Jordan's Road Trip Week 5: Crete-Monee Standouts

This week for Jordan’s Road Trip, we journeyed out to Joliet Memorial Stadium to watch our #3 ranked Joliet Catholic Academy take on #28 ranked Crete-Monee. It was a game you didn’t want to miss with both teams having standout players on both sides of the ball. This game went back and forth with momentum swings. At one point, JCA was leading 35 - 7 midway through the 3rd Quarter from getting a pick 6, fumble return for TD, and an INT which resulted in JCA scoring another TD. The Crete-Monee Warriors weren’t going to do down without a fight as they were making a late-game comeback with the score being 41 - 27 with 7 minutes left in the 4th Quarter. After the Warriors missed the onside kick they got the momentum back with [player_tooltip player_id="165479" first="Brandon" last="Harry"] recovering a fumble on the play setting them up with great field position inside the Hilltopper’s 40-yard line. It all came down to a 4th & 5 with 6 minutes remaining in the 4th. Mr. Franklin dropped back and had Mr. Billups open across the middle, Franklin gets the ball off aiming towards Billups who’s running a crossing route across the middle of the field, Billups goes up for the ball and . . . It’s incomplete as the JCA defender gets there in time to break up the pass. JCA continuously hands the ball off to the man of the night, Mr. Iannantone, running the remaining 6 minutes out of the clock. JCA wins this one advancing to a 5-0 start on the season, CM falls to 3-2 on the year. Final Score: JCA 41 CM 27 <a href="https://youtu.be/A5VBw83yBSI">Game Highlights</a> <hr /> <img class="size-medium wp-image-207657 alignright" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/09/IMG_5607-rotated-crop-2716x1783-1632691894-300x197.jpeg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /> [player_tooltip player_id="139592" first="Terry" last="Elias"] 6’0 195 22’ ATH <a href="https://twitter.com/TerryEliasJr3">Twitter</a> Mr. Elias got it done on both sides of the ball during Friday night’s game. On offense, he was the QB for the Warrior’s wildcat formation. Once the ball was in his hands, he turned into a downhill runner that keeps his feet driving. As a result, he broke arm tackles fighting for extra yards. This young man isn’t afraid to lower his shoulder and doesn’t go down easily either, this was seen in the highlights below where he plowed through defenders to get into the endzone on more than one occasion. On defense, he fills holes in run support and has the closing speed to cover sideline to sideline. Mr. Elias has the ability to blow up plays as well, go check out the highlights below to see this for yourself! https://twitter.com/Jamaskane/status/1441898878505160706?s=20 <img class="size-medium wp-image-147275 alignleft" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/05/Franklin-Joshua.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" /> [player_tooltip player_id="137136" first="Joshua" last="Franklin"] 5’11 165 23’ ATH <a href="https://twitter.com/JoshuaDivonne">Twitter</a> Mr. Frankling switched from wideout to quarterback this fall bringing his playmaking abilities with him. He’s a dual-threat QB that always has the opportunity to break a long run if he pulls the ball down to scramble. This forces the opposing defense to respect his mobility opening up RPOs downfield for big plays. This is what happened on the Warrior’s first touchdown of the night as Mr. Franklin lined up as the slot receiver. He motioned on a jet sweep, got the handoff sucking the opposing defense up to stop the run but Mr. Franklin stops in his tracks to deliver a ball to Mr. Billups open along the sideline for a long touchdown. This young man can change his gears quickly and make the first defender miss when the ball is in his hands. This was seen countless times throughout the night. He’s also able to put a touch on the deep ball, can add zip to the ball to make throws between defenders, and is an overall playmaker. Check out his game Highlights below! https://twitter.com/Jamaskane/status/1441893505442451456?s=20 Lynel Billups 5’9 155 23’ WR <a href="https://twitter.com/BillupsLynel">Twitter</a> Mr. Billups racked up over 100 all-purpose yards getting it done in the air and ground attack. This young man is quick off the line of scrimmage where he’s a deep threat to win over the top and can break the route off making the catch in traffic over the middle of the field. He’s a smaller receiver but he’s able to take big hits from defenders and stay on his feet. Once this young man is in open space there’s no catching him as he changes his gears quickly blowing by the 2nd level of defenders. Anytime that the ball is in this young man’s hands the opposing defense needs to watch out as he gets upfield quickly after securing the catch and has playmaking abilities to break a long run as well as making contested catches for a touchdown as seen in his highlights below. https://twitter.com/Jamaskane/status/1441886212252372994?s=20   <img class=" wp-image-124294 alignright" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2020/10/Xavier-Slayton-crop-6000x3940-1616797378-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="260" height="171" /> [player_tooltip player_id="65768" first="Xavier" last="Slayton"] 6’3 245 22’ DL <a href="https://twitter.com/SlaytonXavier">Twitter</a> Mr. Slayton fills gaps in run support and created many piles at the line of scrimmage to disrupt the opposing offense. He does so by firing off the ball and taking the offensive lineman head-on limiting their ability to get to the 2nd level blocks. It was a battle in the trenches the whole night going back and forth. The stats don’t show this but this young man played a vital role in taking on blocks at the line of scrimmage to clear up the linebackers to make the play on the ball. [player_tooltip player_id="155098" first="Chance" last="Joseph"] 5’11 180 22’ RB <a href="https://twitter.com/ChanceJo25">Twitter</a> Mr. Joseph didn’t get many touches in Friday night’s matchup, but when he did he showcased his hard running and speed to turn the corner on the defense gaining extra yards on the play. He keeps his feet driving and plays through the whistle fighting for extra yards as he’s not afraid to lower his shoulder. This young man sets the edge in pass protection as the Warriors like to move the pocket when passing. As a result, Mr. Joseph picks up the rushing defensive end or blitzing linebacker keeping the moving pocket clean for [player_tooltip player_id="137136" first="Joshua" last="Franklin"] as he surveys the field. [player_tooltip player_id="165479" first="Brandon" last="Harry"] 6’1 215 22’ DL <a href="https://twitter.com/Brandon93Harry">Twitter</a> Mr. Harry fills gaps in run support and it was a tough battle in the trenches throughout the game. He holds outside contain as well to funnel plays back inside for the linebackers to make the tackle on the play. This young man’s awareness comes to light late in the game when he reacts quickly to jump on a fumble on the play. This sets up the Warriors in great field position as they attempted to continue their late-game comeback. Notables Johnny Evans 6’2 185 22’ WR Tyrell Hester 6’0 190 23’ WR Key Takeaways <ul> <li>Offensive machine - can score quickly, fast-tempo offense that wears opposing defense out</li> <li>Playmakers - guys with big playmaking abilities that can change the momentum of the game</li> <li>Multiple weapons on offense - Biggest ones being [player_tooltip player_id="137136" first="Joshua" last="Franklin"] & Lynell Billups</li> <li>Defense can hold its own, came up with turnovers when they needed it</li> <li>Playoff team - possibly deep playoff push</li> </ul> <hr /> <a href="https://youtu.be/A5VBw83yBSI">Game Highlights</a> Be sure to follow @Jamaskane regarding news & information for Illinois High School Football as well as @PrepRedzoneIL. Want to be ranked? Fill out our FREE <a href="https://prepredzone.com/prospect-index/">Prospect Player Index</a>, another tool to help you in your recruiting journey.