IC Catholic Prep bows to mistakes, Marian Central

One drive during Saturday afternoon’s 49-17 Marian Central victory over host IC Catholic Prep was a perfect example of what IC coach Bill Krefft spoke about afterward.

“When you play good teams and you make mistakes, they’re amplified because of the quality of the opponent. Marian Central is too good to give them anything,” he said.

That drive late in the first quarter changed the momentum of the Suburban Christian Conference crossover game and showed the power of the Marian Central passing attack that finished with 329 yards.

The first play from scrimmage saw quarterback Billy Bahl throw to Tanner Spoden for 17 yards. Bahl didn’t miss a step on the next play connecting to a wide open Brett Olson for a 44-yard TD pass with 22.7 seconds left in the opening period.

That made it 14-3 and the Hurricanes (4-1, 2-1 SCC Blue) scored 14 unanswered points after that to keep control of the contest.

The Knights (3-2, 2-1 SCC Gold) started the contest on good footing when IC’s Rhashaun Epting intercepted a pass that put the team deep into Marian Central territory. The drive ended on Jack Copher’s 25-yard field goal with 7:26 left in the first quarter.

IC would be done with scoring until very late in the first half. The Knights took over the ball deep into Hurricanes’ territory and on the second play from scrimmage. Copher threw 32 yards to Sean Sutton in a corner of the end zone. Copher’s extra point made it 28-10 with 1:02 left until halftime.

IC’s final touchdown of the day came with 9:55 left in the game when the Knights capped a 5-play drive with a 34-yard scoring pass from Copher to Clark Brinkman.

IC faces another tough chalenge Friday night in Lombard against No. 1-ranked Montini. Krefft believes his team is close to reaching the level he believes they are capble of doing.

“We have great kids. They are running our system well, it’s just a matter of finishing. They are finding out about it and getting better at it,” he said.