Air Ginnetti lifts Joliet Catholic past Marist

Joliet Catholic's Tyler Hudetz finds a hole during the first half against Marist.
(Michael R. Schmidt/Herald News)

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The Joliet Catholic offense has pretty much been the Tyler Hudetz show, so much so that the Hilltoppers had one game where they didn’t attempt a pass.

But senior Matt Ginnetti took to the air Friday and helped lift No. 21 Joliet Catholic to a 29-14 East Suburban Catholic victory over Marist Friday night at Joliet Memorial Stadium.

The first time it had the ball, conference leader Joliet Catholic  (4-2, 4-0) marched 72 yards in  14 plays, including two fourth-down conversions, capped by a five-yard scoring pass from Ginnetti to Calvin Smith. A two-point conversion on a bad snap made it 8-0.

After Zach Dolph recovered a fumble, the Hilltoppers marched 63 yards, scoring on a 31-yard pass from Ginnetti to Hudetz.

‘‘We can throw the ball,’’ Hudetz said. ‘‘We are a totally different team than the first two weeks [losses to Carmel and Wheaton Warrenville South]. We all wish we could reschedule those games.’’

A 15-play drive late in the half ended in a three-yard scoring run by Hudetz 43 seconds before halftime that put Joliet Catholic up 22-0.

In the first half, Ginnetti was 11-of-14 passing for 141 yards and two touchdowns. He completed his two second-half attempts for 13 yards. In the first five weeks of the season, JCA had attempted only 24 total passes.

‘‘We had success in the first quarter so we kept going to it,’’ Ginnetti said. ‘‘The linemen gave me great blocks and the receivers and backs kept running their routes when I had to scramble.’’

The Hilltoppers took the second half kickoff and marched 80 yard with Hudetz, who had 25 carries for 105 yards, scoring from the 2.

Marist (4-2, 2-2) got on the board in the third quarter on a six-yard run by quarterback Mike Perish. After an onside kick, the RedHawks scored again on a 10-yard pass from Perish to Nick Valla to make it 29-14.

Early in the fourth quarter, Marist forced JCA to punt for the first time, but Dolph intercepted a pass at the JCA 10.