Despite loss in state title game, senior class leaves its mark at JCA

NORMAL – The day after seeing four consecutive games that featured a running clock due to a team being ahead by 40 points or more, Joliet Catholic Academy and Nazareth Academy gave the crowd at Hancock Stadium a different kind of show in Saturday’s Class 5A state championship game.

Nazareth, which beat JCA 38-20 in last season’s 5A championship and won this year’s regular-season meeting 16-13, held off a furious Hilltoppers rally late in the game to escape with a 29-27 win and its third consecutive state championship. They also kept JCA from breaking a tie with Chicago Mt. Carmel at 15 state titles.

Despite the loss, JCA coach Jake Jaworski had nothing but praise for his graduating senior class. Eight of the offensive starters for the Hilltoppers, which finished 10-4, were seniors, and nine were starters on defense.

“I love this senior group,” Jaworski said. “They have worked so hard over their four years, and as tough as it is here, they have raised the standard here at JCA. I am incredibly proud of what they have been able to accomplish.”

One of the key figures in that class is senior linebacker Daniel Rouse. After JCA allowed touchdowns on Nazareth’s first three possessions, the Hilltopper defense, led by Rouse in the middle, kept the Roadrunners off the scoreboard the rest of the first half and allowed the team to stay in the game as Nazareth took a 21-14 lead into halftime.

“We had some poor execution and let up a few big plays early,” Rouse said. “But in the second half, we had better execution and played really disciplined. We trusted our coaches to put us in the right spots, and we trusted each other to make the plays.

“Nazareth is very talented, especially at their skill positions. We just rallied together and did what the coaches told us to do.”

Nazareth was able to take a 29-14 lead in the third quarter on a six-yard TD pass from Logan Malachuk to Gabe Kaminski. On the extra-point attempt, the ball was snapped directly to kicker Frankie Nichols, who also is the Roadrunners’ backup quarterback. Nichols rolled to his right and passed to Henry Sakalas in the end zone for a 2-point conversion, which turned out to be the difference in the game.

JCA’s defense kept Nazareth off the scoreboard in the fourth quarter, however, and the Hilltoppers offense stayed on the attack. JCA senior Keegan Farnaus caught a 13-yard pass from junior quarterback Lucas Simulick with 3:34 remaining, and Vinny DiNovo’s kick pulled JCA to within 29-21 with 3:34 to play. With Nazareth expecting an onside kick, DiNovo kicked deep, and JCA’s Mikey Brow nearly chased the ball down before Nazareth could get to it. As it was, Brow tackled the Roadrunners returner at the 3-yard line. Nazareth threw three passes, two of which were incomplete, and had to punt giving JCA the ball at the Roadrunners 47 with 3:11 remaining.

JCA went with its bread and butter the entire drive and ran behind the senior-dominated line, finally scoring on a 1-yard run by Vince Bremner with :20 remaining. A 2-point conversion pass to tie the game failed, sending JCA home from the state title game with the smaller trophy for the second year in a row.

“This game was everything you would expect from two great programs,” Jaworski said. “Both teams left it all on the field, and it came down to the final play.

“This senior class did some great things. They made it downstate three times in their career. What a ride it has been for them the last four years.”

For Rouse, it is the joy of his brothers in arms rather than the wins or losses that he will remember.

“We do so much together,” he said. “We have dinners together before games, we hang out together outside of school and football. We’re all very close.

“It’s the friendships and the bond we have that I will remember most. I got to be on a team with a ton of people I trust and have a lifelong bond with. We had a chance to win at the end, and that’s all we could ask for.”