Marmion relies on the other guys

Updated: March 22, 2011 5:00PM

The bubble.

It's existence is inevitable. It's just a matter of where and when.

Then, it's a matter of recognition, and exploitation.

Marmion Academy running back Garret Becker lived in the bubble two weeks ago when the Cadets upset Lemont, rushing for 164 yards.

Sometimes, the bubble is only there for one play, and one play is all Marmion offensive coordinator Andy Windisch needs.

"If you line up in enough formations, you'll catch someone lining up in the wrong spot. We call that ‘The Bubble,'" he said. "And a lot of times we'll just run plays at the bubble."

What allows Windisch to seek and destroy said bubbles is the versatility afforded him by players like Mike Carbonara, Mitch Loehmann and Becker.

In the Marmion offense there are three different positions under the title of "running back" and all three players can play all three along with T.J. Lally and Nick Scoliere, giving Windisch five trusted options in the backfield.

"I guess you can say we're handymen - wherever you need us, we'll do it," Carbonara said of himself, Becker and Loehmann. "If you need us to block, we'll block. If you need us to catch the ball, we'll catch the ball; run the ball, we'll run the ball.

"We're always there to give someone a break and help out the team in any way that we can."

As a group, Carbonara, Loehmann and Becker have rushed for 1,326 yards and 16 TDs - an impressive, yet underrated total.

While their press clippings might not stack as high as some teammates', their effectiveness is why Lally (1,264 rush yards) and Scoliere (1,001 yards total offense) have been able to be game-breakers.

That's not to say they don't want to be gamebreakers on their own - they do - it's just impossible to know when that bubble will appear, and whose number will be called to pop it."One play could be a one-yard gain, the next play two yards, and the next play 50," Becker said. "Each play you've just got to keep hitting it and hopefully you'll hit a long one."

The same can be said for the forgotten players running patterns, receivers Phil Kloc and Tom Rogers.

The Cadets have piled up 4,577 yards of total offense this season and 75 percent of that total has come on the ground.

Yet when it's third-and-long or large chunks of yardage are needed in a short amount of time, Windisch does not hesitate to call on his two wideouts - even if they haven't seen a ball come their way to that point.

"I've got no times throwing the ball to them," Windisch said. "It's just like running the ball - we're so balanced. That's why coach (Thorpe) says we're a tough team to prepare for."

The Cadets offense will have to be clicking on all cylinders Saturday against Rockford Boylan in the 6A title game, a program that has allowed just 125 points this season.

Most of the pre-game attention will center on Lally, Scoliere and quarterback Bobby Peters (1,067 yards, 10 TD, 4 INT), but the game may very well be decided on how well the Cadets' "other guys" do when given an opportunity to break the Titans' bubble.

"It's a dream come true," Loehmann said. "Last year I had a friend at Wheaton Warrenville South and they won (the 7A title) last year and I was just thinking to myself, watching him on TV, how cool that would be to be playing in that game, to be playing for a state title. It's a big deal."

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