| 2007 Season |
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A year in review the 2007 football season at Joliet Catholic
Mike Menozzi JolietCatholicFootball.com
If a winning football season can be anti-climatic, this one was. But before you assume it was a bad season, or it was unappreciated, nothing could be further from the truth.
It was anti-climatic simply because there was no last minute heroics, no do-or-die drive to save the season or a game. No 4th and 20 TD pass, and no tackle at the three to save a two point conversion and the win.
Nope.
This season at Joliet Catholic was so dominating in fact, there was none of that. Opponents were absolutely steamrolled, one game after another. The Hillmen win by 35, win by 40, win by 45, in truly dominating fashion they destroyed the best the regular season schedule, and 6A had to offer.
If there was a single statewide champion, Joliet Catholic would win hands down. Many felt they'd likely beat 2/3 of the NAIA and half the D3 teams in the state. In every season ending poll, Joliet Catholic was the highest ranked team nationally from Illinois, and deservedly so.
In this day in age, descriptions like “dominating” can be tossed around like pennies. Worth little, and typically met with suspicion as to its accuracy. That’s understandable, but in this case “dominating” barely scratches the surface of how good they were. Consider . . .
Records set or broken in the 2007 season
Team Records
Most wins all time 570, 12th best all time in Illinois
Team Scoring, most points in a season 649, 8th best all time in Illinois
Team Scoring average per game, 46.3, 17th best all time in Illinois
Team Scoring 90 TD’s in a season, 6th best all time in Illinois
Total Offense in a season 6,651 yards 1st all time in Illinois
Rushing yardage in a season 5054, 4th best in all time in Illinois.
Touchdowns Rushing in a season 75, 3rd best all time in Illinois
Playoff records
Most title game appearances 15, 1st all time in Illinois
Most state championships 13, 1st all time in Illinois
Most net yards rushing by a team in a title game, for 6A 462 yards, 1st all time in Illinois
Most yards gained rushing for 6A title game 416, 1st all time in Illinois
Individual TD’s in 6A title game Conner Krisch 4 tied for 1st all time in Illinois
Head Coach Dan Sharp with his 6th win in 6 attempts in title games is now 3rd all time in Illinois.
Joliet Catholic, winners of more football titles and title game appearances in Illinois than anyone, is back in the winners circle. In the season ending 6A championship game, Joliet Catholic pounded Lemont 49-7 for the Illinois Class 6A high school football championship.
Connor Krisch was the star of the Hilltopper ground show that amassed 415 yards to Lemont's 63. Krisch ran for 168 yards and four touchdowns (eight in his last two games). Lemont entered the game averaging over 300 yards a game on the ground, and was held to a mere 63 yards.
Many criticize the double wing and wing-t the Hillmen run – listen to the big kid from Lemont that was the prize recruit for Illinois (whom Coach Zook came out to meet pregame) "They were very physical, and their offense was just very confusing," Lemont lineman Graham Pocic said.
This level and the next level don’t always equate one star to another – but without question, Lemont moved Pocic off the nose when seemingly unheralded JCA center Nate Fonk was handling him.
2007 Roster
But there was so much more than that title game that defined this team, lets start from the beginning.
2007 schedule
A reversal of the 2006 schedule, saw the Hillmen have a heavy home schedule. Opening with a “home” game at Soldier Field against the Mount Carmel Caravan. After MC held a slim halftime lead, the Hill came out smokin’ and dominated the second half. A broken trick play saved the day for Mt. Carmel, pulling victory from defeat 20-21. After the game MC quarterback Brown said of his blind heave for a completion “it was the luckiest play of my life”. I couldn’t have said it better. The Caravan advanced to the semi-finals in 8A before falling out of the tournament.
Game two saw Morris return to Joliet, looking to keep its streak of three wins against the Hill alive. Those hopes faded fast as the Hill pounded the Redskins 51-15. Morris righted the ship and advanced to the 5A state title game before falling to Metamora.
Game 3 was the St. Pat’s Shamrocks typically a hard hitting game. The Hill wasted little time disposing of St. Pat’s 56-14.
Game 4 was more of the same, this time it was Marist hoping for the upset. The defense throttled the Marist offense all game and the Hill won going away 55-0.
Game 5 the Hillmen kept it rolling with a win over Benet 55-10. Since the second half of the Mount Carmel game the Hilltoppers were crushing opponents.
Game 6 in Chicago Heights shouldn’t have been a surprise to anyone. Old Illini-8 conference foe Marian Catholic thought they had the Hill figured out, holding a slim lead at the half. The Hill tightened the D and dialed up the offense, and won 35-10.
Game 7 against Notre Dame saw a return to the Hill we’d seen earlier in the year, with another big win 42-13.
Game 8 was a walk away win 63-7 over St. Joe’s
Game 9 had the ESCC conference championship on the line with the Carmel Corsairs. Carmel defeated the Hill in Mundelein the year prior, the Hill was looking to return the favor this year in Joliet. In another totally dominating performance the Hilltoppers crushed the Corsairs 45-8.
2007 6A playoff brackets
The 6A playoffs began with Normal West traveling to Joliet. Although Normal West felt they were prepared, it was short lived after getting pounded 49-7.
Crete Monee came into Joliet and offensively tested the Hill defense and them some. A very athletic Crete kept it close, but not close enough before falling 51-26.
The Quarterfinals pitted the Hill against an old foe – at least from a coaching standpoint. Vic Boblett was head coach of the 1990 Geneseo team that fell to the Hill in the title game. Coach Boblett was now head coach at Rock Island . The Rocks had a fast team, and felt their team speed would be superior to the Hill. The Rocks gave the Hill a game but couldn’t keep pace, losing 33-7
The follow day Normal Community traveled to Providence, the winner to take on the Hill. The Ironmen ranked #1 in Class 6A throughout the year and was on an impressive playoff run. The Ironmen had dominated their previous three playoff opponents. In the first two rounds, Providence had road victories against the highly ranked, two-time defending Class 5A State Champion Springfield SHG and perennial Central Illinois power Bloomington. But the Ironmen seemingly got the respect they were looking for from the teams in the “north” with a 29-0 win over Providence in New Lenox.
Once again, Providence dodged what would likely be a cross town pounding at the hands of the Hillmen. The Celtics lost to Batavia in 2005 before a potential matchup with JCA which would have had similar results.
Meanwhile, the Normal Ironmen seemed to have things lined up exactly the way they wanted. They had a twenty-six (26) game winning streak, built a 38-2 record over the previous three (3) years, had a Class 6A Runner Up finish in 2005 and were the defending 6A State Champions in 2006. What they felt they lacked was the respect from teams in the north part of the state. After beating Providence on the road the week before, they had a chance to show the world they could complete with anyone. The had the Hill making the 2 hour trip to their back yard. They were ready, only the Hillmen stood in the way of their title defense.
6000+ fans packed the Normal stadium to see a match up that everyone thought would be a slugfest to the end. They misjudged the Hillmen however. While most talk surrounded the Normal ranking, win streak, and home field advantage. It was the Hillmen that wanted all to know they were ready . . . and then some. Walking on the turf with a cool business like approach to arriving for work. The Hillmen watched as the Ironmen ran through banners, listened to blasting warm-up music, and then . . . they dropped the hammer on the Ironmen. In a game that was never close, Normal tacked on a TD against the reserves to make the final JCA 45 Normal 13
Throughout the season the one cohesive unit that made everything go was the offensive line.
The Hill wrapped up a sparkling season with a blow out title game win against Lemont
JCA 49 Lemont 7
Joliet Catholic had its 13th state football championship in record breaking fashion.
2007 statistics
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