JOLIET | Crete-Monee, meet Tyler Hudetz.

The Joliet Catholic tailback showed Friday night why he was named the East Suburban Catholic League's offensive player of the year, as the Hilltoppers beat the Warriors 30-6 at Joliet Memorial Stadium in a Class 6A first-round playoff game.

JCA (8-2) opened the game with a 6 1/2-minute drive that culminated in a 34-yard field goal. Crete-Monee (6-4) fumbled the ensuing kickoff, which led to a 27-yard Hudetz touchdown run on the very next play.

When the Warriors' offense finally took the field, they lost yardage, and a 5-yard punt gave the Hilltoppers the ball at the Crete-Monee 10-yard line.

Calvin Smith punched it in from the 1 three plays later.

"It was by far one of the ugliest first quarters I've ever been a part of," Crete-Monee coach Jerry Verde said. "You take the first quarter out of there, we've got a game. But against a great team, you don't take things out.

"It wasn't a matter of us coming out flat, because we were excited to play. It was a matter of us allowing ourselves to get beat and making mistakes."

The Warriors finally showed a pulse in the second quarter. After having Greg Barksdale's 99-yard kickoff return called back for an illegal block, C-M marched 60 yards down the field, capped off by a 5-yard touchdown run by quarterback Justin Roudez.

"After they scored that 17th point, I think we played," Verde said. "But it's a shame it took 17 points to wake us up."

The Warriors' score seemed to wake up the Hilltoppers, too. The JCA defense locked down, forcing two Roudez interceptions, and shutting Crete out the rest of the way.

Hudetz, who passed Mike Alstott to move into second place on the Joliet Catholic rushing list, finished with 215 yards rushing, 71 yards receiving and three touchdowns.

The loss was the first time all season that Crete-Monee was not in a game at the end. Despite the disappointing end to the year, Verde was proud of what his team had accomplished.

"We only had a few seniors," Verde said. "But the ones we had: Gary Young, David Wright, Sal Carvajal, Manny Jackson; you know kids like that not only worked in the weight room, but did it every day in practice. And they're the example that hopefully some of our 17 starting underclassmen can follow."