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Marmion’s defense slams the door on Fenwick
Updated: September 3, 2011 12:29AM
Kyle Kozak may have felt slow, but he didn’t need to be fast. Not on this play.
The Marmion Academy senior running back swept the left side of his line Friday night and went five yards untouched with 1:38 left in the second quarter at steamy Fichtel Field for the only touchdown of the game. The Cadets’ defense then made it stand up for a 6-0 victory over visiting Fenwick that evens Marmion’s record at 1-1. The Friars fall to 1-1.
“My legs felt so heavy,” said Kozak, who also plays defensive back. “I was on the field for every play but punts and punt returns, so I felt slow getting to the outside. But my line and receivers blocking downfield, they scored that touchdown for me. I just had to run. I didn’t have to do anything like break tackles. It was wide open and I walked right in.”
Left tackle Ryan Glasgow and left guard Zach Siwiec sealed off the end and Kozak just had to turn the corner.
It was the highlight of a dominant first half for the Cadets, who held onto the ball for 19 minutes while piling up advantages of 141-2 in total yards and 9-0 in first downs in the opening 24 minutes. Marmion’s defense held the visitors to three three-and-out possessions in the half but were still wary heading into the second half.
The margin could have been bigger, but Marmion had a drive stall at the Friars’ 5 and had a 52-yard field goal attempt come up short.
“It helped a lot, it gave us a little rest,” senior defensive end Dan Wedge said of the early dominance.
They needed it, because Fenwick finally put together two long drives in the second half after recording its first first down of the game with 6:27 left in the third period. Junior quarterback Pat Hart drove his team to the Cadet 15, but running back Sean Mahon was stopped on fourth-and-6.
Then, with time winding under five minutes in the final quarter, the Friars drove to the Marmion 7. The key play in the drive was Wedge’s sack of Hart on third-and-6 from the 14.
“I pushed and pulled the guy and got in,” said Wedge, who then made a blindside hit.
Hart, hurried again by Wedge, passed to Joe Kelly on the next play, but the receiver was stopped at the 5.
“It was a great team win, offense, defense and special teams,” said coach Dan Thorpe, whose team ran the clock down to 45.9 seconds before having to punt. A running into the kicker call on the punt gave the Cadets a first down to close it out.
“I’m extremely proud of that last punt team,” continued Thorpe, whose team turned the ball over six times the previous week in a loss to Batavia but had no turnovers on this night.
“We have seven non-starters on the punt team and we knew (Fenwick) was coming. It wasn’t maybe great blocking, but it was enough.”
Marmion ran 47 plays to the Friars’ 31 and finished with a 165-59 advantage in total yards.
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