Marist knocks off L-Way C.

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CHICAGO -- This was not the situation that Lincoln-Way Central High School football coach Tim Dougherty wanted his team to face.

But a 14-0 deficit to Marist ballooned into a 35-7 hole at halftime in Friday's Class 8A first-round playoff game.

The game Knights continued to battle in the second half, but they still fell 42-21 to the RedHawks.

"We did not want to get into a a scoring match with Marist and that's what this game turned into," Dougherty said. "Getting down quickly was my worst nightmare.

"Marist's quarterback is pretty good and he was on the mark in this one. They also ran the ball effectively."

Marist (8-2) was led by quarterback Mike Perrish, a Frankfort native. The 6-foot-3, 185-pound junior was near perfect in the first half -- 14-of-16 for 223 yards and 3 touchdowns.

In that first half, Perrish guided the RedHawks to 352 of their 455 total yards. He finished the night completing 17-of-21 passes for 231 yards and 3 scores.

Perrish was complemented by running back Billy Seiler, who finished with a game-high 140 rushing yards on 24 carries. He rushed for 115 first-half yards.

"When Marist got the big lead, we had to change our offensive scheme," Dougherty said. "Once again, we didn't want it to be a scoring match and that's exactly what happened."

Senior quarterback Kyle Plarski had a solid game for the Knights (6-4). Trying to avoid a fierce Marist pass rush, Plarski completed 12-of-19 passes for 140 yards. But he was sacked 5 times in the second half.

Plarski's feet produced the Knights' only score in the first half. He broke free for a 17-yard TD run with 3:25 left in the first half to cut the deficit to 28-7.

On the very next series, however, the RedHawks drove 80 yards to go ahead 35-7 on Perrish's third TD pass of the first half to wideout Nick Vella. The touchdown play covered 20 yards, and it came with only 2 seconds remaining.

"That touchdown right before halftime hurt," Dougherty said. "The touchdown cut into any momentum that we had."

The Knights' Chase Davis delivered a 4-yard touchdown run with 6:26 left in the game. Davis' run capped an 8-play, 71-yard touchdown march which was helped by a 15-yard penalty against Marist.

Davis finished with 70 rushing yards in 14 attempts.

The game's final TD occurred with 1:14 left. Senior Vincenzo Leone outran the Marist defense for the game's longest play, a 77-yard run for a touchdown.

On defense, the Knights' Zach Carlson, a 6-foot, 225-pound senior defensive end, was all over the field. He had 14 tackles.

"Zach had a good game and played well," Dougherty said. "We had a turnover in the first half and that really hurt us.

"For the most part this season, turnovers were not a problem for us."