Providence holds off Lincoln-Way Central in front of nearly 3,000

NEW LENOX – The sixth Route 30 Super Bowl had a distinctly green tinge on Friday night.

Providence Catholic, scoring 14 points over 72 seconds in the second quarter, used that outburst to roll to a 23-14 victory over Lincoln-Way Central before about 3,000 fans.

Save for a few minutes in the third quarter that gave hope to the Knights, the Celtics (1-1) dominated the line of scrimmage, and thus the scoreboard. They also had the lion’s share of big defensive plays, two of them authored by senior defensive end Jon Fotsis.

In the second quarter, his landing on a botched punt snap in the end zone brought Providence its second touchdown in just over a minute for a 17-0 lead, seemingly putting the game out of reach. In the fourth quarter, Fotsis’ nimble interception of Knights quarterback Drew Woodburn killed Lincoln-Way Central’s second-best drive of the night, one that could have closed the gap to two points.

“Lucky” was Fotsis’ first word describing the plays. But there was more to it than that. Luke Leverett swatted at the bad snap to Central punter Charlie Rogde in the second quarter, allowing Fotsis a clearer lane to chase it down, but he still had to fend off Rogde, who was trying to recover the ball.

“It fell right in my lap,” Fotsis said of his first career touchdown.

And Fotsis ran as good a pattern as the receiver Woodburn was aiming at on the interception.

“It just fell right into my hands,” Fotsis said of the pick.

The two plays, as well as a pair of touchdown passes by Celtics quarterback Leo Slepski, meant both a win and avoiding the headache of opening 0-2 with the usual Catholic League suspects looming on the schedule.

“This was a must-win,” Fotsis said. “Without it, it would be really tough to get into the playoffs.”

Providence coach Tyler Plantz, holding infant son Mac, echoed the sentiment and shook his head at the dozen penalties his charges committed.

“We can’t keep kicking ourselves,” Plantz said. “We’ve got to learn to finish plays without penalties. But they put their hearts on their sleeves, and I’ve got to remember that. I’ve got to do a better job on the details of what it takes to win.”

Providence’s line dominance added up to a 305-223 yards from scrimmage margin over the Knights (1-1), including a 166-24 edge in the first half, when it appeared the Celtics would run rampant.

Slepski, a poised junior, hit Jayden Mikulski over the middle from the 19 to cap a six-play drive and take a 10-0 lead with 6:33 left in the second quarter. Slepski was 14-of-17 passing for 168 yards.

Soon after, the fourth-down snap to Rogde skidded through his legs, and Fotsis pounced for a 17-0 lead.

The Knights narrowed the gap on Woodburn’s 40-yard touchdown pass to Lucas Andresen midway through the third quarter, the capper on a brilliant drive that, for a moment or two, had the Celtics on their heels. Central cut the gap to 17-14 on the next drive, Woodburn (13 of 23, 158 yards) punching it in from the 1 to finish a 32-yard march.

Then Providence became Providence again.

“We came back, made some plays, and then made more mistakes,” Central coach Dave Woodburn said. “They kept hitting us with screens, and offensively we couldn’t get in a rhythm.”

The game was a renewal of a natural rivalry that existed from 1977 through 1981, with then-Lincoln-Way winning each game, the last three by a combined margin of 78-0.

A generation later Friday night, things were different.