JCA Rolls Over Washington, Into Semis

A mainstay on both sides of the ball, Joliet Catholic Academy’s Malin Jones can keep up with the best of them. The Northwestern-bound senior also understands what makes a team tick.

Saturday was Jones’ first game at linebacker, replacing injured senior Mike Passo. But in Jones’ role as a wingback is where he credited the fumble recoveries of senior safeties Dominick Allen and Adam Collins.

One hand feeds the other.

“When you get the ball inside their 50 three times in a row and your offense has great field position, it means everything,” Jones said. “Our defense gave a great effort and nothing could have gone better.”

Nothing the host Panthers tried in the Class 5A quarterfinals worked as JCA became the first high school football team in state history to win 100 playoff games, turning on the running clock with an emphatic 56-7 rout. The 13-time state champion Hilltoppers improved their all-time playoff record to 100-21.

On a beautiful afternoon in central Illinois, JCA (10-2) scored twice in a 1:54 span early in the first quarter after Allen and Collins took advantage of a botched handoff and an equally botched option pitch. The Hilltoppers’ high-powered offense began to roll and Washington (10-2) never recovered.

While Jones led JCA with 134 yards rushing and three touchdowns on only 9 carries, junior wingback Ty Isaac added 104 all-purpose yards on seven touches – 6 carries for 57 yards and a 47-yard TD catch. He scored four times, breaking the single-season school TD record established by J.R. Zwierzynski in 2001.

Entering next Saturday’s semifinal matchup on ATI Field at Joliet Memorial Stadium vs. Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin, a 25-10 winner over Chatham Glenwood, Isaac will tout that mark of 41 TDs. However, a defense that was right on the mark had JCA coach Dan Sharp beaming afterward.

“Maybe one of the biggest plays was Malin calling heads on the coin flip,” said Sharp, whose Hillmen scored five TDs in the opening 12:09 of the first half and scored seven times on their first 19 plays. “Instead of getting the ball, we deferred. Getting the wind at our back at the start of the game was big.

“With Isaac Grashoff kicking it out of the county, we forced them into a long field right away, our defense gave us the two quick turnovers and then our offense executed perfectly. When we can get all three facets of our game coming together, we’re very tough to come back on with a lead like that.”

From Allen’s fumble recovery on third down of Washington’s first series, the Hilltoppers played sandpaper-tough football and led 49-0 with 6:44 remaining until halftime. Junior fullback Tyler Reitz (10 carries, 88 yards) closed JCA’s scoring with a 1-yard run at 4:49 left in the third quarter for a 56-0 lead.

Backed by senior cornerback Brody Wilhelmi and senior linebacker Austin Bolton, the JCA defense allowed a mere 98 yards on 37 plays in the first half and 185 yards on 46 plays for the game. Washington’s lone TD was a 66-yard run in the fourth quarter against the Hilltoppers’ third-string unit.

“We had a great week of practice, we put in a lot of man-on-man coverage, and we just played physical with them,” said Wilhelmi, who had a season-high five pass breakups. “Our goal was to not let them inside. We knew they would be fired up and the turnovers were huge. We took that right out of them.”

“Our defensive line played a helluva game, getting pressure on the quarterback, and that made it easier on us in coverage,” said Bolton, who impacted with a pair of forced fumbles and 2½ tackles for loss. “We took the momentum from them on defense and set the tone for our offense, and they usually score.”

The scoring for JCA developed like fireworks on the fourth of July. Isaac and Jones scored back-to-back on runs of 1 and 2 yards, respectively, for the 14-0 lead. Isaac tied the school record on a 47-yard bullet pass from junior quarterback Craig Slowik (3-of-3, 99 yards), leaving a would-be tackler in his wake.

In between highlight-reel TD runs of 23 and 44 yards by Jones, the first a bounce-out, dive-past-the-pylon score and the second even better on the pure-willpower, bust-11-tackles variety, Isaac set the school record with a 10-yard TD burst and a 23-yarder that started off tackle to the right and ended left.

“It feels good, but we won, which counts most,” said Isaac, who praised the O-line of senior center Pat Kripp, sophomore guard Jalen Hansel, senior guard Carson Smith, senior tackle Jake Jankowski and sophomore tackle J.B. Butler. “It goes hand-in-hand. It was a great team effort to move the ball.”

This day, JCA looked like it could have moved mountains, even playing against its nemesis the spread.

One glorious game.

“We defended it perfectly and we couldn’t have asked anything more out of our DBs,” Jones said. “I actually got to play linebacker, which was fun, and our D-line got a lot of push up front. Our offensive line was amazing. We really clicked, and now, we go into films and get ready for Sacred Heart-Griffin.”