Football: Nazareth earns ‘legendary’ win over Joliet Catholic
By Tim Tierney For Sun-Times Media October 1, 2011 5:14PM
Joliet Catholic Academy's quarterback #7 Craig Slowik hands off to #32 TY Isaac vs held at Memorial Stadium Joliet on Friday, September 30, 2011. | Larry Kane~For Sun-Times Media
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Updated: November 15, 2011 8:51AM
The large “Black Hole” banner vocal Nazareth students displayed throughout last week’s victory at Marist didn’t come out until the end of Friday night’s East Suburban Catholic showdown against No. 1 Joliet Catholic.
The exuberant Nazareth fans unfurled the banner on the field at Memorial Stadium after the visiting Roadrunners built a 24-7 fourth-quarter lead and held on for a 24-21 victory, their first over Joliet Catholic.
“We didn’t play our best game tonight, that’s for sure,” Joliet Catholic coach Dan Sharp said. “They ran the ball on us pretty successfully.”
“We really didn’t get a lot of respect,” Nazareth coach Tim Racki told his players afterward. “Until tonight!”
Nazareth running back Joshua Moore was the workhorse with 37 carries for 176 yards and one touchdown after Rudy Romagnano, the Roadrunners’ leading ballcarrier, left the game with an ankle injury after their first play.
“This means the world, the best victory we could ever have,” Moore said. “The best thing in our history, right here. We were confident. Not cocky, but confident.”
“To beat a program like that, we got a victory over a legendary program,” Racki said. “Our running game, we knew our offense would be the best defense against their lethal weapons on offense.”
Ty Isaac’s 56-yard touchdown reception got Joliet Catholic (5-1, 4-1) within 24-14 with nine minutes left and Isaac scored on an 8-yard run with 7:51 to play after Joliet Catholic recovered an onside kick at Nazareth’s 10-yard line to further narrow the gap.
Joliet Catholic had two possessions in the fourth quarter in which the Hilltoppers couldn’t move the ball, once from their 40-yard line and later from their 16.
Isaac finished with 93 yards on 16 carries, and Malin Jones had 71 yards on 16 carries for Joliet Catholic.
“We knew we were playing a very good team,” Sharp said. “They’ve been playing everybody well since they’ve gone to the wing-T offense.”
Nazareth (5-1, 5-1) led 17-0 at halftime on a 22-yard first-quarter field goal by Matthew Ramsey and two second-quarter touchdowns.
After Nazareth linebacker Aeneas White recovered a Joliet Catholic fumble early in the second quarter, the Roadrunners drove 74 yards in 13 plays to go ahead 10-0 on a 1-yard keeper by quarterback Sam Poulos.
Nazareth’s Kalium Ewing got behind the Joliet Catholic secondary and hauled in a 45-yard scoring pass.
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