Collin Gentile has been motivated throughout his Oak Forest career by family bragging rights.
His older brother, Tyler, starred for the Bengals and went on to play at Northern Illinois. Collin, a senior receiver/running back, heard plenty about how good Tyler was. He took that as a challenge.
“The goal I set for myself once I got here was to be better than him,” Gentile said. “I wanted to do everything he did but better. That’s kind of what I still want to achieve.”
Gentile showed off his big-play ability Friday night. He hauled in a pair of 49-yard touchdown catches from Daniel Chopp to help host Oak Forest roll to a 43-7 South Suburban Blue win over district rival Tinley Park.
Chopp completed 6 of 7 passes for 252 yards and four TDs — all of them over 40 yards — to lead the Bengals (5-0, 3-0). He hit Andrew Dawson for a 44-yard scoring strike and threw a 46-yard TD pass to Kevin Sullivan.
William McMaster ran for 127 yards on 10 carries, including a 91-yard TD run, as the Bengals piled up 501 yards. Dawson led the defense with three tackles for loss, while Chris Jensen added a sack and a tackle for loss.
Justin Butler completed 9 of 17 passes for 95 yards to pace Tinley Park (1-4, 0-2), highlighted by a 23-yard TD toss to Jack Stachowicz, who finished with four catches for 57 yards. Ladale Smith ran for 127 yards on 18 carries.
Gentile got Oak Forest going right away, however, catching a 49-yard TD pass from Chopp on the first drive of the game.
“Our motto is we want to punch them in the mouth right away,” Gentile said. “That’s what we live by. Then we keep going and going. I feel like that’s what we did.”
Gentile and Chopp have developed a steadfast connection over the last several years.
“Me and Danny go way back,” Gentile said. “We’ve played football together for 13 years now and he’s always been my quarterback, from tight end to receiver to now playing wing.
“I think that’s really the difference with this team. All of us have been playing together for so long and we’d die for each other out on the field.”
Chopp, a senior in his third year as the starting quarterback, is confident in Gentile’s ability to make big things happen.
“It’s his speed,” Chopp said. “He’s very quick. He’ll break tackles. He’s a slippery little guy out there sometimes, for sure.”
Oak Forest coach Zac Sadek is also the team’s defensive coordinator, so he knows what it’s like to try to stop Gentile.
“He’s a three-year starter and he knows the offense inside and out,” Sadek said. “A lot of times in practice coaching the defense, I’ll look over and be like, ‘Well, we had it, but Collin took it away from us.’ He challenges us because he makes those plays.”
As a whole, the Bengals were all about big plays Friday night, scoring five TDs of 40-plus yards.
After the Titans closed within 15-7 on Stachowicz’s TD catch with 4:21 left in the first half, Oak Forest scored touchdowns on its next four possessions to pull away.
The Bengals, who won a playoff game last season for the first time since 2015, are looking for bigger things this year.
And Gentile is trying to boost the family legacy before he passes it on to his younger brother, Alec.
“Alec is a freshman and I want him to be how I was with Tyler,” Gentile said. “I loved that everyone was calling my brother’s name out and saying ‘Oh, Tyler’s so good. He’s doing this and that.’
“I want Alec to feel that about me. ‘Collin’s so good.’ So, then he’ll want to top me. I want him to live that.”