St. Francis enjoys atmosphere
St. Francis cruised to a 42-20 win over DuSable in its first home game under the lights at College of DuPage on Friday.
The Spartans' special teams flustered DuSable punter Chris Galbreath as he fumbled the snap in the opening minutes. St. Francis took over inside the Panthers' 10, and junior running back Hunter Bolin scored on the next play.
Fueled with the adrenaline of playing on a college field, the Spartans jumped out to a 28-0 lead in the first quarter.
"This is such a great facility," said St. Francis coach Greg Purnell. "We're very happy the College of DuPage have opened their arms and loaned it to us."
The Spartans' ground-heavy offense put the game out of reach after Dan Becks' 62-yard touchdown gallop in the second quarter. It was Becks' only carry of the game.
Even as St. Francis dominated the game with running plays between the tackles, senior quarterback Colin O'Donnell hooked up with wide receiver Mike Yanan twice in the first half. The pass plays set up two touchdowns.
DuSable pieced together a well-balanced touchdown drive and tacked on a 2-point conversion in the final seconds of the first half. The Panthers trailed 42-8 at halftime despite the drive.
In the third quarter DuSable proved it still had significant life left in its offense behind quarterback Jermayne Akons. The Panthers from Chicago's Bronzeville neighborhood scored two more touchdowns to end the game but failed to convert on both 2-point conversions.
The Panthers discovered a quick burst of offense from running back-wide receiver Victor Bradford. Bradford rushed the ball just 5 times for 72 yards and added 4 catches for 32 yards.
"Halfway through the second quarter we didn't play any starters, but that doesn't take way from how much speed (DuSable) has," Purnell said.
The final Panthers touchdown came after Galbreath swung a lateral pass out to Akons, who fired it down the field to uncovered wide receiver Elliot Gould.
Despite the successful late game trickery, DuSable was unable to overcome mental errors as they were flagged for infractions eight times in the first half alone.
The Spartans (2-0) will travel to Marmion Academy next Friday night to take on the Cadets.
"I'm thankful we escaped this game injury free," Purnell said. "We can now move on to Marmion."