Jayden Armstrong is confident that if you put the ball in his hands, whether in the passing game or the running game, good things are going to happen for Joliet Catholic.
Armstrong, a senior receiver, waited his turn while playing in a run-heavy offense last year. Now, he’s become the team’s go-to guy as the Hilltoppers go to the air much more frequently.
“Being a playmaker, that’s just what I do,” Armstrong said. “I make plays. But none of this was possible without my teammates.
“Growing up, I was that playmaker. Once I got to high school, it kind of slowed down. But senior year, it has started to come back.”
Armstrong helped Joliet Catholic keep its playoff hopes alive Friday night, scoring touchdowns on a catch and a run Friday night as the host Hilltoppers held off a furious Providence rally and clinched the CCL/ESCC Orange title with a 30-27 win at Joliet Memorial Stadium.
Armstrong finished with five catches for 94 yards — including a 34-yard TD catch from Lucas Simulick — and added a 9-yard rushing TD to lead Joliet Catholic (4-5, 3-0), which will now wait and see if its large opponents win total is enough to earn a playoff spot.
Derrick Pomatto also ran for 78 yards and a TD on 16 carries, while Vincent DiNovo hit three field goals. Navy recruit Ian Campbell had an interception and Frankee Piechonka added two sacks.
“It’s a weird feeling,” JCA coach Jake Jaworski said. “It’s kind of a surreal moment and situation because we don’t know what’s next. But what an awesome moment this was for these guys.”
Xavier Coleman finished with 10 catches for 157 yards and two TDs to lead Providence (6-3, 2-1). Dominic Vita completed 11 of 17 passes for 193 yards and a TD and ran for another score, while Leo Slepski threw two TD passes.
Down 30-7 with under four minutes left, the Celtics scored three TDs, recovered two onside kicks and miraculously had the ball with under a minute left down just three points.
The Hilltoppers hung on, though. And they needed all of Armstrong’s big plays.
“He’s my wide receiver No. 1,” Simulick said of Armsstrong. “He’s a guy that I look to. I know I can trust him. Wherever he is on the field, I know he’s going to be open.
“Get the ball into the playmaker’s hands and let him make plays. That’s my job.”
Armstrong is also a standout basketball player for the Hilltoppers. He’s brought some of his moves from the court onto the football field.
“When I’m running routes, sometimes I’m out there doing crossovers and stuff that I do in basketball,” Armstrong said. “It’s all attacking the defender the same way, getting a defender on his toes and then trying to do a move to get them off-balance.”
Armstrong provided the spark at the beginning of each half for the Hilltoppers.
He came up with his TD catch just over five minutes into the game and added the TD run just over three minutes into the third quarter as JCA increased the lead to 20-7.
Jaworski has seen Armstrong become the Hilltoppers’ most reliable offensive option.
“Last year, he was a role player,” Jaworski said. “He had some big plays for us, but we were predominantly a running team. This year, early on, him and Lucas developed that connection and it’s been clicking.
“We even got him back to his roots, getting him into the run game. Freshman and sophomore year, he played running back. Then we moved him to receiver and he kind of stuck there and gave us a weapon.”
Now, Armstrong wants at least one more opportunity to make something happen on the football field for the Hilltoppers.
“It would mean the world to me to make the playoffs,” Armstrong said. “My goal this year is just not to go out after nine games.”