Joliet Catholic makes right adjustments

Tyler Reitz

Updated: October 3, 2012 6:21AM

Junior Nick Morrison came off the bench to start the second half in place of starting quarterback Craig Slowik and sparked Joliet Catholic to a 34-26 victory over Robeson at ATI Memorial Stadium.

“It gave us an extra running back in the backfield,” Joliet Catholic coach Dan Sharp said of the decision. “Our passing wasn’t doing well because of the schemes we were up against. Morrison gives us another threat. I wanted to give him some playing time anyway so we can have two guys prepared in game situations.”

Robeson scored early in the third quarter on a Devon Sanders run to make it 13-12.

Morrison led a seven-play drive with runs of 17 and 14 yards. Tyler Reitz capped it with a 14-yard run to extend the lead to 20-12.

A Morrison 16-yard run on the next offensive series propelled an eight-play drive that ended with another Reitz touchdown, this time from five yards out.

Robeson answered with 6:15 left, but Joliet Catholic’s Michael Ivlow put the game out of reach with a 1-yard touchdown run.

“I was happy with the offense because we were really down personnel with injuries,” Sharp said. “We made adjustments on the fly and I was pleased with that.

“Defensively, though, we need a lot of work. That’s an area of concern. We’re working hard. But Robeson is a good football team. We saw them score 44 points on Julian last week. I expected a tough game. I just wish we did a better job stopping them.”

Playing without USC-bound senior running back Ty Isaac (shoulder injury), Sharp leaned on Reitz and he delivered. Reitz finished with 212 yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries.

“Tyler’s a tough kid,” Sharp said. “He can run over guys, make guys miss, as well as block. His leadership showed today. He took a lot of responsibility on his shoulders tonight and we appreciated it.”

As far as Isaac’s status, Sharp isn’t looking too far ahead.

“We’re gonna go day to day from here on out and see where he’s at.”

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