Lang fires 3 touchdown passes, gives IC Catholic something to celebrate with convincing win over Nazareth
The white haze that hung in the Elmhurst air during Friday’s season opener between IC Catholic Prep and Nazareth wasn’t snow or fog.
A whiff of the air gave off the unmistakable scent of baby powder, which the Knights student section regularly threw everywhere, particularly when there was cause for celebration.
There turned out to be plenty for the students to celebrate as the Knights (1-0) earned a 35-21 victory over the Roadrunners (0-1).
“That’s IC kids,” said Knights coach Bill Krefft. “And IC’s a great place to be. Everyone talks about it.”
IC Catholic Prep senior quarterback Nate Lang completed 16 of 22 passes for 246 yards and three touchdowns. He completed both of his first-half touchdown passes to junior receiver Grant Bowen, then found senior receiver Anthony Carroccio from 36 yards out in the second half.
Lang also regularly handed the ball off to sophomore running back Jakobe Baldwin, who ran 19 times for 204 yards and also scored two touchdowns — one with 35 seconds left in the first half and the other a 65-yard run in the fourth quarter.
Bowen currently has 35 offers from Division I programs, and he showed why by scoring twice in the first half on receptions of 17 and 10 yards. He ultimately caught five passes for 108 yards before leaving the game in the third quarter with an injury, though he was able to walk off the field, and Krefft said afterwards that he was fine.
Roadrunners junior quarterback JJ Chapman played in his first contest since transferring from Wisconsin. Although he had a game-tying 6-yard touchdown pass to junior receiver Jackson Flickinger in the second quarter, he also threw back-to-back interceptions to Donnel Sallis and Will Schmidt, the former leading to Baldwin’s score.
Chapman completed back-to-back passes of over 30 yards in the third quarter but threw an incompletion on fourth-and-goal.
Chapman finished with 303 passing yards. Most of them came with the game out of reach, as did fourth-quarter touchdowns from Dylan Wellner and Jack Parisi.
IC Catholic Prep has had a lot of success in Class 3A, and Nazareth is a year removed from having its streak of three consecutive state championships end. So the fact the Knights played so well against a team three levels up from them is nothing to write off.
“We said going into this that there’s no rule that says ’cause you’re 3A and they’re 6A that you gotta get tired,” Krefft said. “And so I hope they bought into that, and I think they did an outstanding job with it.”
By the end of the game, the baby powder throwing mostly had stopped. But spirits remained high everywhere for IC Catholic Prep as the win was enough cause for celebration.