Everyone joins in the fun as Marmion rolls to 5-0

A sign at Guerin Prep welcomed visitors to the Swamp, and it was the visiting Cadets - not the Gators - who spent Saturday afternoon chomping on the scoreboard.

After four hard-fought games in four weeks, Marmion got a chance to go deep on its bench in a 52-0 shutout in a Suburban Christian Conference crossover.

Cadets coach Dan Thorpe used nine different ball carriers and three quarterbacks in the opening quarter, and Marmion similarly gave everyone plenty of playing time on the lines and defense as well.

"A lot of the kids that practice all the time got to get in," said Jordan Meyer, who had one of the Cadets' 7 rushing touchdowns and one of their 5 interceptions. "It was nice to see that."

Marmion's second shutout in three weeks lowered its points allowed per game to a mere 4.0 while the 51 points scored were easily a season high (previously 24).

"Guerin (2-3) has improved from last year but we have a very mature team," said Cadets coach Dan Thorpe, whose team played without Garret Becker and Nate Pacer but might have them back next week for Aurora Christian. "A good team victory."

Marmion (5-0) ended the Gators' first three possessions with interceptions. Mike Currie picked off two of the passes and Meyer had the other.

Rob Voirin intercepted a pass in the second quarter and Zach McNally nearly returned his pick in the fourth quarter for a touchdown.

"Defense has been one of our biggest keys ever since freshman year," Currie said. "We always take pride in shutting people out."

In addition to all the interceptions, lineman Tyler Boyd made life difficult for Gators quarterback Tommy Kelly (13 of 40, 90 yards, 5 interceptions) with a sack and tackle for a loss. Mike Zolfo also had a sack and David Garza batted down a pass.

Marmion scored on its first five drives, none lasting more than 4 plays. All the interceptions kept giving the Cadets a short field.

Lally's 2-yard dive was the first of four first-quarter rushing scores. Mitch Loehmann followed with a 27-yard run, Mike Carbonara a 43-yarder and Meyer scored from 37 yards out.

Each runner had both a huge hole to run trough at the line of scrimmage and then solid blocking downfield by their wide receivers.

"It was just nice to see open field," Meyer said.

A.J. Friedman added a 35-yard field goal to give Marmion a 31-0 lead after one quarter. Marmion lost a pair of fumbles with its second string playing the second quarter, then brought its starters back out for the first two possessions of the second half.

Carbonara's second TD run and an 8-yard score by Ryan Kolka with 6:28 left in the third quarter started the running clock. Ryan Riggs ran in the final TD.

Marmion outgained Guerin 369-117. Quarterback Bobby Peters completed half of his 8 passes for 54 yards while Kolka and Carbonara led the balanced rushing attack with 78 and 72 yards, respectively. Carbonara gained his 72 yards on only 2 carries, scoring both times.

The Cadets' third straight road game will be a lot closer to home Friday at Aurora Christian (4-1) in the first meeting between the schools.

"It's going to be a great crowd," Thorpe said.