Marian’s defense held tough early on Friday before host Carmel Catholic rolled to a 34-10 ESCC victory over the Spartans. (PHOTO SUPPLIED)
Mundelein, IL-(ENEWSPF)- The third time was no charm for Marian Catholic on Friday night.
For the third straight game, starting quarterback Patrick Schmidt was knocked out of the contest- this time with an injured throwing hand.
The result was a lackluster Spartan offense, helping host Carmel Catholic to roll to a 34-10 victory in the East Suburban Catholic Conference opener for both teams.
As has been its habit, Marian kept things close early with a 12-3 halftime deficit. But the Spartans’ first four possessions of the second half resulted in a three-and-out, two fumbles and pick-six interception.
Within a blink of the eye, Carmel had scored four times in three possessions to swell the differential to 34-3 early in the fourth quarter.
The Corsairs improved to an uncharacteristic 1-2 mark, while Marian’s early-season grueling schedule saw the Spartans fall to 0-3 heading into an ESCC meeting with Notre Dame next Friday in Chicago Heights.
Until it got a few things going in the final stanza, the Marian offense stood at negative-1 yards through its first 10 possessions of the contest.
Also for a third straight game, the Marian defense did its best to keep the Spartans in the contest in the early going.
With some strong play up front from the likes of Gideon Woods, Timothy Mason, Drew Robinson, Brian Richardson and Justin Scott, Marian held three times on fourth down and forced Carmel to settle for a field goal in the opening half.
Meanwhile, an interception and 36-yard return by Patrick Swanson spurred the Spartans’ first score of the game. A Carmel personal foul was tacked on to set up Marian at the Corsair 15-yard line.
Things looked even brighter for the visitors when Eric Hurley turned the corner at left end for an 11-yard burst and first-and-goal at the Carmel 4. However, Marian lost yardage on two of the next three plays and had to settle for a 24-yard field goal from Chris Taborn to make the score 9-3 with 9:25 to play in the second quarter.
Marian was directionally challenged for much of the evening, as 17 snaps for the night went for negative yardage. The backward trend meant that Marian’s offense produced just 74 yards for the contest, with most of the production coming after the Corsairs owned a four-touchdown command.
Carmel couldn’t muster much offense either in the early going, but the Corsairs got a bonus for their first points.
With bad snaps and fumbles a major bugaboo in the first third of Marian’s season, Carmel scored first on Friday when a bad punt snap resulted in a 21-yard Marian loss and safety for the first points of the contest. The Corsairs also took advantage of the ensuing kickoff from Marian’s 20-yard line. Needing to travel just 55 yards, Carmel marched to a 9-3 lead midway through the opening stanza.
Marian’s defense proved stingy for the remainder of the opening half. Carmel managed just a 23-yard field goal by Steven O’Block, after the Spartans stonewalled the host squad on a third-and-goal from the Marian 2-yard line.
With just 8 yards of total offense in the first half, Marian was either fortunate to have just a 12-3 deficit or a team that was knocking on disaster’s door.
It looked like the former might be the case when Carmel fumbled on its opening possession of the second half. Opening in great position at the Carmel 38-yard line, Marian had a holding penalty and lost 1 yard over three snaps before fumbling the ball back to the Corsairs.
Carmel was done letting Marian off the hook. The Corsairs scored on their next three possessions and for the third straight week, Marian saw a close contest in the second half turn into a blowout loss.
The Marian offense proved generous to the Corsairs’ quick 22-point second-half blitz.
Carmel turned the turnover into a 55-yard scoring drive. Then a Spartan three-and-out set up the Corsairs for a 45-yard field goal. Another bad snap on fourth down set up Carmel for a 9-yard scoring drive. Finally, the Corsairs returned an interception 34 yards to paydirt for a 34-3 command.
With the contest decided, Marian’s offense finally came to life in the final quarter.
Some nifty scrambling ability by reserve quarterback Ki-Jana Crawford produced five completions and Troy Nutall finally churned out some yards on the ground to get Marian’s rushing game into positive numbers.
Marian traveled 48 yards for a score in its final possesion, as Crawford scrambled 15 yards for a first down and Nutall moved the chains again with an 8-yard scamper. Finally, Nutall got loose on a 19-yard touchdown run and the final 34-10 count.
Schmidt lasted just one possession, going 1-for-3 for 10 yards. Crawford finished with 38 passing yards, as Lorenzo Aldridge had three grabs for 33 yards. Hurley totaled 16 receiving yards on a pair of receptions.
The late surge produced a total of 68 yards on 12 carries for Nutall. Four of the other five Spartans to earn rushing totals were in negative yardage, as Hurley finished with 16 yards on 10 carries.
While the early-season hat trick of powers Homewood-Flossmoor, Crete-Monee and Carmel is in the rear, things won’t get much easier when Marian entertains ESCC foe Notre Dame for the 7:30 p.m. kickoff on Friday.
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