Spartans don't go quietly
St. Francis football coach Greg Purnell felt proud of his team after his Spartans jogged off the field for the last time Saturday afternoon, despite dropping a 30-21 decision to Marian Central to end their season.
"I'm really happy for our kids," Purnell said. "They hung in there after two midseason debacles and came back every week and just fought hard."
St. Francis (3-6, 2-5 Suburban Catholic Conference) dropped consecutive decisions to Montini and Driscoll by a combined score of 101-28, yet rebounded in Week 5 for a 51-28 victory over Aurora Central Catholic.
Though the Spartans were left playing for nothing but pride Saturday, they battled Marian Central to the final whistle.
St. Francis grabbed the game's first lead on its second possession of the first quarter, capitalizing on a short field to jump ahead 6-0.
Junior running back Stan Bobowski capped off the 13-play, 59-yard drive, powering into the end zone from 4 yards out.
Marian notched the game's only double-digit lead at the outset of the third quarter, driving 80 yards down the field for a 24-14 margin.
Boys soccer
Naperville C. 3, Marmion 2:ŒJoe Wehrli didn't score any goals Saturday afternoon, but the Naperville Central senior wreaked enough havoc to create two of them.
After an uninspired first half, the Redhawks outscored Marmion 3-2 in the second half to win the Class AA Naperville Central boys soccer regional championship.
Wehrli started the second half by stealing the ball from a Marmion defender and cutting inside across the penalty area, where he was fouled. Tim Zimmer converted the penalty kick, giving the Redhawks a 1-goal lead after just 29 seconds.
The score went to 2-0 in the 55th when Wehrli brought down a long pass into the Marmion penalty area. The ball rolled to sophomore Colin Rook, who knocked it in from close range.
"They created that with their pressure, they created that with their transition," Cadets coach Kevin O'Connor said.
The Cadets (15-8-2) didn't go quietly, however. Beto Del Toro's 60th minute laser beam from 31 yards out cut the lead to 1.
The second-seeded Redhawks (18-3-1) made it 3-1 in the 70th on Byard Ebling's goal off a long Zimmer free kick.
"Our backs were under tremendous pressure the whole game," O'Connor said.
-- Orrin Schwarz
Wheaton Academy 1, Wheaton North 0: The sixth-seeded Warriors knocked off the host No. 3 Falcons to win the regional.
The Warriors (14-3-5) host No. 2 St. Charles North at home in a sectional semifinal on Tuesday.
Boys cross country
Glenbard South regional: A smiling St. Francis boys cross country coach Scott Nelson was wondering out load if he should run out and buy a lottery ticket Saturday afternoon.
The way Nelson saw things, Saturday surely was his lucky day. His boys had just run a great race in edging second-place Northridge Prep by a single point, 60-61, and also barely holding off third-place Wheaton Academy (63 points) to take top honors at the Class 2A Glenbard South regional at Village Green in Glen Ellyn. Less than half an hour earlier Nelson's girls squad also claimed a championship regional plaque, with the Spartans girls beating Wheaton Academy by a sixth-runner tiebreaker.
"I haven't been in a regional like this in years," Nelson said. "Maybe I should run out and buy a lottery ticket. That was a hard-fought one. We'll take it."
The Spartans boys were powered by Garrett McKnight's winning time of 16:05 and Phil Diamond's fifth-place effort.
-- Stan Goff
Rock Falls regional: Sycamore took the regional title with 32 points, beating out Dixon's 65 and Kaneland's 82. Kevin Huml finished ninth for the Knights at a time of 16:00. Matt Reusche finished 12th at 16:08.
Princeton regional: Yorkville raced to the regional title with 31 points, as they posted four runners in the top 10. Sandwich had 82 and Aurora Central Catholic had 92. Max Gilbert finished 12th for the Chargers and Dan Kottkamp finished 14th. IMSA failed to qualify as a team, but sent five individuals to next week's sectional.
Seneca regional: Aurora Christian finished second and advanced to next week's sectional. The Eagles had no runners in the top five, but Aaron Dettman and Dan Risdall finished seventh and eighth.
Girls cross country
Glenbard South regional: As great as it is to have front-runners, cross country titles often are determined by which team has the best depth.
At Saturday's girls Class 2A regional in Glen Ellyn, Wheaton Academy's Sarah Daly and Becca Long finished 1-2 on the 3.05-mile course at Village Green. But in the end it was St. Francis that claimed the team title after the Spartans' and Warriors' top five runners left the squads tied for first at 31 points apiece.
It was St. Francis' Meg McKenna, battling a cold, who came across in 18th place overall who proved to be the difference as she finished ahead of Wheaton Academy's sixth runner to give the crown to Spartans coach Scott Nelson.
-- Stan Goff
Rock Falls regional: Kaneland qualified for next week's sectional with a fifth-place finish. Andi Strang finished fourth overall with a time of 19:01. Lisa Roberson finished 16th at 20:03.
Princeton regional: Valerie Cintron and Jamie Nagel's 1-2 finish led Aurora Central Catholic to the regional title. Jaclyn Nagel, Alexis Anthony, and Madison Hester all paced in the top 10 for the Chargers.
Rosary finished third overall, qualified for sectionals, and was led by Haley Euting's sixth place showing. Paoula Gueorguiev led IMSA with an 18th-place showing.
Seneca regional: Aurora Christian won the regional title with 15 points, 41 points better than runners-up Seneca. Deanna Jimenez finished first overall with a time of 19:52.4 and Kaitlin Bellak and Anna Morgan finished fourth and fifth.
Girls volleyball
PSL tournament: The Wheaton Academy girls volleyball squad came into Saturday's Private School League Tournament with its pair of senior outside hitters at less than 100 percent physically.
Wheaton Academy coach D.A. Nichols said Maggie Johnson, whose hip and knee have been giving her trouble, was at 75 percent, while her partner on the outside, Shelby Vischer, was slowed by an infection.
Yet, in their fifth match of a long day, there was Johnson, Vischer and the rest of the Warriors slugging it out with PSL regular season champion Chicago Christian in the title match.
In the end, Wheaton Academy's execution fell just short, even if its effort didn't, as Chicago Christian pulled out an 18-25, 25-19, 26-24 victory at Aurora Christian.
"I think it could have gone either way," Nichols said. "We were pretty even."
Aurora Christian (17-15) swept Walther Lutheran 25-21, 25-16 for fifth place behind Tara Thomalla's 6 kills, Rachel Mertens' 15 assists and 4 kills and Chelsea Cooper's 4 kills.
"They did a good job of finishing strong even though they had a really long day," Aurora Christian coach Nicole Andersen said of her Eagles.
Andersen liked how her club started the day, too, even though it lost to Timothy Christian 23-25, 25-22, 25-23 and Chicago Christian 25-15, 25-18.
"I was actually pretty proud of my girls," she said. "They did a great job at the beginning of the day. They had two big matches when they came out this morning and they did a good job of fighting aggressively."
Andersen praised Thomalla for her leadership throughout the tourney.
"I'm real proud of my senior captain, Tara Thomalla," Andersen said. "She did a great job -- offensively, defensively, leading the floor, all kinds of stuff."
-- Dave Miller
College football
Aurora 49, Concordia (Ill.) 19:ŒThe Spartans (3-4, 3-2) got off to a quick start, scoring 3 touchdowns in the first quarter and never looking back.
Ryne Reder rushed 27 times for 153 yards and scored twice. Spenser Adams passed for 164 yards and 3 touchdowns. The Spartans outgained their opponents 412-282.
On defense, Reed Sullivan intercepted 2 passes and returned one for a touchdown. Matt Meyer recorded a team-high 7 tackles.
Men's cross country
Skyway Meet: Waubonsee won the conference meet with 25 points, ahead of Morton's 53. Michael Higgins, Luis Valadez, and Bryan Tinajero finished two, three, and four to propel the Chiefs. Waubonsee has now won nine conference titles under Coach John Bell.
Women's cross country
Skyway Meet: Waubonsee edged out Moraine Valley to win the Skyway title. Rebecca Wheeler blazed past the field, finishing three miles in 19:53.1, 14 seconds ahead of the next runner. Becky Boedewig and Katie Teegarden placed sixth and seventh.