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Crampton continues his pummeling of opponents
By Peter Clemenza staff writer for JolietCatholicFootball.com
Note to Illinois High School football coaches; Joliet Catholic is peaking when it matters most – the playoffs are nearly here and JCA is rockin’. Yes they’ve lost two games this year – a first in sometime, a game to Providence that could have gone either way, and another to nationally ranked Rockhurst which saw JCA losing only 14-9 with 9 minutes left in the game. Because of this, many area coaches have been eager to face a struggling Catholic squad in the playoffs. A word of advice – Good Luck.
Catholic has revamped it’s roster by position and it’s paid big dividends. After the thumping of Bishop Mac two weeks ago, word was out that much had changed. So much so in fact, when JCA played Leo at Gately last week, there were too many coaches in the stands to count. All wanted a look at the new lineup of players.
Bobby Buchanan has returned in a big way and has some new roles, returning kicks, used as a wide out, and a return to what he loves best, defensive back. Jim Jadron has moved from TE to LT, with Brad Sing taking over at TE. Ross Crampton takes over as feature back and has “only” averaged 11 yards per carry so far. What does this do for Catholic? One word, SPEED. Crampton in the backfield, Wilkinson, and Buchanan at wideouts, and Quigley’s arm will continue to give opposing defenses big problems. Few teams in the state can claim they have a player of Crampton’s size 6’1” 212lbs and speed, 4.4 in the 40, that runs as hard as he does. Crampton tied a record last week against Leo by scoring 30 points, tying him for 2nd in school history for most points in a game behind only Joe VanTassel who had 34 in 1999. He now shares the record with such players as Ward, Welch, James Randle, and most recently JR, to name a few.
If you remember when James Randle took over in midseason and ran wild a few years ago, this is like déjà vu all over again. The difference this year is Crampton is surrounded by a lot more talent. How much has the offense changed? Consider this – in the first 5 games this year JCA scored 99 points, after revising the offense, they’ve scored 145 points in just 3 games.
Joliet Catholic celebrated Homecoming by pounding Holy Cross tonight 63 to 18. Crampton opened the scoring with a 3 yard TD run on a drive that included a 30 yard Crampton run, and a Brad Sing reception to the 10 yard line. Holy Cross answered with a TD, but Sing blocked the extra point, making it JCA 7 HC 6. This was as close as Holy Cross would come the rest of the night.
Crampton scored on a 57 yard screen pass, giving Crampton 10 TD’s in less than 9 consecutive quarters. Quigley hit Buchanan on a slant which turned into a 37 yard TD play, making it 21-6 with 2 minutes left in the 1st quarter.
Penalties aided Holy Cross to another TD before Crampton was back again, a 40 yard TD run this time, Hettman added a TD run making it 34-12 with 6 minutes left in the half.
The Crusaders has some success running between the tackles with the option offense, which may be a cause for concern. (I never thought I’d say that about the defense on this years team). Success on several long runs, but of more concern is the consistent way they were able to rip off chunks of yards. After some halftime adjustments, their success was short lived.
Sing scooped up a fumble and took it in for a TD making it 42-12, Holy Cross added a TD but missed the 2-pt conversion for a 42-18 halftime score.
Quigley was 6 for 10 for 137 yards in the first half.
The only score in the 3rd quarter was Quigley to Hettman on a deep slant making it 48-18. Not to be lost in all this is Ty Foley remaining perfect this year by adding the extra point 49-18.
The 4th quarter opened with another long Ross Crampton run, a 70 yard TD run made it 56-18. After a change of position on a JCA interception, with 8 minutes left in the game JCA removed the starters and inserted Bourg, Miller, Hooks, and Tomasino in the backfield. Junior Mike Hooks was ripping off big yardage in the last quarter of the game. Mike Tomasino finished the scoring with a TD run, and Foley added the extra for a 63-18 score creating a running clock to finish the game.
Any negitives? Well a few, still too many offsides penalties for this late in the season. The only other is Holy Cross had more success on the ground than anyone expected they would running the option. On the other hand, it's good to see an offense like this now rather than see it for the first time in the playoffs.
The only thing spoiling a perfect Homecoming game was an injury to DB Anthony Buscemi who left the game with a leg injury. Hopefully, Anthony will have a speedy recovery.
Ross Crampton finished the game with 240 yards rushing on 15 carries, and added 90 yards receiving.
Earlier in the evening, the Sophomores continued their success by thumping Holy Cross 57-0. The Sophomores have allowed just 13 points in 8 games this season.
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