After a week-one loss to Providence Catholic, Joliet Catholic Academy has continued to roll and show that it a team to be reckoned with.

That continued Friday night when the Hillmen rolled to a 63-7 homecoming win over Marian Catholic in East Suburban Catholic Conference action.

“I think it was great in week one to play a team like that in an atmosphere like that,” said JCA coach Dan Sharp. “I think we built off that and our kids grew from that and I think tonight was the first night where we really seemed to click smoothly. Our timing was seamless and everything seemed to click smoothly.”

Joliet Catholic scored early, often and in multiple ways in the win.

Quarterback Cade Earl only put the ball in the air six times, but he connected on four of them, with two going for scores.

“We are a running team, so on play action, everyone just flies up and we try and get behind them and it works,” Earl said. “The one play, we have run it like four times this year and I think it’s been a touchdown to (Michael) Johnson every time.”

Although teams bite on the play action, Earl said teams do respect the JCA pass game.

“We have noticed that teams see us as a pass threat and they are not playing nine in the box like in past years,” Earl said. “That really opens the run game for us.”

That was the case Friday night, as after two TDs in the air to open the scoring, the run game got going in a big way.

Senior Nick Borgra carried the ball only six times, but tallied 95 yards and three touchdowns. Drew Voss also had six carries for 79 yards and a score, while Johnson rushed five times for 69 yards and a touchdown. Jordan Green, who was named homecoming king at halftime, ran six times for 77 yards and a touchdown, mostly after the break.

The defense stepped up for the Hillmen, who had interceptions from interceptions Peter Riccolo and Brandon Bolek, both leading to offensive touchdowns.

Officially, the Hillmen defense did pitch a shutout, as the lone Marian score was a 98-yard kickoff return for a score.

This season, the weapons on both side of the ball are different every game for JCA, as no single player is the lone threat.

“Out two wings in Johnson and Borgra are great, Cade throws the ball well, Harry has made big plays ad then our fullback Voss can hammer in the middle,” Sharp said. “The fact that we have that diversity has helped us because teams can take something away from us, but we always have something to go to.”

Posted by The Bugle on Monday, October 6, 2014 by Mark Gregory.