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Marmion stops St. Francis' rally

Marmion coach Dan Thorpe was looking for someone besides his usual workhorses to make a play. Enter Sean Campbell.

The senior defensive back's interception in his end zone with 34.8 seconds left ended a St. Francis rally and gave Marmion a 17-13 Chicago Catholic League Green Division win on another rainy Friday in Wheaton.

"Great coverage," Thorpe said of Campbell, who denied Spartans receiver Michael Shaw in the left flat about 5 yards deep in the end zone. "Sometimes you get that opportunity and then you drop the ball. So, very happy for Sean and obviously for the Cadets."

Marmion (3-0, 1-0) took its 17-13 lead on the second of Lucas Warren's 2 touchdown runs with 6:53 left to play, then made two big defensive plays to thwart St. Francis (2-1, 0-1).

The Spartans had the ball at their 44-yard line, fourth-and-2, when Tim Clohecy and Nathan Traxler held St. Francis running back Michael Rueth inches shy of converting.

St. Francis forced a punt, then quarterback Clint Bobowski led a clockwork drive spanning 74 yards to the Marmion 14-yard line. His pass on a hitch-and-go route to ace receiver Shaw, who led the Spartans with 6 catches for 52 yards, didn't make it past Campbell's inside coverage.

"That was actually Cover-Zero on that one, so I had to man up and we had no one behind me," said Campbell, who picked off his first pass of the season. "It was a great play by our defense overall, and that play just sealed it."

First-year St. Francis coach Mike Fitzgerald, welcomed to the rivalry by Thorpe and his staff, took the high road.

"We tried to run a double move and they brought pressure and we didn't have enough time. That goes on me and not the kids. The kids fought their tails off all the way to the end. I'm proud of them," Fitzgerald said.

It could be a costly loss for St. Francis. Senior running back Steven Fassnacht, whose 86 yards rushing included a 1-yard touchdown run in the second quarter to counter an early safety and 2-0 Marmion lead, was helped off the field early in the third quarter. Fassnacht watched the remainder from a cart on St. Francis' sideline and after the game said the injury might be a broken right ankle.

Warren, who ran for 109 yards on 24 carries, gave Marmion an 8-7 lead on a 2-yard run in the last 30 seconds of the second quarter. The Cadets went up 11-6 on Connor Hoeft's 36-yard field goal with 2:40 left in the third quarter, but St. Francis' Jeff Duke returned the ensuing kickoff 91 yards to give the Spartans a 13-11 lead.

"It really changed the momentum of the game," Fitzgerald said, "and I really thought that was going to kind of turn the tide, but hat's off to them. They put a drive together and they were able to answer."

The 250-pound Warren and the shifty Jordan Glasgow, who ran for 61 yards and caught 3 passes for 78 yards, breezed Marmion downfield for first-and-goal from St. Francis' 4-yard line. Used to bouncing off any number of would-be tacklers, Warren instead scored the game-winner untouched on a dive between linemen Luke Juriga and Clohecy.

"Our line blew everyone up," Warren said. "There was nobody even close. Coach says we can only block 10, I've got to make something happen once in awhile."

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