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St. Rita nips Marmion

Marmion realized it would be facing a tough task Friday night against a desperate St. Rita squad.

The visiting Mustangs, with their playoff hopes hanging in the balance, erased four Marmion leads and came away with a thrilling 25-23 Chicago Catholic League crossover victory in Aurora as sophomore Gavin Mottl drilled a 24-yard field goal as time expired.

Marmion (6-3), which punched its playoff ticket last week, lost any hopes of hosting a first round playoff game.

"That was big boy football and we played them toe-to-toe," said Marmion coach Dan Thorpe. "We have seven kids going both ways and they have a total platoon. They wore us down physically, but not spiritually."

"It was exhilarating - a lot of fun," said Cadets quarterback Brandon McPherson, who threw for a career-high 307 yards and 2 touchdowns. "Blows were being thrown left and right between two good teams, but unfortunately they came out on top with that last field goal."

With the score tied at 7-7 after three quarters, the offensive fireworks kicked in during a frenetic final 12 minutes.

Zach Urwiler took a slant pass across the middle and outraced a pair of defenders for an 84-yard touchdown to give the Cadets a 14-7 lead with 8:42 left.

St. Rita (5-4) answered immediately as Chris Childers bolted 99 yards down the sideline for the tying score on the ensuing kickoff.

Marmion regained the lead on a safety with 3:15 remaining as the Mustangs' punt snap sailed through the end zone, but Urwiler fumbled the kickoff at midfield.

St. Rita took its first lead of the game four plays later as Shaun Rule (26 carries, 148 yards) broke free on a 41-yard touchdown run, followed by a 2-point conversion run.

"You can't fumble the ball when you're going to be on the 50-yard line," Thorpe said.

This time Marmion had the answer as McPherson hit Jett Haas for a 54-yard gain down to the Mustangs' 1 and Nick Sevenich scored on the next play with 1:04 left for a 23-22 Cadets lead.

A Marmion horse-collar penalty and a 31-yard St. Rita pass play helped set up Mottl's game-winning field goal.

"People have moved the ball against them so we expected to move it," Thorpe said. "The hard part was defending them and their hurry-up, but I was impressed with our defensive effort."

Zach Urwiler gave Marmion a 7-0 first quarter lead with a 19-yard touchdown run and St. Rita tied the score on Rule's 3-yard run with 1:54 left in the half.

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