Marmion gets back on track
A humbling 49-13 defeat to Fenwick on Marmion's homecoming Oct. 3 left the Cadets facing the brink of elimination from state football playoff contention heading into their home finale with De La Salle on Friday.
In a despondent locker room after the Fenwick loss, Marmion's coaching staff asked its players how they would react to having their proverbial backs to the wall.
The Cadets' response against De La Salle had their coaches smiling all night.
A highly motivated Marmion squad overwhelmed De La Salle from the opening kickoff, exploding to a 49-7 lead behind 439 yards of total offense in the first half along with a lockdown defensive effort. The Cadets' 49-13 victory at Fichtel Field in Aurora left Marmion with a 5-2 record and still alive for a state playoff berth.
Marmion will have to earn that ticket by knocking off one of the two suburban powerhouses and recent state champions that close out its schedule: Aurora Christian on Oct. 17 or Montini Oct. 24. The task certainly won't be easy; both games are on the road, and both opponents are enjoying typically strong seasons.
But the Cadets are optimistic about securing their sixth victory and a spot in the postseason starting with their visit to nearby Aurora Christian, which, like Marmion, is 5-2 and will be fighting for a playoff spot as well when these two city rivals collide.
"I think we'll be ready for Aurora Christian," two-way standout lineman Luke Juriga said. "We don't like them, and we like playing on their field a lot. We feel comfortable playing there. I like our chances. Our defensive line is better than their O-line. I think our D-line can put pressure on their quarterback (Austin Bray), and we will look to get our running game going against them like tonight."
Juriga was referring to a Marmion rushing attack that led the way to Friday's Chicago Catholic League Green rout, ripping off four touchdowns alone in a frenetic first quarter. After Jordan Glasgow recovered a De La Salle fumble on the opening kickoff, the Cadets scored two plays later on a 5-yard touchdown run by Lucan Warren (8 carries, 87 yards) for a 7-0 lead a mere 25 seconds into the game. Three seconds later, Glasgow recovered another De La Salle fumble on the ensuing kickoff, and three plays and 45 seconds later Warren scored again from 6 yards out for a 14-0 edge.
After Marmion's defense forced a 3-and-out, the Cadets extended their lead to 21-0 on Warren's 23-yard TD scamper barely three minutes into the opening quarter. After another 3-and-out by the visiting Meteors, Marmion engineered a nine-play, 72-yard drive capped by a 1-yard TD plunge by Matt Ferraro (59 yards0 for a 28-0 advantage with 3:04 still remaining in the first quarter.
De La Salle (1-5, 0-2 Catholic League Green) temporarily slowed down Marmion with a 5-yard TD run by quarterback Tom Duddleston with 1:34 left in the first quarter. But the Cadets promptly responded with a 21-yard scoring pass from Rusty Joyce to Nate Traxler a minute into the second quarter. The Cadets continued to contain De La Salle's pass-first spread offense while Marmion tacked on a 65-yard TD pass from Joyce to Glasgow and a 23-yard TD burst by Glasgow (4 carries, 117 yards) just before halftime for a 49-7 lead.
In all, Marmion (2-1 Catholic League Green) compiled 343 rushing yards and 439 total yards of offense in the first half. That was far more yardage than the Cadets had generated in any of their previous three games, when they scored just seven, 13 and 13 points, respectively.
"We did go back to smashmouth football this week," Marmion coach Dan Thorpe said. "We got out of our spread and moved the ball by pounding it on the ground. It was a great effort by everyone."
"We went back to our roots," Juriga said. "Our O-line made some big holes for our backs, and our backs broke free for some big runs."
The 42-point lead enabled the Cadets to rest their starters after intermission for Aurora Christian thanks to the 40-point margin rule that prompted use of a running clock for the duration of the game.