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'Excited' St. Francis ready for test against Marmion

St. Francis (2-0, 0-0) at Marmion (1-1, 0-0)

Chicago Catholic League Green

Game time: 7:30 p.m. Friday.

Last week: St. Francis 1, Hales Franciscan 0 (forfeit); Guerin (Ind.) 13, Marmion 7.

Last year: Marmion 17, St. Francis 13.

Outlook: St. Francis coach Mike Fitzgerald said the Spartans are "super-excited" to head into conference after last week's forfeit win, and they'll ride that emotion into Aurora. This is St. Francis' first real test, having planked Kelvyn Park 46-0 in Week 1. Fitzgerald's plan is to establish the run behind offensive linemen Kevin Killian, Branden Winkelman, John Perry, Gabe Meyer and Brian Murray. That tact saw the Spartans rack up 194 yards on 19 carries against Kelvyn Park, including Will Purdom sprinting for 90 yards on just 2 carries. A two-way battle brews between tackles Killian and Marmion's Wes Kramer, a 260-pound junior who last week collected 10 tackles, 2 sacks, 5 tackles for loss and 2 personal fouls. Good-sized quarterback John Tate helms the Cadets' Wing-T-style offense. On the season he's thrown for 393 yards, 2 touchdowns but is at least as comfortable running the ball. Marmion's key is simply to finish drives after coming up with no points in four trips inside the 20 last week.

Next week: St. Francis at Brother Rice; Providence at Marmion.

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