JCA checks all the boxes in first-round win over Jacksonville

JOLIET – Everything went right for Joliet Catholic on Saturday night.

Six offensive touchdowns in the first half? Check.

Scores by the defense? Check.

Special teams blocking kicks? Check.

A second-half running clock? Check and double-check.

The dominance added up to a 58-6 victory for the Hilltoppers (7-3) over overmatched Jacksonville (6-4) in their opening Class 5A playoff game. The Crimsons faced a quiet three-hour ride through the darkness of central Illinois after it. The Hilltoppers got to celebrate – until Sunday night. It’s that time of the year.

The Hilltoppers make a similarly long trip next Saturday, when they renew acquaintances with Sacred Heart-Griffin (6-4) in Springfield.

“We’ve had a pretty long history of playing them and matching up,” Hilltoppers coach Jake Jaworski said. “I think our guys will be ready. We’d played so many games that went right to the wire we hadn’t had an opportunity to get many guys in. Tonight we did, which was awesome, and we saw them perform.”

Hilltoppers quarterback Lucas Simulick, a junior with a senior’s poise, threw only four passes – and scored on a 19-yard dash in the second quarter – but ran the offense like the veteran he is. The most important thing he’s improved in his game from opening night until now?

“I’ve learned from my mistakes,” Simulick said. “My coaches have coached me up; they’ve done really well. The players, they have faith in me too.”

His greatest contribution Saturday was his command of the field.

“He’s really settled in,” Jaworski said of Simulick, noting his starting role at shortstop of the Hilltoppers’ state champion baseball team as a freshman. “Ten weeks in, he’s taken in a little more of a leadership role. He walked into a situation where there were a lot of seniors in that group. He’s not afraid of the moment.”

Nor of pressure.

“I was expecting a lot of blitzes,” Simulick said. “On film, they blitzed 50% of the time. We just had to handle the pressure. I just had to put the ball in the playmakers hands and let them make plays.”

Simulick, 3-of-4 passing for 39 yards, was barely bothered on that quartet of attempts thanks to an offensive line that owned the line of scrimmage. Because they did, the Hilltoppers ran the ball 30 times in the first half – and 43 overall – piling up 424 rushing yards. Gordie Gillespie would have loved it.

On defense, the Hilltoppers needed one Crimsons drive to figure out their triple-option offense, a relic from the Oklahoma Sooners of the 1970s. After reaching the JCA 34 and having Brandon Sims’ 53-yard field goal attempt blocked, Jacksonville gained 71 yards the rest of the half but also turned the ball over three times – and four for the game. One turnover was run back 55 yards by Mikey Brown for a Hilltoppers score and a 44-0 lead with 3:46 left in the second quarter to ensure the second-half running clock.

Nate Magrini (42 yards), Larry Stringham (21) and backup Anthony Finnegan (18) scored rushing touchdowns along with Simulick, and Simulick threw a pair of touchdown passes, both to Jayden Armstrong from 10 and 17 yards out, to account for the first-half scoring by the offense. The Hilltoppers’ last three drives were 21, 39 and 29 yards long, the defense setting them up with short fields. And Craig Peacock added an 80-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.

Jacksonville’s lone score was a 48-yard run by Crucifixio Mitchell with 6:31 left in the third quarter.

Before that long bus ride, Crimsons coach Mark Grounds told his team brighter days are ahead.

“We’ve got a lot of guys back, a lot of guys who are on the verge of being awfully good football players,” Grounds said. “Put your trust in us, and we’re going to put you where you need to be. I promise you.”

For Jacksonville, the new season has already begun.

For Joliet Catholic, the countdown is on for next Saturday.

“Every practice has to keep getting better,” Simulick said. “We can’t take any team light.”