Marmion wins thriller at Kaneland

There were enough tipped and loose balls for a basketball game to break out Friday night at Kaneland High School, but this was nonconference football.

And when the last loose ball of the night rolled into the arms of Marmion defensive end Juan Avila in the Marmion end zone, it saved the night for the Cadets, who escaped with a 22-15 victory over Kaneland.

That loose ball came out of the hands of Kaneland's Ryley Bailey just before he entered the end zone with a score that could have tied or won the game for the host Knights with less than two minutes remaining.

Kaneland (1-1) was in a position to win the game because Steven Tosaw had recovered a Marmion fumbled snap two minutes earlier near midfield.

"It was hard to see a loser in this game, but I was proud of our kids and how hard they fought back," Kaneland coach Tom Fedderly said. "There were just some things that didn't go our way."

Those things put Kaneland behind early, when Marmion (2-0) struck on its first offensive snap of the game - which happened to go over the head of quarterback Ricky Bird, who tipped it into the air and into the arms of tailback Matt Pircon, who rambled 68 yards for a touchdown.

After Bobby Winkel ran in the two-pointer, Marmion was on top 8-0.

"The snap went over my head, but I thought, hey Matt is coming around behind me anyway, and he got it and went," Bird said of the unusual scoring play.

Mike Carbonara kept Kaneland sophomore quarterback Joe Camiliere from catching fire early by intercepting a pass to set up Marmion's second score.

Bird put Marmion ahead 16-0 by finding Pircon slanting across the middle for an 18-yard scoring pass that Pircon tipped in the air to himself. Bird followed it up with a 12-yard, two-point pass to Winkel after a penalty.

Camiliere started firing on his way to completing 29 of 45 passes for 281 yards and one touchdown. He completed five passes on a scoring drive he capped with a 9-yard run early in the second quarter, then tossed a two-point pass to Bailey to trim Marmion's lead in half.

But the Cadets struck quickly to open the second half, with Ryan Fitzgerald breaking loose for a 45-yard touchdown run, setting the stage for high drama as Marmion tried to hold off the charging Knights.

Kaneland scored its final touchdown with 3:53 left when Camiliere found Tyler Callaghan in the end zone from 7 yards out.

The Knights failed to recover an onside kick, but took advantage of the fumbled snap one play later to mount their last drive.

They drove to the Marmion 1-yard line before Camiliere fumbled a snap on second down, and the Cadets knocked the ball loose from Bailey on third down after he caught a pass slashing toward the goal line.

"The turnovers hurt both teams and there wasn't any flow," Marmion coach Dan Thorpe said. "We knew they would come back on us, they are almost better in a shootout than they are in a low-scoring game.

"It was just a great game," Thorpe added. "Both teams played giveaway and we just came out on top."