'Colin sandwich': Why these Williamsville linebackers love sharing the same first name

WILLIAMSVILLE — It’s a source of pride for Williamsville linebackers Colin Ripperda and Colin Burge.

It just came about one day in the hallway and stuck.

“We've been great friends since high school and we call it a 'Colin sandwich, '” Ripperda said. “We both hit guys at the same time. It's always fun with Burge.”

Squirrelly linebackers

They helped shut down No. 4 Tolono Unity 12-7 in the Class 3A state semifinal at Paul Jenkins Field on Saturday.

The No. 3 Bullets (12-1) limited the Rockets to 138 total yards of offense and junior defensive back Joshua Cates cemented the win with a pass breakup in the end zone on Unity’s final possession.

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They advance to the state finals for the first time since 2019 against No. 4 Elmhurst IC Catholic (12-1) at Memorial Stadium in Champaign at 4 p.m. Friday.

“I'm just glad we prevailed,” Burge said. “We all did it. On the sideline, we said, we're not losing this game, it's not going to happen, and that level of confidence helped us prepare for that eventual game-winning deflection.”

Ripperda, a senior, chalked up a team-best 12 tackles while Burge, a junior, had seven against an offense that featured Illinois High School Football Coaches Association 3A all-state senior running back Matt Brown, who finished with 94 rushing yards and one score on 32 carries.

“I was watching film yesterday (on Friday) with my dad,” Burge said. “We just came in with the mindset that we're better than them — faster, stronger. We saw the open holes on the guard pulling and stuff. Me and Rippy, I love him like he's my brother. We've got one more together, so let's win.”

Williamsville coach Aaron Kunz referred to the duo as squirrelly linebackers because of their size and relentless pursuit. Both are listed under 5-foot-9 and weigh 180 pounds.

“They're fun to coach and they are really good football players,” Kunz said.

Ripperda follows brother’s footsteps

Ripperda currently leads the Bullets in tackling for a third consecutive season. He has 129 tackles, including 11 for loss and three fumble recoveries. He totaled 136 tackles last season with five for loss and three sacks. That earned him unanimous all-Sangamo Conference first-team honors.

He also helped spark the offense’s first scoring drive against Unity in the third quarter. He opened the second half with four carries before senior quarterback Jake Seman capped the drive with a 10-yard TD run to trail 7-6.

Ripperda has 350 rushing yards and seven scores as a running back this season.

“He's a beast — first-team all-conference last year unanimous and probably again this year,” Burge said. “This time he actually got some carries on the offensive side of the ball, so I'm just happy that he's on my team and my side of the ball, and I'm happy to share the same first name with him.”

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Ripperda’s older brother, Grant, previously helped fuel Williamsville to its first state title in 2019. Grant especially thrived as a running back with 1,630 rushing yards and 27 TDs and was named to the 3A all-state team.

Ripperda subsequently assumed his older brother’s No. 6 uniform and is considering reuniting with him on the NCAA Division III Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology football program.

“He's my biggest inspiration,” Ripperda said. “I've been his biggest fan since this little and it's really great to do the same thing he did.”

Defense comes to the rescue

Ripperda certainly appreciates his comrades on defense.

He mistakenly jumped offsides in crunch time on fourth down, giving Unity a first down at the Williamsville 20-yard line with under two minutes left.

Senior defensive lineman John Layman, though, forced a subsequent fourth down with a tackle for no gain and Cates deflected the pass toward the end zone in man coverage to clinch the win.

“It was inspirational,” Ripperda said. “I can't believe how they did it. It was one play, you got to get up there and knock it down, and Josh Cates made a great play in the end zone there. It was amazing.”

Layman said he switched over to the defensive end position to set up fourth down.

“After that, it felt real good. We knew at that point ... this is the play,” Layman said. “We either go to state or put off our pads. We did our jobs and we got it done. It was something.”

Layman said he wrestled with Ripperda last winter to get better at football.

“I love Rippy and I love Burge,” Layman said. “We trust each other a lot and that's what you've got to do: just trust each other, fill our gaps and do our jobs.”

Williamsville came away with five sacks in the game.

“I'm just so proud of our defense and all of the guys because we do it for each other,” Layman said. “We talked in the locker room before the game just as seniors all four years. We talked about we just got to really be relentless today, just be more than we've ever been and just never quit.”

Complete team defense

Senior defensive end Sam McCoy particularly wreaked havoc and had three sacks. Burge and Layman each had one.

McCoy, who leads the team with 12 sacks this season, also credited outside linebackers Kaden Ratliff and Carson Kohler for clamping down on the edges.

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“We worked on it lot this week,” McCoy said. “We knew that we were going to have to do that and put a lot of pressure on their QB in passing situations, so it was nice to be able to go out there and execute.”

Kunz lauded the secondary for allowing the defense to stack the box in order to stop the run.

“I think we've improved a lot this year,” Ripperda said. “I don't think many people thought we were going to get this far and our defense was going to be this good. Our offense is just as good and I think we've really shown people that we can do it.”

Contact Bill Welt: (217) 788-1545, bill.welt@sj-r.com, Twitter.com/BillWelt

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: IHSA football championships: The anchors of the Williamsville defense