Providence flashes a multidimensional offense in 5A win against Morgan Park

With Broden Mackert healthy again and DeAngelo Coates coming into his own, Providence just keeps getting more multidimensional on offense.

The Celtics leaned on the running of Mackert and Brayden McKay, the passing of Dominic Vita and the pass-catching of Coates and John Cullen on Saturday as they held off Morgan Park 42-34 in the second round of the Class 5A playoffs at Stagg Stadium.

Junior quarterback Ronald Smith Jr. had a huge day for the Mustangs, passing for 405 yards and four touchdowns.

After its second consecutive victory against a ranked team, Providence (9-3) will play Carbondale (10-2) in the quarterfinals next weekend.

Mackert was sidelined by injury late in the regular season, but the senior is back on his typically heavy workload. Against Kankakee last week and Morgan Park, Mackert piled up more than 400 rushing yards and six touchdowns.

He had three against the Mustangs (9-2), including scores of 48 and 45 yards, as the Celtics built a 29-point lead before surviving a furious rally.

McKay added a touchdown run, Vita threw a 42-yard touchdown pass to Cullen and Coates caught four passes for 87 yards to keep Providence’s offense rolling.

‘‘We’re not a passing school,’’ said Coates, a 6-4 junior. ‘‘So when we pass the ball, every opportunity I get, it’s an honor.’’

‘‘He’s a weapon, man,’’ Celtics interim coach Adam Nissen said of Coates. ‘‘Tall, can run, stretches the defenses vertically for us. He has matured a ton since last year.’’

Mackert said he appreciates the attention Coates and the rest of Providence’s receivers attract from opposing defenses.

‘‘It’s great,’’ Mackert said. ‘‘It makes defenses scheme around everybody. O-line, they do their job. . . . Having Dom Vita as our quarterback and all the receivers being [a] threat — I mean, the defense has got to take time on that, not just the run game. So it’s good for us.’’

The game was scoreless until McKay’s one-yard touchdown run midway through the second quarter. Providence then scored three touchdowns in a span of 96 seconds — all after Morgan Park turnovers, starting with Isaac Patton’s 53-yard scoop-and-score — to make it 28-0 at halftime.

Jonsean Young got the Mustangs’ comeback started with the first of his two touchdowns, a 56-yard run early in the third, but the Celtics’ lead peaked at 35-6 on the second of Mackert’s three touchdowns.

Smith and Morgan Park kept plugging away, however, scoring 28 points in the last 14 minutes to make it a game.

The bottom line for Providence is it beat two quality opponents to reach the final eight in 5A.

‘‘We saw the draw right away, and we kind of welcome it,’’ Nissen said. ‘‘Our thought process is we have to see them at some point eventually, so let’s knock them out round whatever, round one and round two.’’

Mustangs coach Chris James liked his team’s fight after falling into the big hole.‘‘I challenged the kids at halftime about [giving] 24 minutes of maximum effort,’’ he said. ‘‘The turnovers, they hurt us. And we had a few misses at the end of the half that could have really put us in a good position. When you get in a game like this, you can’t do that.’