Marmion takes down Aurora Christian

Updated: March 22, 2011 5:30PM

Dave Beebe bent over at the waist at the 48-yard line, hands on his knees, eyes down. He then stood up, arched his back and rolled his head skyward and rubbed his eyes.

There was still 20 minutes left in the game.

Marmion Academy can do that to a defensive coordinator.

No adjectives are needed to describe Marmion's 42-20 victory over the Aurora Christian Eagles Friday night at ACHS.

Simply, it was perfect.

The Cadets did what they do – win the line of scrimmage and pound the ball with a bevy of running backs.

It's hard to say if it was spectacular. It was just…Marmion.

Nick Scoliere's 80-yard first quarter TD run was exciting, especially after breaking out of a stacked line of scrimmage, running over one would-be tackler and poof – gone. T.J. Lally's third quarter 60-yard TD run was delightfully bruising.

No matter what Dave Beebe threw at them, the Cadets (6-0, 3-0) had a powerful answer. The offensive line was dominant – physically and technically – and the running backs ran downfield all the way.

When Peters (8-of-10, 119 yards, TD) was pressed into passing situations, his throws – and the patterns run by his receivers – were so efficient they weren't exactly "wow" type plays.

The final numbers bear that out. They weren't mind boggling - just numbingly efficient. Lally ran for 105 yards and threw for another 33 while running for two scores. Scoliere ran for 91 yards and Garret Becke added 26. Mike Carbonara caught four balls and rushed four times for 97 total yards and a TD.

Trust me - this is the highest of compliments for a team that is ready to not only win its second straight Suburban Christian Conference Blue crown, but make a deep run into the Class 6A playoffs.

Dan Thorpe will say the game wasn't perfect – six penalties will do that to a coach – but it was pretty much the Cadets' show from the moment the Eagles fumbled the opening kickoff on a reverse attempt, pinning themselves back on their own 7-yard line.

The Eagels were pushed back to their own 1 before having to punt, and the Cadets answered with a TD on their first possession. The Eagles responded immediately to tie the game 7-7 late in the first quarter, thanks to a fake punt that kept the drive alive.

From then on, it was all Marmion.

It was apparent quickly that the Eagles (4-2, 1-2) were going to have to be perfect in order to compete with the Cadets, and perfect they were not. They fumbled three times and lost one, but the two they didn't were on kickoffs that pinned them deep in their own end. Quarterback Anthony Maddie threw two interceptions, the first of which resulted in a Marmion score and a 28-7 second quarter lead.

The Eagles will learn from this and will be a heavy force in the Class 3A playoffs, but they simply could not match the sheer power of the Cadets.

If there was one amazing thing about Marmion's performance, it was the fact that they managed to pressure Maddie relentlessly with just three down lineman, who were often Ryan Glasgow, Jake Winkel and Mike Eberth. Five-on-three usually favors the bigger number, but the Marmion coaching staff knew their kids could win the line of scrimmage despite those odds.

Did they ever.

That had to be disappointing to ACHS head coach Don Beebe, but it may not have been too surprising.

All that said, there is a lot to look forward to for the Eagles.

Maddie had a great game, but the first stringers for Marmion managed to keep him playing between the 20's all game long. He finally cracked the end zone with TD tosses of 13 and 26 yards to C.J. Schutt late in the fourth quarter, but the improvement he has made in such a short time from his spotty performance against Marian Central a few weeks ago is remarkable.

The junior completed 20 of 41 passes for 333 yards, and he rushed for another 45. His arm strength was impressive, as was his accuracy. This doesn't bode well for Eagles opponents in the future.

Speedy receivers Andrew Cassara (7 catches, 135 yards) and Chad Beebe (6 catches, 80 yards) proved they would go into traffic and catch the ball. Mitch Holtz (13 carries, 44 yards, TD) ran hard and Schutt now has to have some confidence that he can contribute in the passing game.

Aside from Montini next week, Aurora Christian won't play a better team than Marmion – even if they reach the Class 3A championship game. There were positives, sure, but hard lessons as well. Turnovers severely handicap even the best laid game plans. And, sometimes, you're just flat out beat. How this young Eagles team responds to face another tough test will be something to watch for.

© 2012 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.