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Providence showcases multidimensional offense in holding off Morgan Park. This
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article is being read by an automated voice brought to you by
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Everlet. With Broden Mackert healthy again and DeAngelo Coates coming into his
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own, Providence just keeps getting more multidimensional on offense.
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The Celtics leaned on the running of Mackert and Brayden McKay, the
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passing of Dominic Vita and the pass-catching of Coates and John Cullen
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on Saturday as they held off Morgan Park 42-34 in the second
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round of the Class 5A playoffs at Stagg Stadium.
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Junior quarterback Ronald Smith Jr. Had a huge day for the Mustangs,
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passing for 405 yards and four touchdowns.
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Providence 9-3 will play Carbondale 10-2 in the quarterfinals next weekend.
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Mackert was sidelined by injury late in the regular season, but the
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senior is back on his typically heavy workload. Against Kankakee last week
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and Morgan Park, Mackert piled up more than 400 rushing yards and
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six touchdowns.
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He had three against the Mustangs 9-2, including scores of 48 and
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45 yards, as the Celtics built a 29-point lead before surviving a
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furious rally.
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McKay added a touchdown run, Vita threw a 42-yard touchdown pass to
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Cullen and Coates caught four passes for 87 yards to keep Providence’s
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offense rolling.
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We’re not a passing school, said Coates, a 6-4 junior. So when
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we pass the ball, every opportunity I get, it’s an honor.
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He’s a weapon, man, Celtics interim coach Adam Nissen said of Coates.
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Tall, can run, stretches the defenses vertically for us. He has matured
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a ton since last year.
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Mackert said he appreciates the attention Coates and the rest of Providence’s
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receivers attract from opposing defenses.
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It’s great, Mackert said. It makes defenses scheme around everybody. O-line, they
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do their job. Having Dom Vita as our quarterback and all the
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receivers being a threat I mean, the defense has got to take
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time on that, not just the run game. So it’s good for
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us.
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The game was scoreless until McKay’s one-yard touchdown run midway through the
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second quarter. Providence then scored three touchdowns in a span of 96
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seconds all after Morgan Park turnovers, starting with Isaac Patton’s 53-yard scoop-and-score
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to make it 28-0 at halftime.
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Jonsean Young got the Mustangs comeback started with the first of his
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two touchdowns, a 56-yard run early in the third, but the Celtics
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lead peaked at 35-6 on the second of Mackert’s three touchdowns.
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Smith and Morgan Park kept plugging away, however, scoring 28 points in
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the last 14 minutes to make it a game.
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The bottom line for Providence is it beat two quality opponents to
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reach the final eight in 5A.
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We saw the draw right away, and we kind of welcome it,
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Nissen said. Our thought process is we have to see them at
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some point eventually, so let’s knock them out round whatever, round one
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and round two.
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Mustangs coach Chris James liked his team’s fight after falling into the
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big hole.‘‘I challenged the kids at halftime about giving 24 minutes
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of maximum effort, he said. The turnovers, they hurt us. And we
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had a few misses at the end of the half that could
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have really put us in a good position. When you get in
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a game like this, you can’t do that.