Jalen Johnson’s pick-six lifts Joliet West past Plainfield East 17-15

JOLIET – It’s been a long time since a Joliet West football team won seven games in a season.

It was 1969, when Neil Armstrong’s bootprints were still fresh on the moon, when it last happened.

Until Friday night, that is.

The Tigers held off plucky Plainfield East 17-15 to score that seventh victory, and with it at least a share of the Southwest Prairie East Division championship. At 7-1, 4-0, they’re the only team undefeated in league play with a week left in the regular season.

Plainfield East also entered the game undefeated in the division.

“We’re looking for an outright conference title,” Joliet West coach Dan Tito said. “That also hasn’t happened in over a half-century.”

The victory might not have happened without the heroics of senior safety Jalen Johnson. He returned his second interception of the night 61 yards for a touchdown, giving West a 17-7 lead.

“I didn’t think I was going to get it, but I did, and I did my thing,” Johnson said.

“I didn’t think I was going to get it, but I did, and I did my thing.”

—  Jalen Johnson, Joliet West defensive back

Plainfield East quarterback Brandon Parades was 12-of-24 passing for 175 yards and four interceptions. He and receiver Quinn Morris (10 receptions, 125 yards, one touchdown), rallied the Bengals from a dreadful first-half attack.

“We’ve been getting better every single week,” Bengals coach Harvey Jackson said of his 3-5, 3-1 squad. “We didn’t have an offseason [lifting weights], so I tip my hat to them.”

Parades’ 16-yard touchdown run and a two-point conversion with 2:58 left closed the gap to two points.

The Tigers dominated the first half and had little to show for it. They forced Parades into three interceptions — by Johnson, Carson Trax and Austin Kittl — but converted only the first of those turnovers into points.

Gavin Garcia finished a 10-play drive with a 5-yard dash off right end on third-and-goal with 4:44 left in the first quarter. His 37-yard reception of Juan Rico’s third-and-20 pass kept the drive alive.

After that, the Bengals were able to keep Joliet West under wraps, not letting the Tigers inside the red zone.

The Tigers’ defense throttled the Bengals in the first half, holding them to 17 yards total and minus-4 rushing. Plainfield East managed but one first down before the intermission, that coming on its last drive.

There’s a week left in the regular season, but the Tigers can be forgiven for looking ahead at possibly hosting a playoff game. That’s something Joliet West has never done.