Thorpe proud to put Marmion back among Class 6A's best
A high-low tackle with 14 seconds left sent Marmion where it hadn't been in 12 years.
Ryan Glasgow and Nick Scoliere got the ankles of Thornton Fractional South's Kenneth Jackson and T.J. Lally, Kyle Kozak and Mike Currie hit him high on a 2-point conversion try from less than 2 yards out, securing a 28-27 victory and delivering Saturday's Class 6A quarterfinal meeting against visiting No. 1 seed Lemont (11-0).
Marmion's last quarterfinal appearance came in 1998 under current Waubonsie Valley coach Paul Murphy, a 17-6 loss to Geneseo Darnall. Murphy also directed a 3A semifinal season in 1989.
Marmion coach Dan Thorpe thinks it's high time the No. 3 seeded Cadets (10-1) are back among the class' top eight teams.
"I'm proud of the effort the coaches and the kids have put in," he said. "It's been six long years."
Thorpe, 36-23 at Marmion and 19-3 the last two seasons, has been somewhat of a nomad, not by choice.
His wife, Dana, is a museum administrator whose stops have included the Shedd Aquarium, the Fresno (Calif.) Metropolitan Museum and, now, the Association of Children's Museums in Arlington, Va.
While staying in the Midwest, Dan Thorpe has interrupted promising careers at several high schools. He said he was the first person to win a state title as a player (Antigo, Wis.) and as a coach (Grafton, Wis.), coached a Wisconsin champion at Beloit Turner and tasted playoff success at Craig in Janesville and Ohio programs Warrensville Heights and Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin.
"It's been a journey," he said. "It's been fun to go in and do it the right way and get kids excited. But it has been frustrating, because I've had it going in some places. It's been frustrating moving on, that's why it's nice to be here for six years and enjoy the season that we're having."
To stay in the present tense Marmion must beat the best of three straight South Suburban Blue foes. Coach Eric Michaelsen's Lemont Indians were state runners-up in both 2007 and 2008. Marmion's heft from tackle to tackle (251 pounds on average) still exceeds that of Lemont (233), but the Indians won't be out of their element.
Lemont's ground game is by committee. Do-it-all senior Clayton Fejedelem scored 3 touchdowns in last week's 28-10 win over Geneva. According to Maxpreps.com, the only 100-yard game any Lemont back had was Jack Forrest's 107 yards in a 35-21 win over Oak Forest.
Besides Fejedelem, their game-breaker is receiver Lee Taylor, a 6-foot-1 senior receiver. He made 7 receptions for 103 yards last week with the game's first touchdown, and has 51 catches for 768 yards and 13 scores on the year.
Rover Fejedelem and linebackers Mike Hayes and Vincenzo Letizia will be geared to contain Marmion's bread-and-butter. Lally ran for 115 yards against T.F. South to bring his season total to 956 yards rushing with 13 touchdowns, and the Cadets will continue to mix in Scoliere, Mike Carbonara, Garret Becker and Mitch Loehmann, all of whom have at least 353 yards rushing.
The Cadets can't lose 2 fumbles, throw an interception and have a punt blocked, which let TF South hang in there, and expect Lemont to allow this great season to continue.
"We have to play our best game," Thorpe said.
"The key is, if we can get them behind and get them out of their comfort zone."