Coming off a challenging loss to Nazareth last week, Joliet Catholic found itself in a position it’s nowhere near used to. At 1-4 on the season, they’ll need to win out to ensure a spot in the postseason. The path to get there is no picnic either.

On their homecoming night, however, against a Catholic League rival, the Hilltoppers did just enough to keep their postseason hopes alive.

Vinny DiNovo made three field goals, the defense piled up 7.5 sacks and Joliet Catholic picked up a 16-7 win to move to 2-4 on the year.

It was far from perfect. JCA was called for four penalties on the opening drive alone, they accumulated just 69 yards of passing offense (39 on one throw) and would’ve been under 100 rushing yards on 26 carries had it not been for Anthony Finnegan’s 104-yard night.

DiNovo helped keep the offense alive with field goals from 30, 37 and 40 yards, the last of which made it a two-score game with under six minutes to go.

“It’s nice to help the offense put some points up,” DiNovo said. “It’s all coaching. ...We just kept the physicality and energy.”

To say the first half was a slug fest would be understating it. Neither team could generate much of an edge with the two combining for nearly as many three and outs as first downs. Only DiNovo’s 31-yard field goal late in the second quarter separated the squads by the midway points as JCA led 3-0.

The team’s respective QBs combined for as many sacks taken as completions (seven) in the first 24 minutes.

The second half saw further penalty woes for both teams, including a virtually unheard of offsetting false start and offside call the same play. The offenses did begin to pick up a tad, though, as Colin Hagerty managed to give Niles Notre Dame a 7-3 lead with a five-yard scoring run early in the third.

The Hilltoppers were able to cut the deficit to one six minutes later on a 37-yarder by DiNovo and took the lead early in the fourth on a 10-yard rumble by fullback Derrick Pomatto. Dinovo’s 40-yarder with 5:52 left made it a 16-7 game and the defense did the rest for Joliet Catholic.

It was a team effort by the defense, but Frankee Piechonka (three sacks, two forced fumbles), Kingston Dunagan (1.5 sacks, a fumble recovery and two tackles for a loss) and Kai Nathaniel (one interception) led the way.

“We just grind it out all day,” defensive linemen Kingston Dunagan said. “DBs do their job for us and lock in. That gives us more time to pass rush. Vince Skedel inside, me and Ian on the edge, it’s all just great.”

Niles Notre Dame (2-4) now finds itself in the same position as JCA. After a 2-0 start, they’ve dropped four consecutive contests and will likely need to win out to make the playoffs.

Coach Dan DeFranza was proud of the fight his team showed, but stressed that they need to be better if they expect to make the postseason.

“I thought we fought really hard against a really good team,” he said. “Stopping the Joliet Catholic run game any year is a very difficult task. ...We were kind of outsized across the board, but our effort was fantastic.

“We lost the special teams battle and we didn’t execute on either side of the ball enough, especially during crunch time. Way too many penalties on the offensive side. You have to win the turnover battle and you have to win special teams in a game like this and we didn’t.”

JCA still has a chance at locking in a spot in the playoffs, but the path only gets harder next well. They will host defending state champion Mt. Carmel next week and would likely be eliminated with a loss. Coach Jake Jaworski knows what’s at stake.

“We’ve got to be disciplined,” he said. “We’ve got to trust our technique, trust our schemes and get after it. It starts on Monday with a week of prep and we have to find a way.”