Moe Almasri came onto the field as the second cornerback with 11:31 remaining in a 17-17 game. Nevada had the ball, third and six, at Northwestern’s 13-yard line. It was a long way from playing in the 2012 IHSA State Championship Game; it was even further from playing backyard football with his five siblings in Mokena, Ill.
Almasri’s first snap in a Northwestern uniform was just three quarters earlier on special teams. Now, he was lining up on the biggest defensive play of the game. Even the opportunistic walk-on couldn’t have envisioned this moment unfolding.
A walk-on graduate transfer from Division-III Robert Morris University (Ill.