St Francis fast start is enough

Updated: October 8, 2011 12:46AM

Friday’s 20-14 St. Francis win over Marmion was a tale of two halves for the Spartans.

They roared out to a 20-0 halftime lead and were seemingly in command before the Cadets righted the ship and made a furious second-half comeback.

A fumble forced by St. Francis’ Jack Petrando against Marmion quarterback Charlie Faunce on a fourth-down play with 1:57 left in the game saved St. Francis from coughing up its 20-point lead and allowed the Spartans to hang on for the Suburban Christian Blue win at College of DuPage. St. Francis became playoff eligible with the win.

“We had a great first half,” Petrando said. “We came out exactly like we wanted to. Then in the second half, I don’t know. We took our foot off the pedal. They took the momentum. Thankfully, there wasn’t enough time on the clock for them to take the lead.”

Petrando played a huge role in that fast start for St. Francis (5-2 overall, 2-2 Suburban Christian Blue). He picked up 99 of the 134 yards he rushed for in the opening half, including touchdown runs of 21 yards and one yard. Quarterback Nick Donati hit Dan Beck for a 44-yard touchdown pass, as well, and St. Francis looked to be in control.

“We ran our regular defense in the first half, but we had people make mistakes,” Marmion coach Dan Thorpe said. “You can’t let a good team like them get up 20 points on you.”

Marmion (4-3, 2-2) had a chance to make that a moot point. Faunce only carried the ball once in the first half, but in the second half, he toted the rock 13 times, winding up with 117 yards and scoring on a one-yard run. He broke off yardage in big chunks, too, picking up runs of 38, 31, 21 and 12 yards in the game.

“We sat down as an offense (at the half) and talked about what we should be running and what we shouldn’t be running,” Faunce said. “We decided on the best plays we should run, and we executed them very well.”

After Faunce’s touchdown run, the Cadets’ defense forced a three-and-out. Marmion responded with an eight-play, 56-yard drive that was capped by a seven-yard touchdown run from Cody Snodgrass. The defense then forced another punt, which only traveled 12 yards, giving Marmion the ball at the St. Francis 42-yard line with 3:33 left.

On fourth-and-four, however, Petrando stripped Faunce and Peter Quirk pounced on it to preserve the win for St. Francis.

“They’re a good team, they showed that in the second half,” Petrando said. “It’s a good win for us.”

Marmion is now in a tough spot regarding the playoffs. Guerin and Marian Central round out the Cadets’ schedule, and wins in both games would guarantee a postseason berth. At 5-4, Marmion would be forced to count playoff points.

“We could go 5-4 and have a nice team and not make the playoffs,” Thorpe said.

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