IC Catholic Prep clinches playoff spot
After delivering back-to-back postseason appearances, IC Catholic Prep experienced the bitter taste of missing the IHSA football playoffs by one win, finishing 4-5 last fall after losing three games by a touchdown.
But following an off-season of dedicated training fueled by a difficult end to 2014, the Knights left Performance Trust Field in West Chicago enjoying the sweet taste of their third playoff berth in four years. IC rode 285 rushing yards and 4 touchdowns from Jordan Rowell to a 40-10 triumph over Wheaton Academy, improving its record to 6-1 overall with two regular-season games remaining.
"This is a special group of kids," coach Bill Krefft said. "They're very motivated and an easy-to-coach group. They're all in in terms of buy-in. They're hard-working kids from great families who have been brought up the right way. They put in the work in the off-season to get to this point, and they've responded to challenges the right way. I'm very happy for them."
IC's win sets up a showdown of 3-0 teams in the Metro Suburban West next Friday when the Knights host Glenbard South and its own explosive tailback, Sean Cooke, who tallied 321 yards and 7 touchdowns against Wheaton Academy on Oct. 3.
IC's high-octane offense started slowly against the Warriors on Friday. Wheaton Academy (4-3, 0-3) controlled the clock and kept IC's reknowned running game on the sidelines for much of the first half, methodically moving the ball upfield on the opening drive before taking a 3-0 lead on a 27-yard field goal by Kordell Bowling with 6:09 left in the first quarter.
The Knights went ahead on a 40-yard TD pass from sophomore quarterback Luke Ricobene to wideout Patrick Jordan with 9:25 remaining in the half, but the Warriors stayed within striking range behind opportunistic defense, including an interception in the end zone by Luke Manske to thwart a scoring threat with 10 seconds to go until halftime.
"Wheaton has a very good football team," Krefft said. "They're a 4A team that has a lot of great athletes. We knew it wouldn't be an easy game. We knew they were athletic and were dangerous in space. They gave us a lot of problems on both sides of the ball."
IC began building a cushion in the third quarter. Rowell capped a 6-play, 76-yard drive to begin the second half with a 12-yard TD run to push the Knights in front 14-3. The Warriors responded with an 11-play, 84-yard drive but couldn't reach the end zone, as Rowell, a cornerback on defense, showed his multi-dimensional abilities by soaring for an interception at the goal line on second-and-goal from the 5. Two plays later, the junior broke free for a 90-yard TD run that made it 20-3 and seemed to deflate Wheaton Academy for the remainder of the game. The Knights tacked on three more touchdowns in the fourth quarter, two from Rowell and one 59-yard jaunt from sophomore tailback Lazerick Eatman.
"The challenge this week was to shore up our rushing defense," Warriors coach Brad Thornton said, referring to the 321 yards and 7 TDs that Wheaton Academy allowed to Glenbard South's star running back last week. "I thought our guys fought hard and competed in the first half. We challenged them, and our offense moved the ball and kept them off the field, but we couldn't capitalize in the red zone, which hurt us."
The Warriors need at least one more win to advance to the postseason. Their first shot at a playoff bid is next Friday at Fenton before wrapping up the regular season Oct. 23 at Aurora Central Catholic.
"Our goal is still within reach," Thornton said. "We just need to correct some things here and there and continue to get better."