For most of his early life, Carmelo Palumbo planned to follow in the family tradition at Richards. He was a wrestler with a couple of great role models as older siblings.
His sister, Mia, made history as the first girl to win a match at the Illinois High School Association state finals, wrestling against boys before the start of the girls wrestling series. His late brother, Rocco, was a three-time state qualifier.
But when high school came around, Carmelo decided to take a different path.
“I quit wrestling when COVID hit,” Palumbo said. “I was working so hard on wrestling, and when that happened and I couldn’t wrestle, it kind of messed my mind up.
“Coming into high school, I wanted to try something new. Richards had the football tradition, and I just stepped into it freshman year.”
Although he’s still a bit of a novice on the football field, it hasn’t taken Palumbo long to become an impact player. The senior receiver hauled in two touchdown passes Friday night to lead host Richards to a 54-27 win over Lemont in a South Suburban Conference crossover in Oak Lawn.
Palumbo finished with five catches for 66 yards, including TDs of 28 and 17 yards from Noah Escobedo, to lead the Bulldogs (7-1). Escobedo completed 14 of 18 passes for 224 yards and added a 7-yard TD strike to Jaiden Henry, who finished with three catches for 67 yards.
“Last year, we were more run-based,” Escobedo said. “This year, we’re passing the ball a lot more and ‘Melo’ has stepped up. He’s always a reliable target in the slot. I know I can count on him.
“He catches the ball when I throw it to him, so what more could you ask for?”
Ahmad Buchanan ran 18 times for 134 yards and four TDs for Richards, while Emmanuel Mahonie added a 75-yard kickoff return TD and Amare LaValle had an interception.
Ryan Plahm threw a 16-yard TD pass to Andrew Ascolani for Lemont (5-3). Aiden Rudman added a 3-yard TD run, while Connor Muersch returned an interception 20 yards for a TD and Denell Johnson had a fumble recovery for a score.
Palumbo, meanwhile, played football for a couple years when he was very young but stopped when he was “5 or 6 years old” and did not come back to it until high school.
The fact that he found his fit as a receiver caught some of his teammates by surprise.
“When everyone hears you’re a wrestler, they think you’re going to play defense,” Palumbo said. “So, playing receiver is kind of different. But I think my speed and agility transferred over from wrestling and just being an athlete overall really helped.”
Palumbo’s first TD catch Friday night capped a dominant first quarter as the Bulldogs rolled to a 21-0 lead and never looked back.
Richards coach Tony Sheehan said Palumbo is thriving now after dealing with a bit of an injury earlier in the season.
“Having him healthy just makes us more explosive,” Sheehan said. “Carmelo has gotten better every year. He works extremely hard.”
Growing up watching his siblings star for the Bulldogs, Palumbo always hoped to shine while wearing the same colors.
“It’s hard to one-up them because they were so good at what they did,” he said. “But I’ve just been trying to make my own mark in a different sport.”
The Palumbo family was struck by tragedy in 2020 when Rocco died in a car accident. He was only 18.
Carmelo found motivation among the despair.
“For me, what I find the easiest is trying to keep my mind off of it and trying not to think about it a lot,” Carmelo said. “Obviously, when I do think about it, it’s an emotional thing.
“I just kind of use that loss to add it to the fire and make me work harder.”