Marian Central storms past Wheaton Academy

Updated: October 8, 2011 7:16PM

Marian Central scored early and often against Wheaton Academy, but no play had more satisfaction for the undefeated Hurricanes in the 56-16 Suburban Christian Blue victory at West Chicago than a 35-yard interception return by lineman Scott Taylor.

The 6-4, 295-pound senior, who primarily blocks for the offense but comes in on defense for third downs, picked off Drew Decker’s pass in the second quarter and barreled down the sideline for a score to give Marian Central a 35-0 advantage.

“I was just thinking to run as fast as I could,” Taylor said. “I’ve recovered fumbles in practice and my sophomore year I intercepted a pass.”

“We knew as soon a he picked it off that we would never hear the end of it,” said Hurricanes coach Ed Brucker. “He’s a good athlete so I knew he had a good chance to score.”

On defense, the Hurricanes (7-0, 4-0) picked off four passes, including Taylor’s interception, and recovered a fumble.

On offense, Chris Streveler completed 10 of his 12 passes for 172 yards and two touchdowns. The junior also had a 9-yard touchdown run for Marian Central. His nine-yard pass to Nikko Theodorou gave the Hurricanes a 7-0 lead and a 27-yard TD pass to Kyle Thompson put the Woodstock school up 14-0.

Sam Calderaro returned a punt 74 yards for a score and had a five-yard TD run for Marian Central.

The Warriors scored two points on a safety in the second quarter when a blocked punt bounced into the end zone and a Marian Central player fell on the ball.

Down 42-2 at half-time, Wheaton Academy (1-6, 0-4) got a quick score when Charlie Hamm returned a Hurricanes fumble 21 yards on the first play from scrimmage in the third quarter. Decker connected with Isaiah Rosas for a 65-yard TD pass for the Warriors with 17 second left in the third quarter.

The seven wins for Marian Central eclipses the regular season total for last year’s quarterfinals team.

“We’re a little more balanced than last year’s team,” Brucker said.

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