<p>Two teams facing a midseason gut-check met up on <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/high-school-football/scores/2026/09/17/high-school-football-scores-week-5" >Friday</a> in LaGrange Park.</p><p>No. 5 Providence spent the past week in a media firestorm after the school <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/high-school-football/2026/09/14/tyler-plantz-providence-football-fired" >fired head coach Tyler Plantz</a>. The unusual mid-season <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/high-school-football/2026/09/13/providence-fires-football-coach-tyler-plantz" >coaching change</a> caught the attention of casual sports fans and the local television media.</p><p>For Nazareth, the problems this season have all been on the field. The Roadrunners were highly touted in the preseason but lost three of their first four games. The defeats were to good teams, and Nazareth is missing several of its top players to injuries, but the season risked heading down a negative path with another loss.</p><p>“Our two senior captains have been injured, and we have had a lot of adversity against us,” Nazareth receiver Jackson Flickenger said. “We had meetings all this week about staying together, and we took that super seriously.”</p><p>The No. 22 Roadrunners dominated defensively and pulled out a 17-7 victory. It was Providence's first loss of the season, now helmed by interim head coach Adam Nissen, previously the team’s offensive coordinator.</p><p>Nissen acknowledged before the game that a loss was likely to fan the flames of controversy that started on Sunday when Providence announced Plantz’s firing. But he isn’t worried about how his team will handle the defeat internally.</p><p>“Our senior group is awesome,” Nissen said. “I have no doubt we will bounce back. We will watch some film and get ready. We will be ready next week.”</p><p>The Celtics (4-1) had a chance to cut the deficit to one possession when they recovered an onside kick with 8:40 left, trailing 17-7.</p><p>But junior defensive lineman John Bukovac stepped up with a big sack on the next play. And junior linebacker Harry Keenan grabbed an interception on fourth down with just more than a minute to play that sealed the win.</p><p>“We had to stay locked in as a team and trust each other and get it done,” Keenan said.</p><p>Sean Trayser and Henry Walz had interceptions for Nazareth in the first half.</p><p>“The defense was excellent,” Roadrunners coach Tim Racki said. “Especially with the weapons Providence has. Their running game is lethal.”</p><div class="Enhancement" data-align-center><div class="Enhancement-item">
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Second INT of the game for Nazareth. Henry Walz grabs the tipped pass. <br><br>Roadrunners and Providence scoreless in the 2Q. <a href="https://t.co/I5XaGiCYQn">pic.twitter.com/I5XaGiCYQn</a></p>— Michael O'Brien (@michaelsobrien) <a href="https://x.com/michaelsobrien/status/2101093396979097924?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 18, 2026</a></blockquote>
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</div></div><p>But Nazareth’s running game stole the show. Charles Calhoun put the Roadrunners (2-3) ahead 17-0 with a six-yard TD run to cap off a drive that sucked up most of the third quarter.</p><p>“That was like a 10-minute drive,” Calhoun said. “I could feel it. We were on a roll. Once we get on a high, there is no taking us down.”</p><p>Calhoun had 24 carries for 103 yards, and Jack Parisi added 14 carries for 77 yards.</p><p>Nazareth quarterback JJ Chapman was 7-for-16 passing for 89 yards. He threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to Charles Heck late in the first half. Flickenger had five catches for 42 yards.</p><p>“We really came to play a complete football game,” Racki said. “And that is hard to do after an emotional loss last week. Our kids had an edge all week.”</p><p>Providence running back Broden Mackert had 17 carries for 123 yards and one touchdown. Celtics quarterback Dominic Vita went 13 of 20 for 90 yards with three interceptions.</p><p>“We definitely knew they had been through some adversity this week with their coach being fired,” Calhoun said. “We came out hard. We knew it would be a game to fight for and we wanted to use that to our advantage.”</p><p>Nazareth limited media access to the game, and no television cameras or independent videographers were present.</p><p>Otherwise, it was business as usual for Providence despite all the controversy around Plantz’s firing. A handful of Celtics fans in the crowd wore white T-shirts that read “We support coach Plantz.”</p><p>“We left too many plays on the field,” Nissen, who was previously a head coach at St. Laurence, said. “A couple turnovers; didn’t execute like we normally do. We had a good week of practice and were pretty locked in on what we were trying to do. We had the opportunities at the end of the game; we just couldn’t capitalize on it.”</p>
Nazareth’s defense dominates Providence, which loses its first game after firing Tyler Plantz 2026
IUSTITIA.BG – Investigations 2009-2026 2026-09-19 03:56:25
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