Herald-News Notebook: Joliet West hopes win over Joliet Central gets season rolling again

Weeks 2 through 4 of the 2024 football season had not been kind to the Joliet West football team.

After the best season in decades in 2023 (8-2, first time hosting a playoff game), 2024 saw the Tigers drop three straight after winning the opener. The defense has made play after play, but the offense has struggled with consistency.

It was only one game, but the Tigers surely will be hoping that Week 5 was a sign the ship is changing course.

Joliet West dominated Joliet Central for a 46-0 victory Saturday as the defense pitched a shutout, and Micah McNair returned an interception for a touchdown to set the tone on the third play of the game. The offense put up its best performance of the year as quarterback Antoine Brooks was responsible for four touchdowns.

It was encouraging to see the Tigers get plays out of multiple players. It was far more than just The Brooks Show. Not only did he run in a touchdown, but he also threw TDs to Payton Turner, Owen Barton and Sean Hogan, with Hogan catching a second score from Landon Mars. Adrian Ramirez kicked a 36-yard field goal, and McNair started it all with his pick six.

A tough task is on the horizon as Plainfield South is the opponent in Week 6. Coach Dan Tito is confident that the offense will keep rolling like it did Saturday, and the defense will keep doing what it has done all year.

“We talk about next play all the time, and the offense did a great job of thinking that mentality today,” Tito said Saturday. “[Plainfield] South has been having a great year. We need to keep trusting each other and keep our chemistry. If we do those things and have good energy on the sideline, we [will] put ourselves in a really good position to succeed.”

ALL IS NOT LOST FOR STEELMEN

There is no doubt it’s been a rough stretch for Joliet Central. The team hasn’t won a game since 2019, and it put up only 53 yards of offense in a loss to Joliet West. It was the first time the Steelmen have been shut out in 14 games.

However, there still were plenty of positives to take away. The defense piled up five sacks and forced two turnovers as linebacker Paul Slick and defensive lineman Thomas Jemilo put forth outstanding displays. Coach Thomas Hart still has faith that his squad can turn it around this week against Plainfield East, which has scored only 20 points this season, including three shutout losses.

“We scored two touchdowns against a very good Minooka defense [a few weeks ago)],” Hart said Saturday. “Our opponents’ first points in a while were [Friday against Plainfield Central]. I’m confident there with how our defense showed up today.”

MORRIS MAKES A STATEMENT

Much of the talk about the Morris football team entering the season was about how much it would miss some of the players who graduated, as well as how the team would fare being so young.

An answer came Friday night, thanks to a statement-making 50-10 win over Kaneland, which had entered the game 4-0 and ranked No. 8 in the latest Associated Press Class 6A poll. Morris entered 3-1 and ranked No. 8 in Class 5A.

“This was our best all-around game of the year,” Morris coach Alan Thorson said. “The offense was firing on all cylinders, I loved how the defense played and we scored a touchdown on special teams.

“We challenged the kids to play to their potential, and they showed exactly what their potential is against a very good Kaneland team. The next step is to play like that consistently.”

CLIMBING THE LADDER

It’s no question that Lincoln-Way East quarterback Jonas Williams is an elite talent. After all, he has already committed to play for Oregon.

In his freshman and sophomore seasons at Bolingbrook, he put up huge numbers, and he hasn’t slowed down since transferring to Lincoln-Way East. Through four games (the Griffins won by forfeit in Week 2), Williams has 17 TD passes despite playing sparingly in the second halves of games with his team holding large leads.

The 17 scoring passes this season give Williams 84 for his career. That total already ties him for 13th in state history, according to IHSA.org, with Michael Bates of Auburn and Drew David of Kaneland. The all-time record is 127, shared by Jordan Roberts of Aurora Christian and Tyler Hutchinson of Greenville.

Given how he has performed this season, it’s not out of the realm of possibility for Williams to eclipse the 100 mark before the end of the season and become the all-time leader next season.

WEEK 5 SCORES

Bolingbrook 17, Yorkville 6

Coal City 27, Peotone 13

Joliet West 46, Joliet Central 0

Lemont 28, TF North 13

Lincoln-Way Central 28, Bradley-Bourbonnais 6

Lincoln-Way East 48, Homewood-Flossmoor 7

Maroa-Forsyth 57, Dwight 16

Minooka 17, Oswego East 7

Morris 50, Kaneland 10

Naperville Central 14, Lincoln-Way West 7

Naperville North 31, Lockport 20

Nazareth Academy 16, Joliet Catholic Academy 13

Oswego 21, Plainfield North 13

Plainfield East 16, Plainfield Central 6

Plainfield South 32, Romeoville 11

Providence Catholic 27, Wheaton St. Francis 25

Seneca 41, Aurora Central Catholic 0

Wilmington 41, Reed-Custer 7