| Bulldogs give it their all |
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Mike Menozzi JolietCatholicFootball.com
Batavia brought what might be there best team ever to the Stadium last night to come away with a win, and to measure their program against two of the states most successful programs. After defeating Providence last weekend they had the "opportunity" to face off at JCA last night and they brought all they had. Both in the stands and on the field.
A visiting team hasn't brought that many fans, or decorated their side of the stadium since Rochelle rolled into town in the Semi Finals in 2001.
Excellent representation by the community to support their "Dawgs".
On the field the Bulldogs capitalized on JCA miscues to score 19 points. As is typical - moving the ball against the Hillmen defense required it be done through the air as the 'Dogs could only manage 53 rushing yards on 27 carries, compared to JCA's 488 yards in 45 attempts.
Catholic scored 35 points and took a knee to run out the clock when they were in scoring position at the end of the game, any more scoring was unnecessary.
With McKeon at QB, it moved Benson to the wing from his fullback position and boy did he make the most of it.
All Benson did was reel off runs of 54, 56, 67, 65, 29 and 43 yards, had four touchdowns, and a school record breaking 363-yards on just 17 carries. Leave the calculator in the drawer - thats a 21.4 yards per carry average. It also put Benson over 2,100 yards on the season.
QB Billy McKeon added 80 yards on 16 carries and Dan Hrvatin had 45 yards on just 12 carries.
As is usually the case, any one of the three headed monster of McKeon-Benson-Hrvatin can have a huge night (Hrvatin had 4 rushing TD's last week). "We didn't plan for Benson to have a big game tonight, we just found something on the right side and Benson took advantage of it," said Coach Sharp after the game. "Took advantage of it" might be the biggest understatement of the year.
"Benson has an ability to "see" where the defensive pressure is coming from from anywhere on the field. I don't know how he does it. It appears as though they have him bottled up, he seems to sense where the defensive pursuit is without turning his head, and he cuts to the open field and he's gone. With his speed he doesn't get pulled down from behind once he's out in the open field," said coach Sharp.
Benson is a throwback player that takes advantage of a weapon most current backs don't utilize - the stiff arm. At one point last night he made a cut, and stiff armed a would be tackler, pushing him to the ground, and he sped off to another score. It's a common sight watching Benson play. If he's not running away from tacklers, or running over tacklers, he thwarts defenders with a stiff arm.
A single game record and a performance like that one last night and the same question came up every where I went after the game. "Is he the best ever?"
"Best ever back at Joliet Catholic is a tough call, lets just say no one was better in a single game racking up yardage that has donned the brown and white for the Hilltoppers. With (hopefully) three games to go in 2005, any "best ever" talks should be put on hold.
A trip to Morris in the quarterfinals is up next. 7pm on Friday night. With John Dergo running for Morris and the "three-headed-monster" of Benson-Hrvatin-McKeon running for JCA, it should be a wild one. Get there early - seating is severely limited.
Non-Conference games
JCA and Morris have agreed to a home and home non conference games in 2006 and 2007.
Coach Sharp said last night that it's not final, but it is expected that 2008 and 2009 will be Dan Darlington's Plainfield North squad joining the other non conference opponent Mt. Carmel on the JCA schedule.
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