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Marmion overcomes 2-score deficit

It was not the start to the football season Marmion envisioned Friday night in Aurora.

The Cadets coughed the ball up on their first play from scrimmage, and Plainfield Central added a second score midway through the second quarter one play after another Marmion turnover.

The Cadets, meanwhile, had yet to register a first down in the nonconference game against the Wildcats.

But Marmion held Plainfield Central scoreless for the last 30 minutes of the game to secure the 24-14 victory in the schools' opener.

The Cadets (1-0) had back-to-back scoring drives to end the first half as well as to start the fourth quarter as part of their 24-point unanswered blitz.

With Plainfield Central (0-1) neutralizing the Cadets' rotating series of running backs on the ground, Marmion turned to senior quarterback Johnny Tate.

The 6-foot-4 St. Charles resident accounted for 229 of the Cadets' 294 total yards off offense in engineering the comeback win.

"We started off slow," Tate said of the Cadets' early offensive struggles.

But Tate and Jake Haas collaborated on the key play of the game to give Marmion the lead for good 71 seconds into the fourth quarter.

Tate (10-21-187) connected with Haas on a 22-yard curl route to the Wildcats' 25-yard line.

The Cadets' junior receiver - who would later ice the game with an interception in the waning minutes - made a quick darting move to his left.

Haas scampered untouched the rest of the way to complete the 47-yard touchdown.

"You have to have trust in your receivers," said Tate, who endured half-a-dozen drops before the dramatic score. "(Haas) made a great cut on the ball."

"All the mistakes came out, and we turned it around," Haas said.

Calvin McDonald had a combination sack-forced fumble to thwart the Wildcats' ensuing possession, which threatened all of the Cadets' momentum.

Wasting no time, Nick Sevenich hit Brandon McPherson with a trick play to put Marmion right back in business in Plainfield Central territory.

"I thought the halfback option was the biggest play of the game," Marmion coach Dan Thorpe said.

Tate had his second rushing score two plays after calling his own number on a fourth-down conversion with 4:17 to play to conclude the scoring.

Marmion, meanwhile, had a mere 21 yards from its five running backs on 18 carries.

The Wildcats had 21 more plays from scrimmage and their six ball-carriers amassed 241 yards on 55 carriers.

But only 74 of the Wildcats' 284 yards came after halftime.

Tate capped the Cadets' first scoring drive with a 14-yard scamper, and Connor Hoeft reduced the Cadets' deficit to 14-10 entering halftime with a 32-yard field goal.

Plainfield Central never scored again after Marcus Hayes' 21-yard strike to Andy Black midway through the second quarter.

"It was the little things, but it was enough to give us the loss," Hayes said.

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