It took a good 90 minutes in intense traffic for the Fenwick football team to travel from Oak Park to Joliet on Friday for their 2026 season opener against Joliet Catholic.
Plenty of time to think and strategize.
But not reminisce.
That Class 6A title from last year? Forget about that. The future is now.
After a sluggish first half at Joliet Memorial Stadium, Fenwick woke up and dominated the second, en route to a 28-13 victory. One thing’s for sure. There won’t be a shortage of stars, or big moments.
Take the first play from scrimmage Friday. Junior quarterback Myles Hill dropped back, looked deep and found senior receiver Jimmy Watts for an 84-yard touchdown.
“Coming out, we knew we wanted to start off hot,” Watts said. “Unfortunately the first half we didn’t, but that first play we knew we were going to take a shot. We got a one on one. Myles … right on the money. The rest is history.”
Hill had a big night, going 16-for-21 passing for 214 yards and three touchdowns, including a 35-yarder to senior running back Jake Thies in the third quarter.
But that first play? Magic. Almost felt like the Friars picked up where they left off last December. How did he get the ball to Watts? Preparation and reps, he said. It’s that simple.
“We’ve worked a lot in the offseason and just trusting him, knowing where to put it, knowing the speed he was running, and letting it go,” Hill said.
The Hillmen aren’t pushovers. According to the pre-season IHSA coaches poll, the Friars are ranked third in Class 6A, but Joliet Catholic is ranked eighth. Behind sophomore quarterback Liam Huffman, they managed to forge a 7-7 tie at the half, but weren’t able to break the game open thanks to a second-quarter interception from senior linebacker Ronan Morrissey and a key quarterback sack by junior Hank Holland that ended the half.
That was a prelude to the second half, where Fenwick suddenly grabbed the momentum and never looked back. There was Hill with a 7-yard pass to senior tight end Will Hosty with 8:25 left in the third quarter. After a JCA three-and-out, Hill found Thies on a screen pass right for a 35-yard touchdown. That put the Friars firmly in control at 21-7.
Holland helped kill another drive with a sack of Huffman in the first play of the fourth quarter. The Hillmen punted, and Hill took over, driving the locals 55 yards, culminating in an 8-yard touchdown run by senior running back Rocco Nero, who, like Thies, rushed for 36 yards.
And that was that.
“We picked it up,” Holland said. “At halftime, we talked it over. Our leaders gave us some energy and we came out hitting and kept it rolling.
“Everyone’s been doubting us because we had a lot of seniors graduate, but we picked it up.”
And how.
“It feels great,” said Watts, who finished with 133 yards on 10 catches. “We’ve been saying it all offseason, we’ve got a target on our back.”
Hill won a four-man training camp quarterback battle, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t depth at that position. Both sophomore Ryder Machacek and senior Tommy Quinn got meaningful downs.
Yes, it was a victory, and an important one early in the season against a good opponent, but in coach Matt Battaglia’s mind, it wasn’t pretty.
Except for maybe that season-opening play.
“We got an all-state running back and a rookie quarterback who’s been doing really good and why beat around the bush?” he said. “Give them a shot to make a play.”
