| Clancy, JCA linebackers come oh-so-close |
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Brown's broken play propels Mt. Carmel past JCA, but not before Clancy's hit causes a wobbly pass
Bill Scheibe Herald News
His face glistening with sweat, a stunned Nick Clancy stood by himself with his hands on hips, the dark brown helmet of the Joliet Catholic Academy linebacker completing an upside-down spin near the goal line of the Hilltoppers' emptied end zone.
One hundred yards away, give or take an uncontested stride, Mount Carmel's K.C. Picard disappeared into a mob of Caravan teammates - the celebration beginning en masse after Tim Brown's broken-play, halfback-option pass sprung Picard for an improbable 80-yard touchdown.
Clancy looked up at the clock.
One minute and 38 seconds
Unbelievable.
"I ran as fast as I could to get to him and I hit him as hard as I possibly could," Clancy said, shrugging at Brown's prayer-worthy ability to loft a duck to Picard that if it was any more wounded would have been admitted to an intensive-care unit. "I hit him pretty hard, my helmet came off, and I was like, 'All right, we stopped them!' I couldn't believe it."
Neither could I.
Neither could anyone.
A shocked Soldier Field audience either erupted or was silenced when Picard scored with 1:38 left in the fourth quarter Sunday afternoon, erasing JCA's barely-four-minute-old 20-14 lead and greasing the wheels of the Caravan's 21-20 victory in the Preseason Prep Bowl Kickoff Classic.
Up to that tipping point, Mount Carmel's second-half offense consisted of a trifecta of three-and-outs, bottoming out at 10 plays for 16 yards with 5 incomplete passes. After allowing 19 rushes for 90 yards and 5-of-7 passing for 67 more in the first half, the Hilltopper defense hardened into championship-esque cement.
A 6-foot-2, 220-pound Division I prospect, Clancy combined with fellow senior inside linebacker Josh Greenback, junior outside linebacker Josh Mander and sophomore outside linebacker Jake Stockman to form the heavy-hammering metal of JCA's traditional 4-4 defense. Then, Brown crowned the Caravan's serendipitous comeback.
"To be honest, I don't know how he got the ball off," Clancy nodded. "It's an obvious fumble, and I tried to run as fast as I could, get a pursuit angle on the ball in hopes of a fumble recovery or some kind of stop, period. The next thing I know, as soon as I hit him, the ball is in the air, the receiver catches it, and (Picard) is running down the sideline."
"Their defense made adjustments, our defense made great adjustments, and that was the craziest play I've seen since 'The Immaculate Reception,'" JCA coach Dan Sharp said, referring to Franco Harris' catch that propelled the Pittsburgh Steelers past the Oakland Raiders in the 1972 AFC divisional playoffs. "Now I know how John Madden felt."
Yep, for everyone under the age of 30, John Madden actually coached before his announcing career led to the most popular football video game on the planet. On a sunny, warm day, where the color brown was a primary wardrobe necessity, Brown fashioned a game-winning play that belongs somewhere in the playbook of Madden NFL 09.
First, on first down from the 20, quarterback Jordan Lynch launched a lateral to Brown for a possible halfback-option pass. The botched ball bounced to the 8, where an increasingly aggressive, physical, kingpin Clancy obliterated Brown - but not before the entire Hillmen defense instinctively swarmed to the soiree, leaving Picard uncovered at the 27.
No one noticed him.
No one saw him.
Until ... the catch.
"We're all pursuing, and when you see the ball fall backward, you expect everybody to jump up to get it," said Greenback, who paced JCA with 7 tackles. "They barely got the pass off, but once they threw it, you looked back, and there was nothing but a lot of green grass in front of (Picard). There was no way that we could chase him down and stop it."
Big stops seemingly had been a thing of the past for JCA's defense since losing to Morris in the 2005 playoffs, but with the addition of former Plainfield North defensive coordinator and Morris native Mark Mettille to the coaching staff, the Hilltoppers hit the jackpot on the first drive, with Clancy deflecting a Mount Carmel fake-punt attempt.
The game remained scoreless into the second quarter, when the Caravan crept within the red zone. On third down, Stockman's strip forced a 3-yard loss. Although an offsides penalty before a field-goal try coaxed Mount Carmel into going for fourth-and-2 from the 5, Greenback blew up Lynch pre-handoff in the backfield and Mander cleaned it up.
"My job is to put pressure on the punter, and I was lucky enough to get a hand up and bat it down," said Clancy, the converted single safety who also contributed 5 tackles and a pair of hurries. "I think we're a closer group this year, with more chemistry and more camaraderie, and that has definitely helped lift up the intensity of our defense."
"We have a lot of chemistry, and the biggest thing in football is chemistry," Greenback acknowledged. "That makes a big difference. When we work together, we're fine and we make plays. Clancy's a great player, gives us more speed on defense, which we needed. Stockman's a very good player, very consistent, and Mander's a good, solid, big player."
Afterward, Sharp praised defensive coordinator Cory McLaughlin's staff, noting only the blemish of Mount Carmel's 6-play, 76-yard drive in the final 1:52 of the first half that built a 14-6 halftime lead and the hiccups covering the Caravan fade route. And Clancy, always the athlete, appeared ready to ascend to the Mike Goolsby-Chris Jeske realm.
"Clancy's a helluva player," Sharp said. "We never got to use him on offense today because we wanted to go two-platoon as much as possible with the heat. But our two seniors inside at linebacker made big-time plays for us and our younger guys played pretty well on the edge, something that you have to do against an option team.
"It was a warm day, so we stayed with the two-platoon football as much as possible," Hillmen co-offensive coordinator Jim Sharp pointed out. "But Clancy's a heckuva football player who we'll use in different circumstances throughout the season."
That season continues Friday night at Memorial Stadium, with the nonconference rematch between JCA (0-1) and Morris (0-1). The Redskins beat the Hilltoppers twice last fall and have recorded three consecutive victories in the Hatfield-McCoy series. Very few Week 2 reminders had to be issued, even in the postgame moments at Soldier Field.
Clancy looked up again.
Mt. Carmel 21, JCA 20
Over and done.
"This will be a good thing for us in the future," Clancy said, starting the short walk toward the tunnel covered with the emblem of the host Chicago Bears. "We're going to put this behind us and get ready for Morris."
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