Marmion prepares for trip to state

Updated: March 22, 2011 5:00PM

This week marks a historic week in Aurora football as Marmion Academy's football team prepares to take on Rockford Boylan Catholic at the University of Illinois on Saturday.

The 2010 Cadets are only the second team from the city to reach the final, joining the 2008 Aurora Christian Eagles.

A victory would be the first for the city.

"First time for the school, second time for Aurora. It's a great feeling. I can't wait," defensive lineman Ryan Glasgow said. "Since last year ended in Week 2 of the playoffs, we worked after that all year round, all through the summer. I think we deserve it. We're working so hard in practice, we still condition mostly every day. I think we've earned it."

This senior class of Cadets has put together an impressive two-year stretch, going 21-3 overall the last two seasons, which included a Suburban Christian Conference Blue title in 2009.

"This is what we wanted when we came here," said senior linebacker/running back T.J. Lally. "We wanted to be the first team to make a state championship. I can't wait for it. We get to hold a practice on Thanksgiving. That's a pretty cool thing."

A happy coincidence

Every summer, the state of Illinois holds workshops for high school college and guidance counselors, and over time Cadets head coach Dan Thorpe has become friends with Rockford Boylan coach Dan Appino.

Thorpe is director of college guidance at Marmion and Appino is the department head of guidance counseling at Boylan. The two often spend time talking football during their free time, and this past summer Thorpe asked Appino for some advice in how to defend playoff nemesis Prairie Ridge.

The Wolves had defeated the Cadets in the second round last year and in the first round in 2007 and Thorpe anticipated seeing them again during this year's postseason.

"We always talk X and O's," Thorpe said. "It was really funny. I was asking him ‘We're going to run into Prairie Ridge - how do you defend the option? How do you defend Prairie Ridge?' I've got that piece of paper and I looked at it (Friday) night."

Coincidentally, Appino's Titans defeated Prairie Ridge 14-7 in Saturday's other Class 6A semifinal.

Now, the two friends will game plan against one another this week.

"That will be fun," Thorp said. "He's a class guy and it's a class program."

Two conference champions?

In Week 9, Montini Catholic beat Marmion 27-21 in overtime after the Cadets had rallied from a 21-0 first-half deficit. The victory clinched the SCC Blue title for the Broncos and readied the Cadets for a grueling postseason.

Now, Montini is vying for its second straight Class 5A championship game after beating Kaneland 27-14 while Marmion hopes to win its first in 6A.

The conference's five playoff teams showed well in the playoffs, with three teams reaching the quarterfinals and two teams now vying for state championships. Montini barely edged St. Francis in the first round, 21-14.

First look at Titans

The Rockford Boylan Catholic Titans (13-0) head to Champaign out of the Northern Illinois NIC-10.

Through 13 games, the Titans averaged 41.1 points per game and allowed just 9.6.

In four playoff games, the offense has struggled by scoring at a 24.8 per-game clip while giving up 10 points.

Boylan handled Addison Trail and Richards in the first two rounds and survived defending 6A champion Cary Grove 20-14 in overtime in the quarterfinals before besting Prairie Ridge 14-7 on Saturday.

The Titans have a rich playoff history with a combined record of 41-25 dating back to a second-place finish in 5A in 1975. That remains the school's only appearance in the title game, however.

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