Jensen becomes big safety valve for Hillmen

Comments

November 22, 2009

PEORIA -- Michael Jackson made the one-glove look famous. Joliet Catholic junior Travis Jensen shed his gray gloves Saturday afternoon to give the Hilltoppers' secondary a much sunnier outlook.

Twice in the first half, Jensen transformed from the football version of former Seattle Supersonics guard Gary "The Glove" Payton. And to think the day for Jensen, a 5-foot-11, 175-pound deep/free safety, started with another drop.

By his own count, Jensen noted he should have 12 interceptions. But with a pair of pickoffs against Peoria Richwoods, Jensen again became the missing link -- proving senior middle linebacker Jake Stockman's postgame declaration.

Hands. He's all hands.

"As soon as I put them on, I've dropped six passes -- six interceptions," Jensen said, grinning from ear to ear about his gloves. I finally figured out what my problem was when I dropped that one in the end zone today, so I'm going bare hands forever now."

Bear down, Joliet Catholic's defense. It sure sounds better than "Bear down Chicago Bears" to Jensen, Stockman and the Hilltoppers, who turned 6 turnovers -- including 5 in the first half -- into a 54-7 blowout of the host Knights in a Class 5A state semifinal.

That Jensen was not in the starting lineup also seems like forever ago. He notched his fourth and fifth interceptions in the past seven games as JCA (11-2) ousted Peoria Richwoods (11-2) and advanced to Saturday's 10 a.m. finale in 5A against Montini (9-4).

After the Hilltoppers suffered a 24-17 East Suburban Catholic Conference loss to Marist, coach Dan Sharp, defensive coordinator Cory McLaughlin and defensive backs assistant Barry Dean tapped No. 8 on the shoulder pads, the result being seven straight wins.

"The people we played earlier in the year have helped us evaluate our personnel," Sharp said. "If we don't play teams of that quality, the Carmels, Providences and Marists, you might not see the payoff, and it's definitely paying off with Travis.

"He's a great football player and he has a great

football mind. He's a Gary Fencik-type player at free safety because he's a great tackler back there and he's a smart kid, and our pass defense is playing very, very well right now."

The Hilltoppers needed to prime water from that well in the first quarter. Junior cornerback Breion Tucker thwarted Peoria Richwoods' 14-play opening drive by tipping away a fourth-down pass, his team-leading eighth knockdown.

From there, the JCA offense churned the meter to almost comical proportions, slicing through the Knights like a knife through butter. The Hilltoppers' five scoring drives required a mere 15 plays and they scored twice in 9.3 seconds to cap the first half.

However, the feather in said cap belonged to Jensen. His jump-ball interception sparked JCA to a 13-0 lead with 4:26 left in the first quarter, and he stepped in front of senior tight end Peter Cunningham for a Richie Cunnigham, "Happy Days" moment on his second theft.

Humor works.

"It's funny," Stockman said. "We always mess around with Travis because he usually drops a lot of passes. We pick on him for it, but it just means that he's in the right spot. And when he dropped that first one, I told him, 'Don't worry about it, it happens a lot.'

"He kind of laughed and waved me off, but then he took off his gloves for the first time all year, and all of a sudden, he has two interceptions. Both of them came at big times, and that was huge for us."

As a bonus, the Hillmen went Herculean huge in the first half with fumble recoveries by senior defensive ends John Broderick and Rob Cranmer, the latter on a strip by senior linebacker Zach Dolph. Junior linebacker Mike Mettille also pounced on a muffed kickoff.

"That's what we stress every day in practice -- creating turnovers," Broderick said. "We do fumble drills, we're always looking for turnovers, and our coaches preach to gang tackle."

The pulpit for JCA's defense has been manned by Stockman, who marked 2 tackles for loss. Stockman and Broderick, though, each confirmed the boost that has been culled from Jensen's addition.

"Since he came into our starting lineup after the Marist game, our defense has been unstoppable," Broderick said. "He's like Stockman as a safety in the secondary, and our secondary has been unreal in the playoffs."

"We knew their offense was tough-nosed coming in," Stockman said. "The best thing we did was attack. We attacked the whole game. Our D-line and linebackers flew to the ball and our DBs came up with big plays."

Noticeably, Jensen used to play center field in baseball. He has no experience as a center in basketball, but as the deep safety in the 4-4 or the free safety in the 4-3, he has the green light to jump and run.

"I'm used to roaming around a field, so it's nice," Jensen said. "I have the hops when I want them, and I'm as comfy as I can be. I didn't start until midway through the year, and I was a little nervous for the first game, but Jake helps calm me down and tells me to keep my head up."

Those heads inside JCA's helmets are focused on the school's 14th state football title and second in the last three years. Flubbing the first-quarter pick forced Jensen to concentrate "10 times more," but after the two-fer, his eyes shifted to the University of Illinois.

Dreams. Big dreams.

"There's no greater feeling as a junior," a smiling Jensen said, "than going to Champaign."