It’s been a while since Fenwick was 3-0.

It’s also been a while since Joliet Catholic was 0-3.

That reality, pleasant for the Friars and unpleasant for the Hilltoppers, was realized Friday night as Fenwick beat Joliet Catholic 43-26 at their home away from home at Triton College.

The margin was indicative of the run of play, especially in the second half, which the Friars dominated. That’s when Fenwick senior Jamen Williams threw for three touchdowns among his 15 total completions for 204 yards.

Williams, who arrived on the Fenwick campus the year after their most recent state title, might lead the Friars to another one. He withstood the Hilltoppers’ pass rush all night.

“Our game plan was very simple,” Williams said. “We had to get on them early. We know how big they are.”

Williams’ 56-yard completion to Raphiel Stewart on the game’s second snap established the ground rules. Fenwick scored on Williams’ 4-yard dash three plays later.

“He’s one of my main receivers, and a real good completion, because he got hurt earlier in the summer,” Williams said. “It set the tone that he’s back and the offense is going to get rolling.

“It’s going to continue to roll.”

Fenwick still had to come back to win. The Hilltoppers scored on back-to-back drives, the second set up by a fumbled Friar kickoff return. But the Friars rallied.

“We had a pretty good plan on offense, and defensively, we’ve got a lot of guys who can move around the ball fast and get the ball back for us,” Fenwick coach Matt Battaglia said. “The best part of our game is, we’ve got a lot of guys who bleed black and white.”

The defensive portion of the equation was embodied by three interceptions of Lucas Simulick, who also threw for three touchdowns. The picks were courtesy of Jake Thies, who also ran for a 67-yard touchdown in the second quarter, his older brother Tommy Thies, and Mike Murphy, whose interception with 4:20 remaining ended the Hilltoppers’ last real chance at a comeback.

The Hilltoppers haven’t been 0-3 since 2016, when they lost their first seven and finished 1-8 in Dan Sharp’s last campaign as head coach.

“Nobody feels sorry for you,” Hilltoppers coach Jake Jaworski said. “Nobody feels sorry for us as coaches, nobody feels sorry for the players. We’ve just got to get back to work.”

Joliet Catholic’s bright spots included Simulick’s three-touchdown night, though he probably went to sleep with the three interceptions on his mind, and the 94-yard rushing performance of Anthony Finnegan, which included a 45-yard gambol to the 1 in the third quarter to set up the Hilltoppers’ last touchdown.

“They created explosive plays and we turned the ball over,” Jaworski said. “It’s tough to compete like that. Luke’s been pretty good for us. We’ve struggled to get the running game going and we’ve leaned on him a little bit.

“We’ve got a young offensive line and are trying to get some things going there. Finnegan showed some things.”

The Hilltoppers ran for 106 yards, which in years past might have been quarter’s worth of yardage. Ninety-four of those yards were contributed by Finnegan. Simulick threw for 205 yards on a 14-of-27 reading.

It gets no easier for the Hilltoppers. They’re at Marist next week, while Fenwick visits Montini.