Noll's defense gets big GSSC victory at Calumet

CALUMET TWP. | Calumet coach Ivan Zimmer was jumping up and down, waving his hat, trying to get a noisy homecoming crowd even louder. A Bishop Noll player asked coach Mike Juscik why the Blue Warriors hadn't taken a safety a few minutes earlier.

While this drama was unfolding in Friday night's Greater South Shore Conference showdown, Noll's Joe Grogan just put his knuckles in the swamp-wet grass at Calumet. The Red Warriors were facing a fourth-down play from the 6-yard line with 4.3 seconds remaining.

Noll led 6-0. Noll won 6-0 because of Grogan's defensive move.

The senior defensive end blew past the lineman trying to block him and hit Calumet quarterback Nate Fowler, who had to throw a quick out in an out-of-time fashion. When it hit the ground Noll (4-2, 4-0) had won its fourth straight game.

"I was looking for a trick play or something," Grogan said. "Winning this game is so exciting for us. We struggled on offense. Our defense won this game."

The shutout was Noll's first since 2006. And honestly, Calumet (4-2, 3-1) wasn't fair from pitching its fourth straight shutout. On a third-and-12 play in the first quarter, Noll quarterback Nick Valdez found Jack Velazco on a 33-yard pass that kept the drive alive.

But the drive wasn't long thereafter. Scott Upshaw Jr. went 18 yards for the game's only score with 5:34 left in the opening quarter. The extra point, like three later field goal attempts, missed. Upshaw finished the game with 132 yards on 26 carries.

"To me a win is a win, it doesn't matter if it's pretty," Juscik said. "It's a win no matter how you do it."

Juscik spoke about why he didn't take a safety on a fourth down from his own 8 with 2:25 left in the game.

"I knew our defense was going to stop them," Juscik said. "I was not going to put one point on that scoreboard by our own hands."

Calumet had to burn all three of its timeouts on Noll's last drive. So it was forced to throw the ball when it got inside the 10 because of time. The problem was Fowler finished the game 3-of-9 for 4 yards.

"We're working on our passing game but it's not there yet," Zimmer said. "If we would've had a couple of our timeouts we could've ran the ball in that situation. But we couldn't and that's that. The thing I'm most proud of is our kids didn't quit. We'll start again on Monday."

PREP FOOTBALL

Bishop Noll 6, Calumet 0

Bishop Noll recorded its first shutout since 2006.