Iowa City High starts 2023 football season with an intriguing test: Illinois powerhouse Joliet Catholic

IOWA CITY — Like most football coaches heading into their first game, City High’s Mitch Moore likes what he has this fall.

“The maturity and mental aptitude of this team is very unique,” he said Wednesday.

But he’s also wondering what he got his team into.

The seventh-ranked Little Hawks, 6-4 last season, open at home against Joliet Cathloic on Friday — a program that has won 28 of its last 31 games, an Illinois-record 15 sanctioned state titles and, according to its website, “34 state and national championships.”

Moore called it a “powerhouse program” that is “back to where it was in the mid-90s.”

This game came about when Joliet Catholic’s coach sent out feelers, looking for an out-of-state contest in the Midwest, something the program likes to do every year.

Moore jumped at the opportunity.

“Let’s bring a little juice to the program, ”he said. “... let’s bring some excitement.

“(Joliet Catholic’s) got that Iowa City High feel. All the pageantry and history.”

Joliet Catholic also has two preseason all-Americans, including defensive tackle Dillan Johnson who is headed to Wisconsin to play football and wrestle.

Sound familiar? A “Ben Kueter-like” athlete, Moore said. Kueter, The Gazette’s 2022-23 Male Athlete of the Year from City High, is in his first season of football and wrestling at Iowa.

Joliet Catholic also has a running back who rushed for 1,500 yards last season and an offensive line that averages around 280 pounds.

“They are a run-the-ball first team,” Moore said, adding the offensive linemen “are big, big, big guys.”

Joliet Catholic, he said, likes a “10-10 game in the fourth quarter ... not a 10-10 game in the first quarter.

“We need to make sure we’re playing our brand of football,” Moore said. “We need to start fast ... and play with tempo.

“Our tempo is going to be a really big point of emphasis.”

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Although the Little Hawks lack depth, Moore thinks he has the athletes for another successful season.

“We’ve got a great core coming back,” he said. “We’ve got a multitude of leaders ... who have had triumph and they’ve had failure.

“We know how to do it, but we’ve got to attack it every day.”

City High will be led by quarterback/safety Drew Larson, a 6-foot-2 190-pounder who scored 25 touchdowns last season (19 through the air) and passed for 1,841 yards.

“I think our high-level guys are as good as anyone in the state,” Moore said. “Drew Larson, ooh baby.

“We’re a bunch of steady guys who play together.”

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