The playoff-bound team struggled to do anything right. The team whose season will end next week could do no wrong.
Marmion Academy scored on all five first-half possessions Friday and added another touchdown on its first possession of the second half to start a running clock in an eventual 41-7 victory over Aurora Central.
“We ran the ball. We threw the ball. I’ve said all along we have a nice team. We did a lot of things well tonight,” said Marmion coach Dan Thorpe, whose team climbs to 3-5 overall and 3-3 in the Suburban Christian Blue.
“I was very happy with our defense. They didn’t move the ball much on offense.”
Marmion’s defense limited the Chargers (6-2, 4-2 SCC Gold) to 47 total yards in the first half and 89 for the game — 41 on the ground and 48 through the air.
“They’ve got a great running attack and we put a lot of work in this week on defense,” said Marmion senior DB/RB Jake Ruddy, who capped the opening 73-yard drive with a 5-yard scoring run.
“Basically, we wanted to make sure they couldn’t get around the corner. We wanted to push them back inside where our linebackers could get them.”
ACC didn’t record a first down until 11:53 remained in the second quarter, coming on its third possession. The Chargers, who will be in either Class 3A or 4A in the playoffs, had four three-and-out possessions in the game.
Meanwhile, the Cadets piled up 390 total yards — 226 on the ground.
Junior QB Brock Krueger, who alternated with senior Charlie Faunce on each possession, engineered a 67-yard scoring drive on the Cadets’ second possession. He capped it by scrambling out of trouble and throwing up a 40-yard bomb into the end zone that was grabbed by Seth Sevenich, who came back to the ball and beat two defenders on what Thorpe called “a backyard play.”
Each quarterback for the Class 6A Cadets directed three scoring drives. Faunce ran four times for 36 yards and completed all three of his passes for 49 yards.
Krueger completed 6 of 9 passes for 115 yards and two scores, connecting with Sevenich (4 catches, 77 yards) on a 3-yarder. Ruddy (4 carries, 47 yards) fumbled in the end zone after a 6-yard run that was recovered by left guard Matt Smith for score.
Krueger added a 6-yard scoring run and Jordan Glasgow, who ran 10 times for 54 yards, had a 1-yard scoring run.
Chargers’ leading rusher Steven Amoni returned from an ankle injury and led all ACC runners, but was limited to just 24 yards on nine carries.
“Up front their speed defensively was a huge plus,” ACC coach Brian Casey said. “They played very fast and that kinda surprised me we had trouble with that.
“Their front eight guys moving that quick gave us some problems early on and then you play from behind and get some breaks that don’t go your way, it’s tough. They fire it up from 40 yards and it drops into their dude’s hands, and then we force a fumble and it rolls into the end zone and they recover it. At some point in time, you have to create your own breaks.”
It doesn’t get any easier next week for the Chargers, who face three-time defending state 5A champ Montini in the regular season finale.
“I like the schedule the way it is now, though, because this shows you what you need to improve on,” said Casey. “We’re gonna coach to win it. Hopefully by Week 10 you’re playing your best.
“We’re beating the teams we’re supposed to beat, now we have to learn how to compete with the better teams.”
