Fumble woes don’t bother Prairie Ridge

Updated: October 29, 2011 4:21PM

Prairie Ridge overcame three first-quarter fumbles, one of which was lost, and dominated Marmion 49-0 in a Class 6A first round matchup Saturday afternoon.

The second seeded Wolves (9-1) fumbled the opening kick off, resulting in a drive that started at their own 5-yard line. Quarterback Nick Nissen then fumbled on the Wolves’ first play, which was recovered by Marmion lineman Mike Hughes at the 9.

Despite the golden scoring opportunity early, the 15th seeded Cadets could only gain two yards and then A.J. Friedman’s 24-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Sean Folliard.

The Wolves went down and scored on the ensuing possession, an 83-yard drive that was capped by a 15-yard Nissen run.

“That was huge,” Wolves running back Connor Greenwald said of the blocked field goal. “Our defense played a phenomenal game and we were lucky to have them on that side of the ball.”

The route was on from there, as the Wolves scored six first half touchdowns to take a 42-0 lead into the break.

With the running clock, the Cadets ran just six plays in the second half and none in the fourth quarter.

Greenwald led the Wolves with 136 yards rushing on 12 carries while Nissen added another 47, including four touchdown runs. Running back Jordan Getzelman rushed for 58 yards and two touchdowns.

Cadets (5-5) fullback Cody Snodgrass rushed for 34 yards on six carries to lead a Marmion offense that did not earn a first down on its own and accumulated just 29 yards of total offense.

“We were well prepared for (them) and we were able to keep our heads on straight and finish the game well,” Nissen said.

Prairie Ridge will travel to No. 10 Glenbard South next week.

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