halftime.

Jesse then added a 35-yard touchdown run in the third quarter and capped his Senior Night with a 48-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, as he finished with 267 yards rushing and five touchdowns on 19 carries, as well as 16 tackles on defense, to help Pacelli roll to a 62-15 win.

“He had a good ballgame,” said Bob. “I think it’s the best health he’s been in for a long time.

“We always knew that he could be an outstanding runner and a good defensive player,” said Bob. “But he came around today and played well.”

“Our line did one helluva job,” said Jesse, whose night allowed him to finish as the second-leading rusher in the CWC-8 this season. “I’m so proud of every one of my teammates.”

Jesse Raczek (22) gets a hug from his dad, Pacelli football co-head coach Steve Raczek, after he comes off the field for the last time in the Cardinals’ 62-15 win over Wittenberg-Birnamwood at Community Stadium at Goerke Field Oct. 12, 2012. (John Kemmeter photo)

After the game the team huddled on the field, where Steve asked if they wanted to circle around Bob’s car for a postgame speech.

“And it didn’t even take them half a second, ‘yes,’” said Steve. “It was a good feeling, because no matter what anybody says, he is Pacelli football.

“This is the house he built, and the kids feel that,” said Steve. “And that was really nice to have him around this year, because those days that he made it out on his cart at practice, it’s a little different with those kids. There’s that respect he’s earned and still has.”

Head coach Bob Raczek, who suffered a fall during the week, gives a postgame speech after the Pacelli football team huddled around his car following the Cardinals’ 62-15 win over Wittenberg-Birnamwood at Community Stadium at Goerke Field Oct. 12, 2012. (John Kemmeter photo)

Bob said that during the game he also had a number of former players stop by his car and talk to him about their days of playing football at Pacelli, and how they still enjoyed coming back to watch the team.

He said there are no words to describe what it’s meant for him to be able to coach at Pacelli for as long as he has, and that it was good that he came back for this season.

“I’m glad I did,” said Bob, who is in his 52nd year of coaching football. “And I’m glad the way things turned out.”

Following the win, Pacelli felt like it still had a chance to make the playoffs, as the pairings were announced later that night/early Saturday morning, when they were posted on the WIAA website.

And although no team had ever made the playoffs with a sub .500 conference record, this year four teams did, as Pacelli grabbed one of the final two playoff berths in the state based on a tiebreaker, out of 15 teams that were in contention for the last two spots.

“About 12:30 at night, one o’clock in the morning, I went on and I saw it posted,” said Jesse. “So I ran downstairs, woke my dad up, and told him we were in the playoffs.”

Jesse said it’s like a second chance for him and his teammates, who received the seventh-seed in their Regional and will travel to face second-seeded Wild Rose (6-2, 5-1) in a WIAA Division 6 Level 1 Playoff Game at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 19.

“It’s almost unreal,” said Jesse. “Most of us were playing, knowing that our last three or four games were almost like a last game for us, because it was a win or we were done.

“It’s just awesome,” said Jesse.

The trip to the playoffs also means at least one more game with Bob coaching and Jesse playing for Pacelli.

Bob said it’s been great to coach Jesse for the last four years, as well as work with Steve, and that the program will be in good hands whenever he decides to retire.

“Steve’s going to be a good coach for quite a few years in here,” said Bob. “He does a lot of studying of the game and he’s always got a pretty good idea of what the opposite team is going to be doing.

“And he works well with the kids,” said Bob. “He’s got a good rapport with them, and that’s a big thing.”

Meanwhile, Jesse said it’s been special to play at Pacelli for his grandfather and father, which he looked forward to since he was a kid.

“It’ll be the closing of a chapter,” said Steve. “But there’s no doubt in my mind he’s got a bright future ahead of him, in whatever he decides to do.

“And it’s because of this game right here, that teaches kids about life, and how to fight through adversity, and how to overcome hurdles,” said Steve. “He’s done it time and time again, and it’s going to make him a very, very fine young man.”

“I wouldn’t want anything different,” said Jesse. “I love them both, and I love my team.

“It’s been an amazing experience,” said Jesse. “This was what I always dreamed of.”

Editor’s Note: The next summer, following his 46th season as Pacelli football head coach, Bob Raczek died July 28, 2013, at age 75, after a long battle with cancer. Jesse has followed in his grandfather’s and father’s footsteps, and spent last season as an assistant coach for the Rosholt High School football team.