JOLIET – Joliet Catholic Academy’s offense came in fits and starts at first, and then in a burst of passing and receiving. By the time their Friday night encounter with Niles Notre Dame was over, the defense had proven itself once again.

The final, 28-13 in the Hilltoppers’ favor, said as much.

The outcome pushed Joliet Catholic to 3-1 overall, 1-0 in the Catholic/East Suburban Catholic Green. The Dons fell to 2-2, 0-1.

The story within the story was the precise collaborations of quarterback Andres Munoz and wide receiver Adrian Washington. Munoz targeted his fellow senior nine times, connected with him five times. On three of those occasions, Washington either found or was already in the end zone. That made everyone forget about the five incompletions at the start, when the Hilltoppers were relying on H.J. Grigsby.

Despite being used as a decoy in the second quarter, Grigsby ground out 115 yards on 22 carries, including an 11-yard touchdown rush to open the scoring. That’s almost routine for him, while the Munoz-Washington connection is blossoming.

“We’ve been playing ball together since we were like 9 years old,” Washington said. “It’s been a long time.”

It shows.

Notre Dame defensive back Cameron Van Horn is going to see Washington in his nightmares. He tried to fight Washington for the ball on his first and third touchdown receptions and came up short.

“He’s very jumpy,” Washington said after outjumping him. “He’d bite down on a short pass play and [I could] run right past him.”

Meanwhile, the Hilltoppers defense held Notre Dame to 108 yards, only 11 on the ground.

All this was right up Hilltoppers coach Jake Jaworski’s alley. After the 20-10 loss to St. Rita a week ago, he could finally allow himself a smile after the game.

“There wasn’t a lot of smiles on the sideline,” Jaworski said. “But a win’s a win, man. We found a little something (with Washington). Adrian’s taken huge steps since last year. It’s great to see him and Andy create that connection.”

Washington calls himself 90% after getting injured in the opener at Iowa City. On this occasion, 90% was plenty. His five catches totaled 112 of Munoz’s 117 passing yards.

“We’ve got to take advantage of that one-on-one coverage,” Munoz said. “This guy’s going to win 90% of the time. There’s a chance to get the ball down the field every time.”

As in the 42-yard collaboration for a score with eight seconds left in the half, giving JCA a 14-13 lead. And again for scoring receptions of 7 and 22 yards in the second half.

The first half was a dog’s breakfast, especially for the Dons, who benefited from Jimmy Amatore’s 27-yard runback of Keegan Faranus’ fumble to the JCA 4. Quarterback Leo Fraterrigo ran it in from there on third down to tie the game at 7, matching Grigsby’s score.

The Dons regained the lead 13-7  on a 30-yard touchdown pass from Fraterrigo to Quinten Jackson with 52 seconds left in the half, only to see the Hilltoppers answer with Munoz’s 42-yard scoring strike to Washington with eight seconds left.

After the big second half, Munoz gushed, “I think we can win state.”

The last time the Hilltoppers played and beat Notre Dame, it was to advance to the 2018 playoffs. They then ran the table.