Marian Central shuts down Crystal Lake S.
With the graduation of all-state quarterback Chris Streveler, Marian Central entered the 2013 season with question marks at the QB spot.
Junior quarterback Billy Bahl answered many of those questions in Saturday's opener at Crystal Lake South.
Playing in his first varsity game, Bahl completed 12-of-24 passes for 243 yards and 2 touchdowns as the Hurricanes crushed the Gators 28-2.
“Billy really threw the ball well over the summer and won the quarterback job,” said Marian Central coach Ed Brucker. “He really stepped up and played well.”
Brett Olson was Bahl's big-play target, catching 3 passes for 112 yards and touchdowns of 43 and 59 yards. Tom Klinger grabbed 7 passes for 108 yards for the Canes.
Ephraim Lee, who rushed for 85 yards on 16 carries, got Marian Central on the scoreboard with an 18-yard run with 7:30 left in the first quarter. A 43-yard scoring pass from Bahl to Olson with 2:40 left gave the Hurricanes a 14-0 lead after one quarter.
Marian Central, which didn't score in the second quarter, tallied its third touchdown of the game with only 2:03 elapsed in the third quarter when Bahl hooked up with Olson for a 59-yard TD.
Lee's 2 yard run with 8:21 left was the Hurricanes' final score of the game.
Crystal Lake South managed 274 yards of total offense. The Gators rushed for 189 led by Eric Landis who toted the ball 13 times for 68 yards. Quarterback Austin Rogers ran the ball 20 times for 53 yards and Chris Ivers carried the ball 11 times for 35 yards.
Rogers, who was intercepted by Michael Hartlieb and Dylan Fortin, completed 8-of-22 passes for 74 yards. Ivers (12 yards), Dylan Delgado (8 yards) and Noah Wisler (25 yards) grabbed 2 passes each for the Gators.
Rogers and Delgado had interceptions for South.
“The big plays just killed us,” said Crystal Lake South coach Chuck Ahsmann. “It was disappointing on how we played pass defense. We let their receivers get behind our defensive backs. It was a tough opener. Marian Central is an excellent team that played well. We moved the ball but we just couldn't finish any drives. We were bigger than they were, but they were much quicker. We need to learn from this and get better at practice this week.”