| JCA rebounds big despite early hurt |
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• Shocker: Foreman breaks ankle on first play of game, but Hillmen roll
By Mike Fitzgerald special to the herald news
CHICAGO — The story Saturday wasn't so much that Joliet Catholic Academy dominated St. Patrick High School 48-3, but how the Hilltoppers handled the adversity that came their way before and during the East Suburban Catholic Conference opener.
The Hilltoppers (1-2, 1-0) had no trouble putting away the Shamrocks (0-3, 0-1), but they did lose junior defensive lineman Alex Foreman on the first play of the game when he broke his left ankle on what passes for a playing surface at Hanson Stadium.
The game was delayed 20 minutes until a Chicago Fire Department ambulance arrived and took Foreman to the hospital. JCA players also were dealing with the loss of the father of offensive lineman Joe Minor, who died of cancer.
"It was a tough night," JCA coach Dan Sharp said. "Foreman went down on the first play. This is the third year in a row where we've had a major injury up here. We had that broken ankle by Bourg (then JCA quarterback Brad Bourg), we had (Barrett) Mays injure his knee last year.
"Last night, Joe Minor's father passed of cancer, so it was a hard day for all the kids today. We were thinking of Joe's dad today and playing for him and for Alex."
With that in mind, JCA jumped to a 21-0 halftime lead and finished with a 20-point flurry in the fourth quarter.
"There are certain moments of the year where you just feel things come together, and we've been fighting adversity the first two weeks," Sharp said. "And then we had a tragedy in the Hillmen family, but in true Hillmen fashion, the qualities that we believe in, not wins or losses or championships but how much we love each other and play together, I think that's the spirit that was here tonight.
"Other kids stepped up and picked up their teammates. I'm so proud to be a part of this family and have those kids in my life. They're unbelievable."
The Shamrocks came out of the injury timeout and drove the ball down the field against JCA, but the Hilltoppers' defense only allowed them to the 7. The Shamrocks had to settle for a field goal for an early 3-0 lead.
"That might have been the turning point of the game, not giving up the touchdown," Sharp said. "Psychologically, to hold them to just a field goal, that got them (the defense) fired up, and once we got on a roll (offensively) the defense seemed to play stronger and stronger as the game went on."
JCA responded with a 9-play, 84-yard scoring drive that featured nothing but running plays. Sophomore Tyler Hudetz (13 carries, 161 yards) ripped off a 40-yard run during the drive. Junior running back Connor Krisch scored from the 1 to make it 7-3.
"You are starting to see the progress of the young kids," Sharp said of his running backs and offensive linemen.
The underclassmen carried the load on the ground for JCA. Krisch finished with 52 yards on 11 carries, while junior fullback Brandon Geiss gashed the Shamrocks for 84 yards on 14 carries. JCA finished with 432 yards rushing on 48 carries.
Hudetz also scored on touchdown runs of 4 and 19 yards, respectively, to help JCA out to a 21-3 halftime lead.
JCA quarterback John Ruettiger also got into the act. The junior scored two touchdowns, both coming on 3-yard runs. He also finished 4-of-5 for 101 yards. Senior end Coby Fleener hauled in three passes for 77 yards. Junior end Sean Sheppard also caught a pass for 24 yards.
"When you have two ends who can block and catch like Fleener and Sheppard, that's when the double wing becomes very tough to defend because they start putting everybody in the front," Sharp said. "We have the east-west game and now the north-south game with our passing. I think it's starting to come together."
The Hilltopper defense kept the Shamrocks in check after their first drive. JCA held St. Pat's to 64 yards rushing. JCA also sacked St. Patrick quarterbacks three times, with Dan Ochs having two of those. JCA defensive backs intercepted the Shamrock quarterbacks three times.
"Our pass defense, Coach (Barry) Dean's kids played really well today, and that's always a key," Sharp said. "I thought it was a team defensive effort. When we play as a team we can be pretty good."
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