IC Catholic Prep meets its goals

Aside from emerging victorious Saturday, IC Catholic Prep had the goals of staying healthy and getting younger kids postseason experience.

Turns out the Knights were successful on all fronts.

Jumping out to an quick lead, ICCP emptied its bench early and cruised to a 28-0 win over Sullivan in the opening round of the Class 4A playoffs in Elmhurst.

The Knights (9-1), who began their journey for a possible fourth consecutive state championship, will host Stillman Valley in the second round.

"We got our guys out really quick after we went up 21-0," ICCP coach Bill Krefft said. "We wanted to make sure we stayed healthy for next week. We had talked about executing from the jump and we did that. And as a result we were able to get a lot of guys into the game. It's always pretty awesome to be able to get those guys playoff experience."

Kyle Franklin put the home team on the scoreboard with a 2-yard touchdown run on ICCP's opening possession and then added a 25-yard score later in the quarter. The junior has 21 rushing TDs on the fall.

Franklin also found the end zone on a 47-yard screen pass from quarterback Danny Cronin.

"It was kind of a roller-coaster week (not knowing if the game would be played due to the Chicago Public Schools teachers' strike)," Franklin said. "But as a team, we had the mindset that we were going to play and that we were going to give it our all. I was really happy with the offense. We are growing. Every day we grow as a unit. We are learning how to work more proficiently."

Cronin also found Rashad Sbeih for a 14-yard touchdown.

Defensively, the Knights allowed just five first downs and zero passing yards while notching three interceptions. Kevin Cooke, Tommy Ryan and Nick Kozerski each picked off a pass.

"We got a lot of momentum from this game," Cooke said. "We started out fast and played well on both offense and defense. The key for us is to just take it week by week. Just get to 1-0 each week and focus on what is in front of us."