DiBalsamo shuffles Shamrocks to win

Updated: August 27, 2011 6:23PM

St. Patrick’s traveled to Maywood for Saturday’s season opener with a simple game plan. Get the ball to senior wideout Guy DiBalsamo and get out of town with a win.

DiBalsamo caught seven passes for 119 yards and three touchdowns in the first half to lead the Shamrocks in a 54-13 rout of host Proviso East.

“We had a game plan early on to get the ball in my hands and try to score a couple touchdowns,” DiBalsamo said. “We wanted to get it done and get out of here fast.”

Shamrocks quarterback Ryan Tentler connected on 12 of 20 passes for 285 yards and five scores in just over one half of work. Four of the scores were from outside the red zone as St. Patrick’s exploited holes all over the Pirates secondary.

“Our coaches saw they didn’t have anything over the middle and that’s where Guy can take advantage,” Tentler said.

After DiBalsamo made his second touchdown grab just four minutes into the game, Proviso East (0-1) went on a 15-play, 68-yard march culminating in a 1-yard plunge by senior running back Ryan Jones to narrow the deficit to 14-6.

But that was the lone offensive highlight for the Pirates until deep in the fourth quarter. Jones finished with 83 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries.

The Shamrocks (1-0) quickly re-established a big lead with touchdown runs by Jaylym Crokrom, Quinn Vanderah and another catch from DiBalsalmo before the half.

The game was marred by a sidelines-clearing tussle near the end of the second quarter, but cooler heads prevailed after officials sent the teams to an early halftime break and tempers never flared again.

St. Patrick’s wideout Steve Galiardo hauled in a 58-yard touchdown in the third quarter and backup quarterback Octovio Renteria scampered in from 14 yards on the last play of the game to round out the scoring.

© 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.