Driscoll 41, Marmion 0
Marmion came to Addison looking to make a statement, but Driscoll took the words right out of their mouths.
Creating a running clock with their sixth unanswered touchdown at 2:09 of the third quarter, on Saturday the Driscoll Highlanders blanked Marmion 41-0 in the teams' Suburban Catholic Conference football opener.
Driscoll (3-0, 1-0) exorcised the memory of Week 9 last year, when Marmion (2-1, 0-1) extended the Highlanders to the last 12 seconds.
"We just didn't want that to happen again," said Driscoll linebacker Kevin Palermo, whose first-quarter fumble recovery got the ball rolling.
"We wanted to come out there and put an end to it right off the bat and send the conference a message, basically, that we're for real this year," he said.
Few would doubt that after seeing Driscoll gain 405 yards to 88 for Marmion, with minus-26 yards rushing. The Cadets had averaged nearly 44 points and last week defeated Kaneland, then-No. 2 in Class 5A.
"You don't beat yourself up," said Marmion coach Dan Thorpe. "Like last week, you can't think you're God's gift to offense and this week we can't believe that we're that bad. So we just evaluate the film and move on."
Driscoll moved on Marmion at will. It led 13-0 lead after a quarter on David Schwabe's 4-yard run and Travis Kristie's 21-yard touchdown catch.
Schwabe, a third-year safety in his first season at quarterback, had Driscoll up 27-0 at halftime on an 11-yard pass to Austin Baker and another to Kristie, 24 yards.
"Our game plan was just to try to put them away. It's our home opener so we just came out like our hair was on fire," said Schwabe, 17-of-23 passing for 185 yards, plus 66 yards rushing.
Tailback Tim Franken, who caught Schwabe's fourth touchdown pass for a 34-0 lead at 7:16 of the third quarter, ran 12 times for 116 yards. P.J. Fajardo scored on an 18-yard run behind stellar guard Mike Labadessa, and Brett Warren's kick made it 41-0.
Typifying Marmion's malaise was its third-quarter drive to the Driscoll 12. Successive high snaps over shotgun quarterback Ricky Bird equaled minus-32 in yardage.
"What they had on the field was what we simulated in practice. We just beat ourselves today," said Bird, who found Manny Juarez 6 times for 44 yards receiving.
The game was a victory in absentia for Driscoll offensive guru Mike Loconsole. After installing the Highlanders' offensive game plan, on Wednesday the cancer survivor was admitted into intensive care with chest pains.
"The boys are going to be able to bring him that game tape and he's going to be able to think about football for awhile, keep his mind free," said Driscoll coach Mike "Buzz" Burzawa. "That's the thing I'm most proud of today."