| Hillmen wear down fired up Crimsons 42-13 |
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Mike Menozzi JolietCatholicFootball.com
The people of Jacksonville were ready for the Hilltoppers, with the town decked out in red and white, and so were the Crimsons on the field. Jacksonville played their hearts out in a hard fought game. Neither the Crimsons or the Hilltoppers were able to establish a successful defense at the start of the game.
The stadium was packed, I couldn't begin to guess attendance, I'll leave that to someone familiar with the stadium. Suffice to say all the bleachers were filled, as were the extra seating Jacksonville had brought in. Fans lined the fence around the stadium 3 deep. As predicted on this site, fans from Rochelle, Lamphier, Springfield Griffin, Augustana College, Quincy - you name it were there. I'd guess I saw jackets from at least 50 different schools at the game.
The smell of barbecue filled the stadium, fans sat on the roofs of RV's parked nearby, shirtless young men painted red screamed for the home team. It was everything small town high school football should be.
The Hilltoppers received the opening kickoff , Eastman ran the kick to the 36 where JCA set up for their first series. But the Hill was immediately hit with a holding penalty erasing a large gain, backing the ball up to the 27. Benson was caught in the backfield for a loss of two, and it was 2nd and 16. Kiernan drops back to pass and slipped done on the muddy field for a 9 yard loss. Benson for no gain and JCA was punting.
The Crimsons got a good run back and took over at the JCA 40. After a run for nothing, Anderson found a receiver open over the middle moving the ball to the 32. A run for 2 and an incomplete pass put Jacksonville’s QB Anderson in the shotgun again, and on 3nd and 8 a completed pass to the 4 yard line put the Crimsons in good shape. The very next play the Crimson’s scored on a run and Jacksonville was making it look pretty easy.
The standing room only crowd was on it’s feet, the home team had the lead, and for only the second time this year JCA was losing at any point in a game.
Eastman received the ensuing kickoff and ran it back to the 32. Bill McKeon took the handoff and bolted for 68 yards and the Hilltoppers first score of the day. The quick strike offense was ready to roll today.
Jacksonville did a good job jamming the line of scrimmage, but as they say “Speed kills”, and given an opening the Hilltopper backs took advantage.
Catholic’s kickoff from Platt squibbed down the field and was misplayed by the Crimsons, resulting in a crushing tackle by Metzger at the 7. The Crimsons seemed to be in trouble. JCA recovered the momentum and was looking for a knock out blow. From the shotgun Anderson moved his team to the 21, several running plays averaging 4 yards a pop and the Crimsons we at our 43. A completed pass to Jackson moved the ball to the 33, followed by a run to the 28.
Anderson rolled left on a broken play and found a receiver open in the back of the end zone, but he was out of bounds over the back line. The play would have gone for nothing anyway, the Crimsons were called for holding. 3rd and 22 after a delay of game penalty put the ball at the 45, and this time it was the Crimsons that were shooting themselves in the foot. Catholic would get the ball back on a punt.
Beginning of the second quarter and it was a close 7-7 game, neither team had established any defense yet for the day. Kiernan dropped and found Eastman behind the defense by 5 to 8 yards, the ball was slightly overthrown. On a dry field, Eastman’s speed enables him to run under it for another TD, but it fell harmlessly and the Crimsons may have dodged a bullet. Kiernan then hit Eastman making a catch falling backwards for 31 yards to the 26. Benson goes in for a 26 yards draw play TD, but another holding call nullifies the run. Undaunted Kiernan hit McKeon on the right side for 29 yards and a TD, the kick was good 14-7 JCA had the lead at 10:33 left in the half that they would not relinquish.
Platt’s kick sailed out of bounds, giving the Crimsons a chance at taking the ball at the 35, unexplainably, the Crimsons made JCA re-kick from 5 yards farther back. The kickoff was returned to the 15. Jacksonville lost 20 yards in the exchange. Anderson ran for two, Sample runs it up to the 39. Anderson with a run for no gain, a pitch sweep was stifled by Jeske and company for a loss of two, 3rd and 12 and it was back to the shotgun for Anderson. An incomplete pass forced a punt, as the defense holds. The snap was nearly snapped over the punters head before he shanked the punt out of bounds.
Catholic took over with 7:49 left in the half ball at the 46. Benson for 4, McKeon to the 32, and Clancy to the 28. McKeon then had a driving spinning run to the three that he dragged a couple Crimsons along for the ride. Benson ran to the 1 and Clancy finished it with a TD, the kick was good 21-7 with 3:55 left in the half.
Jacksonville moved the ball to the 50 with 1:07, on a very close 4th down play Anderson kept the ball and just got the first but a half a football length. Anderson completed a pass to our 38 with 28 seconds left. Anderson threw a couple balls in the end zone, one nearly intercepted by Platt, but Catholic took over on downs with 4 seconds left, and it was the end of the half.
At the half McKeon had 115 yards, Benson had 21 and Clancy had 1. Time of possession favored the Crimsons 15 minutes to 9 minutes, but the most important statistic was the Hillmen leading 21-7
After an initial score by the Crimsons, the remainder of the first half was in Hilltopper control, although the Crimsons were moving the ball on the Hillmen, they did not threaten again in the first half.
The Second Half
Catholic kicked to Jacksonville to start the second half. Faced with a 3rd and 13 from the 29, Anderson kept it and converted another 3rd down situation for the Crimsons with a 15 yard broken field run to the 44. The next play Anderson on a keeper gained no yards but more importantly regained his own fumble. A completed pass to Justin Darwent to the JCA 22 seconds before Stasko delivered a crushing hit that knocked Darwent out of the game. On 4th and 3 at the 15, Anderson was sacked turning the ball over to the Hillmen on a big defensive stop.
Clancy ran for 6 to the 22, on a 3rd and 2 the Hill was called for holding again, then an off-sides call on the Hill resulting in a Benson punt Crimsons take over on their 46.
The Crimsons moved the ball to our 32 before Platt intercepted a pass at our 3.
Coming back the other way, a ball intended for Clancy was just under thrown and resulted in an interception for the Crimsons. The home crowd leapt to it’s feet rooting for the home team.
Faced with another 4th and 3 from the 15, this time Anderson found a receiver and after a nifty move on a JCA defensive back went in for the score. The turnover deep in our end at our own 15 put Jacksonville back in to the game now trailing just 13-21, but the extra point was blocked by Kevin Bayci, and momentum had once again swung back to the Hillmen.
A short kick, Miller on the return to the 33 before the Hilltoppers were ready to crank up the scoring machine once again. First play of the series, Joe Benson burst though a hole in the Crimsons defense to go 73 yards for a TD. As quickly as the Crimsons thought they were back in the game, Catholic once again had its two touch down lead at 28-13.
In less than 20 seconds, the Crimsons went from “back in the game” to “Ah-oh.”
Time for the defense to take over, and that’s exactly what they did. The Crimsons worked the ball to the 42 but were faced with a 4th and 9. They punted and Eastman returned it to the JCA 42.
Clancy ran for 9, Benson for 4 to their 45. Benson found another seam in the defense and dragged two Crimson defenders to the 20. It was clear that the number of players going both ways for Jacksonville was starting to take its toll. “We knew with the 4 players or so they had going both ways we were going to hit them on every play, make sure they were worn out, and it started to show,” Coach Sharp said.
Kiernan hit McKeon for an 18 yard touchdown and the chances of a Final’s bid was slipping away for Jacksonville. 8:43 left in the game and Catholic had a 35-13 lead.
Jacksonville took over on their 23, Adam Saxon forced a hurried throw by Anderson, then for good measure sacked him on the next play. An incomplete pass created a 4th and 14 from the 20, the Crimsons punted to the Crimsons 46.
Clancy goes for 4, before two illegal procedures on Catholic backed them up 10 yards. Coach Sharp talked to the officials about the defensive linemen barking our cadence forcing the movement, but to no avail. Benson ran for 5 it was 3rd and 10. Another motion penalty and Catholic was moving in the wrong direction. A completed pass to McKeon down the left sidelines would have been enough for a first down but he was out of bounds by a step or two. Coach Sharp was faced with a tough call, he didn’t want to give the ball back to an offense that could score quickly. On the punt McKeon - the up man - took the snap and ran around right end before pitching to Benson who was originally lined up as the punter. Benson ran to the 22 and another first down. Clancy ran for two more which set up his second TD of the day. Clancy again for 20 yards who ran virtually untouched on an inside reverse handoff for another touch down. The kick was good 42-13 with 4:33 left in the game, and the Crimsons season.
Platt once again kicked out of bounds, this time Jacksonville accepted it at the 35. Catholic was called for a personal foul for – what seemed from the other side of the field to be - a questionable hit out of bounds in front of the Crimsons bench. This put the ball at the 50.
Anderson rolled left and threw along the JCA sideline, Stasko stepped in front of Anderson’s receiver and intercepted the Crimsons final hope.
Mussleman, Hrvatin, and Zurlene to name a few, lead the clean jerseys on to the field as Coach Sharp removed the entire starting offensive unit. Catholic punted back to Jacksonville who took over with the regular offense on the field.
In a classy move Coach Grounds removed the seniors from the game as they were announced by the field announcer one at a time.
The game ended 42-13 but Jacksonville didn’t go down without a fight, and showed they were worthy of their Semi-Final berth.
For the Hillmen, true to form, after going down 7-0 early in the game, with the home town crowd cheering – make that screaming - for the unthinkable upset, they never wavered. Flexing their offensive muscle, they pulled away, and when it appeared Jacksonville might creep back into the game, they shut the door on them again. In short order. “As a unit these guys believe in themselves, and are nearly unstoppable when they do that,” said Coach Sharp after the game.
“It seemed like we got a crucial penalty on any big drive we had, but our kids hung in there and did well. They (Jacksonville) came out and played very well defensively and made some different looks that we adjusted to at half time,” said Coach Sharp.
“Those guys played their hearts out, we were able to break some big plays which I think was a result of them wearing down.”
They were able to move the ball on you in the first series “They did some things that worked, and we missed some tackles that we won’t be able to get away with against either Morris or Geneseo. Jacksonville had a very good plan, they exploited some things, moving the quarterback in the pocket, and hitting some passes over the middle. We were able to adjust and improve on that next week. Give credit to Jacksonville though, they are a very good football team, they are no fluke, Coach Grounds has done a great job. We struggled some, but give credit to them, they did well and were prepared.
Lots of different looks today Coach “Yes, I’m very proud of our kids making adjustments to those changes, our sophomore staff work the booth and help us out identifying some things. Our kids provide us with great information as well, letting us know what we can take advantage of.”
The fake punt was a great call, what were you thinking at that point? “We didn’t want to give the ball up with 5 minutes left, Billy read the option and made the call, and Benson got us the first down. You’re never comfortable with that QB and those receivers, we go ton the edge and got a first down.”
Anderson gave you some trouble in the first half but the defense stepped up and shut them down “Yes, he’s a great QB, very good moving to his left, him scrambling and the receivers with great hands made a tough combination. We were able to stop them on 4th down a couple times and make some great plays”
“Benson’s long run really gave us the cushion we needed”
You switched from vertical patterns to crossing patterns and that helped you today “It did we were getting some sticky spikes, the footing wasn’t very good, the field was hard packed mud that would clog in your spikes. The crossing patterns helped us run out of the mud and into the grassy areas for better footing.”
Jeske played as advertised, but the rest of the defense played great “We did, particularly the linebackers, we played very well. They hit very hard, good coverage, some of our mistakes were aggressive mistakes.”
You thought they’d be in a 3-5 up front today “They came out in a 3-5 and switched quickly to a 4-4, they played great defense, our two platoon system helped us today.”
You said earlier that Anderson was nearly as good as SHG’s Peterman “He’s a great broken field runner, he flushed left instead of right being left handed, throws well on the run, and throws a very catchable ball making it easier for his receivers. We contained him on the option, he didn’t give us a problem running the option”
“The only things I’m disappointed with is the circle route they were able to connect on over the middle, but they were aggressive mistakes. Our defense came up with the stops when we needed them, and our hitting was just ferocious out there.”
“This team plays with great heart and effort, they play hard every down, they always believe they’ll win the game, they have great confidence in their teammates.”
“When we don’t do well we hurt ourselves with penalties. I can’t figure out how were getting called for holding on trap blocks, I’ve looked at the tape and just don’t see it. Maybe there’s something going on, but it’s an area that we really need to clean up.”
The Hilltoppers wait for the winner of the Geneseo at Morris game later tonight. Marking their 14th trip to the title game. The speed this team brings to the field will be especially effective on a fast surface like the artificial turf in Champaign next week. But Coach Sharp knows we’ll need to clean up the penalties, and play near flawlessly to defeat either of the opponents in the title game.
Defensively the Hillmen were not as sharp as they normally are, when challenged, they delivered. As the game worn on, they had some great stops. But they were not the typical stifling defense we’ve come to expect.
Offensively, Kiernan was his usual efficient excellent self, McKeon and Benson ran wild – each should have been around 150 yards. Clancy turned in a less effective, but typical workman like effort scoring 2 TD’s, and getting the short yardage when needed.
Without stats, I can’t be sure Clancy exceeded 1,000 yards today, but my guess is he did. McKeon certainly did, making this the first JCHS/JCA backfield with 1,000 yards each I the same season.
No more “next game”, no more “looking ahead”, the end of the 2004 season is here.
The State Championship awaits . . .
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