CHATHAM — Now in hindsight, the Chatham Glenwood football team can count its tough first-round matchup with Joliet Catholic a blessing, so to speak.
When the Illinois High School Association playoff pairings came out on Saturday, Oct. 25, the unbeaten Titans drew the No. 1 seed in the Class 6A but were matched up against No. 16 seed Joliet Catholic, which went 4-5 in the regular season but played an incredibly tough schedule with close losses to teams in the 7A and 8A playoffs.
Glenwood (10-0) did much of its offensive damage in the first half before walking out of Titan Stadium with a 17-12 win over Joliet Catholic on Saturday, Nov. 1.
The Glenwood players and coaches heard the chatter: the Hilltoppers were perhaps the favorites.
“I think everyone doubted us coming into this, even as the one seed,” Glenwood senior all-state quarterback Colten Knoedler said. “We came out and our defense especially proved that we belong and we’re here.”
But as the first quarter unfolded on the first Saturday of November, it was clear: Glenwood’s defense could contain the Joliet Catholic offense. When Knoedler found Dylan Huff for a 42-yard touchdown pass for a lead with 3 minutes, 59 seconds left in the opening period, it was understood the Titans’ offense also could score against the Hilltoppers’ defense.
“On defense, I’m really proud of our guys,” Huff said. “We changed our gameplan up a little bit this week, but it worked out very well, and it was really good against the run.”
And when Knoedler hit Henry Rose for an 18-yard touchdown pass in the second period to give Glenwood a two-score lead, the milk-jug-rattling army of noise in the Glenwood bleachers knew its team more than had a chance for the win.
Rose was stoic when asked about his score.
“I just saw the safety blitz, and I just sat in an open spot and caught the ball and ran in,” Rose said. “That’s about it.”
Most No. 1 seeds don’t get that sort of first-round test. Often, unbeaten top seeds get a run-of-the-mill 5-4 team that is out of contention by halftime. But with East St. Louis looming in the second round, Glenwood’s more battle-tested for that rematch against the 7-3 Flyers, who knocked out the Titans in the 6A quarterfinals — en route to a state championship — a year ago.
“I think the things I learned are obvious to the people looking in from outside, too: they’re athletic, they’ve got a lot of playmakers,” Knoedler said of East St. Louis. “But I know this team’s resilient, and I know we’re going to find a way.”
Glenwood’s run defense limited the Hilltoppers to 125 yards rushing on 30 carries, despite having several different types of runners. When complimented on a good gameplan, Glenwood coach David Hay passed the buck.
“The kids still got to go out and execute, and they played physical all the way through the game on both sides of the football,” Hay said. “That’s what you’ve got to do. I mean, that’s the best dang 4-5 team I’ve ever seen in my life.
“Their defensive and offensive fronts are both very physical, and our kids stood up to them.”
JCA’s second possession ended when Anthony Finnegan fumbled on a second-and-11 in a scoreless game. With the ball barely in Glenwood territory, Knoedler found Grady Mueller for a 10-yard pass before Huff found space, caught a pass from the third-year starting QB and raced to the end zone ahead of his JCA pursuers. Glenwood kicker Tristan Schwindt added the extra point for a 7-0 lead.
The Joliet Catholic offense had three penalties in the first quarter, including a delay of game on fourth-and-one from its own 29 that took away any chance of a fake punt or a go-for-it play. Glenwood had a chance to tack on three more points, but Schwindt’s 49-yard field goal attempt was just wide.
Once again, JCA’s offensive drive petered out after a pair of first downs and Glenwood put together a seven-play, 70-yard drive that ended with the Knoedler-Rose connection and Schwindt’s kick with 3:43 put the Titans up 14-0.
Glenwood turned to Grady Mueller for much of the game offensively. The senior running back had 26 carries for 90 yards and was able to help eat up valuable seconds by picking up key first downs.
When Glenwood needed to move the chains, everyone stepped up — including Max Van Preter, who snared a nine-yard pass on third-and-nine on the last possession, and Hugo Lopp, who had a 17-yard catch on third-and-12 from the 36 on that same drive.
“There’s always somebody in the game who’s going to have to make a big play, and a huge catch by Max Van Preter … and then a giant catch by Hugo Lopp,” Hay said. “At this time of year, those kind of kids pop up; we’ve been seeing it for 34 years. Somebody’s going to get a chance to make a play, and we’re fortunate that we’ve made those plays.”
JCA caught its first big break early in the third when Knoedler’s throw hit the helmet of a defensive lineman, and Derrick Pomatto came up with an interception. Five plays later, JCA QB Lucas Simulick and Michael Brown teamed up for a 30-yard touchdown pass with 8:25 left in the period. Glenwood blocked Vinny DiNovo’s extra-point kick attempt to maintain a 14-6 lead.
Schwindt got a second chance at a field goal and with 10:03 left in the game, he put more distance between the two teams with a 32-yard field goal right down the middle of the uprights.
The senior kicker with the strong leg not only accounted for five Glenwood points — the difference in the scores — but he also pinned the ‘Toppers back with touchbacks on all four of his kickoffs.
“As always, it’s just me doing my job as a kicker and everybody else doing their job,” Schwindt said. “So, I just finish what they do and put the ball in the end zone, and then I score the extra point for them, and that’s how it goes.”
Midway through the fourth, the Hilltoppers scored a 31-yard touchdown when Simulick found a wide-open Jayden Armstrong, whose nearest defender had slipped to the grass, giving Armstrong an easy lane to the end zone. Jaworski opted to go for two points in an attempt to get within a field goal of the Titans, but Armstrong was met by several Titans well outside of the end zone.
Simulick finished 12-for-28 with 186 yards, two TDs and one interception. The interception, grabbed by Glenwood’s Larry Wills, came on the next JCA possession following the Hilltoppers’ first touchdown to prevent Joliet Catholic from capitalizing on its newfound momentum.
“They’re a good football team,” JCA coach Jake Jaworski said. “You can tell they’re extremely well-coached. They are senior-dominated and you could tell: they had some big boys up front.
“We were a little bit slow getting out of the gates, and they took advantage of it. Credit to our guys for not quitting and battling until the end.”
Glenwood got four first downs to run Joliet Catholic out of both timeouts and out of time for the win. So much for the doubters.
“We felt very disrespected,” Mueller said. “So, we used that as fuel all week. We worked as hard as we could all week at practice.”
Contact Ryan Mahan: 788-1546, ryan.mahan@sj-r.com, Twitter.com/RyanMahanSJR.