Morris football vs. Joliet Catholic Class 5A playoffs score, news, our picks, live coverage – Shaw Local

Morris faces Joliet Catholic in the semifinals of the 2024 Class 5A IHSA football playoffs. Friday Night Drive reporter Rob Oesterle has live updates, scores and news from the game.

What you need to know

Morris vs. Joliet Catholic Kickoff: Saturday, 2 p.m

Where: Joliet Memorial Stadium

Morris-Joliet Catholic Preview

About Morris: Morris continues to make fun of its No. 13 seed in the Class 5A bracket as it defeated its third straight, significantly higher seed – the top seed last weekend at Morgan Park in the quarterfinals. This series was probably one that most people didn’t see coming from Morris, considering they lost three of the last four games of the regular season, but this is clearly a different version of that team. Morris is finally mostly healthy, has all of his offensive components in place, and the defense is clearly playing the best football it has played all season at this point. Limiting an explosive Morgan Park offense to one touchdown is even more of a testament to how well the unit is playing. Morris doesn’t have a great history with Joliet Catholic in the postseason – including a lopsided loss last season – but with the level of confidence Morris seems to be playing with now, it has to believe a win is possible.

About the Hilltoppers: When the 5A bracket was released, it seemed like Joliet Catholic’s path would be one where he could flex some of the muscle he developed by following a strict CCL/ESCC schedule. That’s exactly what happened. The Hilltoppers have defeated all three of their pool opponents thus far, as their ground game – largely defined by the efforts of Larry Stringham and Nate Magrini – has been far too much for opponents to stop. And as good as the offense was, the defense may be even better. All three of Joliet Catholic’s postseason opponents have had no problem scoring points in most games this season, especially opponent Peoria High in the quarterfinals, but the trio seemingly couldn’t do almost anything right against the Hilltoppers.

FND choice: Joliet Catholic

Live updates