Scouting Marmion @ Lincoln-Way West
Marmion (5-1) at Lincoln-Way West (1-5)
Game time 7:30 p.m. today
Last year Did not play.
Last week Marmion 21, Aurora Central 0; Lincoln-Way North 17, Lincoln-Way West 0.
Outlook About the only thing familiar at first-year varsity program Lincoln-Way West would be apparent to fans of the disbanded Private School League. L-W West Warriors coach Mark Vander Kooi led Chicago Christian to a 52-12 record in six playoff seasons and, with Walther Lutheran, was the PSL power before Aurora Christian took that job. Vander Kooi's final season there, 2007, was his best, finishing with a 10-2 mark before getting knocked out of the Class 4A quarterfinals in Driscoll's final state championship run. Coincidentally, when Driscoll closed Marmion needed an opponent to fill the void, and here it is. Marmion coach Dan Thorpe's scouting report on the all-junior Warriors - who beat Plainfield East 32-8 in the opener and have been outscored 158-41 since - is they're a well-coached, two-platoon squad that allows quarterback Justin Butterfield to throw the ball out of a spread offense to a nice tight end, Nick Bellamy. "They're willing to throw the ball from their own 2-yard line," Thorpe said, though the Warriors have been shut out the last two games. Thorpe figures this to be a battle of two different styles, L-W West's throw-first scheme against the Cadets' pounding the ball behind their big line. Except for T.J. Lally, who had a dynamite game last week with 109 yards and 2 touchdowns on just 6 carries and 12 tackles on defense, Marmion was kept in check by Aurora Central Catholic, held to 3 yards a pop when somebody else ran the ball. That was in the slop, and outside speedsters like Matt Pircon should enjoy L-W West's turf once Marmion makes the hour and a half drive there. Thorpe was pleased last week with some of those important little things like kick coverage and returns - Bobby Winkel continues to boom his punts, averaging 45.8 yards last week - but didn't enjoy an 0-for-3 passing attack. The best news of all is Marmion, the Suburban Christian Conference Blue leader, became playoff eligible and should reach the postseason for the second season in three years. "We're working on getting more efficient on all three aspects of the game," Thorpe said. "We want to take care of business and go 1-0 this week."
Next Marmion at Chicago Christian (3-3, 1-2), Oct. 16; Lincoln-Way West at Stagg (1-5).