Jordan's Road Trip Week 5: Joliet Catholic Academy 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 /> <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/09/IMG_5604-rotated-crop-3024x1986-1632691438.jpeg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-207648 alignright" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/09/IMG_5604-rotated-crop-3024x1986-1632691438-300x197.jpeg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a> [player_tooltip player_id="20867" first="Aidan" last="Voss"] 5'11 185 22' QB <a href="https://twitter.com/VossAidan">Twitter</a> Stats Heading into the Game: 18/40 for 335 yards, 5 TDs, 1 INT, 14 carries for 168 yards (1 TD) Mr. Voss did a good job commanding this offensive unit throughout the night. The signal-caller was able to showcase his mobility when carrying the ball. As he does so, he's a hard runner that isn't afraid of contact where he bounces off hits and lowers his shoulder to run the defender over. This young man is able to get the ball off under pressure during screen plays utilizing his pocket footwork and has a touch on the deep ball. This was seen when running play-action deep shots downfield where he fakes the handoff to the right and rolls out left. As he does so, he delivers a level 3 ball by putting a touch on it into Jake Fieldman's hands downfield. This resulted in two passing TDs on the night with the connection between these two. Mr. Voss' most impressive throw was one of these TDs as it was an off-platform throw rolling to the left on the short side of the field. Check out the clip below! https://twitter.com/Jamaskane/status/1441591581073502218?s=20 <img class=" wp-image-57573 alignleft" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2020/10/Malachi-Hood-300x273.jpg" alt="" width="236" height="215" /> [player_tooltip player_id="151152" first="Malachi" last="Hood"] 6'2 210 22' DB <a href="https://twitter.com/Malachiloading">Twitter</a> Stats Heading into the Game: 10 tackles, 2 QB hurries, 2 PBU Mr. Hood has the closing speed to cover sideline to sideline to make the tackle on the play. He stays with his man In coverage and takes a good break on the route. Once he diagnoses the play, he plants his back foot into the ground and attacks the receiver running the route in his area. By doing so he's able to cover ground quickly taking that receiving option away from the opposing quarterback. There's no doubt as to why he's committed to the University of Illinois. He was also able to come away with an INT off of a tipped pass which swung the momentum in the game in JCA's favor. Check out his INT below! https://twitter.com/Jamaskane/status/1441583572712787971?s=20 <img class="size-medium wp-image-207646 alignright" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/09/IMG_5603-rotated-crop-2815x1848-1632691356-300x197.jpeg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /> [player_tooltip player_id="65721" first="Vinny" last="Iannantone"] 6'1 205 22' RB <a href="https://twitter.com/VinnyIannanton2">Twitter</a> Stats Heading into the Game: 57 carries for 551 yards, 7 TDs Mr. Iannantone was the man of the night for the Hilltoppers getting a majority of the carries on the night. As I've said before, everyone knows about University of Illinois Commit [player_tooltip player_id="20875" first="Jordan" last="Anderson"], but not many are aware of this young man (they need to be). Once the ball is in his hands he's patient as he waits for running lanes to open up. Once they do, he hits the holes hard bursting through the line of scrimmage and keeping his feet driving breaking arm tackles in the process. This young man doesn't go down easily, he's a work horse that plays through the whistle. Go check out his Game Highlights below! https://twitter.com/Jamaskane/status/1441903057843982345?s=20 <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/09/IMG_5606-rotated-crop-2972x1952-1632691638.jpeg"><img class=" wp-image-207653 alignleft" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/09/IMG_5606-rotated-crop-2972x1952-1632691638-300x197.jpeg" alt="" width="313" height="205" /></a>[player_tooltip player_id="65814" first="Robby" last="Purchase"] 6'0 215 22' LB <a href="https://twitter.com/rpurch21">Twitter</a> Stats Heading into the Game: 24 tackles, 2 TFL, 1 QB Hurry, 1 FF, 2 Fum Ret Mr. Purchase takes on blocks head-on as he fills holes in run support where he would occasionally meet the ball carrier at the line of scrimmage when the opponent would run between the tackles. This young man is a pure run stopper that isn't afraid to lower his shoulder to deliver the hard hit. During the game, he was able to diagnose the play and attack downhill forcing the opposing quarterback to scramble. As this happened, he covered ground horizontally resulting in no gain/loss on the play for the opposing team. <img class=" wp-image-207651 alignright" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/09/IMG_5605-rotated-crop-3024x1986-1632691550-300x197.jpeg" alt="" width="288" height="189" /> Jake Fieldman 5'11 175 22' WR <a href="https://twitter.com/FieldmanJake">Twitter</a> Stats Heading into the Game: 9 receptions for 192 yards, 4 TDs Mr. Fieldman is a deep threat that's quick off the line of scrimmage and gets upfield quickly after securing the catch. He had 2 TDs on the night where he showcased just that. Once he secures the catch, he changes gears quickly showcasing his acceleration. This young man is also used in run blocking where he seals the edge and hooks the backers creating a running lane for his teammates to run through. https://twitter.com/Jamaskane/status/1441591581073502218?s=20 [player_tooltip player_id="155404" first="Michael" last="Rouse"] 6'0 215 22' LB <a href="https://twitter.com/MichaelRouse42">Twitter</a> Stats Heading into the Game: 18 tackles, 1 TFL, 2 QB Hurries Mr. Rouse was all over the place in Friday night's game. He filled gaps in run support where he would fire off of the ball and clog gaps forcing the ball carrier to bounce the play outside. When the opposing ball carrier tries to do so, this young man bursts straight down the line of scrimmage extending the play horizontally. As he does so, it allows time for his teammates to rally to the ball resulting in a tackle for no gain/loss on the play. This young man was doing the small things for this defense on the defensive line freeing up the linebackers to rally to the ball. [player_tooltip player_id="158054" first="Anthony" last="Birsa"] 6'5 265 23' OL <a href="https://twitter.com/AnthonyBirsa">Twitter</a> Mr. Birsa is used as a lead blocker where he creates running lanes when doing so. As he's pulling, he finds the defensive end/linebacker quickly in open space to hit that key block for his running back to run straight off of. He keeps his feet driving resulting in pushing the defender back 4 to 6 yards on most of the plays during Friday night's game. This young man is also able to wash the defensive line down. All in all, he's aggressive in his playstyle and is constantly looking for work as he plays through the whistle. Notables Niko Paolino 6'3 295 22' OL <a href="https://twitter.com/kingniko52">Twitter</a> Jeremy Johnson 6'1 190 23' DL Key Takeaways <ul> <li>Legit Title contender</li> <li>Ground & Pound - set up PA shots downfield </li> <li>Multiple guys that can get it done - both sides of the ball</li> <li>Under the Radar Players: [player_tooltip player_id="65721" first="Vinny" last="Iannantone"], [player_tooltip player_id="65814" first="Robby" last="Purchase"], [player_tooltip player_id="155404" first="Michael" last="Rouse"]</li> <li>Defense tested against Crete-Monee, bend but don't break mentality shown</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.