Wymer, Benet have the answers against Marian
Benet linebacker Michael Wymer was a little frustrated after Marian Catholic marched 80 yards for a touchdown on its second drive of the game Friday night.
That was nothing compared to the angst the visiting Spartans felt after what Wymer and his teammates did after that.
After Ben Cooney scored on a 15-yard run to tie the game, Wymer blocked a punt and the Redwings recovered at the Marian 14. That got Benet rolling toward a 49-13 East Suburban Catholic Conference victory at Benedictine University.
"(Marian scoring early) motivated us," Wymer said. "They were killing us just on the 2-yard gains right up the middle and we just had to fill up the holes.
"We were doing fine on the outsides and we fixed (the inside) after that."
Wymer came up the middle to record his second blocked punt of the season. Four plays later, Connor Reid scored on a 4-yard run to give the Redwings (4-2, 3-1) the lead for good.
"It was really big," Wymer said of the blocked punt. "It put us in good field position for our offense to score. I'm just glad I contributed."
Wymer's teammates are getting used to him contributing.
"That was a great block," Reid said. "Wymer has been doing great this year. He's really stepped up.
"We have a couple plays for him, like diversions to score the blockers away, and then Wymer comes up the seam and no one touches him."
No one touched Reid on his go-ahead scoring run. The senior, who starts at strong safety, later found the end zone again, this time from 10 yards out, to make it 21-7 with 5:50 left in the second quarter.
Those were the first 2 offensive touchdowns for Reid, who was playing offense for the first time. The Redwings had him go both ways to give the running game a boost and help out backup quarterback Colin Gillespie, who filled in for injured starter Matt Boyle.
"This is my first week (on offense), actually," Reid said. "They brought me over this week and I learned a couple new plays."
Reid finished with 45 yards on 6 carries. He doubled his touchdown total, adding to the two he scored earlier this season on interception returns.
"I liked it a lot," Reid said. "Scoring touchdowns is a great feeling and it was a great effort by the offensive line, too. They made the holes for and I was able to bust it open."
Marian (0-6, 0-4) pulled within 21-13 on a 69-yard touchdown pass from Mateo Cedano to Victor Akinyemi with 5:16 left in the first half, but Ben Cooney, who led all rushers with 72 yards on 6 carries, answered four plays later with a 5-yard touchdown run and Benet reeled off the final 28 points.
The Redwings scored all 7 touchdowns on the ground, with 12 players combining for 317 yards. Cooney scored twice, while Gillespie, Bennett Hickey and Brendan Tarpey, a wide receiver who capped the scoring on a 73-yard scamper, each had 1.
Akinyemi caught 5 passes for 140 yards to lead the Spartans, who turned the ball over 5 times.