St. Francis tosses shutout at St. Laurence
BURBANK, Ill. - Clint Bobowski threw for 3 touchdowns and ran for another, and St. Francis turned in a dominant defensive performance during a 36-0 win at St. Laurence in a Chicago Catholic League crossover game Friday night.
On homecoming night for the Vikings, the Spartans (4-2) were anything but hospitable, allowing just 100 total yards and forcing 2 turnovers to record their second straight shutout.
They set the tone offensively on their first drive of the game, going 71 yards before William Purdom punched it in from 5 yards out for a 7-0 lead. Bobowski was 5 of 7 on the drive, including a 20-yard connection with Matthew Hanson to set up Purdom's scoring run.
"The first drive was probably one of the best drives we had all year," Spartans coach Mike Fitzgerald said.
The Vikings (2-4) responded with a workmanlike drive of their own into St. Francis territory, but the drive stalled when they lost 8 yards on a fumble by Tim Delaney to push them outside the 30-yard line and into a third-and-long. They never truly threatened again.
"As soon as we started to pick up speed, they just couldn't stop our defense," said defensive lineman Pasquale Quinn Calcagno, who acknowledged the blustery weather contributed to a slow start.
Each offense had trouble finding its footing for much of the rest of the half, until Bobowski found Nick Dama over the middle on an 18-yard TD pass with 26.2 seconds remaining in the second quarter. The pair made a similar connection for 25 yards a play earlier to set it up after having another big passing gain wiped out by a penalty.
"We moved the ball a little bit, but they made some good adjustments," said Bobowski who finished 19-29 for 198 yards.
The Vikings forced a three-and-out coming out of halftime, and the offense pounded the ball with Bobowski and running back William Purdom on the ensuing drive, culminating with a six-yard TD run by Bobowski with 4:25 remaining in the quarter. A 2-point pass made it 22-0.
"We made some adjustments at halftime, and our guys came out and executed in the second half," Fitzgerald said.
The Spartans' defense then puts its stamp on the game on the ensuing drive, forcing a fumble on third down to give the offense possession in the red zone.
Bobowski found Thomas Petrando from 16 yards out to make it 29-0.
Vikings coach Harold Blackmon, whose team has lost three straight, called his team's performance the "most disappointing" in his three years with the team.
"I don't know if it was coming back home after three weeks," he said. "But it was just a different team than I've seen out there."
The Spartans recovered an onside kick and drove to make it 36-0. Christopher Smith made a catch in the corner of the end zone, getting both feet in as time expired in the third.
"We had some great play calls and great blocking up front and receivers getting open," said Bobowski, who sat for most of the fourth quarter along with the much of the rest of the first team. "When you do that, it's pretty easy."