| JCA challenged, but turns back Marian Catholic |
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Mike Menozzi JolietCatholicFootball.com
This game had all the makings of a classic match-up against old Illini-8 conference foe Marian Catholic. Hard hitting from the start, it was easy to see why Marian was able to knock off highly regarded Homewood Flossmor earlier in the year.
Marian played inspired football in the first half. Holding a 7-0 lead at the half on a bomb down the right sideline. JCA moved the ball well in the first half, but were not able to crack the endzone.
An apparent TD reception by Sean Sheppard was called incomplete, then a holding call quickly took the Hillmen out of what looked like a game tying score. (To be fair Marian had a TD run called back for holding very early in the game as well - let's just say there were a lot of flags in this one.)
JCA was in the red zone three times in the first half and came up empty.
The Hilltoppers received the ball in the second half, went down the field and scored. In fact the Hill scored on every possession in the second half of the game.
The first two drives for TD's were solely done on the ground.
Meanwhile the Hillmen defense allowed nothing in the second half for the Spartans, they never were close to scoring again.
Catholic won what was a tight game at the half, down 0-7, going away scoring 35 unanswered points and allowing no more. JCA 35, Marian Catholic 7.
I caught up with Coach Sharp after the game -
Clancy saw some time in the backfield tonight, and ran the ball very well. "Tyler was cramping in the second half so Clancy helped us out, he's an unbelievable athlete."
"We do some work at each practice for the guys that go both ways or are backups for guys and could go both ways - he showed tonight how well he can run."
What adjustments did you make in the second half tonight? "They were really keying on our motion, so we went to a quick count package, the main thing was we needed to sustain our blocks a little longer. Dave Mateo is a terrific coach, and his defense was ready to play. They took away a few things that we were successful with earlier in the year."
"When we started the second half we went back to a few things we thought would work, and opened it up once we regained the lead."
"You really need to credit our defense, they gave up nothing after the long TD pass, to control a team like this that ran over a very good HF team earlier is saying a lot. The defense kept us in the game, and allow the offense time to adjust."
Sheppard has improved so much as a receiver this year. "And no catch was bigger than the 4th down catch he made at the 3 yard line. That was an ESPN highlight catch. He and Rudy play catch nearly every day, and it's paid off very well."
Catholic moves to 5-1, 4-0 in the conference. Marian drops to 3-3, 1-3 in the conference.
Notre Dame Niles next week at home. The Dons opened the night 4-1 overall, 2-1 in the conference.
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