Provy rips O. Forest to set up 'holy war'

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OAK FOREST -- It's on.

The Providence Catholic High School football team hammered Oak Forest 30-0 Friday night in the first round of the Class 6A playoffs to set up a much-anticipated Round 2 game against Joliet Catholic Academy.

"I've been waiting my whole life for this game," Providence Catholic's Peter Houlihan said. "It's a holy war."

Houlihan was instrumental in helping set the stage for next week's game in New Lenox between two teams that have won a combined 22 state football championships.

The 5-foot-8 inch, 160-pound junior scored the first touchdown of the game and snagged an interception in the second half of what turned out to be a yawner against the Bengals (8-2).

The Celtics (6-4) took the opening kickoff and marched 78 yards in 11 plays behind the running of Tim Hanrahan and the precision passing of quarterback Mike Hoffmeister. Providence scored on a Hoffmeister pass to Houlihan.

"I went in for the fullback (Luke Conrad), and we ran a bubble and Joe Sawicki made a great block on his guy and all I had to do was run," said Houlihan, who sprinted past Sawicki's block down the right sideline for the score.

That, combined with kicker Pat Wright's extra point, made it 7-0 Celtics with 7:21 to play in the first quarter. Wright would figure in the next three scores for Providence.

A 5-11, 165-pound senior, Wright handles the kicking and punting chores for the Celtics and booted field goals of 37, 40 and 29 yards to give Providence a 16-0 lead at halftime.

"Offensively, even though there were times maybe we didn't move the ball real well, we did get out to the early lead and that gave us a little bit of confidence," Providence coach Mark Coglianese said. "Pat Wright hit those field goals and getting points on those drives was important for us."

That advantage was more than enough for a Celtics defense that smothered Oak Forest all night. Providence surrendered a total of 43 yards of offense in the first half. The Bengals could not get running back Bobby Walsh, a 1,000-yard rusher, in a rhythm.

"Bobby is a great player. I played with him in grade school," said Celtics' defensive back Shane Paty, who provided two interceptions in the game. "He's a tough runner. He's hard to bring down, but we were able to stop him. (Linebackers) Joey Michals and Tyler Plantz and our defensive line did a nice job."

The Celtics' offense, which was the victim of its own penalties in the first half, had trouble hanging onto the ball in the third quarter. Fumbles by Hoffmeister and Sawicki stopped drives. Providence, and particularly Hanrahan, found its groove in the fourth quarter.

Hanrahan, who rushed for 101 yards in the first half, scored on a 3-yard run with 8:58 to play in the fourth quarter to put the Celtics ahead 23-0. He then broke a 55-yard touchdown run off the left side of the line on the next possession to make it 30-0 with 5:46 left in the game.

Hanrahan finished with 161 yards in the second half and a career-high 262 yards rushing in the game. He was quick to praise the efforts of his offensive line, Jacob Sheffer, Jake Lembke, Frank Markasovic, Steve Laski, Patrick Ward and tight end Steve Arthurs.

"The offensive line was just opening up holes all day," Hanrahan said. "The offensive line was just blowing people up all day. It was just a matter of time until I got into a rhythm. Our fullback Luke Conrad did a nice job, and Mike Hoffmeister didn't throw the ball a lot today, but every chance he got he put us in the right place so you have to give him a lot of credit too."

Hanrahan admitted that while the Celtics prepared for Oak Forest all week, their minds were never far from JCA.

"We've been waiting for this one," he said. "When we saw the brackets come out, we knew we had to come here and take care of business against Oak Forest, but we were thinking about JCA in the back of our minds the whole time. It's going to be exciting."