Rocks take stock
in DeBroeck
By Marc Nesseler, Sports editor
November 14, 2002 10:07 PM
As an identical twin, life has been a 2-instead-of-1 proposition for Rock Island senior
quarterback Tom DeBroeck.
``Teachers won't even call us by our first names anymore. Either they don't know or
they don't want to take the chance,'' said Tom of he and his brother, Tim, their 18th
birthday approaching on Feb. 10. ``Even my mom (Cindy) will call me Tim sometimes.
Girlfriends will do it, too. Sometimes that's good, sometimes it's bad.''
When it came to sports, Tom and Tim have tried to separate themselves.
``He's my best friend, but I still compete against him every day,'' Tom said. ``It's
like, who's better at this and that.''
Football in junior-high school provided the best opportunity to detach themselves in
athletic stature. At Edison, Tom became a quarterback, Tim a defensive back, who no longer
plays after an arm injury two years ago.
It was then, though, that Tom DeBroeck became paired with Chase Stephens. Their
quarterback skill levels seemed to be identical matches. For the next six years -- through
junior high, freshman, sophomore and varsity levels -- they'd share, and often alternate,
signal-calling duties.
It wasn't until five games ago -- after RI's first loss in 15 regular-season games, a
9-7 defeat vs. United Township -- that DeBroeck shed the shared role and emerged as the
one.
He's done well on his own. He's coming off a career-best 119 yards passing in a
thrilling, 31-26, Class 6A second-round playoff win over Rockford Boylan last Saturday.
That puts the Rocks into the state quarterfinals for the first time since 1997, the year
RI was 5A state runner-up.
``Both kids are great. Both work real hard and both are deserving,'' RI coach Vic
Boblett said of DeBroeck and Stephens. ``But, the UT game brought it to a head that, for
the betterment of the team, we had to settle on one quarterback. The UT game made it clear
and easier to understand from a player's standpoint.
``Chase really handled the situation well. He's a real positive contributor. And I'd
have every confidence in Chase to step in and do the job if something happened to Tom.''
DeBroeck said he and Stephens, who holds on PAT and field goals, figured the time would
come that one would be chosen over the other. In fact, Boblett had vowed to settle on one
QB after the second game of the regular season. Calling the competition too close to call,
he didn't. Both performed well, with neither vaulting head-and-shoulders above the other.
``We knew it would be hard on one of us,'' DeBroeck said.
DeBroeck was looked at as the passing quarterback, Stephens as the option QB. Through a
10-1 season, DeBroeck has completed 23-of-57 passes for 457 yards and four touchdowns.
Stephens is 6-of-17 for 116 yards and two TDs to go along with 55 yards rushing.
Last year, DeBroeck was 14-of-29, with 265 yards and six TDs. Stephens was 7-of-16 for
162 yards and three TDs.
``It was tough this year because we went through the same thing last year,'' said
DeBroeck. ``The competition part was good. It forces you to compete a lot better. You try
hard because you know you may not get as much playing time or you may not have the job.''
Also playing into DeBroeck's favor is his penchant for avoiding the aerial turnover. He
had his first varsity interception last Saturday, and even then, it proved to be as
effective as a punt, coming on a fourth-and-long play and pinning Boylan to the 9-yard
line.
``Coach asked me if I intended that,'' said DeBroeck. He said he also was part of some
good-naturing ribbing on the sideline for being more effective than the team's
all-conference punter, Jason Reda, who endured a 5-yard punt earlier in the game.
More important, though, was DeBroeck's clutch performance in the final 4 1/2 minutes,
in which the Rocks put up three scores against the stubborn Titans.
``I'd say that was my best performance,'' the QB said. ``I did it at a time when it was
needed the most. I needed to step up.''
It also erased a playoff opener, a 13-12 win over Woodstock, in which DeBroeck came
away wondering about his abilities.
``I didn't go out with a whole lot of confidence in myself,'' he said. ``I tried to put
too much on my shoulders, tried to do more than I was capable.''
Boblett took notice.
``He's the first to admit he didn't have a real good game against Woodstock,'' the
coach said. ``We really challenged him the following week. To have the goal of reaching
the state title game, you have to believe to your core that that will happen, and, not to
have arrogance, but confidence that you're the best guy at that position.''
To magnify that confidence, DeBroeck finished with 10 fewer pass attempts against
Boylan than he had in all of '01.
To a point, one might say DeBroeck has shed the notion of sharing.
Even when it comes to having an identical twin.
``Actually, it was a lot worse at a younger age,'' Tom said of the lookalike woes of he
and Tim. ``The only person who knew the difference was our older brother, Lenny. He could
tell us apart when we were a year and a half.''
Boblett, though, insists he's among those who can identify the DeBroecks separately.
``Tom's a little bigger, more physical-looking. Tim has a slighter build,'' Boblett
said. ``I've been around them for a long time, so that's easy for me to say.''
It wasn't as easy for Boblett to tell the difference between his two talented senior
quarterbacks.
Copyright 2001, Moline Dispatch
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