By Bobby Narang
The 2026 football season kicked off last week with plenty of big games, and a few surprises.
Nazareth entered the Week 1 game a big favorite, mainly due to its lofty preseason ranking and owning two straight wins over IC Catholic.
Despite playing on the road, the Nazareth Roadrunners were looking to add to their recent success in the Chicago Catholic League series.
Even with concerns over the extreme weather expected for the opener in Elmhurst, the two Catholic League teams played without an issue on the nearly three-hour opener.
IC Catholic sophomore running back Jakobe Baldwin was one of the unknown players entering the game — at least in terms of varsity experience.
After starting one game and playing in three games last season, Baldwin tirelessly worked on his game and body during the offseason to prepare for a heavier load for his second varsity season.
With both teams filled with standout players, Baldwin stole the show by rushing for 202 yards and two touchdowns to lead IC Catholic to a 35-21 win over Nazareth at Lewis Stadium.
“I’m very excited to be 1-0 and to keep pushing forward and getting better every day,” Lewis said. “I’m thankful for the O-line for blocking.”
Baldwin entered the day without a single scholarship offer, but said he has interest from Nebraska, Iowa and “other schools” and he does not have any visits planned yet for the college football season.
Baldwin’s speed, power and toughness running was on full display, as he got stronger during the second half. He had five runs of 10 yards or longer in the final two quarters, highlighted by a 65-yard touchdown run on the left side as he outran Nazareth’s defense along the sidelines to pad the lead to 34-14 midway through the fourth quarter.
“I got the ball and saw a hole opening up and knew that I had to take it, trusted my blockers and followed my blockers and trusted my coaches and the receivers made good blocks, so did the O-line,” Baldwin said.
IC Catholic junior wide receiver Grant Bowen, who has 35 offers, had a typical big game. The 6-4, 225-pound hauled in five passes for 105 yards to go with touchdown grabs 17 and 10 yards. Bowen said the offense was in sync all game long, helped by Baldwin’s running. Senior quarterback Nate Lang passed for 252 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 42 yards.
“We played really well today and really wanted to beat them after losing to them the past few years, and we really wanted to show we were the better team,” Bowen said. “This is a huge statement win after back-to-back losses to them. It feels really good to beat them. Jakobe Baldwin is a really great player and really underrated right now and is under the radar player and will skyrocket after a great offseason.”
In a matchup of Chicago Catholic League teams with each team with six state championships, the Knights dominated the line of scrimmage and limited the Roadrunners to 48 yards rushing. Nazareth junior quarterback JJ Chapman, a transfer from Oak Creek in Wisconsin, flashed a strong and accurate arm, finishing with 292 yards passing, a touchdown and two interceptions.