Marmion mows down Wheaton Academy
Marmion moved a step closer to another state football playoff berth with a 24-6 Suburban Christian Blue victory over Wheaton Academy during Saturday’s homecoming clash in Aurora.
While the defending Class 6A state second-place finishers emerged victorious, Cadets coach Dan Thorpe wasn’t particularly overjoyed with what he saw from his team, especially in the second half.
“I’m disappointed in our preparation,” said Thorpe. “We got caught up in the homecoming festivities. We played just good enough to win. We didn’t play aggressive or with a nasty attitude. But I’m always happy with a victory.”
The teams combined for 6 first-half turnovers, 4 of which were interceptions — 2 each by Marmion’s Kyle Kozak and Rob Voirin.
Kozak’s pick on the Warriors’ opening possession led to the Cadets’ first touchdown. The 11-play, 56-yard drive that was aided by a pass interference penalty and quarterback Charlie Faunce’s fourth-and-short conversion was capped by Jake Ruddy’s 2-yard TD run.
After Kozak’s sliding interception in the end zone helped thwart the Warriors’ hopes of tying the game, Ruddy (5 carries, 99 yards) made sure the turnover hurt a little more when he took off on an 80-yard touchdown run to make it 14-0.
“That probably was the play of the game,” admitted Wheaton Academy coach Ben Wilson.
Ruddy, who accounted for 146 yards of total offense, caught a 9-yard TD pass from Faunce on the Cadets’ next possession to extend the lead to 21-0 with 9:05 left in the second quarter.
“Jake Ruddy is an athlete,” said Thorpe. “He’s got some hands. You need to have somebody that can take it to the house and make somebody miss. Jake has that athletic ability.”
Wheaton Academy (1-5, 0-3) got on the board when Joel Swick took off around left end and raced 85 yards for a touchdown to make it 21-6 with 4:58 left before halftime.
Senior A.J. Friedman accounted for the second-half scoring with his school-record 48-yard field goal.
“In practice on a normal day, they let me hit anywhere from around 55 (yards out),” said Friedman. “I actually mishit it a little but the wind (blowing left to right) kind of helped it out.”
“I’ll take that,” Thorpe said of Friedman’s long field goal. “It was great.”
Playing without the services of leading rusher Garret Becker, Matt Lally and Mike Shares, the Cadets (4-2, 2-1) came away in improved health as they begin preparing for Friday’s road game against St. Francis at the College of DuPage.
“We only have three active linebackers on the roster,” said Thorpe. “We found out yesterday that Matt (Lally) has a stress fracture in his ankle. Garret (Becker) and Mike (Shares) are day-to-day.”
Sophomore linebacker John Gemmel recorded 3 ½ sacks for the Warriors.
“Our defense improved this week,” said Wilson. “It’s probably the best we’ve played all season. Hopefully we just keep getting better.”