Marian Central stops St. Francis offense

St. Francis had averaged 52.3 points in its three previous games, but the Spartans' attack stalled Friday night at Marian Central.

A physical Marian Central contained the Spartans' ground attack for much of the game, but St. Francis only trailed 7-6 midway through the fourth quarter.

But blitzing Hurricanes cornerback Adam Szudarski jarred the ball loose on a sack, with Marian Central's Gregory Whalen recovering the fumble in the end zone, increasing its lead to 14-6 with 6:22 remaining.

Marian Central (5-2, 3-1) then withstood a one final score by St. Francis (5-2, 1-2) denying the 2-point conversion with 26.8 seconds remaining and hanging on to a 14-12 Suburban Christian Blue victory in Woodstock.

"They really shut us down," said St. Francis coach Greg Purnell of the Hurricanes defense that held the Spartans to 78 yards rushing. "We were able to move the ball with just a minute and a half to go."

Szudarski scored the first touchdown off a Hurricanes fumble in the first quarter, and the senior was in the right place the second score.

"I knew I hit him hard and popped the ball out," said Szudarski of his game-changing play. "We knew we had to make a stop."

St. Francis quarterback Collin O'Donnell found Mark Schmitt for a 59-yard touchdown pass as time ran out in the first quarter to narrow the Spartans' deficit to 7-6.

But both defenses hunkered down for the next two quarters.

St. Francis allowed Marian Central quarterback Ben Krol to pass for 162 yards in the first half, but the Spartans defense only allowed 13 passing yards in the second half.

Jack Porter and Vince Perry both came up with key sacks in the third quarter and the Spartans defense denied the Hurricanes offense at the 2-yard line early in the fourth quarter.

"We adjusted to the pass after halftime," said linebacker Colin Marshall, who contributed a sack in the first half. "We came out and played hard nose football."

Jake Butler took over at quarterback for St. Francis late in the fourth quarter and found Dave Spahn for a 46-yard completion, which led to a 12-yard score by same pair. But the Spartans were denied on the ensuing run for the 2-point conversion.

"Our defense played well all night," Purnell added. "It was a tremendous effort by our defense, now we have to improve by next Friday."