Mistakes cost Marmion vs. Fenwick

It could not have been a more undesirable second quarter for the Marmion offense Friday night in Chicago Catholic League Green football action against Fenwick.

The Cadets were held to negative yardage in the quarter, and the Friars' opportunistic defense was directly responsible for 23 unanswered points in the 12 minutes before halftime.

The Friars' offense picked up the slack in the second half and ran away with a 47-7 victory.

"Welcome to big-boy football," Marmion coach Dan Thorpe said. "They're rated third in the state (in The Associated Press' Class 7A poll) for a reason."

Virtually the entire first quarter was consumed by the schools' opening drives.

Marmion (4-2, 1-2) had its 40-yard field goal fall short, and Fenwick had a lead never to be threatened after Conor Hendzel had plenty of room to spare with his 29-yard attempt.

But disaster would strike Marmion as 19 lost yards off a botched snap in punt formation was the beginning of a hard-to-stomach second quarter for the Cadets.

Sherman Martin would have the first of two scoring receptions for Fenwick (5-1, 2-1) moments later, and the next two Marmion possessions were terminated by a safety and an interception returned for a touchdown.

"Bad call there, the screen pass," Thorpe said.

Marty Stein, who returned the interception, recovered a fumble on the Cadets' ensuing possession to lead to a Fenwick score and 26-0 advantage at the intermission.

"We were pretty upset about (a hard-fought loss to defending Class 8A state champion Loyola) last week," Stein said. "(Defensively) we came out hard in practice this week and watched a lot of film."

"We took a couple of hits (in the second quarter) that brought the morale down," said Marmion junior Zach Urwiler, who had the Cadets' lone offensive highlight with his long third-quarter touchdown reception. "They're a great team. They're big, fast and strong."

Marmion was held to a lone first down while losing 22 yards on its 16 plays from scrimmage during the fateful second quarter.

"We have to play mistake-free at all times," Thorpe said.

Marmion was trailing 33-0 midway through the third quarter when Urwiler slipped behind the Friars' defense.

Marmion quarterback Brandon McPherson launched a long throw that Urwiler converted into a 56-yard touchdown strike.

"We isolated a safety and hit them where it hurt," Urwiler said.

Even with the game out of hand, the Cadets played hard on both sides until the bitter end.

Wes Kramer had two quarterback sacks for Marmion in the second half.