Nazareth Academy beats Joliet Catholic in Illinois Class 5A football championship game

Roadrunners rallied from 13-point deficit to win second straight IHSA football title

NORMAL, ILLINOIS – Nazareth Academy football coach Tim Racki has won nine state titles, none as improbable as the latest one.

The defending Class 5A Illinois high school football state champion Roadrunners lost their first four games and dropped to 4-5 with a Week 9 loss to St. Francis, leaving their postseason hopes hanging by a thread.

No team that started 0-4 had ever won a state title. Ditto no team with five losses. But the Roadrunners beat the odds, storming back from 13 down late in the first half to beat Joliet Catholic 38-20 in Saturday's Class 5A final at Hancock Stadium.

"When you go through an 0-4 skid, it's easy to kind of spiral," Racki said afterward. "I really questioned myself, I never blamed the kids but I certainly felt like I failed them the first month of the season. And so we had a lot of deep talks about where we were, how we got there and what we need to do moving forward. ...

"It was definitely not easy. And just like any family, we would have fights. We would have ups and downs. But the love we have for each other, that's something that would never waver at all."

Illinois high school football: Top standouts, best performances at state championships (11/24/2023)

It didn't on Saturday, even as Joliet Catholic (10-4) was gouging the Nazareth defense for one big run after another. Most were by HJ Grigsby, who carried 22 times for 228 yards and a TD.

"He was a very good running back, one of the top ones we've played this year," Nazareth edge rusher Gabe Kaminski said. "Our defensive coordinator, coach (Keith) Lukes ... he made some adjustments to our front. They were running outside, so I started trying to steer him inside and I got a couple tackles off of that."

Grigsby got tangled up on a tackle late in the first half and finished with 34 carries for 278 yards and a TD. He didn't use the apparent injury as an excuse.

"It just rolled up a bit," he said. "But the game is not about me, it's about my team, about my family. That comeback is bigger than me."

Meanwhile, junior quarterback Logan Malachuk and the Nazareth offense were finding their groove. The Roadrunners managed just a 41-yard Lesroy Tittle TD run before kicker David Brunke kicked a 20-yard field goal on the last play of the first half to cut the deficit to 20-10.

After halftime, Malachuk was 13-for-19 for 286 yards and four touchdowns. A 52-yarder to James Penley at 9:53 of the fourth quarter gave Nazareth its first lead at 24-20.

"I just remember Logan putting the ball on me and just trying my best to get the first down," Penley said. "Ended up taking it a lot further than that and I was just grateful for the O-line for their protection and Logan for putting it on the money."

Penley had seven catches for 163 yards and two TDs, while Jake Cestone finished with four receptions for 163 yards and a 40-yard TD.

Kaminski delivered a big play on defense to jumpstart the Roadrunners comeback, picking off a JCA pass in the red zone and returning it 32 yards to the Nazareth 47 before being shoved out of bounds. That led to a brief scrum.

"I was just in a position to make a play and I'm grateful for it," Kaminski said. "The fight got everybody juiced up a little bit, got a fire underneath us. And we took off from there."

All the way to a state title that seemed like an impossible dream back in September.

ILLINOIS FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS COVERAGE

Rochester rolls past St. Laurence in Illinois 4A football championship game

Byron routs Mt. Carmel to win Illinois Class 3A football championship

Wilmington gets defensive to beat Athens in Illinois 2A football title game

Camp Point Central tops Lena-Winslow to win Illinois 1A football championship

Illinois 5A football championship: Nazareth Academy - Joliet Catholic

Photos from Nate Latsch

Photo by Nate Latsch

Photo by Nate Latsch

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ILLINOIS HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEWS

Illinois high school football: Players to watch at the Illinois state championships

Illinois 1A title game preview: Lena-Winslow vs. Camp Point Central

Illinois 2A title game preview: Athens vs. Wilmington

Illinois 3A title game preview: Byron vs. Mt. Carmel

Illinois 4A title game preview: Rochester vs. St. Laurence

Illinois 5A title game: Joliet Catholic vs. Nazareth Academy

Illinois 6A title game: East St. Louis vs. Cary-Grove

Illinois 7A title game: Mount Carmel vs. Downers Grove North

Illinois 8A title game: Lincoln-Way East vs. Loyola Academy

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- Mike Clark | latsch@scorebooklive.com | @SBLiveIL