Joliet Catholic clinches division, deals massive blow to Providence’s playoff hopes with Holy War win

NEW LENOX – The Holy War game between Joliet Catholic and Providence Catholic is never lacking in storylines. The rivalry in itself is always a massive motivator for these two schools.

This year’s version, though? The stakes couldn’t have been much higher.

A win for the Hilltoppers would give them six for the year, clinch the Chicago Catholic League Orange Division and put them in good position to host a playoff game. A win for the Celtics, meanwhile, would lock them into a playoff spot, while a loss would leave them crossing their fingers and praying for a break. Both teams had a ton of extra motivation.

When the clock hit zero Friday night, the Hilltoppers were division champs, and the Celtics were left crossing their fingers for good news Saturday evening.

JCA used an efficient ball-control approach in the second half to drain the overwhelming majority of the clock. That and an always-potent running attack helped the Hilltoppers hold on for a 21-18 victory over Providence Catholic.

JCA (6-3, 3-1 CCL) had a back-and-forth battle with the Celtics in the first half as the teams exchanged leads four times with the Hilltoppers holding a 14-10 edge at the midway point. The second half saw them milk half the third quarter on their opening possession, while Providence had only two possessions, one of which lasted only four plays as the Hilltoppers controlled the pace and got the win.

“That was awesome by our offense,” JCA coach Jake Jaworski said. “Our defense has played awesome all year. To be able to grind that clock and make it a two-possession game made me really confident that as long as we didn’t give up a big play I felt pretty good about things.”

The Celtics won the coin toss and opted to start the game on offense. That decision led to a 28-yard field goal by Bryce Vlasak with 10:55 left in the first for a positive start.

The Hilltoppers answered right back when Larry Stringham looked to be tackled in the backfield for a loss before miraculously spinning out of multiple tackles and running 39 yards to the 1-yard line. Vince Bremner punched it in the next play to make it 7-3 midway through the first. Stringham finished the night with 131 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries.

Facing a fourth-and-4 at the end of the first, the Celtics used a fake jet sweep that saw Seth Cheney hit quarterback AJ Rayford for a 12-yard gain to put them at the 2. Two plays later, Mikal Dilworth punched it in from the 1 to make it 10-7 Celtics, 47 seconds into the second.

The Celtics punted to Zachary Beitler late in the quarter and he showed why he has three NCAA Division I offers. While half the defense got a hand on him, he still returned the punt 55 yards to the house with 2:37 left until halftime to give JCA the edge.

JCA took the opening possession of the third quarter and ran the clock down to 3:39 before missing a 38-yard field-goal attempt. The Celtics had to punt after just four plays, however, and the Hilltoppers worked the clock all the way down to the 7:53 mark of the fourth period when Stringham scored on a 3-yard run by to extend the lead to 21-10 JCA.

Providence wasn’t finished yet. Rayford calmly operated the offense, eventually hitting Jayden Mikulski for a 17-yard touchdown pass in the end zone with 4:53 left on the clock. Rayford then rolled out and hit Mikulski again on the two-point conversion to shave the deficit to just 21-18.

Providence opted not to attempt an onside kick, and JCA did what it has done the entire second half, running the clock out from there, picking up three first downs and securing the win.

Providence (4-5, 1-2) has to hope some lucky breaks go its way, otherwise the Celtics will miss the playoffs for the first time in three seasons.

“We really battled,” coach Tyler Plantz said. “Obviously there’s a couple of plays that we wish had gone our way, ... but I couldn’t be prouder of how the guys competed. I’m always proud of the teams, and a lot of young guys learned a lot of football. We just have to say our prayers tonight and hope we can sneak into the playoffs at 4-5.”