This Week in Benedictine Football, Week 7

October 4, 1991

Benedictine 45, Toledo Waite 20

                TOLEDO - The local newspaper article began, “Even if Waite fans hadn’t heard the name Andy Kostos before last night, they are tired of it already.”

                That’s because the Benedictine senior running back racked up a school record of 263 yards on 26 carries and four touchdowns to lead the Bengals to a 45-20 win over the Indians. His touchdowns came on runs of 17, 8, 79 and 26 yards.

                Kostos broke the old school record of 252 yards set by Ron Grosel against Fremont Ross in 1987.

                Benedictine fell behind early in this game with Waite scoring the first touchdown. Kostos answered that with a 17-yard scoring run. Waite came back with another score in the first and led after one, 14-7.

                The Bengals rallied in the second on a pair of Kostos touchdowns (eight and 79 yards) and a Denis Belusic 33-yard field goal to give the Bengals a 24-14 halftime lead. Belusic kicked all six extra point attempts in the game.

                Senior Jeff Kadlub caught a five-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Ron Schultz in the third to increase the margin to 31-14. Kostos added his final touchdown early in the fourth on a 26-yard run to make it 38-14.                A one-yard touchdown by Rafiq Vaughn closed out the scoring for the Bengals.

                Waite scored its final touchdown later in fourth.

                With Kostos leading the way, the Bengals totaled 314 yards on the ground and 69 more through the air for 383 yards. They also had 15 first downs.

                Bruce Tyus caught four passes for 61 yards for the Bengals. Defensively, the Bengals created four turnovers with Tyus and Jason Clayton having interceptions and Ben DeJohn and Curtis Davis recovering fumbles.

                For his efforts, Kostos was selected as one of the Plain Dealer Players of the Week.

                Kostos started the season at fullback but moved to tailback midway through the year when Darrell McClendon was injured. In his first start the previous week, Kostos gained 144 yards in a losing effort to Mansfield Senior.

                Kostos finished the season with 1,075 rushing yards and even had a 92-yard kick-off return in his final game.  At the time, it was the second-longest in school history.

                In a Plain Dealer feature story about Kostos in the week following his record rushing performance, he said he was motivated by his everyday hero, his sister Sarah, age 9. She has cerebral palsy and cannot walk or talk, and was having surgery on the same day as the Bengals game against Toledo Waite.

                “When I was leaving the house, I told my mom (Marie) that I was dedicating the game to her and Sarah,” said Kostos. “Sarah is my inspiration.”

                He said that his 79-yard run on a third-and-10 situation is a play that he’ll never forget.

                “When I found out that I was getting the ball, I said to myself that I was going to do it for my sister. I’ve played football for seven years, but it took Sarah to teach me how important it is to make the most of what God gives you,” Kostos told the Plain Dealer.

                His efforts in this game did not go unnoticed. A University of Toledo coach, who was scouting a player on the Waite team, later contacted Andy to visit the college campus.

                Kostos, however, had other plans as he later earned a bachelor’s degree from Adrian College in Michigan.

                NOTES: This has been the only meeting between Benedictine and Toledo Waite.

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Wally Mieskoski ’71  

Benedictine Football Historian