Marmion falls to Fenwick
Marmion Academy coach Dan Thorpe knew his team could use a break or two to go its way Saturday afternoon against a bigger, deeper Fenwick football squad.
Unfortunately for the Cadets, the breaks seemed to favor the Friars, who capitalized on their breaks en route to a 42-21 Chicago Catholic Green victory played at Morton West Stadium.
Despite the cold, windy conditions, Marmion quarterback John Tate passed for 283 yards and a pair of touchdowns, but the Cadets did suffer 5 interceptions and also came up 1 yard, and a break shy of scoring what could have proved to be a big touchdown at the end of the first half.
The Friars had just gone ahead 27-14 on an 80-yard double pass play that saw quarterback Jacob Keller toss the ball out left to Gavin Graves, who then fired down field to Sherman Martin for a long score, 1 of 3 TD catches on the day by Martin, who had 4 catches all told for 160 yards.
But Marmion did block the PAT kick to keep the score at 27-14 and then marched down the field 79 yards before running out of time, and luck, in the first half.
On fourth-and-2 from the 8-yard line, Nick Sevenich made a sliding catch at the 3 with 27 seconds left, and on first down Marmion looked poised to run in a touchdown. But the play was whistled dead because 12 Friars defenders were on the field.
After moving half the distance closer to the goal, Sevenich was stopped on a short gain at the 1 and with the seconds ticking away, a high snap ended the Cadets' drive and the first half.
"It's just one of those years," Thorpe said. "We run a play and it looks like a score, but they get called for the penalty. And other times we had guys open and the wind blows it for an interception."
Even while the breaks and the turnovers helped Fenwick, Marmion (2-4, 0-2) battled and did create a few breaks of its own. The Cadets defense recovered three fumbles in the game, one of which was recovered in the end zone by linebacker Nick Auriemma. When Tate hit Anthony Zolfo on a two-point conversion, the Cadets led 14-13 with 5:27 left in the half.
But Fenwick (3-3, 1-1) countered with a 3-yard run Graves to take a 21-14 lead and followed that up with the long TD pass by Graves. The Friars were also aided by Will Lattner's 144 yards and a TD on the ground, and numerous strong kick returns that provided the hosts with good field position.
"We're battling," Thorpe said. "That' all we ask. And like I said, sometimes the football gods aren't fair. That was huge (at the end of half). If we score we're down one score."
Marmion's first score Saturday came on a 7-yard pass from Tate to Jett Haas that left the Cadets trailing 7-6. Tate also connected with Sevenich on a 7-yard scoring pass in third quarter, but in the end the Friars just had too much firepower.
"You know, we're working hard. We have been all year," said Tate, who finished 25 for 46 for 283 yards. "Every week we're working harder and getting better. Things just didn't go our way today. That happens in football."