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Early start suits Joliet Catholic against St. Viator

Even an early start time couldn't shake Joliet Catholic's football team in its 48-0 victory over St. Viator on Friday at Forest View Educational Center in Arlington Heights.

The game was originally to begin at 7:30 p.m. But because of the impending forecast of heavy rains Friday night, the game was moved to 5 p.m. - which turned out to be a great decision, as it became one of the very few games to actually be played Friday due to those rains.

Joliet Catholic (4-0, 2-0) got off to a fast start, sprinting out to a 48-0 lead at halftime. After a quick third quarter thanks to a running clock, the game was halted on the first play of the fourth quarter because of lightning. After a quick conference between St. Viator coach Brandon New and JCA coach Dan Sharp, the game was called.

"We came out and gave them everything we had," New said. "It just wasn't enough. That team is extremely talented. There are some men over there."

St. Viator (1-3, 0-2) has never defeated Joliet Catholic in a span that has now covered 25 games. The loss was even more devastating, as it included injuries to tight end and Division I prospect Cole Kmet and wide receiver Thomas Swiderski. Both left the game in the second quarter and will be evaluated later.

"There is still a pretty big gap between us and them," New said. "We worked our tails off this past off-season, but we just took one of the chin."

Delivering the huge blow was JCA running back Michael Johnson. The senior, who had rushed for over 600 yards in the Hilltoppers' first 3 games, showed why he is becoming a a solid Division I prospect.

Johnson was devastating in scoring 5 touchdowns. He had 3 rushing touchdowns on 5,82 and 5 yards. He also had two receiving scores after catching the ball out of the backfield.

Johnson accounted for 313 of the Hilltoppers' 481 yard. He rushed for 213 yards on 11 carries and had 2 receptions for 110 yards - and he played only until late in the second quarter, after which he was given the rest of the night off.

"He is unbelievable," New said. "They had a game plan and executed it to perfection."

JCA, which in past seasons has been a run-dominated team, showed its balance thanks to the play of quarterback Cade Earl, who was 5-for-7 for 139 years. Earl threw touchdown passes to 44 and 66 yards to Johnson out of the backfield, but it was his ability to convert a pair of early third down passes that set the stage for JCA's offense.

"Joliet Catholic has typically been a one-dimensional team," New said. "But add in the ability to throw like they can and they will be tough to beat by anyone in the state."

Viator did have a chance to close the gap early in the first quarter. Tommy Majerus (11-for-26, 79 yards) drove the Lions down the field with passes to Kmet, who had 4 receptions for 34 yards and a pair of passes to Swiderski.

But after moving the ball the the JCA 16, the Lions missed their chance at a score on a dropped pass in the end zone.

St. Viator also looked good in its special teams, with Michael Ragauskis having nearly 175 return yards and punter Shaun Falbo booting a 60-yard punt.

"We tried to give ourselves a lift with our special team play," Ragauskis said. "But it just wasn't our night."

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