Senior wide receiver/punter Josh Tomas did a bit of everything Friday night for Crete-Monee.

Tomas scored on a pair of long touchdown catches and picked up a key first down an aborted punt as the host Warriors held off Brother Rice 33-25.

“I know that I have to execute when my teammates are counting on me in key situations,” Tomas said. “(Quarterback Isaiah Rucker) and I put in a lot of time together, and I want to be that big-play guy for him.”

Tomas’ second TD catch, a 50-yarder from Isaiah Rucker, stretched Crete-Monee’s lead to 26-17 with 9:38 left in the third.

On the next possession for the Warriors (1-1), Tomas dropped back to punt on fourth-and-7 from his own 23, but decided to take off with the Crusaders (0-2) rushing the punt. He gained 12 yards.

The risky play allowed Crete-Monee to kill five big minutes off the clock.

“I was supposed to roll right and punt,” Tomas said. “They came after me hard and I saw it open to the outside, so I just took it.”

Tomas caught seven passes for 143 yards. Rucker finished 20 of 30 passing for 271 yards and four TDs.

Rucker hit Tyler Mays for a 33-yard TD to make it 33-17 with 3:35 to go in the game.

Brother Rice didn’t go down without a fight as John Bean connected with Dylan Summers for a 77-yard TD and Bean ran in the 2-point conversion to cut the lead to 33-25 with 2:59 left.

The Warriors, though, recovered the ensuing onside kick and ran out the clock.

Bean led the Crusaders, completing 7 of 12 passes for 134 yards and running eight times for 68 yards and a TD.

After an unsuccessful onside kick from Crete-Monee opened the game, Bean ran for a 40-yard TD on the first play from scrimmage.

The Warriors quickly answered with Datuan Carter’s 7-yard TD run, and took their first lead when Rucker found Tomas for a 33-yard TD pass that made it 13-10.

Brother Rice got a huge play from its special teams as Matt Olsen blocked a punt and Joe Fitzgerald recovered it and scored with 4:41 left in the first half.

Crete-Monee had the final strike of the first half when Rucker hit Jamal Safo for a 10-yard TD with 25 seconds to go, sending the Warriors to the locker room with a 20-17 lead.

Carter gained 114 yards on 22 carries for the Warriors.

“This was a huge win,” Tomas said. “We really needed it. It gives us a lot of confidence.”

Steve Millar is a freelance writer for the Daily Southtown.