How Peoria High football finished tough despite a tough playoff draw vs. Joliet Catholic

PEORIA — Many of the Peoria High seniors have left an important mark on its football program.

Despite a 40-16 first-round loss to Class 5A power Joliet Catholic Academy on Friday, the Lions showed incredible maturity in the face of losing their final prep game. Although many of the players were being consoled by family members and friends, they each thoughtfully answered every one of the media's questions.

“Just finish,” senior Kevin Roberts said of his takeaway from playing for Peoria High. “I feel like that’s the best legacy the seniors left. Just finish whatever you do. Handle adversity. Fight through adversity. Just whatever you do is ‘Fast. Hard. Finish.’ always and that’s going to go with me for the rest of my life.”

First-round coverage: Weekend updates | All the scores | Top performers

No. 5 seed Peoria High (7-3) struck first on a cold and wet night at Peoria Stadium, an 8-0 first-quarter lead when Maliek Ross found the endzone from 2 yards out. The senior running back rushed for 149 yards on 31 carries to go with a 5-yard reception.

But outside of Ross, the usually potent Peoria High offense was unable to take care of some big opportunities. Three times the Lions turned it over on downs, then were plagued by a pair of fumbles.

“Just too many mistakes,” Peoria High coach Tim Thornton said, “and our mistakes really, really hurt us today and we just needed to execute better today.

“I’m super proud of this group. They came out here and fought their tails off. They worked hard.”

Two of the program’s biggest faces over the last two seasons were Tino Gist and Gary Rutherford III. These seniors were the respective leaders on offense and defense for a team that finished second statewide last season.

Gist, who finished with 181 yards on 18-for-29 passing, helped keep Peoria High in the game with his 14-yard touchdown pass to Jaivyn Moore at the 6:04 mark of the third quarter. His fourth-down pass followed by a Ross two-point conversion run made it 18-16, which is where the game stood to start the fourth quarter.

The three-year Lions starting quarterback held his head high when reflecting on his time, as well as the future of Lions football.

“Adversity happens a lot in life,” Gist said. “You can’t do nothing about it but move forward from it. … The legacy I try to leave on here is always have a good work ethic, no matter win or lose.

“… As a senior group, we really focused on going forward at all times, no matter what happened. The young guys, they’ll come next year and this will be motivation for them. I hate that it had to happen but it’s God’s plan. ”

No. 12 seed JCA (7-3), which hosts No. 13 Troy Triad (7-3) in the second round, then scored 22 unanswered, fourth-quarter points to seal the program’s 123rd playoff victory. Division-I recruit and senior running back HJ Grigsby III ran for 176 yards and two touchdowns on 33 carries. Teammate Lawrence Stringham chipped in 52 yards on the ground to go with rushing and receiving touchdowns. Quarterback Andres Munoz finished with 87 yards and two TDs on 4-for-6 passing.

Teams, pairings, schedule, game times: IHSA football playoffs bracket 2023

“Credit to (Joliet Catholic),” Thornton said. “They’re a really good football. I felt like this was a semifinal match right out of the gate, and it kind of felt like it when we were done as well.

“Unfortunately, we don’t get to see how many we would have won if we would have paired in the semis.”

Defensively, Rutherford was all over the Peoria Stadium turf. The linebacker, who holds scholarship offers from Indiana and Washington State among others, never stopped the pursuit of the ball.

This, though, was nothing new for his classmates to see.

“Gary’s just been Gary,” Roberts said. “All the tackles. The 100-tackle seasons. It’s just normal to me. Him being a leader. Him carrying this defense is just remarkable. … I love my guys.”

That same admiration came from Rutherford to those who supported him throughout his time wearing No. 9 for Peoria High.

“After a lot of behind-the-scenes losses and just bad stuff,” he said, “we were able to stick (together) as a team, as a brotherhood and fight through it. Even to the last seconds.”

Adam Duvall is a Journal Star sports reporter. Email him at aduvall@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @AdamDuvall.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: IHSA football playoffs: Peoria High loses to Joliet Catholic in 5A