Late Marmion touchdown stuns St. Francis
As Marmion ended its 15th consecutive quarter without scoring a point, a fourth straight shutout loss seemed unbearably possible.
Then came the breakthrough at the perfect time.
The Cadets drove 64 yards for a go-ahead touchdown late in the fourth quarter to edge St. Francis 7-5 in their Suburban Catholic Conference football game in Aurora.
Marmion (3-3, 1-3), which suffered shutout losses to Driscoll, Marian Central and Montini, trailed 3-0 heading to the fourth quarter. A missed field goal kept the Cadets scoreless, but they got the ball back at their own 36 with 6:03 left.
Running back Bobby Winkel keyed the drive, carrying the ball on six of the eight plays, including a successful fourth-down conversion. He ran for 49 yards on the drive, capped by a 20-yard burst into the end zone. Alex Picini added the extra point to put the Cadets ahead 7-3 with 3:30 left.
"We weren't going to give up," said Winkel, who had 15 carries for 91 yards. "I said, 'Guys, if you block I'm going to score.' I ran right through the hole."
A 48-yard kick return by Mark Kachmer set up St. Francis (2-4, 1-3) at Marmion's 47-yard line with 3:20 left. A pair of passes from Jeff Reckards to Bob Vonderhaar moved the Spartans to a first down at the Cadets 17.
On third-and-11, however, Marmion's Sean Fichtel snared an interception in the end zone -- his second of the game and the team's third -- to seal the win.
St. Francis pulled within 7-5 on a safety in the waning seconds when Marmion, facing fourth-and-13 at its own 17, had quarterback Matt Milroy run out of the end zone rather than risk a punt block.
"It's just great to get a win," said Marmion coach Dan Thorpe. "I'm really happy for (linemen) Alex Heinen, Danny Linden and Brian Bakala. We ran to the left four or five plays in a row. We put it on their backs."
St. Francis started the game with a 15-play, 69-yard drive that Kevin McNally finished off with a 32-yard field goal. The Spartans nearly scored in the second quarter, but Fichtel thwarted the drive with his first red-zone pick.
St. Francis outgained Marmion 253-189. Stan Bobowski led the ground game with 87 yards on 26 carries.
"We just have improved so much defensively, I'm really proud of our kids," said Spartans coach Greg Purnell. "We drove the ball all day but couldn't score. They made some tremendous defensive plays out there."