JCA Ousts Morris With Double Trouble

In a Wednesday afternoon ceremony, Junior Rank and the United States Marine Corps honored Joliet Catholic Academy’s Malin Jones as an All-American. Friday night, Jones played like one.

And so did Ty Isaac.

A 6-foot-1, 210-pound senior wingback, Jones scored the go-ahead touchdown with a 72-yard run on JCA’s fourth play from scrimmage. The Northwestern recruit had 141 of his 151 yards in the first half.

A 6-2, 215-pound junior wingback, Isaac inched closer to the single-season school scoring record with 5 TDs and rushed for 193 of his 212 yards in the second half. His 12-yard TD catch lit a 21-0 halftime lead.

Together with a defense that produced four interceptions, including three on fourth down, that spelled trouble for Morris. JCA exorcised the Redskins’ home-turf demons with a 41-7 romp in the second round of the Class 5A football playoffs — a sigh of relief since the Hilltoppers had lost three straight at Morris.

“I can’t say enough about how well our defense was prepared and how well our offensive line played,” JCA coach Dan Sharp said. “And we know once Ty and Malin get into the secondary, it’s gone. We had three big runs for touchdowns, and those big plays are like hitting fade routes – like hitting home runs.”

Firing the initial salvo was Jones, who followed the blocks of sophomore guard Jalen Hansel and senior tackle Jake Jankowski for the 72-yard TD jaunt only 2:49 into the first quarter. The Naperville native ended up with 12 carries, eight in the first half, helping JCA to 410 yards rushing on 38 attempts.

“It was great blocking there and I went in untouched,” said Jones, whose 37-yard cutback run later set up Isaac’s 12-yard TD grab from fellow native Craig Slowik (3-of-8, 26 yards). “I can’t say enough about our offensive line. We came out, we had a great game plan and we played our game.”

That game became a boon for Joliet Catholic (9-2) and doom for Morris (9-2) when Isaac chugged his legs and spun in for a 6-yard TD run with 5:58 left in the first quarter. Then, with a mere 46.2 seconds remaining until halftime, Isaac hauled in Slowik’s jump-ball pass in the left corner of the end zone.

“This is the right group,” Isaac said of beating Morris, which had dropped five straight playoff games to JCA before beating the Hillmen the past two meetings. “It was one of our best practice weeks. We were loose and relaxed, but at the same time, we knew the task at hand. We worked hard and we executed.”

“We popped some big runs, we popped some big plays, and I think the play before halftime was the biggest for us,” Sharp pointed out. “We used both of our timeouts to force them to punt, Malin makes a big run, Ty makes a great catch, and getting that 21st point going into halftime was a really big key.”

Even though Morris rallied briefly behind the play of senior quarterback Austin Feeney (16-of-32, 163 yards; 15 carries, 74 yards), JCA reacted to a 37-yard TD pass with three unanswered scores of its own.

After Isaac crept in for a 1-yard TD run, culminating a 10-play, 49-yard drive, the highlight reel rolled with a 97-yard TD counter — the second-longest running play in school history — and a 79-yard TD sprint.

“Oh, man, I felt like I was running the 200,” Isaac said, smiling. “I got about halfway there and that end zone was still far away. The line opened up a huge hole and all I had to do was run. We knew that we could move the ball, we made the right adjustments, and the offensive line did a great job tonight.”

Besides kudos to Jankowski, Hansel, senior guard Carson Smith, senior center Pat Kripp and sophomore tackle J.B. Butler, Sharp also praised the pair of interceptions by senior safety Adam Collins and the single pickoffs by junior linebacker Matt Madrigal and junior cornerback Grant Harrison.

The fans loved it, too.

“It was a great atmosphere and the crowd was unbelievable,” Collins said of the standing-room-only affair. “We were really prepared for this week, our whole week of practice was huge, and this is awesome.”