Joliet West rolls to fifth win over Plainfield Central, becomes playoff-eligible

JOLIET — Last season, there was no question heading into the final week if Joliet West would be in the playoffs. The Tigers went 8-1 and hosted a playoff game for the first time.

This season went a little differently, and the Tigers were 4-4 entering Friday night’s Southwest Prairie East game against Plainfield Central, which was 0-8.

Knowing that they had to come away with a win to become playoff-eligible, West wasted no time in achieving that goal in a 43-0 win.

The Tigers (5-4, 4-1 SPE) scored on their first seven possessions, aided in part by tremendous field position generated by the defense forcing four first-half turnovers and one turnover on downs. West got a fumble recovery by Tristan Caldwell and interceptions by Maison Glover, Thomas Jones and Cade Horvath.

Quarterback Antoine Brooks was the catalyst for the offense, running the ball eight times for 105 yards and a touchdown and completing 3 of 8 passes for 51 yards and another score. West also got rushing touchdowns from Tai’vaughn Johnson, Austin Kittl, Joseph Durak and Gerard Bush, as well as a 21-yard field goal by Adrian Ramirez, which opened the scoring.

“We came out ready to play,” Brooks said. “We knew we had to get the win tonight and we did what we had to do.

“Our defense, I just love them. They gave us the ball in great field position like they do every week. It also helps our offense going up against them in practice every day. They make our offense better.”

The Tigers didn’t need a lot of help on the offensive side of things. After driving from their own 35 to kick the 21-yard field goal on the game’s opening drive, Kittl got a sack and forced a fumble, which Caldwell recovered at the Plainfield Central 27. Brooks then hit Aidan Robinson for an 11-yard gain before throwing a perfect strike to Payton Turner in the back left corner of the end zone for a 16-yard touchdown and a 10-0 lead. After a Plainfield Central (0-9, 0-5) punt went 58 yards to the West 15, the Tigers got a 66-yard TD run by Johnson, who weaved his way through traffic in the middle of the line of scrimmage before bouncing outside to the left and outrunning the Plainfield Central defense for the score and a 16-0 lead.

Following an interception by Horvath, West drove 23 yards, capped by a 2-yard touchdown by Kittl, to move ahead 23-0 with 1:59 still to play in the first.

It was an emotional touchdown for everyone on the West sideline, as Kittl suffered a broken C2 vertebra last season and wasn’t sure he would be able to play this year.

“I normally play defense, but coach [Dan Tito] said he would try to get me a touchdown tonight,” Kittl said. “Going from where I was last year and putting in all that hard work paid off. It felt great to be able to score a touchdown in my last regular-season home game.”

On the final play of the first quarter, Glover grabbed an interception, setting the Tigers up at the Wildcat 35. Five plays later, Bush scored from 5 yards out. The West defense stopped the Wildcats on downs on the ensuing drive and two plays later, Brooks danced in from 10 yards for a 37-0 lead. Following Jones’ interception the Tigers started at the Wildcat 44. Brooks ripped off a 27-yard run on the first play and three plays later, Durak capped the scoring with a 5-yard TD run.

“Our guys knew what was on the line,” Tito said. “They knew they had to get a win tonight. They came out with a lot of energy and did that. We played well in all phases of the game and that was very nice to see. The defense came out with some swagger and they have earned that. It’s not just one or two players, it’s the entire defense. They put the offense in great position all night.

Plainfield Central came out battered and bruised, but first-year coach Robbie Carriger was encouraged.

“As a program, we are better than we were at the start of the year. We had some success on the lower levels, which is impressive because we had to bring up some freshmen and sophomores to the varsity this year.

“As a graduate of this school, I was proud to see the fight and toughness in these kids all year. They have bought in since Day 1 and no one quit on this team. I can’t say enough about this senior class. It’s tough to have a new coach your senior year, but they put the work in and led by example. I am very proud of this team.”