Naperville Central falls to Chicago Marist
Mud-caked and exhausted after an emotional game, Naperville Central's football team took its time exiting Marist's stadium Saturday night.
Letting go isn't easy.
Naperville Central saw its season end with a 24-7 loss in its Class 8A second-round game in Chicago, pushing fourth-seeded Marist (9-2) into next weekend's quarterfinals to face unbeaten Fremd.
Although both sides expected a high-scoring game, the defenses stood tall. Marist especially buckled down after allowing an early touchdown to No. 5 Naperville Central (8-3).
"Going into this game we kind of thought it was going to be an offensive battle," said Naperville Central quarterback Nick Linne. "(The defense) really put us in a position to win, and you can't ask for anything more from them. It's not that our offense didn't play hard, we just couldn't put it together tonight."
After Naperville Central intercepted Marist quarterback Mike Perish early in the first quarter, the offense marched 44 yards in 5 plays capped by Linne's 14-yard touchdown run. Marist countered with a 13-play drive featuring three third-down conversions, including a 4-yard touchdown run by Anthony Szul.
Marist scored 24 straight points including a 10-0 second-quarter burst. Perish, who completed 22 of 32 passes for 285 yards, fired an 11-yard scoring pass to Bill Lundy and Ben Falloon added a 36-yard field goal to put Marist ahead 17-7 at the half.
"Last week we went down 7 (points) quick and then we scored 41 unanswered points," Perish said. "So, I mean, we've been in that situation before and it didn't worry us too much."
The teams traded 4 of their combined 14 punts in a scoreless third quarter as Naperville Central repeatedly tried to dent the deficit. Marist's defense, however, kept Naperville Central at least 40 yards from the end zone the entire second half.
Naperville Central had some success running the ball as Ben Murphy rushed for 91 yards on 11 carries. Linne completed 16 of 31 passes for 120 yards in the face of a menacing pass rush.
"Most games are pretty high scoring for us but both defenses played outstanding, especially in the second half," said Marist receiver-defensive back Dan Piko, who caught 5 passes for 62 yards and also snared an interception.
Marist tallied its last touchdown in the game's final two minutes on a 35-yard pass from Perish to Nick Valla.
"Coming in we kind of felt we needed to get three or four scores to beat them, that's what it was going to take, and offensively we just didn't do that tonight," said Naperville Central coach Mike Stine. "I give them credit. They were probably a little better, a little more physical up front, than we thought they were coming in."