Marmion winning with an old school formula

It was old-time football at its best last Saturday at Marmion Academy.

A postseason game played before a packed house on a Saturday afternoon in November.

Check.

Football played on a natural grass field that became a little more treacherous with each passing quarter due to the early morning rain.

Check.

Two high school teams that gave it their all before respectfully offering congratulations to one another near midfield after the final whistle.

Check.

Marmion's 31-20 upset of top-seeded Lemont in last weekend's Class 6A quarterfinal clash has propelled the Cadets (11-1) to the state semifinals for the first time since 1989 when former Cadets coach Paul Murphy led the team to 12 consecutive victories before a 35-7 Class 3A Final Four loss to Princeton.

Murphy, who guided the Cadets to a 94-53 record during his 15-year stay at Marmion, has since moved on to Waubonsie Valley, where he has served as head coach the past six seasons.

Ironically, Marmion's semifinal opponent Danville (3:30 p.m. Saturday in Danville) also has strong local ties.

Danville coach B.J. Luke spent 17 years as head coach at Waubonsie Valley, guiding the Warriors to a 103-65 mark during that time before returning to his alma mater in 2005. Since then, Luke's Danville teams have posted a 42-22 record. Last year's squad reached the 6A semifinals before dropping a 30-21 decision to Providence Catholic.

Marmion, meanwhile, captured its first conference title since 1998 one year ago in the Suburban Christian Blue before being eliminated during its 31-7 second-round loss to Prairie Ridge.

That loss has served as an extra motivating force for the Cadets this season.

“We had a lot of juniors playing last year,” said senior quarterback Bobby Peters, whose 8-yard touchdown toss to Nick Scoliere on a gutsy third-and-goal call with 3:36 remaining helped seal Saturday's victory over Lemont.

“Losing in the second round (last year) we knew we could do better,” added Peters.

The 6-0, 165-pounder replaced injured senior Will Sterne (knee) in Week 4 of the 2009 season and quarterbacked the Cadets to seven straight wins.

“That helped tremendously getting experience with the offense,” said Peters, “just being on the field instead of sitting on the sideline watching.”

Peters has received plenty of help this season as well, surrounded by talented offensive players like T.J. Lally, Mike Carbonara, Mitch Loehmann, Garret Becker, Tommy Rogers, Phil Kloc, and Scoliere.

“To get this far you need diversity, and we have that,” said Peters. “Anybody can score on any play.”

Lally, a throwback type of player who starts on both offense and defense (halfback-linebacker), doesn't want the accomplishments of the 2010 Marmion football team to be forgotten any time soon.

“We always wanted to be remembered as the best team in Marmion football history,” said Lally. “This (win over Lemont) is a huge step toward that, and we just want to win a state championship.”

Old-time football is back at Marmion.

“Late in the year, you've got to be able to run the ball and you've got to be able to play great defense,” said Marmion coach Dan Thorpe, who has guided the Cadets to a 37-23 record since taking over in 2005.

When you can pile up 363 yards rushing and create 5 second-half turnovers like they did last Saturday, I'd say the Cadets certainly heard their coach loud and clear.

Their 31-point performance against a previously unbeaten Lemont team may have even caught their coach by surprise.

“I predicted a 10-7 type of game as long as we could stay away from the big play,” said Thorpe. “I never imagined our offense doing that. I underestimated our offense but we knew it was there.

“We've been waiting for that and they made believers out of me.”

Lally, Peters and the rest of the senior class finished with a 12-0, two-year record at Fichtel Field.

“We never lost a varsity football game on this field,” said Lally.

Now the Cadets need a road win to reach their ultimate destination Memorial Stadium in Champaign.

They'll take an old-time approach with them to Danville.

“We just want to go 1-0 next weekend,” said Thorpe.