What makes Boylan special? 4 keys to its football season and its rout of Hononegah
ROCKTON — Boylan has looked like the best NIC-10 football team all year.
But the Titans lost to unbeaten Belvidere North and had walloped four teams that were a combined 3-17. They felt they had something to prove at unbeaten Hononegah on Friday night.
Prove it they did, dominating a team that had won 15 consecutive conference games, 33-13.
“We have a chip on our shoulder,” said wide receiver/defensive back Mark Harris, who turned a short slant pass into a 55-yard touchdown to give Boylan a 27-13 lead on the Titans’ first play of the second half. “We knew we were the better team (against North). We just made a few mistakes.”
In that 31-28 loss to North, Boylan had 26 first downs to 10 by the Blue Thunder but lost when North scored on a kickoff return and a pick-6 on the first two plays of the second half, then kicked one of the longest field goals in NIC-10 history in the final 80 seconds and picked off Boylan for a second time when the Titans were inside their 20.
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“North humbled us,” Boylan defensive back Mason Caltagerone said. “We didn’t know how much we had to work. But we figured it out. We got to work and put on a show tonight.”
Here is how Boylan dominated Hononegah and showed it can be a state title contender in Class 5A:
Smothering defense
Boylan shut out East and Auburn and held North to 10 first downs. The Titans weren’t that far from shutting out Hononegah (5-1) either. A debatable roughing the punter penalty kept alive Hononegah’s first drive to tie the game 7-all. Hononegah’s only other score was a 65-yard drive to make it 21-13 at the half after Boylan had scored on a 21-yard Conner Dennis pass to Rasheed Johnson with 2:12 left. And that 2-minute drive was helped out by one of three pass interference penalties on Boylan.
“Our defense is really special,” said Johnson, who, returned the opening kickoff for a TD, caught three passes for 57 yards and a touchdown, ran for 30 yards and also was one of seven or eight Titans who played at least part-time on both offense and defense. “If we keep playing and take away penalties, I think we’ll be great.”
Boylan (5-1) was penalized 10 times for 97 yards, compared to Hononegah’s four penalties for 25 yards, but held Hononegah an average of 2.9 yards on 68 plays. That included an average of 2.3 yards rushing and 3.4 yards per pass (on 39 tries), plus two interceptions.
“They are good,” Hononegah quarterback Cole Warren said. “They did what they came to do.”
Big-play potential
Harris (four catches for 79 yards), Johnson and J’Mar Johnson all average more than 18 yards a reception. Dennis came in leading the NIC-10 in passing and averages more than 10 yards a pass attempt. Mekhi Glover (75 yards rushing Friday) returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown.
“Our offense, once we get going, we know we will have a good game,” Rasheed Johnson said.
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Great run defense
Teams know they can’t run on Boylan. Hononegah didn’t even try early, starting the game with five wide receivers and no running backs. Nineteen of Hononegah’s 29 runs gained 2 yards or less. And take out a 16-yard run on third-and-25 on Hononegah’s opening drive and Hononegah’s 2.9-yard rushing average plummets all the way to 1.8 yards.
“They’ve got real good linebackers,” Hononegah’s Warren said.
“Our linebackers,” Boylan defensive back Santana English said, “are quick to get everywhere. They play sideline to sideline. I love that about them. They’ve got that dog in them. They like to fight.”
A great secondary
Boylan has a strong pass rush. The Titans had eight sacks in the first half alone against Auburn last week and had Warren on the run much of Friday night, even though they only sacked him twice. Warren was under pressure on back-to-back passes that Mason Caltagerone broke up, including stripping the ball away in the end zone on a fourth-down pass that could have drawn Hononegah to within 27-20.
“Our D line did a great job of forcing the QB out of the pocket,” Caltagerone said. “The quarterback had nowhere else to throw except my guy and I was lucky enough to make a play on it.”
More:How Rockford Boylan football built the best pass rush in the NIC-10
Of all the things Boylan has going for it — including quarterback Dennis, who completed 13 of 22 passes for 202 yards and two touchdowns — perhaps the Titans’ very best asset is their secondary. Receivers seldom get open and that smothering coverage allows the Titans to blitz their linebackers at will.
“We have a lot of depth in the secondary,” Harris said. “I trust them guys and the coaches trust them too.”
“If you are playing DB,” Caltagerone said. “you’ve got to be the most confident person out there. You are on an island. Your teammate is on an island. You’ve got to trust them. You’ve got to trust yourself to make plays.”
No one — not even Caltagerone — made bigger plays in the secondary Friday than English. His interception at the 10-yard line — one play after a Boylan pass interference penalty — helped protect a 27-13 lead late in the third quarter. And then he returned another interception 70 yard for a touchdown to close out the scoring in the fourth quarter.
“We’re very versatile,” English said. “We can stop the run and the pass.”
“When we can put all the parts together,” Caltagerone said, “secondary, pass rush, run stopping, everything — we’re special. The sky is the limit for this team.
“We’re special. I think. I hope.”
Matt Trowbridge has covered sports for the Rockford Register Star for over 30 years, after previous stints in North Dakota, Delaware, Vermont and three years covering the Hawkeyes in Iowa City.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: IHSA football: Rockford Boylan had something to prove vs. Hononegah
