Friday's football roundup

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Joliet Catholic 12, Notre Dame 0: Tyler Hudetz slogged his way to 200 yards on 36 carries to lead Joliet Catholic to a 12-0 victory Friday against Notre Dame in Niles.

Hudetz scored on a 75-yard run to put the Hilltoppers (7-2, 7-0 East Suburban Catholic) ahead 6-0 with 2:31 left in the first half.

‘‘This was the first play we were able to bust,’’ Hudetz said. ‘‘I was able to get north to south, and my line gave me some great upfield blocks.’’

With 6:40 left in the third quarter, the game was stopped for 90 minutes because of lightning. Hudetz’s second touchdown came on a four-yard run with 48 seconds left in the third quarter and capped a seven play, 44-yard drive.

The victory enabled Joliet Catholic to clinch the East Suburban Catholic championship. The Hilltoppers registered their third shutout of the season, holding the Dons (5-4, 3-4) to 57 yards of total offense.

‘‘After we lost our first two games, we were able to defeat St. Viator and St. Pat’s back-to-back and gained our momentum,’’ Joliet Catholic coach Dan Sharp said.

Craig Lynch

Cary-Grove 14, McHenry 6: McHenry (3-6, 2-3 Fox Valley Valley) took a 6-0 lead when Tyler Helton returned a fumble 63 yards. However, Cary-Grove’s Kyle Leibforth blocked the point-after kick.

Cary-Grove (9-0, 5-0) quickly responded when Eric Chandler raced 39 yards for a touchdown and then added the conversion kick. The Trojans took a 14-6 lead on their first possession of the third quarter on a sneak by Tyler Krebs.

McHenry drove to the Cary-Grove 1, but the Trojans’ defense — led by Jake Underwood, Matt Leibforth and Nick Underwood — stopped McHenry quarterback Ryan Michel on consecutive plays.

‘‘We waited all year for our goal-line stand,’’ Jake Underwood said. ‘‘And we got ours. We looked into their quarterback’s eyes, and we knew he was coming.’’

Cary-Grove coach Bruce Kay also was pleased.

‘‘Our defense has come up big for us all year,’’ Kay said. ‘‘And that goal-line stand was terrific.’’

Dick Quagliano

Chicago Christian 35, Walther Lutheran 14: Chicago Christian defeated visiting Walther Lutheran in a game that was delayed twice by lightning for a total of 85 minutes.

Halfback Andy Stuursma took the handoff on the first play from scrimmage and tossed an 80-yard touchdown pass to Matt Hull for the Knights.

Dan Merrick added a 10-yard touchdown run midway through the second quarter to give the Knights (8-1, 6-1 Private School League) a 14-0 lead.

Stuursma then caught a 37-yard touchdown from Jason Vander Laan. Stuursma also added an 11-yard scoring run for a 28-6 lead after three quarters. Merrick capped the Knights' scoring with a two-yard run.

Marcus Cyrus scored both touchdowns for Walther Lutheran (6-3, 5-2), one on a 62-yard run and the other on a 64-yard screen pass.

Pat McGrath

St. Francis 13, Marian Central 7: Standout running back Mark Kachmer scored on runs of one yard and two yards as St. Francis (8-1, 6-1 Suburban Catholic Conference) defeated Marian Central in Woodstock.

"It's been a great season, and to finish like this was great," Kachmer said. "Stan [Bobowski] set up that first touchdown with his run, so he deserved the credit."

Bobowski's 63-yard run on the first play of the game set up Kachmer's first score, as the Spartans took a 7-0 lead with 10:48 left in the first quarter.

Andrew Stochls found Ryan Szudarski for a 43-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 7 for Marian Central (4-5, 3-4) with 9:02 left in the third quarter.

Kachmer's game-winning score came with 10 minutes left in the game, and the Spartans' defense held on for the win.

Brian Bown

Morgan Park 30, Harper 14: Senior running back Jajuan Lewis shouldered the load as Morgan Park rumbled past Harper 30-14 on Friday night at Gately Stadium in the Public League playoffs.

Lewis carried 22 times for 212 yards and a touchdown. He scored on a 16-yard burst to give the Mustangs a 6-0 lead with 10:20 left in the second quarter.

"He carried the team," Morgan Park assistant coach Dana Robinson said. "He ran the ball hard between the tackles. You expect your seniors to step up in times like this. He was ready tonight."Õ

While Lewis rolled on offense, his Mustangs teammates consistently pressured Harper on the defensive side of the ball.

Lineman Deion Robinson led the Morgan Park defense, finishing with two sacks and eight tackles.

Running back Devontre Spears scored one of his two touchdowns on a 15-yard run to give the Warriors a 14-0 lead with 2:34 left in the first half.

Harper fell to 5-4.

Michael Kelley

Mount Carmel 56, Hales Franciscan 14: Jordan Lynch passed for three touchdowns and ran for a fourth as the Caravan won their first on-campus varsity game in school history.

Mount Carmel scored twice in the game's first minute and led 14-0 before Hales ran an offensive play.

Lynch's touchdown passes went for 19 yards to Brett Butler, 19 yards to K.J. Picard and eight yards to Brad Schuch. Byron Stanford added 63-yard touchdown run for the Caravan.

Hales quarterback Tarik Smith passed for 195 yards and two touchdowns.

Mike Clark

St. Rita 49, Hope Academy 0: In a historic game, sophomore running back Jahwon Akui broke a 64-yard touchdown run on the second play from scrimmage to set the dominant tone for No. 11 St. Rita's 49-0 victory over Hope Academy on Friday night.

The contest was called with 2:38 left in the second quarter after a third lightning delay. The game marked the first time in state history that a Class 1A program played a 7A school.

St. Rita (8-1) forced four Hope Academy turnovers, blocked a punt and caused the Eagles (8-1) to lose the ball on downs. Dan Dispensa recovered a fumble and had one of three Mustangs interceptions. Akui (nine carries, 153 yards) added touchdown bursts of 29 and 14 yards as St. Rita led 28-0 after one quarter.

"We looked at this game as getting ready for the playoffs," Akui said. "Good teams always play hard and well regardless of the competition."

Mustangs quarterback Lawrence Garrett threw a seven-yard touchdown pass to Daniel O’Neill. Freshman Tyrone Smith had Hope’s longest play from scrimmage, a 43-yard run.

Patrick Z. McGavin

Bolingbrook 29, Lockport 0: Quarterback Brad Geever ran for 142 yards on 12 carries, including touchdown runs of 12 and 27 yards, and threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Chris Williams to complete No. 4 BolingbrookÕs (9-0, 5-0 Southwest Suburban Blue) first perfect regular season since 1996.

"9-0 is nice," Bolingbrook coach John Ivlow said. "We felt a little pressure, but we got it. But it's a new season now."

Williams also returned a punt 76 yards for a touchdown with 5:44 to play in the first half. A 24-yard field goal by Nick Knutson rounded out the scoring with 7:12 to play for Bolingbrook.

The Porters turned the ball over four times, including three second-half interceptions. Lockport (4-5, 1-4) missed the playoffs for the third time in four years.

Randy Whalen

Argo 36, Richards 32: Kendale Cooper's one-yard touchdown run with 1:35 left in the fourth quarter erased a 32-28 deficit and lifted host Argo (4-5, 2-3 South Suburban Red) to its first-ever win over Richards (4-5, 3-2), which missed the playoffs after qualifying for the previous 23 consecutive years.

Steve Millar

Geneva 47, Batavia 14:Michael Ratay (18 carries, 352 yards) scored six touchdowns to lead the way for No. 6 Geneva (9-0, 7-0 Western Sun), including an 86-yard run on the games first play from scrimmage.

Carter Crane

Barrington 33, Conant 7: Barrington’s defense bottled up Conant with a powerful rush, finishing with nine sacks. The Broncos forced three turnovers and held Conant to minus-16 yards rushing and 70 yards passing. The high sack total contributed to Conant ending with 54 yards total offense.

Barrington (7-2, 3-2 Mid-Suburban League West) scored 19 points in the third quarter to put the game out of reach. Good field position and the running of tailback Sam Ojuri made the second half a Barrington highlight show.

The Broncos scored three touchdowns in four plays, with Ojuri scoring on runs of 4, 27 and 3 yards. Ojuri led all rushers with 14 carries for 99 yards and four touchdowns.

“We wanted to come out hard and treat this game like a playoff game,” Ojuri said. “It was like a mud bowl out there. We showed if we can stay together and play together as a team, we can go a long way.”

The Cougars (4-5, 2-3) ended their scoring drought by getting some help from the Broncos. A pass interference penalty gave the Cougars an extra play, leading to Smith hitting Jeff Vercillo for a 27-yard touchdown pass with 45 ticks remaining.

Immaculate Conception 35, Aurora Central 7: IC (5-4, 4-3 Suburban Catholic) took a 7-0 lead when Carlos Rodriguez scored on a 35-yard touchdown run with 2:24 left in the first quarter. Olivia Vatch booted the first of her three extra-points kicks.

Will Cronin gave the Knights a 14-0 halftime lead when he scored on a 58-yard keeper early in the second quarter. Rodriguez added his second touchdown of the game, this time from 10 yards out, and Paul Hornstra added a five-yard touchdown run to put IC ahead 28-0 after three quarters.

Rob Peachey stretched IC’s lead to 35-0 when he busted up the middle for a 13-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

Adam Scott spoiled the Knights’ shutout bid with a 35-yard scoring run with 4:36 left in the game to pull Aurora Central (0-9, 0-7) to within 35-7.

Bogan 47, Washington 0: Kelvyn Thompson completed 6 of 8 passes for 101 yards and two touchdowns to lead Bogan. Daniel Cole carried five times for 110 yards. The Bogan defense was led by Derrick Harper (four tackles) and Anthony Pierson (interception, four tackles).

Coal City 27, Plano 13: Bobby Kroeger carried 19 times for 86 yards and three touchdowns to lead Coal City.

Lane 35, Amundsen 0: Thaddeus Scott scored three touchdowns to lift Lane. Michael Gibson and Fred Williams also added touchdowns in the win.

“We ran the ball well," Lane coach Rich Rio said. "It was expected of us to win. Our offensive line came off the ball to have five rushing touchdowns. Our backs took advantage.”

Lemont 34, Bremen 3: Danny Hayes scored three times to lead Lemont (9-0, 5-0 South Suburban).

Lincoln Park 20, Manley 14: Lincoln Park’s versatile offensive attack proved to be too hard to handle in a Public League playoff game at Hanson Stadium.

Senior running back Kelvin Blanchard rushed six times for 44 yards and added five catches for 95 yards and a touchdown from quarterback Kristian Palmer.

Palmer was 7-of-9 for 122 yards, while adding 44 yards on nine carries for the Lions (6-3). Jason Stigler complemented the attack with 45 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries.

The Lions’ defense was led by defensive lineman Kenzell Mason, who recorded 12 tackles.

Manley fell to 6-3.

Lincoln-Way Central 2, Joliet 0: Joliet (1-8, 0-5) forfeited Friday’s SouthWest Suburban Blue game against Lincoln-Way Central (6-3, 2-3) for health reasons.

A Joliet Central student tested positive for meningococcal disease, a rare but serious infection, and has been hospitalized since Tuesday. As a result, all after-school or athletic events were postponed until Monday.

Contributing: Pioneer Press, The Doings