NORMAL, Ill.—The comeback kids did it again.
Nazareth, which lost its first four games this season, came from behind to beat Joliet Catholic 38-20 in the Class 5A state championship game on Saturday at ISU’s Hancock Stadium.
Turning the tide around when a season is heading towards disaster is extremely difficult. Comeback wins in the state championship game are rare. Junior Gabe Kaminski says the key to surviving and then triumphing through tough situations is to avoid the blame game.
“It all starts from the brotherhood and the love that [Nazareth coach Tim Racki] instills in us,” Kaminski said. “Everybody on this team would die for each other. That’s what it really comes down to. There is no finger pointing.”
Nearly all of the Roadrunners’ key players are underclassmen, including quarterback Logan Malachuk, who was 23-for-34 for 414 yards and four touchdowns.
Malachuk didn’t throw an interception, and more than that, continually made the right decisions. The 5-11, 185-pound junior has an uncanny knack for picking out the right receiver and deciding when to scramble.
“We’ve had adversity all year,” Malachuk said. “Backs against the wall every single week and everyone doubting us. It just goes to show how we stick together.”
Joliet Catholic (10-4), which has won a record 15 state championships, led 20-10 at halftime.
Running back HJ Grigsby dominated the first half, rushing for 228 yards and a TD in the first two quarters. He left with an injury briefly and continued playing, with a slight limp, in the second half. Grigsby finished with 34 carries for 285 yards.
“We got off to a great start and just couldn’t get things going in the second half,” Hilltoppers coach Jake Jaworski said. “We missed a couple of opportunities we had and [Nazareth] made more plays than we did.”
Kaminski’s interception in the third quarter was the play that started to change the game’s momentum.
“It got everybody juiced up a little bit and got a fire underneath us and we took it from there,” Kaminski said.
Nazareth (9-5) took the lead for good on a 52-yard TD pass from Malachuk to James Penley. The pass went about 10 yards and then Penley, a junior, broke multiple tackles to find his way into the end zone.
“Logan put the ball on me and I tried my best to get the first down and ended up taking it a lot further than that,” Penley said.
Malachuk connected with sophomore Trenton Walker on a 4-yard TD with 6:32 to play to put the Roadrunners ahead 31-20.
Walker had nine catches for 52 yards. Penley finished with seven receptions for 163 yards and 2 TDs and James Cestone had four catches for 163 yards and a TD.
Joliet Catholic quarterback Andres Munoz was 6-for-16 for 42 yards with two interceptions.
It’s the fifth state championship overall and the second consecutive Class 5A title for Nazareth. The Roadrunners were the first team to play in a state championship game with five losses and the first to win the title with fewer than 10 wins.
