Prep football: Joliet Catholic Academy hopes to keep momentum rolling

Maybe it was all as simple as putting Joliet Catholic’s back to the wall.

The Hilltoppers were one of a number of teams that faced a must-win scenario in the final week of the regular season and one of only a handful of teams in the state that challenged a team with a substantially better record in Week 9 in order to get into the field.

But the Hilltoppers found a way to get past Niles Notre Dame to secure a spot in the 256-team field and haven’t looked back since.

“You could kind of sense that they could breathe a sigh of relief. It wasn’t a sigh of relief because they had just made the playoffs, and that was all they wanted to do. They had lofty goals throughout the year,” Joliet Catholic coach Jake Jaworski said. “We had some ups and downs, but you could kind of tell from that moment after walking off the field in Niles that we started to play with confidence.”

And this Joliet Catholic team playing with confidence is something to behold. Despite being only the No. 14 seed on the south side of the bracket, the Hilltoppers have dominated each of their four opponents in the postseason to date. The ease with which the Hilltoppers dismantled their side of the bracket is once again a nod to the brutal regular season schedule the team traversed.

“We had four state semifinalists in a number of classes on our schedule,” Jaworski said. “When we get into the playoffs, we’d seen everything. We didn’t have the success that we wanted against all those schools, but it showed us where we needed to improve and where we needed to get better. The schedule was definitely a grind, but our kids worked through it and gained confidence from playing that tough schedule.”

That smooth sailing likely comes to an end in the Class 5A title game against Montini on Saturday, where the Hilltoppers will be gunning to win their 14th state title. JCA currently leads all programs with 13 state titles. Just by advancing to the final, the Hilltoppers reclaim the lead in the trophies won (champions and runners-up are the lone winners of football trophies) with 18; Mount Carmel is second with 17.

And in order to make the trophy come back to Joliet, the Hilltoppers need to stick to what has made them such an impressive force in recent weeks.

The running game, guided by an experienced and talented offensive line, has been the driving force behind Joliet Catholic’s surge. Four of the five starters up front have suffered the slings and arrows since they were sophomores, and now, with all of that experience, both good and bad, behind them, they now are showing their full capabilities.

“They are a big, strong group. Four out of the five are three-year starters. They kind of went through some tough times as sophomores, seen some improvement as juniors, and you can really tell the leadership role and the confidence that they gained from those two years. They are experienced, but I think that the cohesiveness that they have been playing with is what makes them special.”

It doesn’t hurt that they are blocking for one of Joliet Catholic’s most productive runners in Keenan Hailey.

“He’s a special player. He’s been our leading rusher for three years. He’s an ultimate warrior type of kid. He’s never missed a rep in practice. He’s never asked to sit out,” Jaworski said. “The only play he’s missed offensively is when his helmet came off.”

And it isn’t a huge secret where the Hilltoppers will look to Saturday.

“We’re going to have to be able to continue to do what we’ve done, which is run the football,” Jaworski said. “If they put us in a situation where we have to throw the football 15, 20 times, we could be in trouble. We have to be able to move the ball on the ground.”

The most important thing for the Hilltoppers, Jaworski said, is that his team keeps everything in perspective.

“Our guys are self-motivated and they know what is at stake. But I think its important to not make it bigger than it has to be,” Jaworski said. “Obviously its a huge game and there’s a lot on the line, but the end of the day, it’s just like the other 13 games that you played. The field dimensions are the same you are playing against other high school kids. Don’t make it more than it needs to be.”