| Speed Kills |
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by Peter Clemenza JolietCatholicFootball.com staff writer
In drivers education they say, “speed kills” – Nazareth found out Friday night that it’s no fun to deal with on the football field either. JCA manhandled Nazareth’s 5-wide offensive sets with speed and hitting that Nazareth couldn’t adjust to.
In an attempt to cross up JCA, Nazareth opened in a different defensive scheme than what they had shown on tape. It worked for the first series, but after that it was lights out. "They came out with a different defense than on film, but once we adjusted after the first series, we were fine," said Sharp, the Hillmen scored on every drive except the first and last – taking a knee. "Bourg's a threat who really runs the offense and we have a plethora of backs to keep everybody fresh."
JCA led 34-0 at the half, and finished it 48-0 over Nazareth in the first ESCC conference game. The Hilltoppers rushed 45 times for 395 yards. The Hillmen finished with 442 yards and 24 first downs, including 291 and 16 in the first half.
JCA's double-wing backfield was getting the job done from multiple backs. Senior fullback Kurt Kleeman (10 carries, 80 yards) and senior quarterback Brad Bourg (9-109) each scored twice, wingbacks Bobby Buchanan (8-61) and junior Chris Clancy (7-82) also added TDs.
Clancy also caught a two-point conversion shuffle pass on a fake extra-point attempt. Bourg scored on runs of 2 yards and 1 yard for a 14-0 first-quarter lead. Kleeman powered for TD runs of 11 and 14 yards in the second quarter. Buchanan's 1-yard up-and-over, and Clancy's 18-yard sweep completed the offensive scoring.
JCA's running attack were executing at mid-season form behind the blocks of fullback Kleeman, senior tackles Jim Jadron 6’5” 285, Erik Madsen 6’5” 285, senior guards Jake Ziesmer 6'3" 230, and John Anastopoulos 6'0" 240 and junior center A.J. Tomich 5'9" 245. The lack of penalties, especially motion calls were impressive after the first couple of series were completed.
“There’s a few things we need to clean up in our blocking, but that’s always the case in your first game.” “Special teams played well, we missed a few extra points but our kicker has a bruised quad so he’s not 100%.
“Nazareth is a physical football team, they’re going to win some games in our league, they have a very good quarterback and wide receivers. But they were beat up by the 3rd quarter, they were getting hit pretty hard and it showed.”
Junior QB John Kiernan spelled Bourg during the game and showed good arm strength and ran the offense very well. Sharp added, “We try to get Keirnan into games when it’s still a game, not when the games over. He coordinated some beautiful drives, very poised. He threw the ball well, called the signals well, and for him to get that under his belt now will help us down the road. We know Bourg will get dinged up, just like Sopko did (in 99), so he’s got to be ready.”
But this was far from an offensive only showcase. Tim Collins 6’3” 215 senior defensive end highlighted the evening with an interception of an attempted screen pass, and sprinted 41 yards for the TD. Tip toeing down the sidelines, he did a masterful job of waiting for his blocking entourage to accompany him into the endzone. That gave the Hilltoppers a 34-0 lead with 1:21 remaining in the first half.
"I love the defense scoring points," beamed JCA coach Dan Sharp, "It takes a little pressure off and it's such a momentum shifter, and a guy like 'Red' Collins is the type to make those kind of big plays because he has speed."
Junior linebacker Chris Jeske and senior linebacker Jake Trader laid the wood on every Nazareth wide receiver that ventured over the middle. When they weren’t making the receivers pay, they were assisting the aforementioned “Red” Collins and the rest of the defensive line pressure RoadRunner QB Peter Zavagnin.
Junior cornerback Mike Latz delivered 2 sacks — the second shared by senior defensive tackle Andrew Kolodziej.
Jeske recovered a fumble, junior linebacker Adam Saxen 6'0" 180, and 6’0” 185 pound senior Buchanan intercepted passes. The “pick” by Buchanan was a masterful bit of thievery after the RoadRunner receiver initially made the grab. But it wasn’t as impressive as the stone-wall stick he put on a Nazareth receiver that thought he was open over the middle in the first half. While the near full stands of JCA fans oohed and ahhed over the hit, it wouldn’t be the last or the only one they marveled at.
The swarming defense, and constant pounding took its toll on Nazareth. Coach Sharp likes to parallel this team with that of the 1999 team. They certainly have the speed and hitting ability – no question about it.
“I’m really proud of our defense, the hitting out there was sensational. This is as quick a defense as we’ve had breaking on a ball, especially on these short drop routes.”
“We were in deep zone drops and we were breaking on the ball so quick, and that guy Zavagnin was throwing darts too, it’s not like he was lobbing the ball out there.”
The Hillmen held Nazareth to 48 yards and minus-5 rushing overall, 12 and minus-19 rushing in the first half. Nazareth finished 8-of-23 passing for 48 yards.
Speed does indeed kill . . .
Special thanks to JCA head coach Dan Sharp for making time for this interview.
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