Marching On
ADAMS TWP — North Catholic wide receiver/linebacker Nikhai Hill-Green dazzled crowds with his reflexes before he had an opportunity to catch long touchdown passes.
What the Trojans did collectively — overwhelming Freeport with a wide array of skills on offense and defense — cemented themselves as a Big East Conference heavyweight during a 40-8 win Friday night at Mars Athletic Complex.
How far those attributes will take them is far from being determined.
“I feel like we're working our butts off every day getting better,” Hill-Green said. “We're trying to continue to get better every day. That's what we're doing. We're trying to make it about us and not who we play.”
Yellowjackets coach John Gaillot believed North Catholic (3-0, 2-0) had more ability from any team he has coached against since Greensburg Central Catholic's strong teams in 2008-09.
“They were more impressive on the field than they were on film,” Gaillot said. “That's like a 6A team. I haven't seen that much athletic ability on a team in the 11 years I've been here since GCC.”
Hill-Green set up his first touchdown by batting a pass from Yellowjackets quarterback Austin Romanchak into the waiting hands of teammate Anthony Serventi. On the next play, Hill-Green was left uncovered and Zack Rocco found him for a 33-yard touchdown pass with 9 minutes, 17 seconds left in the first quarter.
“My coach said I was going to be open all night,” said Hill-Green, who finished with 136 yards on three catches. “It was open in the middle, they were playing too high. He told me to get to the middle of the field and show the quarterback I'm open.”
What helped destroy Freeport's spirits happened two possessions later. Romanchak raced away for an 88-yard run which set the Yellowjackets (0-2, 0-2) at the Trojan 9. Freeport running back Ricky Hunter was stripped of the ball on the next play.
Rocco followed with a pass that Hill-Green snared and raced 93 yards for the scoring, putting North Catholic (3-0, 2-0) ahead 14-0 with 7:07 left in the first quarter.
“You love the fact your team can bounce back from emotional plays because the game can flip-flop so fast,” Pat O'Shea said. “We were happy to bounce back and we're excited they didn't put their heads down and think 'Oh, my goodness.' However, those mistakes are what we are doing to ourselves.”
The Yellowjackets had no luck slowing the Trojans, who had scored 90 points in their first two games. Rocco, who finished 9-of-11 for 242 yards, tossed four touchdown passes in the first half.
“This year, he's taken on the knowledge, the mental part of the game,” O'Shea said. “That's two weeks in a row he's checked into plays and communicated to the kids that have helped us. I think as a tribute to him and the rest of the offense, everyone is focused on where we are going to make progress.”North Catholic running back Eamon Straub scored on his first carry of the season, going 59 yards for a score. Straub led the Trojans with 73 rushing yards and scored twice. Rashod Allen and Isaac Peterson also caught touchdown passes.Freeport's offense didn't fare much better. North Catholic intercepted four passes and stymied a Yellowjackets rushing attack playing without starting running back Conor Selinger.Jewlius Barnes scored Freeport's lone touchdown on a two-yard run in the fourth quarter.“They are loaded talent-wise,” Gaillot said. “We were overmatched on a lot of fronts there. In the second half, I told them I wasn't taking them out because we had only played one full game against Derry and we were winded.”Freeport 0 0 0 8 — 8North Catholic 21 19 0 0 — 40First QuarterNC — Nikhai Hill-Green 33 pass from Zack Rocco (Will Kunzmann kick), 9:17NC — Hill-Green 93 pass from Rocco (Kunzmann kick), 7:07NC — Eamon Straub 59 run (Kunzmann kick), 2:23Second QuarterNC — Straub 1 run (Kunzmann kick), 11:01NC — Allen 26 pass from Rocco (kick failed), 7:02NC — Isaac Peterson 13 pass from Rocco (run failed), 2:42Fourth QuarterF — Jewlius Barnes 2 run (Austin Romnanchak run), 8:19Individual StatisticsRushing: Freeport, Austin Romnanchak 9-117, Jewlius Barnes 4-21, Vinnie Clark 4-9, Miles Troup 3-0, Ricky Hunter 7-(-1), Patrick Keeley 3-(-10). North Cathiolic, Eamon Straub 4-73, Cameron Branch 6-27, Zack Rocco 2-8, Matt Miller 2-8, Pierce Khoury 1-8, Miles Dudash 4-6, Anthony Serventi 2-4, Carson Laconi 1-(-1).Passing: Freeport, Austin Romanchak 3-13-53-3, Partrick Keeley 2-5-29-0, Garrett King 1-1-40-0. North Catholic, Zack Rocco 9-11-242-0, Carson Laconi 1-2-5-0.Receiving: Freeport, Garrett Schaffhauser 2-40, Cole Charlton 1-40, Evan McCrea 2-20, Austin Romanchak 1-5. North Catholic, Nikhai Hill-Green 3-136, Anthony Serventi 1-38, Rashod Allen 1-26, Tyree Brown 2-26, Isaac Peterson 1-13.
