Marian Central too strong for St. Edward
St. Edward turned in a solid effort against Marian Central, but the Green Wave just made too many mistakes.
Fumbles, dropped passes, and missed tackles plagued the Wave in the first half, when the Hurricanes built a 28-7 lead. St. Edward made things interesting in the second half. The Wave scored 2 touchdowns in 15 seconds to get within 7, but Marian scored the game’s final 21 points to pull away for a 49-21 Suburban Christian win in Woodstock.
Junior quarterback Joseph Mullen threw for 282 yards and 3 touchdowns for the Wave (5-3). Davontae Elam, who came in needing 101 yards to break the St. Edward season rushing record, finished with just 39 yards on 15 carries.
Meanwhile, Marian Central looked like two different teams offensively. In the first half, the Hurricanes (7-1) rode quarterback Billy Bahl’s strong arm to the big advantage. Bahl threw for 236 yards and 4 scores before the break. In the second half, Ephraim Lee took over. Bahl attempted just 2 passes, but Lee ran for 69 of his game-high 109 yards and added a touchdown.
“It was great to see the kids come out and play with some fire,” said St. Edward coach Mike Rolando. “They got a decent lead in the first half. We just made too many mistakes. Obviously when you play a team of their caliber, you’ve got to play mistake-free football.
“I think if we clean up those mistakes, its even a tighter game at the half.”
The Wave’s only score of the first half came on a 59-yard pass from Mullen to Mike Castoro.
But after holding Marian to a 3-and-out to start the second half, the Wave moved 81 yards in 13 plays for the score. Mullen and Castoro hooked up again for the score.
After surprising Marian with an onside kick, the Wave was back in business, and it took only 1 play to get back in the end zone. Mullen hit Elam with a short pass and the latter made his way up the sideline for a 45-yard score.
But that was as close as the Wave could get. After Elam’s touchdown, the Wave tried another onside kick, but it didn’t go the required 10 yards. The Hurricanes took over near midfield and quickly drove for a score. Lee gained all but 2 of the yards on the ground, including the final 13 for the TD.
St. Edward travels to St. Francis next week needing a win to clinch a playoff berth. A loss will leave the Wave hoping they have enough points for an at-large berth.