Joliet Catholic rallies from 10 down, downs Marist in double-overtime

JOLIET – Marist, which lived by overtime a fortnight ago in beating Brother Rice after the fourth quarter, died by it Friday night.

Joliet Catholic first came back from a 10-point deficit in the final 12 minutes to force the extra session, then carved out a 31-30 victory over the Redhawks in double-overtime.

This came on top of last week’s home thriller over Fenwick, which the Hilltoppers (3-1, 1-0 CCL/ESCC Orange) captured by a 14-13 margin. Any more games like this, and they’ll be renaming Joliet Memorial Stadium the House of Thrills.

Marist fell to 3-1, 0-1.

The protagonists of the comeback included running back Larry Stringham, his offensive line and kicker Vinny DiNovo, generously listed as 5-foot-5 in the program. He’s not that tall yet, but he stood 10 feet tall in the estimation of the Hilltoppers faithful and his teammates after drilling the game-winning extra point following Stringham’s 10-yard run off right guard in the second overtime.

Stringham, who had 55 yards on five carries at halftime, finished with 203 yards on 22 rushes with a pair of touchdowns. The first, a 2-yard plunge, evened the score at 7 in the second quarter. The second, in the second overtime, set the stage for DiNovo’s winning kick, Marist’s Brendan Curran having doinked his extra-point boot off the left upright after quarterback Jake Ritter danced in from the 2 for a 30-24 lead.

“I haven’t missed in a practice yet this season,” said DiNovo, whose 27-yard field goal tied the game 17-17 as regulation expired.

That capped a 15-play drive that commenced when linebacker Nick Bueno gobbled up receiver Stephan Brown’s fumble.

DiNovo was being modest. He hasn’t missed in a game either.

So far, so perfect. And so amazing. On top of that, he has nerves of steel. Was he nervous?

“Not really,” DiNovo said. “Maybe a little bit, but I trained for it, so it’s not like it’s something that’s different.” Stringham said. Of the turnaround, “We talked and we never gave up. Never doubted our guys, our offense or defense, for one second.”

He credited linemen Eli Watt, Jake Jakovich, Cam Juricich, Michael Lynch and Malik Salah for the hard work.

Marist coach Mike Fitzgerald, who turned York around before returning to the Redhawks, where he had been an assistant, told his players, “This is a test.”

For a while, the Redhawks seemed to be acing it.

It was 7-7 at the half, but Marist’s offensive advantage, 205 yards to 103, belied the score. It was built on the strong arm of Ritter, who transferred from Lincoln-Way East when Oregon-bound Jonas Williams arrived. Ritter completed 12-of-18 passes for 127 yards in the first 24 minutes. The prime example: Ritter hit Stephen Brown for 30 yards and a touchdown on a fourth-and-17 on the Redhawks’ first drive.

The Hilltoppers evened the score with four minutes left in the second quarter, Stringham crashing in off right tackle from the 2-yard line. Stringham also had the biggest gainer in the drive, a 40-yard dash to the Marist 5. Earlier in the march, quarterback Lucas Simulick hit Vince Bremner for 20 yards.

Marist took a 17-7 lead on a 92-yard run by McAuliffe and a 34-yard field goal by Curran, the latter with 34.8 seconds left in the third quarter.

Then came the fourth, and the Hilltoppers took over.

DiNovo, a sophomore, said of the common denominator of the 2024 Hilltoppers’ last-minute wins, “It’s the will to never give up. That’s definitely the No. 1 fact.”