Marmion teams up for easy win over Huntley
Whoever gets Marmion in the second round of the Class 6A playoffs, either Prairie Ridge or King, has to deal with a scary, multiheaded monster.
Against No. 15 Huntley the second-seeded Cadets ran for 368 yards yet no single back broke 100. Matt Pircon, Bobby Winkel, T.J. Lally, Adam Andras and Nick Scoliere each ran for at least 66 yards with a touchdown in Marmion's 42-20 win over the Red Raiders on the turf at Aurora Christian.
"As a defensive coach I would hate to prepare for us. But, we've still got to execute," said Marmion coach Dan Thorpe.
That's where the offensive line came in for Marmion (9-1), which advances to a second-round playoff game for the first time since 1998. Counter plays behind pulling guards Jeff McLean and Connor English accounted for three of the first four Marmion touchdowns as the Cadets went up 28-0 at halftime.
"Pulling is my favorite thing in the world," said McLean. "You just get to truck somebody out in the open field. It's awesome."
Winkel and Lally opened the first-half scoring, then when the teams switched sides for the second quarter, Cadets quarterback Bobby Peters took advantage of a stiff wind to hit Pircon on a fly pattern for a 61-yard touchdown, Peters' only completion.
"We did the same thing last week (against Montini)," Peters said. "They brought the blitz, the line picked it up, and we made a play."
A first-half goose egg after its strongest drive ended on an interception late in the second quarter was not the preferred playoff experience for Huntley (5-5).
"I think we just came out real flat," said Red Raiders fullback-linebacker Marcus Popenfoose. "No one really gave us much of a chance coming in. Earlier in the season that didn't stop us from playing hard, but I think tonight it kind of stopped us."
Marmion's defense, getting big results by end Nate Pacer, contained Huntley quarterback Tim Lycos most of the first half. Pircon made it 35-0 at 5:19 of the third quarter when Lycos erupted.
Following Nick Davila's 89-yard kickoff return Lycos scored on a 2-yard run. Huntley quickly recovered a Marmion fumble and Lycos pump-faked and scored on a 61-yard run to trim the deficit to 35-14 after three quarters.
Each team swapped touchdowns in the fourth quarter, Lycos throwing a 59-yard touchdown pass to Brett Kleckner. Lycos finished with 144 yards rushing.
"Obviously, by the second half you couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel," said Huntley coach Steve Graves. "They came out and played hard anyway, so we were proud of that."