Warren's career night helps Marmion roll
After a 45-0 drubbing at the hands of Marmion last season, Ottawa found itself in much better position in the teams' rematch on Friday at Fichtel Field in Aurora.
The Pirates trailed just 3-0 and forced Marmion into its second three-and-out drive with 20 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
But one miscue swung the momentum for the rest of the game. The Pirates fumbled a punt by Nicholas Stich that Patrick Zolfo alertly pounced on at Ottawa's 16-yard line. Two plays later, Marmion fullback Lucas Warren scored the first of four rushing touchdowns, and Ottawa never recovered in a 38-7 Cadets victory in nonconference action.
Marmion is now 2-0 and playing with great confidence heading into its Chicago Catholic League debut next Friday in Wheaton against another new CCL member that is very familiar to the Cadets, former Suburban Christian Conference rival St. Francis.
Warren's 11-yard touchdown run gave Marmion a 10-0 lead with 11:55 left in the second quarter. The Cadets reached the end zone two more times before halftime, as Warren rambled in from 27 yards five minutes later and crossed the goal line from six yards out for a 24-0 lead with 2:14 before halftime.
The 6-foot, 250-pound junior added a 54-yard touchdown dash on Marmion's opening drive of the second half, giving Warren a career rushing day with 146 yards on the ground on an efficient 11 carries.
"He had an exceptional individual performance," Ottawa coach Trent Swords said. "But their offensive line deserves a lot of credit. They created lots of holes for him. They controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball."
Swords was referring to Marmion's defensive line, which helped bottle up Ottawa's double-wing offense until the outcome was no longer in doubt. The Cadets limited the Pirates (0-2) to just 13 yards of total offense and one first down in the first half.
Ottawa didn't even penetrate Marmion territory until midway through the third quarter, and its lone score came on a 74-yard TD run by Josh Williams against the Cadets' second-string defense with 8:35 to go in the final quarter.
Marmion's defensive unit has relinquished a mere seven points in its first two games of 2014 despite returning only one starter from last year, albeit an outstanding returnee in senior all-area defensive tackle Luke Juriga.
"We stayed home and played disciplined defense against their deceptive offense," said Marmion coach Dan Thorp, alluding to Ottawa's attempts to use read options and misdirection plays to catch the Cadets' defense off-guard. "Our defensive coaches are great. They had a great game plan, and our kids are smart kids. They did their homework and they executed."
Marmion's defense could play loose and aggressive thanks to an offense that racked up 195 rushing yards in the first half and used two play-action passes for big pass plays downfield as well. Quarterback Russ Joyce Jr.'s 54-yard strike to tight end Eric Bacorn set up Warren's second TD run, and Stich entered the game as part of Marmion's two-quarterback offense to deliver a 29-yard strike to Bacorn and runs of 21 and seven yards on the next Marmion drive, eventually leading to Warren's third score of the second quarter.
The Cadets ended up using six different running backs in the game and have the luxury of adding star tailback Jordan Glasgow to the backfield against St. Francis. The senior standout is all but fully recovered from a torn meniscus and returned to the lineup on the defensive side of the ball Friday. He'll give the Cadets yet another offensive weapon at St. Francis as Marmion seeks to earn a state playoff berth while playing in one of Illinois' strongest football conferences.