Romeoville shuts down Joliet Central

Updated: September 5, 2011 2:00PM

The Romeoville-Joliet Central football game that was suspended at the start of the second half Saturday because of lightning didn’t have much suspense Monday in the fourth quarter.

Romeoville scored three third-quarter touchdowns, including two within 1 minute, 14 seconds, to ease to a 35-0 road victory. The Spartans scored on three of their first four possessions in the second half.

“That’s the kind of offensive ouput that we’re expecting,’’ Romeoville coach Jeff Kuna said of his team building on a 6-0 first-half lead.

Quarterback James Rooks completed 12-of-23 passes for 163 yards and three touchdowns and set up Romeoville’s second score with a 17-yard run on fourth down to Joliet Central’s 4-yard line.

“We had a lot of time to think about what we came out and did Saturday and what we could fix, and I think we just came out and did that,’’ Rooks said.

Perez Ford scored from four yards out for a 12-0 lead, linebacker Nick Samuelson picked off a deflected pass two plays later and returned it 35 yards for a touchdown and Rooks connected with Tim Welch for a 23-yard score to give Romeoville a 28-0 lead with 1:44 left in the third quarter.

“They came out today on Labor Day, in the morning, and beat our tails,’’ Joliet Central coach Mike Maloney said.

Romeoville (1-1) had come out Saturday on its first possession and went ahead 6-0 on a 11-yard pass from Rooks to Anthony Love. Rooks completed the scoring Monday with a 27-yard connection to Ford.

“Their players found a way to battle and get things done,’’ said Maloney, whose team is 0-2.

Defensively for Romeoville, linemen Chris Cantu, David Ampadu, Hector Ramirez, Tyler Anderson and Scott Hughes and linebackers Samuelson, Frank Rooks and Ryan Hammond kept Joliet Central scoreless.

“The defense did an outstanding job,’’ Kuna said. “We knew the strength of the team this year is going to be our defense, that’s where our experience is at. Defensively to post a shutout, that’s always a huge momentum builder going into a game.’’

Romeoville, a 22-20 loser to Hinsdale South in the season opener, starts its Southwest Prairie Conference schedule at home Friday against Oswego.

“Now we’ve got the confidence going into our conference against Oswego,’’ James Rooks said. “They put up big points every game. I think if the defense can slow them down a bit, we’ll score some points and hopefully come out on top.’’

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