The Herald-News Week 2 Football Notebook: Joliet Catholic, Morris put on shows at home

Last year, special teams miscues went a long way toward ending Joliet Catholic’s season.

In a 24-14 loss to Providence Catholic in a Class 4A second-round game, the Hilltoppers were done in by a blocked field goal attempt that the Celtics returned for a touchdown and a blocked punt that set up another score.

On Friday, Joliet Catholic turned the tables with excellent special teams play contributing heavily to its 19-0 win over Providence.

Senior Patrick Durkin was the star, hitting four field goals – from 27, 22, 39 and 28 yards – and producing consistently strong punts.

“Our defense was awesome, but Durkin might have been the MVP,” Joliet Catholic coach Jake Jaworski said. “The four field goals were huge, and his punts were unbelievable, too, being able to flip the field and control field position.

“It was kind of the way the game was going. We were just trying to grind it out. It wasn’t a pretty game, but the goal is to win.”

Morris strong up front: After seeing most of the starting offensive line graduate from last season’s Class 5A semifinal team, the play up front was one of the biggest questions facing Morris this season.

Friday night, the line of freshman Brogan Kjellesvik, senior Christian Arndt, junior Dakota Goff, senior Michael Valverde, senior quad-captain Mason Stapleton and junior Mason Kjellesvik paved the way for 277 rushing yards in a 50-20 win over Joliet West.

“Give a lot of credit to our offensive line,” Morris coach Alan Thorson said. “We had some great drives where we controlled the clock, and [quarterback] Carter [Button] wasn’t sacked all night. The guys up front did a great job.”

The types of plays that keep you No. 1: Jashawn Echols and the No. 1-ranked in Class 8A Lincoln-Way East Griffins were ready when Batavia went for a do-or-die two-point conversion in the closing seconds of Friday’s 14-13 Griffins victory.

Echols came up from his cornerback spot and led the stop of running Batavia QB Ryan Boe, leading to an onside kick recovered safely for the nail-biting victory.

“In the [defensive] huddle, coaches were telling us, ‘We live for this moment. We always live for these moments.’ When the pressure is hard, that’s when we thrive,” Echols said to Friday Night Drive reporter Jacob Bartelson after the game. “The quarterback has been running on us all game. We kinda knew it was coming, so as soon as the motion came, I just came up and made the tackle.

“We just thrive in those moments.”

Learning experience for Joliet West: Friday was the first time that Joliet West had played Morris, and West coach Dan Tito was happy with the experience, if not the 50-20 final score in favor of Morris.

“Morris and coach [Alan] Thorson run a great program, and that’s why we scheduled them. We want to be a playoff team, and if we make the playoffs, we are going to see teams like Morris.

“It will be interesting to compare where we were in Week 2 against where we are when the playoffs start.”

Lemont off to 0-2 start: With Friday’s 21-10 loss to Geneva, Lemont, coming off a state semifinal appearance in 2022, has started the season 0-2 for the first time since 2018. The two losses have come by a combined 20 points.

Two of Lemont’s next two games, however, come against teams also sitting at 0-2. That includes at home against Thornton Fractional South in Week 3 and Oak Forest in Week 5, with a visit to 2-0 Tinley Park in between.

Incidentally, that 2018 Lemont team that started 0-2 went on to win five of its next seven games and make the Class 6A playoffs, starting with a Week 3 win over Thornton Fractional North.

JCA reports 7,000 in attendance: Joliet Catholic football’s X (formerly Twitter) account published Tuesday morning the attendance at Friday’s home game vs. rival Providence Catholic surpassed 7,000 fans.