Celtics put away Crete after halftime

Providence's Timothy Hanrahan (5) runs for a touchdown against Crete-Monee.
(Larry Kane/For the Herald-News)

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Three third-quarter touchdowns helped host Providence knock off Crete-Monee 44-14 in a Class 6A quarterfinal Saturday afternoon in New Lenox.

No. 5 Providence (11-1) plays the Danville-Lemont winner in the semifinals next weekend.

The Celtics broke the game open in the third quarter. The offensive spurt started when quarterback Joey Houlihan tossed a 6-yard pass to Tim Kavanaugh at the 7:52 mark. Providence led 17-7.

Even the Providence defense had a hand in the scoring. Lineman Steve Laski returned a fumble 10 yards for a touchdown after Crete-Monee quarterback Justin Roudez was sacked, giving Providence a 24-7 lead.

“When you put 44 points on the board, that takes a lot of pressure off our defense, and without that pressure we can have fun and play,” Laski said.

Running back Tim Hanrahan was all over the ground, rushing for 165 yards on 26 carries. Hanrahan scored his only touchdown of the day in that decisive third quarter, a 44-yard run, that gave Providence a commanding 30-7 lead.

“We were mixing in play action and the run and we started wearing them down,” Hanrahan said. “Their defense was what we expected and we knew their defense was good and they can move and fly around. We had to adjust to that in the first half.”

Alec Pickett’s 27-yard field goal gave Providence a 10-7 lead with 15.9 seconds to go in the first half, after Houlihan threw three incomplete passes and failed to convert from the Crete 10.

The Celtics had tied the score at seven on Houlihan’s 15-yard pass to Steve Arthurs with 10.8 seconds to play in the first quarter.

No. 18 Crete-Monee (10-2) went ahead 7-0 early in the first on Roudez’s 39-yard pass to Armand Pierre. Brett Phillips scored twice for Providence in the fourth quarter on touchdown runs of 32 and five yards.

Crete-Monee scored its final touchdown on Cortez Scott’s 75-yard run late in the fourth.