Neuqua Valley senior cornerback Nic Lendino has been called “unbelievable” by his coach and “scrappy” by his teammates.
But nobody calls him by his given name.
“Everyone calls me Dino,” Lendino said. “My whole life I’ve been called Dino, so that’s almost like my name now.
“I meet some people, and they think I’m Dino. They don’t know I’m Nic.”
But everybody knows the 6-foot-2, 180-pound Lendino has an innate quality on the football field.
“It’s just about finding a way, and Dino has always been one of those guys,” senior linebacker Cole Dutkovich said. “I remember sophomore year against DeKalb he got a pick-six. He just comes up with those big-time plays. He’s a dog.”
Lendino was one of the top dogs in a dogged effort by the Wildcats on Friday night. He recovered a fumble in the third quarter and made an interception on his goal line as time expired to save Neuqua Valley’s thrilling 21-20 victory against reigning Missouri Class 3A state champion St. Louis St. Mary’s.
“He’s a phenomenal football player,” Neuqua Valley coach Bill Ellinghaus said. “I’ve been around the game a long time, and he’s a Division I football player.
“Wherever we want him, he’s making plays. He’s locking down guys that have big offers.”
Lendino locked down a victory that was as impressive as it was improbable. The Wildcats (2-1) were playing without star quarterback Mark Mennecke, who suffered a serious ankle injury in a 10-7 overtime loss to Wheaton Warrenville South the week before.
But backup quarterback Ryan Mohler did enough. The junior made his first varsity start and completed 6 of 10 passes for 119 yards, including a 42-yard touchdown pass to sophomore tight end Ryan Mascari that opened the scoring.
Mohler also scored on a 1-yard run to give the Wildcats a 21-12 lead on the first play of the fourth quarter.
The defense did the rest, although it wasn’t easy. The Dragons (2-1) pulled within 21-20 on John Roberts’ 5-yard touchdown run, followed by a two-point conversion, with 5:28 left.
The Wildcats then failed twice to run out the clock. A bad snap on a punt attempt gave the Dragons the ball at Neuqua Valley’s 28-yard line with six seconds left.
St. Mary’s quarterback David Leonard fired a pass toward the end zone, where Jamal Roberts leaped for the ball in front of Lendino.
Lendino described what happened next.
“He was on the opposite side of the field because they were in trips to the left, and I was guarding one receiver man-to-man on the single-receiver side,” Lendino said. “My man ran a go to the end zone just like everyone else.
“The man that got his hands on the ball, he happened to come closer to my side. I saw the ball in the air, and I followed the ball. I was right there, and it bounced into my hands.”
The Wildcats had lived their mantra, and the Dragons, the top-ranked small school in Missouri, had their first defeat.
“We just went in with the mentality to do whatever it takes to win,” said Dutkovich, who recovered a fumble at St. Mary’s 11-yard line to set up Neuqua Valley’s last touchdown and also had the tackle that stopped the Dragons’ penultimate drive. “We’re built on grit.”
They’ve got something else too.
“Props to them, they’ve got a lot of skill, but we were ready for it,” Lendino said. “I believe our heart was more powerful than whatever skill they have on that team.”
Lendino’s heart was pumping at the end of the pulsating victory.
“It’s indescribable,” Lendino said. “I couldn’t be more proud of us. That was definitely some surreal excitement.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.
