IC Catholic claims Metro Suburban West
Friday night's 56-15 victory over visiting Fenton in the regular season finale showed the IC Catholic Prep football team is ready for the playoffs after a two-year absence.
The win pushed the Knights to 8-1 overall and clinched the Metro Suburban West title outright at 5-0 with the team celebrating with the distribution of conference champ T-shirts after the postgame meeting.
"All the credit goes to the seniors. Early in camp, they made sure it was a team. It's a tight group. They enjoy the grind and they enjoy their time together," said IC Catholic Prep coach Bill Krefft on his team's success.
The outcome of this game was decided early on. The Knights led 21-0 after the first quarter and 35-8 at halftime. By halftime IC had gained 338 yards to 85 for Fenton (2-7, 0-5).
Sophomore running back Lazerick Eatman scored 3 touchdowns during the first two quarters and racked up a game-high 175 yards. Senior Leonardo Guzman took over in the third quarter and racked up 144 yards including an 80-yard touchdown run on the Knights' first possession of the quarter.
Senior Brendan O'Brien went into the backfield in the final quarter, scoring once and running for 93 yards.
"He (Eatman) has been on the varsity three, four weeks. The offensive line did a great job of creating space and he did a great job of using it. Leonardo and Brendan did a great job too," Krefft said.
One of the many big highlights of the evening helped set up Eatman's third touchdown. Senior receiver Garrett Cheng made a spectacular one-handed catch with a defender covering him. It was good for 25 yards and put IC on the Fenton 4 where Eatman ran it in on the next play.
"It was just an incredible moment. I can't really describe the feeling. I ran a vertical route and turned around and (quarterback) Luke (Ricobene) threw a perfect pass," Cheng said.
As a senior, Cheng knows the camaraderie that's been a key to the Knights' success this fall.
"A big part has been the coaches have done a great job and also our brotherhood has been important. A lot of kid on this team have been playing since fifth, sixth grade," he said.
Fenton got on the scoreboard with 5:23 left until halftime when running back Eric Lonergan scored on a 17-yard run during the Bison's first trip into the red zone. J.T. Mason converted the 2-point conversion run on a fake extra point.
The Bison made good on an onside kick to start the third quarter and four plays later, Kevin Corona scored on a 12-yard run.