New-look Marmion mixing it up
You’ve got to go with your strength, so Marmion coach Dan Thorpe is adjusting to suit his personnel.
That also goes for the coaching staff, which saw the departure of Kurt Becker to become head coach at his alma mater, East Aurora. Thorpe moves to the offensive side of the ball for the first time in several years.
On defense he’ll bring back Geoff Durian, a former Cadets coach who was with Harper College’s championship teams (and Thorpe also welcomes Wheaton North and Denver Broncos lineman Jim Juriga as line coach).
Offensively the Cadets will also look different. Despite the presence of returning starters Kevin Lin and Matt Smith, each better than 230 pounds, Thorpe said the offensive line isn’t as large as in recent seasons, so he’s going to a spread set. (Though 280-pound Pat Bakala, 270-pound Ricardo Fernandez and 245-pound Peter Shares seemingly indicate otherwise.)
And heading the new scheme will be not one but two quarterbacks, which Thorpe has used successfully both at Marmion and at Craig High School in Janesville, Wis.
Returning starter Charlie Faunce and junior Brock Krueger, who was named one of the five top quarterbacks out of 300 in a June camp at Purdue, will start the season sprinting in plays on a down-by-down basis.
“I’ve done play-by-play in the past and I like that,” Thorpe said. “We’re not the NFL, we’re not college ... Faunce is going to be playing defense, so we’re very fortunate that we’re going to be able to bring in a quarterback with the quality of Brock and not miss a beat.”
Marmion is not so fortunate as to miss the injury bug, which already has claimed fullback Cody Snodgrass with illness and returning linebacker Matt Lally with a broken leg, likely done for the year. The roster started at 39, but ...
“I told the team we’ve got 34 football players,” Thorpe said. “That’s the approach Marian (Central) has taken for many years, is we’re going to show up with 34 kids and we’re going to hit your butt and we can still go to a state championship. We’re going to go the (Marian coach) Ed Brucker page.”
Not a bad read, and with this crop of seniors tying for the title in the Suburban Christian Conference Blue Division as sophomores, there’s the knowledge they can play with Marian, St. Francis and Montini, which defeated Marmion by only 13-6 last season.
Senior Jake Ruddy, who twice ran for 100 yards last season, returns to the backfield, aided by newcomers Eric Fitzgerald and Jordan Glasgow, kid brother of former Cadets linemen Graham and Ryan. Split end Seth Sevenich has great hands.
Lally’s injury removes one of the initial four returning starters — along with Ruddy at defensive back and linemen Michael Hughes and Charlie Clohecy, third in tackles for loss last season with 6. Players such as junior Mike Montalbano and seniors Stanley Sullivan and Tom Jude got a taste of varsity play in Marmion’s third straight postseason berth.
Thorpe enters the season thinking he’ll not need any of his linemen on both offense and defense, which is a luxury enjoyed by perhaps only Montini in the SCC.
“If we stay healthy I think we’ll be pretty good,” said Thorpe, who in his search for a kicker to replace the graduated A.J. Friedman worked with soccer coach Ricardo Del Toro to get junior Eddy Graham in the spot.
Overall, Thorpe is pleased with the attitude and physicality of this group, enjoying the resiliency of players “embarrassed about last year’s (5-5) record,” he wrote in his preseason prospectus.
Physicality and attitude are not uncommon in this program, but a spread offense headed by two quarterbacks hasn’t been seen in a while.
“We’re changing with the times, just trying to use our personnel,” Thorpe said. “That’s what I think has been a key to my career. When we have good quarterbacks we’ll throw the ball, and I think we can throw the ball.”