St. Laurence quarterback Alex Martinez and running back Fayezon Smart are good friends off the field.
On the field, they’re a lethal combination for their opponents. Martinez and Smart teamed up for two first-quarter touchdowns as the Vikings rolled to a 36-9 Class 5A quarterfinal victory over Tinley Park on Saturday night in Burbank.
St. Laurence (10-2) will host Nazareth (10-2) in a 5A semifinal next week.
Martinez threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Smart with 3 minutes, 45 seconds left in the first quarter, and followed that with a 76-yard connection to Smart. Mauricio Garibay kicked a 32-yard field goal for the Vikings with 5:17 left in the second for a 17-0 halftime lead.
“We had a great game plan and our defense helped us out quite a bit,” Martinez said. “We kind of knew what they were going to give us and our receivers found the open spots.”
Smart gained 126 yards on 28 carries, and set a new single-season school rushing record. He has 2,025 yards this season, breaking the mark of 2,015 set by Joe Martinez in 1998.
Martinez threw for 373 yards and five touchdowns. After Tinley Park (9-3) pulled to within 17-9 on a 1-yard run by quarterback Dan McCullough with 4:35 to play in the third quarter, Martinez threw a pair of TD passes to Robert Chayka for 18 and 54 yards for a 30-9 lead just over two minutes into the fourth.
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Martinez is confident that the Vikings can beat Nazareth.
“They’re a tough team, but I feel that if we play the way we’ve been playing, we’re a pretty tough team too,” Martinez said. “It should be a pretty good game.”
Tinley Park had a chance to cut its deficit in half early in the second quarter, but McCullough’s pass into the end zone was intercepted by Willie Walton. The Titans got on the board on a safety, tackling Smart in the Vikings’ end zone with 6:56 to play in the third.
After getting the ball back, the Titans scored on McCullough’s run, set up on two passes for 35 yards to Garrett Maas.
“The safety really helped, I think that’s what gave us momentum to score that touchdown,” McCullough said.
Then Tinley Park attempted an onside kick, but the ball didn’t travel the required distance. St. Laurence put the game away with three consecutive touchdowns, including the final one, a 61-yard pass from Martinez to Walton with 4:30 to play in the fourth.
“I’m very proud of everyone, we played our hardest, the outcome wasn’t the best,” McCullough said. “We have a great team. We all know that we did our best.”
Bob Hurst is a freelance writer for the Daily Southtown.