Benet takes 'ugly' win

Benet Academy coach Pat New told his team after Friday's football game that this was the ugliest win he ever saw. But for the Redwings all that mattered was a 25-16 victory over Notre Dame in Niles.

Victor Karam kicked four field goals and quarterback Jack Sznajder threw for one touchdown to pace the Redwings (1-1).

"This was crazy," New said. "A win is a win especially against (Notre Dame). They are well-coached and have great players. They have tough competitors over there so to get out of here with a win was really great."

Karam kicked two field goals and Ryan Liszke grabbed a 5-yard pass from Sznajder to give the Redwings a 13-7 lead at the half.

"We got a lot of improvement to do as a team," New said. "We're still not clicking offensively so we have to find a way to click and get better week to week. We have a couple of injuries but right now it's just getting the offense going."

The Dons tied the score 16-16 on 10-yard run by Ty Gavin. But Sznajder lead the Redwings downfield late in the fourth quarter where Karam kicked a 27-yard field goal to give the Redwings a 19-16 lead with one second on the clock.

"We stepped up and made the big plays when we needed them," New said. "Jack made some nice throws, we settled down and made some big catches."

"I thought the whole game we had been really rushed," Sznajder said. "I told the offense we need to slow it down, trust ourselves, play our game and we can make big things happen."

The Redwings followed with an onside kick. The Dons tried a razzle-dazzle play near the end zone but couldn't move the ball out. Junior back Nicholas Keyes gabbed the loose ball in the end zone to close out the scoring in this "ugly" game.

"I was just in position," Keyes said. "The ball was rolling on the ground in the end zone and I just dove on it."

The Redwings picked off five passes from Dons junior quarterback Tom Drabik.

"You have to win the turnover battle and we didn't win the turnover battle," said Dons coach Mike Hennessey. "In the first quarter they didn't give us the middle, but after that we were able to open up the zone and put the ball on the outside. We had great opportunities and didn't cash in."