Benet falls at Marist

Friday night for the Marist Redhawks was much different than it was last Saturday at Hanson Stadium against St. Patrick. Against Benet (3-5, 2-4) the host Redhawks made the big plays leading to a 43-12 victory.

On quarterback Mike Perish's second pass attempt, he hit Jayson Gorski for a 24-yard touchdown pass. Later in the second quarter, Perish found wide receiver Nick Valla for 59 yards, setting up a 5-yard touchdown pass from Perish to running back Mike Skalitzky.

"We worked hard this week, Perrish said. "The loss to St. Pats really opened our eyes."

The big plays didn't stop for Marist (6-2, 4-2). With a little more than a minute left in the half, Perish found a wide-open Dan Piko down the middle of the field for a 46-yard score.

"The coaches prepared us well," Piko said. "We had a hard week of practice and wanted to bounce back."

Marist coach Pat Dunne agreed with his senior wideout.

"All the coaches put in the time and effort to prepare the kids," he said. "But the kids are the ones that make the plays and bring the effort."

Effort is something that Dunne instills in his team as the most important.

Since the beginning of summer camp, we've been focusing on getting better every day, each play. It doesn't matter what the other team does. We can control our effort and focus on what we can do," he said.

Even though the Redwings lost, the feeling after the game was the same as the Redhawks.

Coach Gary Goforth commended the effort of his team.

"They did not once give up. They work hard and I never question their effort," he said.

Benet failed to execute when it mattered most. It did, however, have a couple big plays of its own.

Luke Terna hooked up with Mike Kipp 50 yards through the air, setting up a 1-yard touchdown run by Pat Boyle, and later Terna found Phil Schmidt and 64 yards later he was in the end zone with the Redwings' second touchdown.

Each team heads into the final week of the season with different things on the line. Marist hosts Marian Catholic and looks to improve its playoff seeding and to build momentum.

Benet looks to double its win total from last season when it hosts St. Patrick.

"Next week is going to be a character builder," Goforth said. "The seniors are a great group and we want to send them off 4-5. I tell them it's not the wins and losses that they're going to remember. It's how much fun they had."