Ben Cooney’s assignment looked to be a bit of a tall order.
Giving away eight inches, Benet’s junior cornerback had the unenviable task Friday of going one-on-one on the outside with St. Viator tight end Cole Kmet.
“There’s not much you can do with that size,” Cooney said of the 6-foot-6 Kmet, a Notre Dame recruit. “He’s a great player.”
Nothing, though, seems a stretch lately for Cooney.
He knocked away a deep ball for Kmet and later intercepted three passes. The opportunistic Redwings finished with five interceptions, turning them into a 33-14 East Suburban Catholic win at Benedictine.
Cooney’s second interception early in the third quarter led to Marty Dosen’s go-ahead, 21-yard touchdown run. The Redwings (3-1, 2-0), who won their third straight, scored the game’s last 26 points.
“Most of my picks are coming right to me,” Cooney said with a shrug. “It’s easy. It’s a mix of the whole defense.”
Danny O’Malley and Connor Reid also intercepted passes for Benet. Back after a bout with mononucleosis, Kmet caught three passes on a Viator scoring drive in the second quarter. He was held to two catches thereafter.
“Our defensive line had a great pass rush that caused some bad throws by the quarterback,” Cooney said. “We were just in the right spot.”
Cooney sure has been.
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The youngest member of Benet’s secondary has six interceptions this season.
“He has a nose for the ball,” Benet coach Pat New said of Cooney. “He’s just a great football player.”
So is Dosen, especially now that he’s back home in the backfield. He was moved to slot receiver to start the season, with Alec McEachern slotted to handle the majority of the carries.
Dosen, though, switched back to running back two weeks ago — and broke out Friday. He ran 29 times for 102 yards, his TD run giving Benet a 21-14 lead with 8:02 left in the third quarter.
“Really excited to be back running the ball, to be honest,” Dosen said. “The first two weeks were rough playing receiver. The (29 carries) tired me out, but I was ready for it.”
Benet’s offense, sluggish the last two games and much of Friday’s first half, finally picked up steam. Jack Sznajder’s 12-yard TD pass to Jack Eschenbach capped a 10-play, 73-yard drive for a 7-7 halftime tie.
Viator (2-2, 1-1) scored on the first play of the third quarter with a 68-yard halfback pass from Darreontae Jackson to Marc Clark, but Benet answered on the next play. Sznajder hit Nicholas Keyes in stride on play-action, and Keyes outran coverage for an 80-yard TD.
Dosen’s TD, following Cooney’s interception, made it three scores in four drives for Benet.
Victor Karam knocked in field goals of 38 and 34 yards, and Sznajder (14-for-24, 248 yards) took in a 1-yard TD for Benet’s season high in points.
“This is the first game that we really put a half together,” Dosen said. “We were clicking.”
Joshua Welge is a freelance writer for the Naperville Sun.